PORT CHALMERS.—JUNE 23.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 189, 24 June 1862, Page 4

PORT CHALMERS.—JUNE 23.

Wind at noon, VI., very light breeze. Weather, clear and warm. Barometer, .30 ; thermometer, 53. . .. arrivals.. Benjamin Heape. barque, 261 tons, Moore, from Melbourne on the 12th, general cargo, 121 passengers. Tickle and Co., agents. ' ' DEPARTURES. Geelong, p.s., Boyd, for Lyttelton and intermediate ports, general cargo, 21 passengers. Cargill and Co., agents. Samson, p.s., M'Gill, for Waikouaiti, goods and passengers. J. A. and R. Baird, agents. ' Lyttelton, p.s Toomey, for Waikouaiti, goods and passengers. C. F. Beeby, agent. EXPECTED ARRIVALS. From Melbourne. —General Jessup. Yarra. From London. — Escort, tailed April 22 ; Planter, 'Bombay, Romulus loading on April 26. From Liverpool.—Abdul Medjid, sailed i April 7. From the Clyde—-Flying Mist, Nelson, loading on April 2G ; Grasmere, to sail April 30. projected departures. I Abbot Lawrence, for Melbourne, early Gottenburg, for Melbourne, June 26 Guiding Star, for Invercargill, June 24 Lord Worsley, for the North, June 27 vessels is TORT. Sebim, schooner, from Melbourne Prompt, schooner, from Auckland United Brothers, schooner, from Melbourne "Dunedin, schooner, rrotn "Wellington Indus, barque, from Newcastle Camilla, barque, from Newcastle Omega, barque, from New Bedford, U.S. Wm. Buchanan,'barque, from Melbourne Success, schooner, from Melbourne Streamlet, schooner, from Melbourno Zambia, ship, from Glasgow Canterbury, schooner, from New River Black Swan, ship, from London Picard, schooner, from Hobart Town Colchester, brig, from Adelaide Abbot Laurence, ship, from Melbourne Evelina Rutter, schooner, from Melbourne Whitehaven Lass, barque, from London Tnmar, schooner, from Hobart Town Cincinnati, barque, from Newcastle Valiant, brig, from Melbourne - Pox, schooner, from Sydney Mary Ann, brig, from Hobart Town Wild Wave, schooner, from Stewart's Island Jane; brigantine, from Melbourne Martha Ellen, schooner, put back Benjamin Heape, barque, from Melbourno The ba*que Benjamin Heape, wbich had arrived nt the Heads ou Saturday, was this morning brought up iri tow by the Lady Barkly, htr passengers,pro-, ceeding direct to town., She brings in all 121 passenger?, a number indicating an increasing disposition on the part of Victorians to visit Otago, being in excess "of number brought by any recent arrivals. A great majority of those on board .were, moreover, persons who had, visited Otago last season, and are nowreturning to settle, ''accompanied-bv tlieir -wivis i.iw families. The Benjamin Heape-left Port-Philip ■ /Heads on .the morning of the 12th,. and on Friday ' arrived 'off Cape Saunders, after a passage characterised by strong winds and thick weather. • On the termination of the voyage, the cabin and other passengers presented Captain Moore with a letter, com-^ plittfCnting him highly upon his seamanship, and his assiduous attention to the comforts of all on board.

The General Jessnp, which left Melbourne about the same time as the Benjamin Heape, is not yet in sight, mid as the wind is rather light, cannot be expected for a little time, should she happen to be any distance offthe coast. >>'■ ■ •.> •*>'-

Three, steamers conveyed passengers to Waikouaiti to-day-^thc'Geelong,: Samson, and Lyttelton,—the present fine weather encouraging many to visit the Highlay digcrings, wlio-had'becn deterred by the -weather-tfhich'lor some timelpast'prevailed. . Mr. Scott, engineer, is actively engaged in making Ids preliminary arrangements for the removal of "the ;rVictory^froin; the beach inWicklifle Bay, and •It 4s expected' that by ■ Wednesday the steamer ySamSon will vtow- round to Wickliffe- the barge. Brothers;' containing tlie anchors nadchains, andother '" appliances to -be maxle use of on the occasion. On Saturday,, the Victory was.visited by Captain George ' Thomson^ Marine {Surveyor,- who < kindly furnishes r J lis. with'the following note of the vessel's present posi-, ' " tioii', aid condition :-•:''On. Saturday, June 21, *'-' visited the' steamship'- Victory/ now ashore at Wickliffe Bay. Found the ship embedded only four feet forward, six feet aft, and about ten feet amidships in sand of" a moveable nature, similar to quicksand. Front tlio information collected, the tides seem to vaTy'a'kfea.t deal, rising and falling according to the —wincl'snnfluence. The ship seems to lie in her present bed; quite easy, the surf apparently not making .-,:■ the slightestimpression onthe hull'; and she has, in y.myfopjniqn,' ffeceiyed little or no iDJiiryl • From the infornjationfiveu by Captain Toogood on "the occasion of the yisit/it appears.that on the 10th of June, at.ljq'clpc&rp.m., the ship moved and rolled so much .as to .cause her. bell to ring. He had his port anchor -—outs-ancVcomlnenced-lleaving-upon.it, .when the_ship. , moved with her head to seaward about 11 fathoms - -length;' when the chain parted; and, it is the opinion of .tlie master'and thfiset ori aboard that, had the chain "-riotparted, biit if a lai^er chain and heavier anchor y^liad'been'out further to seaward, she would have been ',■ rcbmnl6telyihead to sea, and in a fair way of getting off f'VftitHvfery; little trouble. On .the lltb June, at 11 ■".!.a.m. J, there was-another high* tide, and having again >; ': Connected the chain,: they, commenced heaving, and •';-':feoi innboiit^y fatboins more, when the cable parted, "y^&nd'Hhey "weVe'Obliged ;to cease operations for that !J •tld&'-'^On-a'third occasion, having! again shackled the , r chain, they commenced heaving,, and gathered in ■"'about''two' fathoins//.iill Ut. ; again parted,.when the riiip immediately forged ahead i\b6utfiforty feet parallel witltnthe!beach,«iSirice then the ship has re'."jahj^l,^t»tiorittry/^nd the chain lias been again •- * shatekled^and hove taut to prevent the vessel canting •'withyher ihead in shore. I have to thank Captain Totigoodifor his kindness and attention in giving every iHforniation.relatiye to. ihe ship, and likewise for his • i/-Bfel¥!-^ e'?#^c^7°*;the'llagoon, which he had 'A7s§rtmpd-yW t]ie Safe-guldariM_of'the craft now *J emprdySd1 uffetching'the stored arid'affparatus fbr tlio removal ofthe vessel. I havtfnc* hesitationiri"saying that in fine weather a boat, even of the draught of tho Samson, could enter with perfect safety ot high

water, there being not less than 9 or 10 feet at the entrance, and even more as one proceeds further up the lagoon; indeed, for, 1,000 yards up the channel, a ship may lie, with perfect safety, if properly moored. According to information, the tiood-tide runs at the nit* of four or five knots, and the ebb about seven or eight. Captain Thomson adds that the engines of the vessel have lately been taken topieces, so far as the circumstances would allow, for .the purpose' of having them- thoroughly cleaned of the sand, and for some clays steam had been kept up. The propeller remains uninjured, and, unless the shaft or steara-pipe should suffer in the effort of removing the vessel, she will, on floating, be capable, by her own powers, of proceeding to the contemplated anchorage ground," . „■ '

The Warrior, although now presenting the graceful outline and appearance of a gigantic yacht, is so constructed that, at the cost of a few hundred pounds, she i may be converted into an irresistible ram. It is only necessary to take away the overhanging cutwater, figure-head, Sic, ".when a stem of gigantic proportions and enormous strength, forged and fitted with this object, will make its appearance, and to this the bow plates can be easily connected. It is stated in the American papers that the steamer Fingal, which ran the blockade of Savanah with a large cargo of munitions of war, was being converted into an Tiron-pinted vessel at tbat port, for service against the Federal gunboats at Port Royal. Intelligence has been received of the capture, by a Confederate privateer, of the Yorktown, one of the regular New York packets belonging to Messrs. Grinnell. She was on her voyage from London to New York

Iron-plated Vessels.—The Lords of the Ad-' mirality bave decided ou converting the 91-gun line-of-battle steamer Bulwark, 3,710 tons, 1,000-horse power, now on the stocks at Chatham Dockyard, into un armour-plated frigate similar to the Royal Oak, under construction at that establishment, as soon as the latter vessel is completed. It is probable that the screw frigate Bclvidera, 51 guns, 3,027 tons, building oh the adjoining slip, will also be completed as an armour frigate, foi- which she is well suited, the alterations from her original designs being very trifling. There Is alo a 22-gtin screw corvette partially completed at Chatham Dockyard, together with a 17-gun screw-steamer, the whole of the hands from both of which have been, withdrawn, in order to enable the Admiralty to decide what course should be taken with regard'to the completion of these vessels according to the original designs. The Royal Sovereign, 181, screw liner, at Portsmouth, is'to lie at once cut down to a 12-gun shield ship, on Captain Coles' plan. The resources of Portsmouth Dockyard are now.principally employed on iron-cased ships — the Black Prince, in No. 10 dock; the Royal Alfred, preparing for plating in No. 5 building slip, and the Royal Sovereign. All work by the shipwrights is for the present suspended on two out of three wooden vessels building—tiie Dryad, 50-gun frigate, and the Harlequin, 17-gun corvette. The third wooden vessel, the Helicon, one-gun paddle despatch steamer, has still a few bauds employed in completing her frame tor planking.— The Times.