THE "SIR GEORGE SEYMOUR."

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

THE "SIR GEORGE SEYMOUR."

The " Sir George Seymour," weighed anchor at Plymouth, about 11 o'clock, a.m m on Sunday, Sep. 8. She was the last, by several hours, to leave the shores of Old England. Her companions were all out of sight, and two out of the three were not seen again,'till she met them in this harbour. Like the rest, she made an excellent run out of channel, and by the 13th was abreast of Cape Finisterre. On Sunday, theJLSth, the passengers assembled, for the first time, for Divine worship, which was celebrated on the poop. " All hands aft to rig the church," was a new sound to landsmen, but what church could be grander than that which had the sky for its roof, the ocean for its floor, and God Himself for its Architect. Great was the thankfulness of most, who, after a week of sickness and discomfort, were thus assembled together for the first time, to adore and praise Him, Who " sitteth above the waterfloods." From that day forward, the morning and evening services of the Church were celebrated, with few occasional exceptions, throughout the voyage, and the Holy Communion was thrice administered, first, on Sunday Sept. 22nd, again, on SuTxiny, Oui.,2ot\i, and lastly on Advent Sunday. The weather, during the first pin of thevovajre was very delightful. On Wednesday, the jistw, %,L had a beautiful-view of Porto Santo, one of the Madeira group, Madeira itself being afterwards seen more dimly in the distance. On the same morning we were startled by an alarm of fire in. the afterJhold, which, though it, was speedily extinguished, I<swas sufficient to cause a thrill of horror in the minds of most, succeeded by a feeling of thank- ■ fulness for being delivered from se great a peril. It was broad daylight, laud was in sight,'though kt a distance; but, even if the lives of all had bern spared, which could hardly have, been expected, to have lost all, and landed on a. foreign soil, had be«n a sad disaster. On the Friday following, we had a clear view, though at a very great distance, (as much c-as 90 miles,) of the far famed peaks of Teneriffel Falma, with its bold and rugged outline, and its many smoke-wreaths, the signs of its industry and commerce, divided with the lofty and majestic Peak, which stands as it were the mother, of the group amongst her graceful offsprings, the interest of that lovely morning. Ferro, tint southernmost of the Canaries, was in sight tiie'foilowing^day. On the . 26th we passed St. Antonio^ the westernmost of the Cape Verds, and from that time, we saw no land for eleven weeks; that which we next saw*being a -part of the beautiful coast of this our southern Britain. On the 4th of October, an incident occurred, which we must not pass over. A sail came in sight,' which proved to be the " Randolph." ; Nothing could have happened more fortunately, since it gave an opportunity to our friend Mr. Davy, to pass the rest of the voyagein his own ship. He had narrowly escaped missing his passage altogether, having arrived at Plymouth too late to embark on board the " Randolph," and was with difficulty permitted to take his passage with us. An opportunity was now afforded, most unexpectedly, of pitting him in possession of his own cabin, in his own ship. There was mot one, it may safely be said, who was not sorry t« lose him from amongst us,. still we could not out congratulate him on the now probable recovery of his cabin and his outfit. The expectation was realized ; a boat was lowered from the "Randolph," and the chief officer, the two clergymen, .and some other passengers,, came on board to visit us, and after a short stay, returned in company with our friend, who has thus succeeded in accomplishing a feat, more often talked of than performed, namely, that of sailing in two snips, an hoifour supposed t« be reserved' *nly for the m«tt distinguished personages* We sailed in eornpftsy with our friends of the " Randolph," for the two following days, and did no?'finally part witluthem i till the,Thursday following} Oct. 10.

On Saturday, Oct. 12, at about 10 P.M., ire crossed the line, within five weeks of the day «n which we left England. On the Aiy following, the bodies of two infanti, who had died the night Wforc, were committed to the ietf, &ni here we milt

not omit to express our thankfulness that no death of any adult, and so little of anything like serious illness or accident occurred throughout the voyage. From the line to the Cape, we made a splendid run* On the 23rd, in about the latitude of Ilio Ja^ neiro, we. reached the westernmost point of our fcourse, about 33 west longitude, and then first began to turn our faces in the direction of our new home. On Nov. Ist, we crossed the meridian of Greenwich, by the s,th we were abreast of the.Cape. Though we experienced some rough weather about this time, and occasionally afterwards, yet all, we believe, whose first voyage this was, are agreeably disappointed in having escaped, in this respect, so much better than they had anticipated, and it must be a cold heart indeed, which would not feel thankful for the speedy and favourable voyage, which was granted to us. But little remains to be told. We passed about halfway between St Paul's and Desolation Island, on the 20th of November, making gradually southward, till on the 7th of December, vre were nearly in the parallel of 49°. On Wednesday, the 11th, about * o'clock in the morning, we sighted Stewart's Island, earlier, it appears, than either the " Charlotte Jane" or the " Randolph," thoiigh on the same day with them, and 94 days from'the time 6f leaving Plymouth. We are surely not presumptuous in viewing it as a I signal proof of the Divine blessing upon our undertaking, that three ships, starting at the same tinle, but not intentionally keeping together, and running indeed in very different tracks, and passing over so immense a space of ocean, and not coming in sight of one another (with the exception of the time above mentioned, when a special object was answered by the meeting) for the space of three months, should, at the end of that time, come in sight of the Promised Land on the'same'day.' So nearly did three out of the four vessels which composed the ever-to-be-remembered First Canterbury Fleet arrive together, that the one of the three which came into harbour last was the first to see the land; and that also was the one which had. started last. Few will ever forget the joyous excitement and flow of spirits which prevailed on that beautiful day when we first beheld the noble harbours and magnificent moun-tain-peaks of the Southern Island of New Zealand; and on the following day, when we ran in so close, mid almost longed to land on the lovely sea-beach, hacked by the low cliffs ; and again on the Sunday following, when the snowy peaks of our own mountainrange first became visible, and afterwards shone bo grandly in the glorious sunset of that evening. Monday and Tuesday were brilliant days, and it is impossible to describe the pleasure we derived as we passed along the,, eastern and northern coast of Banks's Peninsula, descrying continually fresh beauties, recognizing spots known- before by name, and comparing the veritable land itself with the maps with which'we] had been so long familiar. And when at length jGodley Head came in sight, and the harbour of Port Victoria opened before us, and when at length we entered, and sailed as it were into the bosom of its encircling hills; who was there that did not feel at the time that he could have goue through the fatigues of the whole voyage if it were only to enjoy.the keen and pure gratification, and the life-long memories of those few last days. The '.'Sir George Seymour" came to anchor about 10 o'clock on Tuesday, Dec. 17, being 100 days almost to the very hour from the time she left Plymouth.