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Grey River Argus, Volume IV, Issue 260, 12 September 1867, Page 2

The bar continues in very fair condition for all the ordinarypurposes ofthe port,' but yesterday morning wheii the Dispatch went put she found' two channels— one' jfco the north ■ and one to the south.' The northern one was full and deep, and by it the steamers Nelson and William Misken 'sailed out yesterday inornin'g, but it ran too close to the north beach to risk towing through it such a large schooner as the StorM Bird. " The south chaniierhad nearly seven feet of water on it, andthrougli it the schooner would have been brought but fti''the:unforttinat'e snapping of Aho tow-line. ' ' ' "v" . t fcjj^^JJiiiii.jdch did not move from her

shingle bed in Whitford's Bight till full tide on Tuesday evening, when she quietly floated , off, .and after taking in coal f torn ,the Cobden wharf, and shipping what g^ar ehe had landed, she dropped down the river, and was soon iii trim for work, but "the tide was too' far gone to do anything that evening. ' Yes- , terd.iy n.orning she ran outside and fastened on to the schooner Storinbird, which she towed for .a .short distance,' .when the line parted, and the schooner dropped her anchor. The line used was not the usual towing-rope of the Dispatch, as that was used on Sunday night to secure the Northern Light, but a spare one kept on board the steamer. As the schooner was perfectly safe at anchor outside, Captain Deare headed his vessel for the river, but failing to nit the entrance of the south channel, which is rather narrow, she took the ground, but came off again jn a few minutes, and steamed up alongside the Northern Light, which has Jain in rather close proximity" to the bar since the last fresh. That vessel was towed up to the quay, aud shortly afterwards the Dispatch brought up the Hilander and dropped her astern of the Light. We are assured by the agent that the Stormbird will positively be brought into the river by the Dispatch this morning. . The schooner John and Jane from Melbourne arrived in the roadstead yesterday morning, and will be towed in on this morning's tide^ ■ The cutter Elizabeth sailed out over the bar yesterday morning with a fair breeze. She is bound to Hokitika with a cargo of coal. The P.N.Z. aid A.R.M. Co.'s steamers Phcebc and Otago are expected here this day. The former will take passengers for Melbourne to be transhipped into, the Tararua at the Bluff, nnd the latter is bound for Nelson a..d Southern ports.' The s.s. Halcyon took her departure for Fox's, the Buller, and the Manukau on Tues.day morning. 'She had on board. a heavy cxrgo and many passengers for Northern p. >rts, and sne crossed the fyar in fine style \yifchfiiit thj? slightest difficulty. . This handy little steamer will be absent from our port f tr some time, while she is being repaired at the Manukau, and we, hope soon agajn to welcome her back, to resume the trade in jvhich she has already done such good service. We have frequently called the attention of our Hokitika contemporaries to the flagrant mis-statements which appear in their columns frpm time to time regarding, more especially, the shipping at this port. The recent grounding of the Dispatcn on the shingle beach in the bight to which she had gone during the heavy fresh of Sunday last has been taken taken advantage of by the Hokitika livening Star, of the 1 10 th instant to publish the following : — "We regret to learn by telegram that the Dispatch is on shore about one mile from the Grey. We have not been able to ascertain what are the probabilities of this favorite littlf- vessel getting out of its present difficulties." Either our contemporary has "been" hoaxed by some practical joker in Greymouth, or has lent itself to a wilful mis-stateiheut of fact.' ' She s.s." William Miskui, Captain Hepburn, arrived in the river about seven o'clock on Tuesday morning from Dunediu via the Buller, which port she left "oh the previous evening. "The'Miskin made a splendid run of £nree days from Dunediu to 'the Buller. At this port she landed a large quantity of cargo,' and sailed again for Dunedin yesterday morning. •** v - «,»••• • , The s.s. Nelsop, Cantain Whitwell, put in an appearance 1 here eafly on Tuesday morning from Nelson via Wa'iganui and the Buller. At j;he latter port'she landed a large quantity of stock and several passengers, and she brought a number of passengers on to this port. She was at once laid on for the new rush at the Mohikiuui, and during the day was filled up with cargo. She left yesterday morning with a large number of pas--8 ngers, and is expected to return direct to this port. The ocean steamers Egmont and Gothenburg arrived off the bar early on Tuesday morning, and their passengers and cargo were transhipped by the Persevere, which came up from Hokitika for that purpose. Both steamers were tendered the same tide, the Persevere making two trips over the bar. The Gothenburg took away twenty passengers and 29170z. Bdwt. 7gr. of gold, shipped by the Bank of New South Wales ; and the Egmont ten passengers and 26500z. of gold, shipped by the Union Bank of Australia. They proceeded on to Hokitika, and were expected to be tendered there yesterday, when they would leave on their voyage to Melbourne No worse result than a night spent upon the North Spit attended the schooner lona's mishap, as she floated on yesterday morning's tide, and was towed safe and sound to the wharf by the Lioness. The lona comes up full of coal from Greymouth, which port she left on the 29th, and consequently has been cooling her heel outside during the last ten days, detained by a bad bar and other causes. She was at anchor in the roadstead when the h«avy westerly gale of the 30th ult. commenced, and being unable to ride it out was obliged to slip, leaving behind an anchor and forty fathoms of chain, which she has not yet recovered. She remained in the offing under canvas until Sunday, then reached inshore, and was pit kad up by the Lioness. Her subsequent proceedings we have already chronicled. —W. O. Times. Moke Expeditions to the New Island. — The interest in the lately reported discovery of an island in the Pacific about 1500 miles north-west of San Francisco, seems to have been more extensive than at first supposed. Besides the schooner Leah (sailed) and the schooner Miltan Badger (about to sail), we learn that the cutter Joe Lane, Captain Scammon, which sailed on the Ist June, nominally for the Columbia River, is really bound for the reported island, which is to be taken possession of in the name of the United States. The schooner Caroline Mills, Captain Turner, sailed on the 6th June, ostensibly on a fishing voyage, but it has 3ince transi ired that Bhe is bound for the reported island. The schooner Milton Badger, at the Pacific Mail Company's wharf, at the foot of Tremont street, is reported to have taken in about 200 tons of coal, 40,000 feet of lumber, a large scow lighter, aud sundry other articles, which are to be landed at the island jn case i$ possesses a good harbor. The existence of the island has been asserted by many sea captains who have seen it various timls frpm 1852 to the present time. Two captains report having been very near the island, and having distinctly seen quite a number of 1 trees which grew on a low point of land. . If the island possesses a good harbor, ll and water is abundant, it will prove a most valuable acquisition to our whaling fleet as a rendezvous between voyages, instead ot g<4 n g to the Sandwich Islands, as is the case at "present. Supplies of provisions could be sent from th}s city to meet the fleet, so that the vessels could sail direct for other whaling grounds with very little expense or detention. — San Francisco paper.