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Grey River Argus, Volume VII, Issue 512, 27 April 1869, Page 2

There was no shipping business transacted yesterday, owing to the flooded state of the river and the surf driven up by the northerly breezes of the previous clay, but fortunately there were no vessels detained in the, roadstead. The s.B. Omeo, Captain Calder, from Melbourne, via New Zealand ports, arrived in the roadstead early on Saturday morning. She left Hobson's Bay at 11 a.m. on the 9fch instant, and passed through Port Phillip Heads at 2.30 p.m. ; cleared Banks' Straits at 3.30 p.m. on the 10th instant, and passed the company's steamer Rangitoto at midnight, light variable winds were experienced until the 14th instant, when she encountered a severe gale from the S.E. ; the Solander was sighted the same day, and she arrived at the Bluff at 8 p.m., entering the harbor at 7 a.m. on the 15th ; discharged cargo and loft at 5 p.m., arriving at Port Chalmers at 10.3tVa.rn. on the 16th instant, having experienced thick weather ; discharged cargo, and left at 5 p.m. on Saturday, experiencing line weather and smooth sea thence to Lyttelton, which was reached at 2.30 p.m. on the 18th instant ; discharged cargo and received a quantity of grain for Victoria, sailing again at 5 p.m. on the 20th instant ; had fresh N.W. winds, with fine weather to Wellington, the harbour being entered at 1 p.m. on the 21st instant ; discharged cargo, and sailed again at 11 p.m. the same day, and arrived at Nelson on the 22nd instant, at 2 p.m. ; sailed again at 6 a. no. on the 23rd instant, arriving as above. The p.s. Persevere arrived the same morning from Hokitika, and tendered the Omco, bringing in early on the tide eight passengers. She ran put again, and put on board twenty-five passengers, returned to the port again, and finally left in tow of the Omeo, in order to render the same service to her at Hokitika. We learn from the W. C. Times, of yesterday, that on the Omeo's arrival at Hokitika her inward passengers were landed by the p. a. Persevere, but the tug could not return to the roadstead with the outward passengers, in consequence of the heavy fresh : in the river, and the Omeo steamed away on her voyage to Melbourne without waiting. The p. s. Bruce, Captain Christian, from Nelson and Westport, arrived in the river on Saturday morning. She left Nelson at midnight on Wednesday, was in Westport the following day, left on Friday, and called in at Fox's, where she landed cargo, and came on here, where she arrived as above. On Saturday afternoon she left again for Hokitika. During the time that H.M.S. Challenger has been absent from this port on her voyage to Sydney and back, one of the officers, Mr George O'Connor, Acting Sab-Lieutenant, on two occasions performed the gallant and heroic feat of jumping overboard to save life. On the first occasion (March 22nd), when. the ship was steaming about seven knots, one of the seamen fell from the main futtock rigging into the sea, and Mr O'Connor immediately jumped from* the hammock netting, and took him safely to the life buoy. On the second occasion (April 10th) when the ship was running nearly ten knots wiLh all Suudding sails get, a native of Tortola, W. 1., who was a splendid swimmer, fell from the ship without his being discovered at once. The life buoy was let go, and Mr O'Connor jumped overboard, reached, the ship buoy in safety, and then while towing it towards the man, who was swimming strongly, he saw the poor fellow suddenly disappear. It is supposed that either cramp paralysed him or that a shark took him down, for nothing was seen of him afterwards. We trust that Mr O'Connor will receive some tangible recognition of his gallantry from the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, and also from the Royal Humane Society when the news Teaches England, — Wellington. Independent. Messrs Napier, of Glasgow, have received orders from the Admiralty to construct the Hotspur, a veasel which bears no resemblance to anything in "our navy at present. She is neither a broadside ship nor a monitor, and, in fact, the best idea we can give of her is to term her a vastly improved Belier. Like the Belier, this vessel is intended to fight endron. The armor-belt at the water-line consists of two shakes of plating, the upper one being pleven inches thick, and the lower one eight inches. She has a formidable rpm. On the main deck is an armor : plated breastwork extending about one-third the length of the ship, similar to that which has been adopted by the new monitors. From the boy aft to the breastwork the main deck is plated with three-inch armor ; and at the fore part of this breastwork a pear-shaped battery povered with eightjnch armor, is brought above the upper deck. This battery is pierced with seyerar ports,, and pontailis a turn-table carrying an 18 ton gun, the whole been trained, &c , by suitable machinery situated on the main deck. The only gun to \)0 carried by th" Ho^pur is' a 40-pound

Arms&drig ; this will be placed aft.— '-British Trade Journal. By the arrival at Liverpool, on the Ist ot February, of the African mail steamer Biafra, we have details of tlie^los? ot the barqiie Florence Nightingale, of London, Captain J. J. Bright, and of the fearful sufferings of the passengers and crew. The Florence Nightingale left Bathurst, Gambia River, for Sierra Leone, on the 24th December, with seven females, two priests, two Kroomen, and nine ship^s crew. On the night of the 26th, the barque unexpectedly struck on a sand-bank not marked in the charts, and which was not at the time surrounded by broken water. In attempting to get her off two boats were stove in, and one of the Kroomen was drowned. All hands then set to work and made a raft, on which some provisions, brandy and sherry were placed; but the captain, in his hurry, forgot water and hfs charts and instruments. A?ter trying for some time to tow the raft by the aid of a small boat— l 7 feet by 6— they were forced to leave it and crowd into the boat. The provisions were soon exhausted, and under a hot sun, without water, they all took to drinking salt water. This soon made one seaman named Brown crazy, ana so violent that he had to be forcibly kept at the bottom qf the boat. The captain bled him twice, and each time he did so the blood was greedily sucked up by the others, who were very quarrelsome and violent. They at last resolved to draw lots who should kill Brown before he died. The lot fell upon a colored boy named Bathurst, who, however, refused to act. just .then the captain fortunately caught a fish 31b weight, having made a fishhook from a woman's hairpin, and baited it with a small crab he caught in some floating sea : weed. This was eagerly devoured, as were also some crabs and butterflies, which showed that land was near. In fact, they soon after reached the Isle de Los, where Captain Curran, of the whaler S. A. Paine, of Provincetown, Massachusetts, not only treated them with tbe greatest kindness, hut took the crew on to Sierra Leone, whence tfiey were sent home in the Biafra as distressed British seamen. These twenty pra> sons were nine days in an open boat under a trophical sun, with only 201 bof provisions and no water. They drifted iv that time over 200 miles. — Age.