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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIII, Issue 38, 13 February 1878, Page 2

The Wellington leaves Wellington for Picton and Nelson to-day. At the unanimous request of the excursionists per Wallace, her departure from Wanganui has been postponed until tomorrow. The Kennedy reports a northerly gale aud heavy rain at Westport. The Murray arrived at Hokitika this morning, and will sail for Greymouth this evening, weather permitting. The Charles Edward left Wellington last night, but as she has not yet shown up she is probably lying for shelter in some quiet nook She will sail for the Coast on Friday morning. The arrival of the mail steamer at Auckland was not telegraphed up to the time of our going to press. As the Taranaki was to leave positively to-day, the Southern mails •will have to be brought down via the East Coast, so that there is no knowing when they will reach Nelson. From a return published in the Government Gazette we learn that during the December quarter of last year 214 vessels entered inwards at the ports of New Zealand, 194 of them being British and 20 foreign. The total number of ships entered inwards for the whole year was 812, as agaiust 878 iv the previous year. The crews of the vessels which entered inwards during the quarter numbered 3928. The number of ships which cleared outwards during the quarter was 190, and they conveyed 3450 seamen away from New Zealand. The total number of vessels which cleared outwards during the j'ear 1877 was 848, while in 1876 it was 866. Judging iby the number of vessels that go out and come in Auckland is the largest shipping port, Lyttelton the second, Wellington the third, and Port Chalmers the fourth. The Post of Friday last says:—Considerable excitement was created in town this morning by a large strange steamer, name ■unknown, being signalled from. Mount Victoria as coming through Cook Strait. In Tiew of the telegraphic announcement of the fall of Constantinople some of the public jumped to the conclusion that the mysterious stranger must be a Russian man-of-war on her way to bombard or sack Wellington— the Empire City of the Southern Seas. However, after an interval of agonising suspense, information was received that the steamer was only the City of Santiago, one of the Melbourne liners on her homeward route, which she was takiug hy way of Cook Strait as an experiment. The City of Santiago is a fine steamer of 1200 tons register. She is commanded by Captain Darke, formerly well known here in the Panama Company's service as master of the s.s. Kaikoura.