Untitled

Grey River Argus, Volume IV, Issue 270, 5 October 1867, Page 2

It affords us much satisfaction to be able „•■ io publish an extract from a letter from Mr Harry Abbott, a storekeeper in this district who went home lately by • the Panama route. He Bays :— Tell Mr Moss (the agent) that he need not be afraid of recommending this f oute to intending passengers, for the accom^ modation is really good, and the table far su-" periorto tha| of any ship I ever sailed in. It is . impossible to speak in too high terms of the general management of every department on ( board. The officers, without exception, were, very gentlemanly fellows, and tried to give satisfaction in eyer'y particular. In fact, we could not by any means- raise a single grumble during the whole of the voyage. If there was any oomplaiut at -ill, it was that the creature comforts were too plentiful, and so good that we weie tempted to oyer-iiulul-gence. v ' - ■• • The P.N.Z. and A.R.M. Co.'s steamer Claud Hamilton is diie 'here to-day, from Nelson, and is expectedtq take her departure for Sydney direct tomorrow aftehipon. ; ■■ : The s.B. Wallabi, which has been detained iv the rivet" for several days by heavy weather, is expected to sail fpr Fox's, Buller, and Nelson this afternoon. Since our last the shipping events at this port have been ' ' nil. " This has been caused by the heavy weather, which sent a nasty surf rolling home on the bar, and causing a tjood strong fresh in the river. The Wallabi j| :d Dispatch havp been weather bound inside, and several inward bound vessels have been knocking Jbpujk outside waiting for the first chance to run in. Early on the tide yesterday forenoon an examination of the- bar was made by the harbormaster and'seyeral steam boat captains, when it was "fpuiul that the sea on the bar was npt sp heavy, as was expected, and that although the channel was broken up there w^s, plenty fl f water. Preparations were made by theDjs.patch'to work the \u>r, and she got her anchor up and ran put easily, one or two roller^ breaking over her, but she did not appear to ship 'much water. She ran down alongside the brig Clarendon, and after a time was seen making for the bar alone, the brig being evidently deeper in the water than she expected. When she reached the bar, there was no signal on the staff, andif she crossed &he would have to do it at her own risk. This Captain Deare did not seem to relish, for he at once went aboat, an I stood off to sea with a good offinp. We do not expect that the Dispatch will attempt the bar till this afternoon's tide, when, as the sea is going down fast, slie will no doubt fjow. in the vessels now outside and Render the Airedaje aud Egmont. Outsfdo the bar yesterday' there were the Clarendon and Mary Stuart, from Melbourne, ■^^.and a topsail schooner, name unknown. We were in error "in statjng in pur last that the s.s. Airedale had gone op to Nelson, there to await the arrival of the s.s. Egtnont. Both these steamers were, by qur last accounts, still lying outside iiokitika bar, unable to be tendered owing to the heavy weather'and the fresh iv the Hokitika river. They were expect p I hprc yesterday, and had they come they would have been tendered by the p. s. Dispatch. Before the wire was broken yesterday, tlip .agent here received a telegram stating that the steamers could not --- - . be tendered at'Holritika^ and asking if they pould be here. A reply was returned that they could be tendered, but still neither of them put in an appearance, having been unapsountably detained- at Holj ika. The Airedale beimr the tender on fie Panama 1 p it, must be i i Wellington by the Bth hist., and supposing she only leaves' tiis afternoon • she will have smart work of At" to catch the Kaikoura. A large number of passjngers and 10,000 ozs of gold arc waiting here 'p, be shipped by her. . ' ,'T.»ie little American raft Nonpareil still remains at Southampton, a great objedt of attraction. How such a frail little thing could cross the great Atlantic ocean safely, seems a perfect wonder to 'everybody. She was forty-three days in making the passage from Kew York to Southampton, and had to lay- to seven times through stress of weather. Every sea going vessel ought tn be furnished with 'theselittle Nonpariel rafts, and theu in case of any disaster the' lives of passengers can be easily saved.— Panama Star and Hrald, August 24 On the arrival at this po.rt.on the oth hist, pf the Panama, New Zealand ami Australian Koyal Mail Cp's steamer ituahine, a letter written by Bishop, Selwyn of New Zealand and sigued by him and also by Bishop. Harper of Canterbujy, and by the cabin passengers, was liaude,d to Captain T. S. Beale, complimenting him highly oh the voyage he had then concluded, and gxuressiug great thanks both to the Captain/and his officers for the kind and unvarying attention which they had extended to the passengers during the voyage. — Ibid. The speed which has been attained by the steamers, of the Cpmpagnie Generale TransJttiantiqne is something remarkable. We —-' have frequently noted the regularity with which these vessels arrive at Aspinwall from St. Nazaire, and the report of $he Company published a short time ago, gives if possible a more favorable account of the running of the line between New York, Havre and Brest. This report states that according to the tables of the post office authorities -in . ■-■-■"" ""eleven complete trips from Brcstto New York and return, made by the Ville de Paris and the Pereire between March, 1860, and February, 1807, iv an interval of oyertwelve months,' comprising both the summer and winter seasons, the' average speed, Mas 12.8 knots instead of the 11.5 required by the ; of the contract. '1 his speed, it is said, "}ias not been equalled even in England •' it pxeeeds by two-tenths of a knot the average 1 ivjn of the celebrated Scotia, as stated in.

official documents. By the last mail from New York we learn that this wonderful time is still kept up on the line. The steamer Ville de Paris having made the last run from New York tp^Hayre at a speed ayeraging thirteen and a Lalf knots per hour from porjb to port. — Ibid. ■• ■