Shipping Intelligence.

New Zealander, Volume 5, Issue 389, 5 January 1850, Page 2

Shipping Intelligence.

ARRIVALS. January 3.— Children, schooner, 31 tons, Monro,mas« ter, trom the Bay of Islands, with 15 bead (Mills, 18 sheep, and sundries. Passengers, Mensri. Poynton, Thoi. Williami, and G ret n way. J. Coney, agent. January 4. — Alexander, schooner, 36 tnni, Miller, master, from Coromandel, with 17,000 feet sawn timber, and 12 tons firewood. DEPARTURES. January 4.— Nancy, schooner, 22 tons, Hardiman, master, for Ilokianga, with sundries. Pai*ongers, Alexander Chapman and Miss Leaf. Jan. A.— -Bandicoot, schooner, 56 toiiB, P. Canavray, master, for Hobart Toim via Muhuran^hi, to take in ipars. T. Lewis • agenf.

A paragraph has appealed ■.. liie Southern Cross, intimating that the public had suffeied inconvenience both here and ai Sydney, because sufficient notice had not been giren to the Post Office authorities of the John Wesley's intended times of departure. The facts are theat. There not only wai ample information gi^n, but when the bng'n sailing for Sydney was postponed for a day, the change was communicated st the Po4 Office, io that a ser-ond and supplement »ry mail was made up for her :— and at Sydney, bv sou'e mistake on the part of tlie penon connected with the Past Office.^ whose bushum it was to convey ihe intel. ligenco to his avpnloxa io the de^artnafnt, it \vn k su^pored (contrary (o ihe plan recntJ at 'he CuiU>m House), iliat theTCSsel wai to cml for Wellington, —for w'ucfo place a nojil wm actual'? sent to her, and it wai only on account ot this error on the part of the Posi Uffic- officials theuatelves that so limited a time remained for writing, after it wai announced, as it ■hould have been at first, that the brig's de^tina ion was Auckland. Our contemporary will per<eive mat, however uniirentional! ■, he has done injustice to the officer! of \heJohn Wetley*

The New Patent Slip hai been brought out by Captain Goidbinitb, of the Rattler. It is capable of hearing a iteamer of JOOO tons burthen, or a VCfsel of 800 toni.— Hohart Town Courier,

Sir John Franklin.-— A letter from St. Petersburg, dated the 31st of July, a'ates :—" l,ady Franklitl havirig addressed a memorial la the Emperor of Russia, in which she stated that there is some possibility that the expedition which filled four years ago from England, for the difcovery of the north-wes-t ,ias. bagc, under the command of her husband. Sir John Franklin, and of which no Intelligence had been received, had been thrown on the coasts of Siberia or Nova Zambia, his imperial in jeaty instantly resolved to fit out an expedition to make » strict search on thess distant shored, and for this purpose the Imperial Academy of Science at St. Peteisburg has been consulted as to the bf st course it would be expedient to adopt." Noticr to Mariners passing through Torres Straits, and intknding to enter the Barrier Rkhf by Rainbs' Island Passage.— ln the event of the vessel being set to northward by the strong northerly current, and not able to contend with the same, as was the caie with the barque Olinda—she entered a passage in lat. 11*1, three miles wide, and no detached reefs in the entrance. There are three •mall sand banks, with deep water close to them, as you clear the three mile entrance ; a direct course may he steered for Mount Adolphus Island, anchoring at night in sixteen falbomi water; the ebb and flood tide go At the rate of four knots per hour. I would recommend Captain Towns' sailing directions in passing Wednesday Isla d; I basing adopted Capta n Ash. more's instrac ions, wai compelled to deviate with the same. Captain Aihmore's instructions will suit s>hipi going to the westward Against tin ebb, and Captain Towns'* instructions will suit rhe flood-tule.^-GEOUGB Sinclair, Otinda.—Launceston Examiner, Nqv, 23. A Whale in Port.-- The sehoonT Thistle, which tailed for Port Macquarie on Sunday, returned to port unexpectedly yeiterdiy morning, having in tow a sperm whale, which the learned in such matters say will yield thirty barrel* sperm oil, worih at present prices about £150. The Thistle anchored off Neutral Bay, ami tne novelty of a whaie being in p^rt attracted a Jart;e number of persons in the course of the day. Yesterday afternoon, the whale w« towed into one of the bayi on the North Shore, where, some try pots \ aving been borrowed, the blubber is to be tinned into oil. An immenie number of sharks, some of a very large size, were attracted by the carcaie, and were Very voracious, putting Iheir heads clean out of the waier to seize portions of the flesh, which they imagined to be " titbi's, " and attempting to lay hold of the oars and sculls of the boats ; a gentleman took some children dressed in pmk frocks down to the spot, and wh*n he tu 1 ned back to Sydney, many of ths sharks followed the boats a considerable distance, evidently attracted by the brightness of ibe colour of the clothes. One shark, of the shovel nosed d icription, was harpooned, but hit stiength whs so great, that he snapped a strong ord, aud got away wi'h the gear fast to him. Another was made fast to by three men (w« believe Portuguese) in a. diugy, and sifter a. struggle w«s captured and tawed to Pinchj-ut, when he was found to be 12 feet 6 inchri long, and 4 feet 6 inchei in girth, and the content! of his stomach, shank and rib bones of bullocks, showed that he must have been feeding in the harbour for some time, probably high up near tbc slaughter houses. A second shark was taken in the course of the afternoon with a hook, and towed ashore near Fort Macquarie. The harbour appran at present to be teeming with sharki —Sydfiei/ Herald.

The weathb« at Auckiand during the month op December, 1849. Days of continuous rain . . „ „ 4 Showery Days 7 Days on which no rain fell . . . „ . . 20 Rain 6 inches and S tenths.