FROM AUCKLAND TO HONOLULU.

Grey River Argus, Volume IX, Issue 684, 7 June 1870, Page 2

FROM AUCKLAND TO HONOLULU.

• [SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT OF OTAGO DAILY TIMES.] Some time previous to starting-— since indeed the contract had been first entered into — it was pretty well understood by the public generally that the first boat of the new line, the Wonga Wonga, would be very much crowded ; that, in fact, it was very doubtful if a berth could be secured in New Zealand at all, or at least with any degree of certainty. This doubtf ulness was thoroughly understood, so much so indeed that even some of the passengers who had paid their passagemoney and obtained their tickets from the different provincial agents, were quite prepared to be told, when they reached Auckland, that the vessel was too full to take them on. Many of them so spoke to me of the matter at all events. When, therefore, it was mentioned that some one hundred and twenty passengers had come on from Australia, that upwards of fifty had been left behind there, and that the same number, at least, had been unable to procure passages at Auckland, it was just what we expected to hear. Things, however, were arranged so far satisfactorily that none of those who paid -their passage-money were left behind, though, as matters afterwards turned out, it would have been better that this had happened. After much trouble and display of considerable ingenuity in the art of packing, all the passengers got stowed away, somehow or another. Eight were packed away on the circular lounge aft over the screw. The eight cabins opening off the saloon had four in each, and one or two were put into the second cabin. The second cabin, too, and the steerage, were equally overcrowded. But at first the situation had the charm of novelty about it. People were in an accommodating humor, aud things, on the whole, went on smoothly just at first — that is to say, there was no murmuring nor outward sign of dissatisfaction. But as we neared the- tropics, and the heat became day by day more intense, then the over-crowding began to telL The trades, which we had every right to expect from the 26th degree of latitude up to the Line, never came ; but in their stead we had a head wind the entire way, and this made the intensity of the heat still more intense, by passing as it did over and through the vessel in red-hot blasts from the engine - room. The greater part of the way the thermometer stood at 97deg. and 98deg. in the coolest part of the ship. The heat of India is hard to bear, so is the heat iv some of those deep gullies up amongst the Manuherikia sandhills, when the midsummer son is pouring down in full force, untempered by a single breath of wind ; but for my own part, in none of those places, nor in any other place I have been in, have I ever felt anything to equal the stifling closeness of the Wonga Wonga until we passed the Line. The vessel was over-crowded— there were too many in the saloon, too many in the second cabin, and in the steerage it was fearful. We had altogether, I believe, some 180 passengers. I say I believe, because it was impossible to get at the truth as to the actual numbers on board. As far as I could learn, However, there were 48 saloon passengers, 42 second class and about 90 in the steerage. If 60 of these had been left behind, then the vessel would have had just as many as she could carry with any degree of comfort. The Wonga Wonga may be, and I believe is. admirably adapted for the particular trade in which she was engaged; bat she is certainly not adapted for this new route. Her tonnage is too small, her accommodation too limited ; her cabins have too many berths ; and worst of all, her ventilation is very defective. But it was not alone of want of room or of want%| of ventilation that the passengers had to complain. The fare was bad, and the attendance was worse. Doubtless complaints on these and other points will find expression in the columns of the colonial newspapers; and whilst, as a rule, expressions of the kind must be received with caution, still, on the present occasion, it must in common justice be admitted that the complaints are not made without reason. It has occurred to me that a brief account of my own experience on board the Wonga Wonga may give a better insight into what actually did take place, than if I were to generalise at any length. Not that the quotation ex uno disce ommes can be applied to my case, for mine waa a specially unfortunate one. Amongst my three mates who occupied the same cabin that I did, there was one gentleman in particular who, I was told, would prove a great acquisition. I was congratulated, indeed, by some of my Auckland friends when starting, on my good luck in haying been thrown into such close companionship with this jolly good fellow. And really for a little time it did seem as if I had been lucky. My mate was very agreeable, well read, full of anecdote, witty, and with a considerable insight into character withal. But his size was something to contemplate. He was like Falstaff in many things, but he excelled him in as many. In the flesh he weighed at least twenty stone, and in the imbibing line I had never met his equal. His absorbing capacity could only be represented by the algebraic x for it was an unknown quantity. In the way of smoking too he was an adept, aa or Continuation of News, see Page &)

you may fancy \?hen 1 tell you that one • ttAyTO my own ! _nbWledge he got through ! . , . twenty , cigars. \ .Npw the cabin in whioh I '" i ;i^'giß^aXg^tl6inan, my two companions K Y ?ind ,inyse_ Wd 'all stowed; away, measured some eight feet every way, and you can fancy to some'exte'nt the foul' reeking atn\6spheVe|of Replace; :j,l aayto some extent, and I use the words advisedly, for nothing short of actual experience could give you more than a very faint idea ol^reality?.^ Bjr day .that cabin was BtTflin|.'aridvoppre^sive';_by<night it was foul, filthy, and fearful. I stood it for two nights, but 1 could stand it no s- bn|e*6 ., jrhe v th|rd^iigh.tvmy companions siOo3keFec^rweri Iprth. .Our.mjitttal friend; the stout gentleman had gone in stronger than usual; having that day polished bff an entile bottle of^brandjr, besides 'sundry nipsJ&yJt wprth nientioningv. An attack of" apoplexy or something of that sort not unnaturally followed. Thenceforward |5 and myself became vagat w Bonos* without a plate to rest our heads „ upon. Once, and. once only, for many a day thereafter, did I venture to put my head inside my cabin door, and there, breathing stentoriously, lay the stout . „ . ge ; ntletnaii, monstrum Korretidum informe [ iiigens. 'The' odfliir which met me on ''' that occasion I' shall never forget. You ■'i<: might perhaps meet something of the .; n isame kind at a boiling down establishment, but I have never experienced the same feeling cf. nausea that I did then. "'' -During .the remainder of the voyage I slept wherever I could find a spare place to lie on. Once or twice I managed to get on the cuddy table, but as others were driven forth from their suffocating cabins, the. cuddy table became a prize not easily attainable;- Then I took to the seats, but these were rather narrow, besides being claimed .. by .the stewards as their peculiar privileges. As a rule, it rained, nearly every night, so that sleeping on deck was out of the question. The saloon at last became the principal 1 sleeping place of the cabin passengers, and at night presented the appearance df: an hospital, filled with wounded soldiers. From the want of sleep and; other privations,. I sickened, loaing whatever little strength and energy and stamina I ever possessed. Whilst' 'it cannot be denied that the Wonga V7onga is not adapted for the long voyage between New Zealand and Honolulu, defective as she is in accommodation generally; }and whilst it is equally undeniable that her provisioning and attendants had not been, selected with much care, still it is bnly'fair ihat the actual facts of the case should not be lost sight of altogether. The whole thing, we must remember, was an experiment, and in the carrying out of. this experiment the .best material was used. Unfitted as the Wonga Wonga.is for a long sea voyage, she was still, far and away, the best vessel available for, the occasion. Then, again, as to the over-crowding we must consider the uncertainty of the thing. In the passenger traffic and arrangements New Zea- ! land had of course to be consulted, but it could not be stated what the number of passengers from there would be. On the other hand, the contractor could scarcely be expected to leave more vacancies for New Zealand than were likely to be filled up. It is only charitable, therefore, to suppose he did not expect to have received such an awesßion of "numbers' as he did at Auckland. Fortha bad attendance and bad provisions I do not think any excuse can be offered. Mr Hally I understand, paid 6s a head per day for each saloon passenger, and 43 for each -second-class passenger^ If this be so, and I think it is, then .1 can only say the providores must have made a good thing oat of the transaction, especially when you consider that the liquors, such as they were, were j duty free. Mr Hall himself was on board, and before landiiig'at Honolulu expressed his regret at the way in which things had turned out. j:On board he .did what he could to make matters run smoothly, but he failed miserably in, the attempt. He is a shrewd business man; but a thorough Yankee, self-assertive and egotistical.