ARRIVAL OF THE SHIPS CATHCART AND ST LAWRENCE.

Globe, Volume I, Issue 78, 31 August 1874, Page 2

ARRIVAL OF THE SHIPS CATHCART AND ST LAWRENCE.

. ,'r rEarly on Saturday morning, the signal was made that two ships were oil’ the heads from the South, and by-and-by the distinguishing numbers were run up, and they proved to be the Cathcart and St ■Lawrence from London, both with immigrants on 1 hoard. It was nearly 2 p.m. when Hie s.s. Clyde left the Government wharf with the Health Commissioners, Drs Donald and Rouse, the Immigration Commissioner, Mr March, and the agents and reporters. She proceeded to the (bitheart, which, although the last signalled, was the first to get inside the heads. Thcpassage down the harbor wasdelight- . Jul, the re was little range on, merely a nice ripple, and it was a pleasant sight to see the Albion leave the wharf just as we were nearing the ship, and come sweeping clown the harbor like lightning, passing our poor little steamer as if it were asleep on the water, and close to the counter of the :i ,- C'athcartj giving the new arrivals a hearty cheer, to /which we may bersure they responded with real -m gopd ! Will/ There is always a certain dread in .ib’ftpproaehiiig 'a vessel after a long voyage, and when I m the Clyde got. alongside, and we know that all were well on board, it was a relief to all. The Health Commissioners having proceeded on board to testify v .as t 6 the sanitary-condition of the ship, we had ’ ’■ time |to ,-have a good look at her.; She is a fine J irori vessel with painted ports and very square ——ynrdsr'and puts us much in mind of our old friend the Balloohmylc. She looked in splendid • '"trim fore and aft, and.is certainly one of tile finest vessqhi in the harbor. After-a-short-interval the word': was passed/and the agents and reporters clambered on hoard. -We found the decks occupied by the new arrivals, Avho all seemed in: excellent CI ' health and spirits. ', Qntfie poop were as nice a lot of those very desirable individuals domestic servants ji ,as lt has been our lot to witness for some time, nice „ healthy,. cheerful, goodlookiug girls, who spoke well of their .matron, and whoso matron spoke well - | ,: Of'them. Th&-0 were seventy-three of them of all ‘Cf.agtes,'front-sixty to eight we should say. All the ... t)ire6.-Pationaliides were represented, and we were ilipwn down, in the berths, the English, Irish and * "Scotch corners/, They seemed very happy, and one -r.jOlly-looking girl they called their queen was said licto have been; the life and soul of the ship. Miss ,r Johnson, the matron, hpd, hpwover, been ill during '" a portion of t)ie. voyage, and a Mrs Bradshaw, a '"kind motherly wonjan had taken her position, and ' /seemed quite to have won the girls’ hearts. Their berths were very clean and well ventilated. During the passage prayers were held night and morning '-"by the 1 matron, and the "younger childi-pn were instructed iiv seAular* matters by Mr McCallnm, the 1 schoolmaster, who had gained the respect of his pupils;.. It is a ,great pity that there is no proVision made for teaching the elder girls during the - vbyage'out, as many ot them are woefully ignorant, - arid although it would not bo possible to teach them i.mucli at any rate a foundation might be laid. There ' ivas .no serious illness, and all spoke of Dr Chapman, tint medical officer, as kind and attentive. A few '"days ago the girls sent a letter to the captain, the 1 idpctp.Vi a»d. officers,, (banking them for their great , kindness to aflof,them. .The other compartments the ship were'also in'a higlily satisfactory condition, and the people seemed well satisfied with J.what-. had (been done for them, and thought the ' country looked prettyi though one poor Irishwoman said, to mo, “Bhure and is it all like that? It ' breaks my heart to think of climbing them great ico-wld hills ; MthXthey tould us it was a rich > counpbry, but itdon’t look so.;” hut slie was reconciled to her lot when told of the plains, fhat lay be?h'ind; 'Among ‘ the' single men there , were a large (proportion Of agricultural laborers, who will be -heartily welcomed by our farmers. Thu Immigration., Commissioner seemed well pleased with his look round, and told us that lie thought the whole 'of the compartments were in a very creditable condition, and the class of immigrants exceedingly good, consisting principally of agricultural laborers and domestic servants, the two classes most required Iri iftfe country! There were five deaths on board and- four births/ 1 All that died were lirtle children. /EhCfe wereithree sailors in irons aft who had been concerned in a mutiny on the 21th June. It is a good job that the ship possessed a firm captain, or therte might have been great trouble outboard; as it jvri s his determination seems to have entirely stamped,out the seeds of the rebellion. We append the chief officer’s account of the mutiny, and the report of the voyage. On 24th June, hit. 20-43 N, long. 2-P5 W., some oi the crew having during the night broke into the hold, broached cargo, and got drunk, one of them was brought aft and placed in irons, another having attempted to rescue him was also taken in charge ; but while .securing him, the first prisoner escaped to the forecastle. Captain Crawford and the officer* going' forward to recapture him, were prevented from doing so : by several of the crew, who made p(ic of threatening language. The captain finding that the mutineers would not listen to reason, came rift, and after deliberation with his ofliccrs, armed himself and went forward the second time, and finding the doors of the forecastle closed, demanded admission. Previous to this, part of the crew had left the mutineers. Those within refused to open the doors,: threatened the captain, and said that they meant shortly to he masters of the ship. Finding argument useless, the door on starboard Side of tbe forecastle was, in spite of much resistance; partly forced op-m with handspikes, and the captain again wani.ng liieiu, tired three times amongst the mutineers, three of them being wounded; by tins means an entrance was effected arid the mutiny quelled, flic ringleaders and two others, being placed in irons. Tbe following is the report of the passage: —The ship Cathcart, 1387 tons. Captain Crawford, left Gravesend on Thursday, 11th of .lime, and proceeded in tow to Beachy Head, and made all sail with a light breeze,from the north. On Friday, .1 unc 12th, the pilot left the! ship at eight pm. when she was going free oil' Start Point with a moderate breeze from the north-east, and from this we date our passage. Ou tlie 14th and 15th made moderate runs of 290 and 2UO miles respectively. On the loth arid 17th had light winds from the northward. (In the isth rind loth light winds from the JSI.W. and beautiful weather. On the loth the first death occurred, tl»at of an infant five months old. Its decease appeared to cast a gloom over all on hoard. On the 20th the island of Madeira was sighted and passed -about two miles off, and several vessels going in the same direction were sighted and left Behind. At three p.m. same day caught, the northeast trade winds in latitude 32.9 north and longitude 17.40 west. On the 21st. 22nd and 23rd had moderate trades and tine weather. On the 21th arid 25th made runs of 250 and 200 miles. On the 26th/27th, 28th and 20th moderate trades and line weather. On the 30th of June fame up to the ship Oxford from London to Auckland with emigrants. Went close to her, ami had pleasant interchange of good wishes, and then made sail and left "her behind. On July Ist and 2nd had light winds from the southward. On July 2nd the ast trace of the Oxford faded out astern ; during he day had light variable winds and calms, On

July 3rd we got tho H.E. Trades, in -1.31 north latitude and 20.57 west longitude. Uu tho 4th had moderate winds, Crossed tho equator on tho sth, twenty-one and a halt' days from the Start. On the Oth made, a run of 4210 miles, and signalled and passed the ship Ecliowu, from London to Melbourne, 23 days out. On the 7th made a run of 233 miles, and on this day also occurred the second death, that ol an infant 9 mouths old. On the sth, 9th, loth, and 11th, runs were made of 242, 219, 201, and 211 miles respectively. On the 12th, in latitude 23.14 south, loughude 31.40 west, lost the S.l‘l. trade winds. On the 13th and 14th made distances of 111 and Ist miles. On the 13th of J uly spoke and passed the ship Loch Tay, from Glasgow to Melbourne, 39 days out, in latitude 25.33 south, longitude 39.15 west, On the 1 Itii, lath, and iOth, made runs ol 21.1, 259, and 2 Is miles, with moderate south-westerly winds. During the Dili, Isth, amt l ull had moderate unsteady winds from the southwest, and on the 20th, 21st, 22nd, and 23rd, light airs from the southward, with line clear weather. On the 23d, in latitude 40.33 south, longitude 2.10 east, spoke the barque Kama,’from Oallao to .Man ritius, 50 days out, all Well On the 21th, 25th,20tii, and 27th, had moderate winds from . the northward. Uu the 28 th made a run ol 30 f miles; the third death, that of an infant 0 months old, also occurred on that day. On the 20th a run of 203 miles was made, and the fourth death, that of an infant also six mouths old, occurred, from that date till August Oth, nothing ol any moment occurred, but on that clay iu latitude ■ll,-17 south longitude 70.3 east, we spoke the ship St Leonards, from London to Wellington, On August 10th, had a very low barometer, viz., 27.70 witli the wind from file northward, this was in latitude 40,10 south, and longitude 99.35 east. On the 15th of August the fifth death happened, viz., that of an infant eleven months old. From this date to the 23rd of August, on which day we reached the “ Snares,” we hadsteady winds and line weather. We reached this latitude in seventy days and twelve hours from home. From thence to port had light bathing winds veering all round the compass, the time occupied was five days. On the 20th instant, we spoke the ship Corona, from Loudon to Otago, with emigrants, she was ninety-two days out. "We spoke her in latitude 47.39 south, and longitude 109.15 cast. Five deaths occurred during the passage and lour births. The whole duration of flic passage was seventy-six days and twelve hours to port. We left the Cathcart iu good spirits and proceeded to the other vessel, which iu the meantime had got inside the heads and was close to us. She appeared on nearing her, to be a line frigate-built though rather old-iashioiied vessel with tremendous bulwarks,that prevented us from seeing much of her living freight. She appeared to carry a great deal of head sail, and was though by no means a clipper, evidently a good ship to go to sea in, though rather weather-worn and not so trim as the Cathcart. When we got alongside, we heard a report that there was sickness on board, but the health officers soon dispelled our fears by allowing us to follow them into the ship, and we found that, with the exception of the measles, which had affected some ol the children, there was nothing material the matter, and the ship was now clear even of this disease. We first visited the single girls’ department, which was fairly clean and comfortable. She brings 41 girls of all ages, principally from tho midland counties, and they spoke well of their matron, Mrs Mcl’hersou. They arc nearly all domestic servants, We had the pleasure of speaking to Mr Wray, the schoolmaster the ship, who came out as a passenger, and is to be a resident here, as he was sent from home to our Education Hoard, being an English certificated master, lie appears to have done much good on board the ship, and to have been much liked by those under Ids charge. The married people’s compartment struck us as rather close, and there were two or three poor little mites of children who appeared to be suffering from the close air. There arc fifty-six married couples with their children, and they spoke in high terms of Dr Fattison, the ship’s medical officer, and there was also a great deal of good feeling expressed towards tho captain and officers generally. They seemed to be principally tradespeople with a sprinkling of agriculturists. The single-men’s compartment was iu fair order, and they seemed a lot ol very strong ablebodied men,' but here again there were more mechanics than farm laborers. Taken altogether the ship appeared a comfortable one, although the sanitary arrangements were hardly equal to those on board tlie otln r vessel. Nearly all seemed satisfied with the arrangements that had been made. There were eight deaths during the passage. She started with 412 souls, making 341 statute adults. The following is the report of the passage : —The ship St Lawrence is a wooden vessel, 1095 tons register, is Newcastle built, and owned by Messrs T. and W. Smith of that port. She was originally built for the East India trade, and although not a clipper is a comfortable ship and a good sea boat. She left the S. W. India docks on May IGth. On Monday the 18th, when lying off Gravesend, the first part of the immigrants were shipped. She left oil tho 19th, and anchored the same evening oil'the Nose Light; proceeded down the channel witli a fair wind, and on the 2oth arrived at Plymouth Sound, where she took on board the rest of the emigrants on the 21 st. On the 22ud, she left at 5 p.m. with light, northerly wind, and this continued till she caught the N. E. trades, which she did iu latitude 28 'north and longitude 21 west. The trades were moderate, and were lost altogether a short distance to the south of Cape dc Verde. Then met with strong S. \V. monsoon- till reaching the S. E. trades, which were met with in latitude 5 north, and were very scanty. From there had light westerly winds till passing tho equator, which was crossed on J line 19th. She passed the meridian ol Greefi'wleh on July 9th, in latitude 38 south. Had . light westerly winds till rounding tfio Cape, which ■was doue joii July 13th. Her easting was then run down to 49 south. Made the Snares on August 22nd. From thence -had head winds blowing hard from the northward and eastward. She made the light at the heads at 2 a.m. on Friday, thus making, tlie passage from land to land in 98 days. It was late when Hie inspection was finished, and the visitors from Christchurch arrived on shore just in time to catch Hie last train.