AUCKLAND.

Colonist, Volume IV, Issue 358, 29 March 1861, Page 4

AUCKLAND.

(From the New Zealander.) A VOYAGE FROM NEW ZEALAND,

By way of being somewhat definite, and for the purpose of giving a precise illustration, I will advert to some incidents in the passage I have just made from New Zealand in the ship Phoenix, -Robert Brown, Captain, t>f the " White Star " >line, belonging to Messrs. Wilson and Chambeis, Liverpool. • This ship, in which were embarked a large .<number of passengers, consisting chiefly of cmi- '■• grants returning for their own good, sailed from -Auckland in July. •^ocra after she started some heavy weather \BeMiii and screly belabored her, in consequence 'ot^hich she sprung a leak, and this leak could *'no't%e got at so as to be stopped. The exertions I -of 'fihe officers and crew were unceasing, and ■strained to the utmost in endeavoring to meet the emergency. It was at this crisis that a consideration for the safety and tranquility of the passengers was manifested. Communication between the passengers and officers of the vessel was freely permitted on the subject of the dangerous position in which she then was. Observations, and even suggestions of advice, from people to whom seamanship aud navigation were but mere names, were listened to with patience and courtesy. That the captain and mates "were fully sensible of the situation of the ship, was apparent from the manner in which they treated the subject in conversation, and from their evident anxiety to do all that was necessary or possible in order to relieve her. Her cargo, consisting of Kauri gum and timber, were burdensome, aud none of the officers, crew, or passengers doubted that if a large portion of it were not thrown overboard, the ship would— nay, mu3t —eventually founder or sink. Immediate action was requisite, and |,to that demand the captain promptly answered by ordering the discharge of the gum, about 300 tons, together with a large quantity of weighty things above and' below deck. The energy of the mates, Messrs. Frank Viniss and George Coombes, in directing the work and assisting by their own hands thus to lighten the vessel, was unflagging, and the pains taken by them, in conjunction with the captain, to calm the fears of the passengers and restore confidence to the ship, were most conspicuous and praiseworthy. It suffices to say that this step, taken so readily io deference to the feelings of the passengers, had the effect of relieving the ship and enabling her to proceed without difficulty. She rounded Cape Horn gaily, and anchored in the Mersey after a iud of a hundred days. From the minds of the passeogers no small load was also removed, and they pursued their homeward journey free from any further care about the condition of the ship, ami with the monotony of the passage broken by the hospitality of the captain, who in his desire to see all arouud him contented and happy—the children in particular —gave theatrical performances, music, singing and dancing, and a variety of rustic sports, combined with a moderate and proper quantum of refreshments, made all go merry as a marriage ball. Of those assemblies, too, it may be said, as in the " Vicar of Wakefield," whether he had much wit amongst us cannot be proved, but we certainly had much laughter, which answered the end as well. And that the guests were wise as well as merry may be inferred from tho fact of their festivities having been joined in and thus sanctioned by the chaplain of the ship, a Church of England minister. Yea, the Rev. John Roberts, a Welsh rover on church missions, advancing to the rank of a citizen of of the world, performed this his fourteenth deepsea voyage (he wished he had never taken one) with a fair share of comfort to himself. He assisted at our harmless ocean revels, and was as jolly as the song says the Pope used to be, or as tradition says were the monks of old.

For the take of shortening sail now, to use a nautical phrase which I have managed to pick up, I will only add, with regard to the supply and change of provisions for passengers, their general accommodation, and their many little wants aud requests, that there was no lack of attention on the part of the captain, but, on the contrary, his eudeavors were continued in trying to please and satisfy the passengers in every respect that was reasonable.

So much for the treatment of passengers in a "White Star" liner.

Mutiny.—We regret to learn that six or seven of the men just arrived—discharged soldiers from the late East India Company's Army —are in custody and about to be tried by Court Martial on a serious charge of mutinous and insubordinate conduct, during the passage out with the Armstrong.guns.