THE "CHARLOTTE JANE."

Lyttelton Times, Volume 1, Issue 1, 11 January 1851, Page 2

THE "CHARLOTTE JANE."

Tue " Charlotte Jane," Capt. Alexander Lawrence, Commander, left Plymouth Sound at midnight on Saturday the 7th of September. She sighted Stewart's Island on Wednesday, the 11th of Decem'Ik r, and cast anchor off Port Lyttelton on Monday the ltith of December, at 10 o'clock ; thus making her passage in 93 days from land to laud, or 99 days from port to port. She carried 26 chief cabin, 19 intermediate, and 80 steerage passeng^ecs. The ]lev. Mr. Kingdon, Chaplain, Alfred Barker,. Esq., Surgeon Snperinlendant. During rke voyage, the usual domestic..occurrences of ah -emigrant ship then occurred} of births ], marriages, 1, deaths, 3; the last being cases of very youngs children.who embarked with the.is.eal of death' on thtir foreheads ; one even died before the ship took her departure, and was buried on shore at Plymouth. The .course of tbe ." Charlotte Jane" lay inside the Madeira and Canary Islands. She sighted Porto-Santo, one of the Madeiras, on theJ7th of September, and on the 19th, Teneriffe and Palma, •teering close to the latter. Here she met the JJ.TS. trades, which gave her but feeble assistance, and left-her in about lat. 18°. N." Her course was then so&th-easterly, and in about 6°. ]S^, she was iriven by currents and foul winds to the eastward as far as long. 16 "W. Here she met aN. W. wind, under which she again stood to the/southward, crossing the line on the 9th of October, in loug. 190. W.

In lat 2. 28. she entered the S.E. trades, which carriedJier rapidly, over 20 degrees of latitude. On tke 12th of Oct. she spoke the Zenq of Richmond, U. S., from Benguela. to New York, and sent letters' to England. Her'course then was speedily run southward aud south-easterly. On the 28th of October nearing Tristan d'Acunha, she made. 2-50 miles it* the 24 hours, the largest day's- run during the voyage. From Tristan d'Acunha! which to the disappointment1 of many she jdid not, approach^ near enough to sight, she steered; S.S.E., with" a fresh N.W. wind, and crossed'the meridian of Greenwich on the 29th of October. South-eastward still to Desolation Island with strong gales, a dreary drive of three weeks in csld and rain, with no perceptible fjtve<%s.\n. the sea, the sky, or the. Cape pigeons kr the'wake. Desolation Island passed, she encountered the first foul wind from the eastward, and ran south, bearing up again, she ran beautifully on, promising a rapid passage,' till the 110 th degree of east long. Here for-a week E. and NIE. wWs prevailed, and drove her to the southward; not only out of her course, but to the extreme cold of lat. 520. 36". the furthest point of southing reached.' JTere bets which,had previously boen freely^.given 'iv favour_of 9-5 and 98 days from port to port, were now freelj^taken about 105, 110, or even*'l2O days, she being, then 88 days out. . However the wind so»n changed, and after a splendid run abreast of the Australian coast, she ac last made the land in the iifternoou of the 11th of December. Passing close in•ide the " traps," she was becalmed and baffled for foac days on the coast, giving the delighted passengers, as she stood off and on, glimpses of the coast at Fove*ux* Straits, Molyneux, and Taieri Rivers, Otsgo, «r«d Bank's Peninsula.

On Monday morning early she stood into Port Vicieria, aad earned the proud distinction of-'being file first ship to Und emigrants on the shores of the Canterbury Settlement. • From henceforward the age of the Colony will be described as dating from the arrival of the," Charlotte Jane."

Litile need be said- beyond this sketch of the ship1!.- course to describe the voyage. The passengers, bai their share of the manifold discomforts which. g« te make a sea-voyage a bye-word for discomfort. Extreme heat, and extreme cold, confinement and enuui, are the lot of every Australasian voyager. But whether it was that with this courageous little band a spirit of hope prophesied better things be* ycnd, or the colonist spirit of resolution was strong, disregarding petty present evils, while greater menaced at a distance; —or whether it wae that the unceasing attention to the wants of ail, which characterised the management of the 'SCharlotte Jane," smoothed everything, it may be safely; uid that by »o party of passengers have discom'torts'lieen more patently endured, by n«ne more ea«ly forgotten.

Of amusements, two manuscript newspapers, or weekly magazines, "The Cockroach," and4'the Sea-pie," conducted with much spirit and ability, afforded a fund throughout The wonders of "the deep, as they successively presented, themselyes, were unfailing in interest aod delight, interpreted'as they were^ By an enthusiastic naturalist, the 'excellent surgeon-superintendant' Then there was the Maritime, if not ina»ly game of "shuJHe-katy," the foil and siii^le-Btick, the piano, and tbe song, and during the fine weather, the " light fantastic toe." At one time- a passion fur building model colonial

houses animated the ship ; designs and models were in every one's hands, aiidthe subject on every one's lip; at another, ship-building was in vogue, and craft designed on the most courageously ingenious principles, to supersede all existing theories, were modelled, and calmly lectured on. Thus, as probably witk every-ship that makes the voyage, time flew rapidly away; anxious and more anxious grew the daily investigation of the chart j more and more impatient the expectations of the land-sick passetl;gurs. At last the breeze became softer, and to the sanguine jseemed to smell of laui : and one afternoon, while all were eager on the look out, " the loom," was seen by several at once. New Zealand was made, and the voyage was done.

I How gladly then, Sick of the.aneonifotable ocean, The impatieut pawi-igers approach thn shore, Escaping from therfiise of endless motion, —. Tofcal firm earth tuaeath their feet oncti more, To hruathe again tl>: air, With taint of bilgi? sad cordage undeflted, And Jriuk of living ipriiigs!—if there they may, And with fresh frui'; and vholesoine food repair, Their spirits wtjary>f the wsitery way.

And oh i how b'eaii.ful! The things of cartl' appear To eyes thai forjuKi. near For many » week tivo seen Ouly.thc circle of de restless sea: With what a freih flight They gaze agaiii oi, field* and forests green, Hovel, or whatsoe'ir May wear the trnceof man's industrious hand; How grateful to th<ir sight The shore of shelvug *and; Ai the light boaViwves joyfully tc land.—Southe?.

J The only general observation that occurs to us as suggested by the".vorage is that of pronouncing it highly injudicious ;fo.'emigrant vesselsto run so far to the southward as tie latitude in which the "Charlotte Jane" made'her east course. The temptation of thus gaining a\Kpid passage is doubtless very I great, but the utm<ht speed cannot compensate to ' poor emigrants for the miseries thereby, inflicted on theic. It is almost impossible on board ship to escape from coldi sad from rain and spray: the only lefuge is by jkuddliiig under hatches in dirt and darkness. ;Tlu beds can never be properly aired.on deck; and this single consideration should be sufficient to induce, the a\itkorit;<=s^»* uouie tq prescribe a rul&Atf^e subject '..A- grievous loss to the colony was in tEis instance caused by the extreme cold tewhichjthe ship-was exposed: out'of. six couple of partridges and four .couple of phea-1 ™ • sants, which..had up to.thai time continued healthy , and lively, only orte fpuple of pTieajwmts and one • r^rcridgesurvivedTiie' idamp and dreary climate of Desolation Island. j Chir excellent Captain, in this instance, tried the southern passage, having a com-,, fortable and not over-crowded vessel, and succeeded^ in accomplishing airapid passage; but in his own opinion, the-preferable course for emigrant ships bound for Lytteltoji would be along the latitude of Bass's Straits, through Cook's Straits, and) down the coast -with Me prevailing north-east wind. Very few m»re years -will set the question* at rest for ever. f /