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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 237, 2 October 1873, Page 2

The Kennedy arrived at Hokitika this inornirg from Westport. The Murray sails to-day from Hokitika for Nelson direct. The < harles Edward leaves Greymouth tomorrow for Westport and > elson. The barque Veronica arriv <] at the outer anchorage this morning from the Mauritius .*he brings 170 tons of sugar for Messrs. Morrison, Seland, rs. and Co , and 250 tons for Wellington. The Herald of 29th inst. gives the folknving deecripfon of the French ironclad Atuhnte, which arrived at xnd on Sunday I:<st : — " The Atalante has six great guns, two in her turrets, and four in battery; the battery bing protected by armour plates, the whole length of tbe battery on both sides of the ."-hip The thwart-ship and ship's bulkhead before and at ait are also armour-plated. Her great gwns (breachloaders) are 8 tons each, the Weight of each conie-shappd bullet bung 150ibs; diameter of each gu", between seven ard eight inches; tested range, 8000 English yards Besides these six great guns, which are models of engineering invention and constrictive skill, the Atalnto lias six smaller guns of brass oi four-inch e-ilibre. These are on -he quarterdeck astern. 'he crew are armed with the Freeh ehassepot rifle, whieh has a range of 130 » yards. The whole length of the Alalante is 258 feet over a11— 2.5 ' feet be: ween the perpendiculars. Her breadth is 47 ieet beam, and she Irs a draught of water 24 feet aft, and 22 feet forward. The engine ii -JSO nominal horse power, but she can be worked up to 1750. There are three cylinders compounded with two condensers— direct acting; and four boihrs and twenty iurnacfß. When „oing at fiili sp : fd slie uses 50 tons of coal a day. Her rate at full speed is \2. knots an hour, and her screw is cne on the French plan— Mangin's. The engine) i>s by M. Maz line of Le Havre. The ram with which the Atalante is fitted is one large mass of brass metal casting and weighs upwards of twenty -oce tons It is shaped like the blade of an antique stone axe, or (as some- lanes ) like tho broad beak of a bird 'J his thick and massive blade of metal it, fastened to the fore body of the ship through a solid wooden breast-hook extending att from ihe inner part of tbe stein, twentv six teet. The " beak," or blade, of the ' ram "" itself, fur four feet from the extreme point, is solid, and then clamps on to each side ot the deailwood, which is carried nine feet to neir the water-line, and down to the forefoot. A more tc-rri'de and appal ing wespon of ofltnee thau this it is utterly impossible to imagine. Her bottom is wood with iron top- bides. Technically speaking, she has a great amount of freeboard, and her sides tumble home to a very large degree. The Atalante is one of seven sister corvettes in the Eienth navy, all built of the same dimensions and on the same gem-ral plan, with the very latest improvements in naval architecture."