SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 43, 18 November 1871, Page 10

SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE.

ARRIVED November. 11, Amateur, ketch, 25 tons, Norgrove, from White Rock. _ 12, Wellington, 8.8. 263 tons, A. Kennedy, from the South. . e 11, Ahuriri, s.s., 131 tons, M Kinnon, from from the South. . c 13, Maori, s.s., 118 tons, Malcolm, from Lyttelton and Otago. Passengers : Cabin— Messrs Pribble, White, Dunlop. 13, Thames, cutter, 17 tons, Lambert, from Picton. , , T . 14, Keera, s.s., 150 tons, Carey.f rom Napier. Passengers—Messrs Porter, Russell, fßroad, Barnett, Baron, and 2 children. v 15, Wellington, s.s., Kennedy, from Nelson. Passengers : Cabin-Rev Mr and Mrs Richard, son, Mrs Smith, Mrs Simmonds and child, Miss Baird, Miss Bush, Miss Menzies, Miss Richmond, Rev Mr Thomas, Rev Mr Watkin, Rev Mr Connell, Messrs Smith, Hume, 1 aterson, Russell, Shannon, and 4 for North j 2 tteerage, and 11 for North. 16, Tararua, s.s., 523 tons, M'Lean, from Melbourne via the South. Passengers: Cabin —Rev Mr Taylor, Mrs and Miss Taylor ancl servant, Messrs Glendenning, Cloud, Coole, Russell, Olliver, Burling, Harcourt, Battle, Kennedy, Donovan, Ah Tong, MGlashan, Johnston, Miss Moss. 16, Luna, p.s., 200 tons, Fairchild, from Lyttelton. 16, Swordfish, brigantine, Harvey, 150 tons, from Adelaide via Nelson. Passenger Mr Marchant. SAILED. 14, Wellington, s.s., 261 tons, Kennedy, for Picton. Passengers : Cabin—Messrs Wilson, Hughes, Menzies, Braith waite, Begg, Mr, Mrs, and Master Whitaker j 18 original j 9 steerage. r 14, Ahuriri, s.s., 131 tons, M'Kinnon, lor Napier. Passengers—Messrs Axup and Cowell. 14, Wanganui, s.s., 164 tons, Linklater, for "Wanganui. Passengers : Cabin —Messrs Mairiott, Woon, Mrs Hirst, Mrs Woon, Mrs Duncan. Mrs Meredith. , 14, Samson, p.s., 11l tons, Mundle, lor Lyttelton. ■ _ „ 14, Go-Ahead, s.s., 84 tons, Doile, for Manawatu. . 15, Esther, schooner, 46 tons, Campbell, lor Pahau. 15, Keera, s.s., 158 tons, Carey, for Lyttelton. Passengers—Brown, Regan, Kennedy. 15, Amateur, schooner, 25 tons, Norgrove, for Picton. - 15, Thames, cutter, 17 tons, Lambert, lor Pieton. . - 15, Maori, s.s., 118 tons, Malcolm, lor Napier. Passengers: Cabin —Mrs J. D. M‘Kie, Mrs Blundell, Messrs Pearson, Aston, Parker, Perard, Claridge, Ormond, his Honor Judge Johnston, Mr Willmer, Mrs M'Donald ; 2 steerage. 15, Phoebe, s.s., 416 tons, Worsp, for Lyttelton. Passengers : Cabin—Messrs Sbaw, Garth, Peacock, Reynolds , Mr, Mrs, and the Misses Richardson (2), 2 children, and 2 servants, Mr, Mrs, and Miss Jones. 16, Wellington, s.s., 262 tons, Kennedy, for Taranaki and Manukau. Passengers : Cabin —Mr, Mrs, and Master Whitaker, Messrs Menzies, London, Wormall, Whitaker, Wilson, Graham, A. Begg, Tuhaere, O’Rorke, Farmer, Quick ; 4 original saloon, and 13 steerage. 16, Tararua, s.s , 523 tons, M'Lean, for Melbourne via the West Coast. Passengers : Cabin—Messrs Williams, Crombie, White, Tribe, Ferres, Harrison, Mountfort, Stafford, Russell, Ingles, Park, Bailey, Seymour, Reid, Kenny, Richardson, Townsend, Mrs Fagan, and original passengers from South.

Captain Scott, of the ketch Alert, came into town on Sunday last, leaving his crew, consisting of twe seamen, at the scene of the late disaster. The ketch Alert anchored in Worsens Bay on Friday night last, and on Saturdav morning she parted one of her chains, and, the vessel driving, Captain Scott then let go a kedge, with a hawser fastened to it, and she held on for some time. The pilot, Mr Holmes, observing the dangerous position of the vessel, sent into town for a steamer. Captain Fairchild, of the Luna, immediately got up steam, and proceeded to the Heads, but was unfortunately too late to render assistance, as by the time the Luna reached there the Alert was driven on to the rocks, and the sea making a clean breach over her. She is timber laden, and it is thought will be got off again without much damage. Captain Scott desires to return his sincere thanks to Captain Fairchild and Mr Holmes and his boat’s crew, for the alacrity displayed by them on the occasion of the disaster.

A very slow voyage is noticed in a recent issue of the “ Ceylon Observer.” It was that of the Astracan, from dalle to Colombo, a distance of some 80 miles. The vessel took 30 days on the run, and seems to have been looked upon as lost. H.M.S.S. corvette Clio, flying the pennant of Commodore Frederick Stirling, arrived in Hobson’s Bay on the 28tli Oct. from Sydney. On her arrival she was saluted by the Nelson with 11 guns, the compliment being returned by a salute of six guns. The Clio, it is expected, will remain at Melbourne until about the middle of December, and will then proceed to Hobart Town for a short stay. A curious discovery has just been made in Chatham Dockyard. Some extensive alterations are being made in the river wall opposite No 1 iron ship-shed ; the workmen, in order to ensure a good foundation, excavated to a considerable depth. When they had reached a depth of about 30 feet they came upon the complete hull of a large vessel embedded in the ground. It is supposed to be the remains of the Sea Horse, a war vessel that sunk in the Medway more than a century ago, and was afterwards towed in to form a part of the retaining dockyard wall. The most curiouf part is that a large number of the timbers are

in a perfectly sound condition, and the oak of which the keel is formed is as sound as when it was laid upon the slip blocks. Only one iron bolt has been found, the timbers having been fastened together by means of wooden “ coaks,” and a large namber of these are in a perfect state. THE STRANDING OF THE LADY BIRD. We have great pleasure in publishing the copy of a letter addressed to Mr Lancelot Holmes, the pilot, by Messrs Bethune and Hunter, agents for the New Zealand Insurance Company, and agents for Lloyd’s at this port, by which it will be seen that the directors of the company have directed Messrs Bethune & Hunter to present Mr Holmes and his crew with a gratuity of £SO, in order to mark in a substantial manner their appreciation of the value of the services rendered by him and his boat’s crew on the occasion of the stranding of the Lady Bird on Barrett’s Reef on the night of the 20th September. It may not be out of place to mention at the same time that we understand the New Zealand Insurance Company, acting on the recommendations of their representatives here, settled promptly and liberally the claim preferred by the owner of the Lady Bird. The following is the letter addressed to Mr Holmes : Exchange Buildings, Wellington, 21st October, 1871. Sir, —"We have been instructed by the Board of Directors of the New Zealand Insurance Company to tender their best thanks to yourself and the men who formed your boat’s crew at the time you went off to the schooner Lady Bird when she struck on Barrett’s Reef on the night of the 20th September. In order to mark their appreciation of the value of the services then rendered, we have been directed to hand you the enclosed cheque for £SO, to be apportioned in the following manner :—£2s to be retained bp yourself ; £lO to be paid to Frederick Rixon, coxwain of the boat; and £5 each to Nicolia Sciacia, Robert Robertson, and John Russell. It affords us peculiar satisfaction to be the medium through which this communication passes, and we gladly avail ourselves of the opportunity of expressing the high sense we entertain of the value of the services you rendered, and the benefit which must result from the good example you set,—We are, &c, Bethune & Hunter, Agents New Zealand Insurance Co. Mr Lancelot Holmes, P ; lot, Harbor of Port Nicholson, Wellington. COLLISION BETWEEN THE NEVADA AND A. H. BADGER. An inquiry into the circumstances attending the collision and abandonment at sea of the barque A. H. Badger was commenced at Sydney on October 27, by the Steam Navigation Board. The first witnesses examined were the master, mate, and a seaman on board the A. H. Badger. Their evidence was substantially the same as the statement contained in the log of the vessel, which we published on Monday. The following was the other evidence taken: —

John Webster deposed : I was a passenger on board the Nevada on the passage from Auckland to Sydney. On the evening of the collision I was awoke by a shock. This was n Sunday night. I heard loud cries apparently coming from alongside the vessel clobo to my cabin rail. “ Stop her, stop her, was what I heard first. The steamer was going at the usual rate, and I could hear her paddles, I jumped out of bed, looked through the window, and saw a kind of shadow of a vessel just passing us. I got up in time to go on deck, and met one of the stewards. I asked him what was the matter, and he said, It is nothing. We have grazed a vessel in passing.” Just after that the steamer was stopped for a second, and then went on. I returned to my berth. I met one or two other passengers at the same time, ana they going down, apparently satisfied. That is all I know about the matter. I heard very loud cries close to my window, but not the breaking of timber. cries I heard were—“ Stop her, stop her !” I heard nothing like the cries of females. I was not on deck, but met the steward as he was going down. Henry Dyer Maddock deposed : I was a passenger by the Nevada at the time of the accident. I was in my berth on the deck house. About eleven o’clock on Sunday night I was awakened by a noise which sounded to me as if all the machinery had got loose and fallen. I immediately got up to go out, but prior to going out I heard loud cries of “stop her !” Before that I observed a small vessel, which appeared to have two masts, and had a large portion of the sail clewed up. I was also in the habit of going up on the forecastle before going to bed, and remarked a very brilliant light at the masthead, and also the side lights. I asked the man whether he had more than one look-out. This was between half-past eight and nine o’clock. I saw three lights and they were brilliant. The cries “ stop hex*” were on board the barque, not the steamer. I must candidly confess the steamer did not stop. I did not see the captain or any of the officers of the steamer at that time. It was a very hazy night, but looking back with the wind we could see a vessel three or four hundred yards. The vessel I saw appeared to have two masts, with the sails clewed up to the fore yard. I was on the port side. I saw no lights on board the barque. William Watson deposed : I was a passenger on board the Nevada at the time of. the accident, but was not aware of the collision until the following morning. I can say that a more carefully or better managed ship never went afloat. The captain was not aware, of the collision until I pointed it out to him. The lights were burning on that night and every other night. I observed them about 10 o’clock. There was no negligence in point of lights whatever, although there might have

been on the point of a look-out. I never went to the forecastle without seeing the look out, but cannot say whether there was a look-out on the night of the collision. I pointed out to the captain the damage done to the stem of the vessel, and said it must have been caused either through the chain cable which was round the stem of the steamer at Auckland, or by the collision. Peter Carter deposed : I am master of the barque Alice Cameron. I remember boarding the barque A. H. Badger on the morning of the 16th October. I found the vessel had been in collision, and was cut down to the water’s edge. The mizzen rigging was gone. I think the ship was necessarily abandoned. I don’t think any efforts could have saved her, even if I had kept with her. I should not like to have remained aboard of her. The President said that the commander of the Nevada had been invited to attend the investigation, at the request of the Hon Treasurer, and the board would be prepared to hear anything he wished to say. Mr M. Stephen said that the commander of the Nevada wished to keep his case until it was brought before a judicial tribunal. The Board then adjourned. WRECK OF THE LOCH LEVEN. The report given by Captain Kendall, of the barque Alice, of a ship being ashore at King s Island, turns out to have been too true, and another fine, stately ship, the Loch Leven, has been lost, with a large and valuable cargo, estimated at about £170,000 sterling. The cargo consisted of 6523 bales of wool, 50 bales of leather, 1000 horns, 13 cwt of bones, 92 pipes of tallow, and a quantity of copper ore. It is stated that our colonial insurance offices will suffer materially by the disaster. The Southern Insurance Company had insured £40,000; but, according to the invariable practice of the company, they only retained for themselves a risk cf £SOOO. The total insurance effected in the. colony amounts to about £60,000. In the £20,000 beyond the 'amount negotiated by the Southern, the Victoria, and Hobart Town and Launceston companies bear a share. The balance of £IIO,OOO between the amount of the colonial insurances and the value of the cargo is insured in London. The ship herseif was insured for £25,000 at home. She cleared out at Geelong on the 21st ult, with the above-mentioned cargo for London ; left the Heads on Monday, the 23rd, at seven a.m., and was towed four or five miles outside, -the wind being moderate from the eastward. A south-westerly direction was then shaped, and the vessel continued on her course until four a.m. on the 24tli, when she took the ground, and after grating considerably, was finally brought up on a reef about two miles east of the lighthouse at Cape Wickham, the weather at the time being very thick, and neither the land nor the light 'being visible; the wind also was exceedingly light. The quarter-boats were at once lowered, and the second officer with a portion of the crew in one boat, and the boatswain with another lot, then left the ship, while the captain with the chief officer, and seven of the crew, remained on board and endeavored to clear away the remaining boat. One of the boats, with two boys and two men in her, shortly afterwards returned to the ship, and the whole of those left behind went in her and landed, everything being left standing, with the ensign union down hoisted. At about ten a.m. Captain Branscombe was about returning to the ship in a surf boat, with Mr Spong, the lighthouse-keeper, and the chief officer, to endeavor to save the ship’s papers, and when they had passed the surf, Mr Spong advised them to return, as the sea was too high to go alongside the ship ; his advice was acted upon, and on entering the surf again a heavy breaker about ten feet high broke over the boat and capsized her. Great difficulty was encountered in reaching the shore, but all succeeded, with the exception of Captain Branscombe, who, although receiving assistance from the chief officer, succumbed. It is supposed that he must have struck the boat when she rooled over, and become stunned, as he never appeared to hold up his head while in the water. His body was, however, recovered and coffined, and buried on the island. It will, however, be exhumed, and brought here for burial. The deceased gentleman was well known here, having been trading to this port for upwards of eighteen years, and was universally respected for his many noble qualities; he was also acknowledged to be a most skilful seaman and navigator. His name was John Branscombe, native of Torquay, Devonshire, and fortythree years of age ; he leaves a wife and two children, and also an aged father and mother. All the mercantile houses in town aud the ships in the Bay had their flags lowered to half-mast immediately on the intelligence being known.—Melbourne “ Age.” SINKING OF THE BARQUE A. H. BADGER. The following particulars are taken from the log kept by the mate of the A. H. Badger, which was run down by the mail Bteamer Nevada:— October 16th, at 7 p.m., put the side-lights out; wind, north-north-west; course, north by north-north-west; breeze, fresh, with hazy weather. 10.40 pm,, sighted a steamer right ahead. I put the helm down hard to port, and shouted as loud as I could to stop the approaching vessel; but before we had time to pay off, the steamer steamer struck us on the port quarter. Captain Ledra, hearing me shout, rushed on deck just as the steamer struck us. He hailed the steamer to stop and pick ub up, as we were sinking. They returned no answer, but proceeded on their course. We immediately sounded the pumps, and found we could keep her free by keeping the pump 3 constantly going. Stationed three men at the pumps, and went over the side to ascertain the amount of damage. Found

there was a large hole below the cohering board, close to the wafer’s edge. We then got a tarpaulin and some battening, and nailed it over the holo to keep the water out. Then commenced to lighten the ship by discharging maize out of the after hold, and throwing it overboard. At daylight we surveyed the damage, found the port main topmast, and topmast top gallant, and royal back stays carried away, all the mizen-chain bolts drawn; port bumpkin carried away, and the lower maintopsail yard in two halves; the covering boards and ten planks from 12 to 15 feet completely gone. At 6.30 a.m. sighted a vessel to the northward ; hauled the ship on the port tack to speak to her, and hoisted the ensign union down. At 9 p.m. the vessel proved to be the Alice Cameron, from Auckland to Sydney, ten days out. Hove-to under her lee, and went on board with a note from Captain Ledra, requesting Captain Carter to come on board, and pass his opinion with respect to the state of the ship. He came on board, but found he could say nothing till the carpenter overhauled the damage. Five men from the Alice Cameron came on board to lighten the ship, so that the carpenter could get to work at the hole. About 11 a.m. the carpenter came on board and commenced to work at the hole in her side, but found it was no use, as the planks would not hold the fastenings. Capt. Carter and Capt. Ledra asked the carpenter if anything could be done with the ship, and he replied that nothing could be done as the ship was not seaworthy. At noon launched the longboat and transhipped the captain, his wife and family, and the crew. At the time of the accident our side lights were burning, ana there was a man on the look-out. I could see no mast-head light at the time on board the steamer. Our latitude was 34 4 south, long. 105’38 east.