NEWS OF THE WEEK.
THE imbroglioat Cartagena has ended without a fight, which on 1st September seemed to be almost inevitable. It would seem that the Intransigentes demanded the surrender of the Vittoria and Altnanza, captured at sea by the Frederick Carl and the Torch, while Admiral Yelverton had received orders to send them to Gibraltar. He informed the Junta courteously of that fact, and gave them forty hours to reconsider their decision. The English residents fled on board the merchantmen as they sailed out of the harbour, all the men-of-war, except two Italians, retired, and in twenty-four hours the demand was repeated in still stronger language. Admiral Yelverton thereupon informed the Junta that if fired on he should silence the forts and capture the three ironclads, but would spare the town and lighthouse if he could. He then ran the British flag to the masthead of the Spanish ships, cleared for action, amid the enthusiasm of the Fleet, and sent the Vittoria and Almanza, under convoy of the Triumph and the Swiftsure, under the guns of the forts, to Gibraltar. Not a shot was fired, and the prizes arrived at Gibraltar in safety, where they will be kept till Cartagena falls. The Swiftsure, the Invincible, and the Flying Squadron will in a day or two be before Cartagena, to watch that the insurgent vessels do not bombard towns full of British residents without ample notice.
