Correspondence.

Lyttelton Times, Volume VII, Issue 440, 21 January 1857, Page 6

Correspondence.

1 To the JSdilor of the In/iteltim Times. Sic, —The communication headed " Desertion of Seamen," requested to be published for public information in the" "Times" of the 7th inst., and quoted from the " Merchant Shipping Act," is calculated to mislead—because any one not fully acquainted with the above act, would naturally infer from the quotation, that seamen deserting from ships of any nation, visiting our Points, come under the penalties therein named— whereas it is only applicable to British subjects and shipping. Therefore deserters from, either American or French vessels (to which I presume the above Act is supposed at present to be applicable) can only be apprehended as such, under Warrant from a Magistrate^ and delivered over to their respective - Commanders to be dealt with as they may think fit. I am Sir, Your obedient Servant, W. C. BESWICK. Kaiapoi, 13th Jan., 1857.

To the Editor of the JLyttelton Times. Sir.—On the 27th March^ 1856, the Barque " William and Jane," Captain Hunter, having on board a cargo of eleven hundred bales of Wool, cleared for London, and on her way out of the Port, ran upon a rock or shelf lying about a cable's length from the shore, on the south side, a little to the eastward of Rhodes' Bay. This danger is not laid down in Captain Stokes Chart'of the Port. For some time the ship was in danger of lodging. Fortunately the tide was flowing, and with some maneuver? ing she was got off without any injury. The accident at the time created some excitement, but much to my astonishment as a nautical man, the danger is neither buoyed nor land marked to this day. The trade of the' port is fast increasing, and of course ships of large tonnage like the " Oliver Laing" coming to the port bein«" apt or compelled to run in without a Pilot (and°stiir compelled to pay Pilotage) may run on this shelf, with more serious consequence than that of the " William and Jane." During forty years experience in nautical matters, I dp not think I have met with-such an_ instance of neglect or a more flagrant act of injustice towards a mercantile community. ' R. SCOTT, Brig " Spray," Port Victoria, January, 1857.

[We liave made enquires on the subject of Captain Scott's letter, and learn that the Collector of Customs sometime back made a communication to the Hydrographic Office of the Admiralty, and also to Captain Byron Drury, LI. IST.; of IT. M. Surveying vessel " Pandora," shewing the position 'of the 'danger. We are told however,- on the authority 1 of a gentleman

of equal experience with Captain Scott, that no vessel of large tonnage or even moderate draught of water would be justified in standing so close in shore without a Pilot on board. And as the rook is ..now well known to frequenters of the Port, no qualified Pilot is likely to take a vessel over it. Captain Scott seems mish> formed about the danger. It is not a shelf, but a pinnacle rock haying f> feet of water on it at low water springs. It seems to have been discovered in consequence of the " William and Jane" having stood in shore somewhat closer than ordinary prudence would warrant. Ed L T.]