Shipping. PORT CHALMERS.

Tuapeka Times, Volume V, Issue 231, 4 July 1872, Page 5

Shipping. PORT CHALMERS.

June 18th. The topsail schooner Crest of the Wave, for Hokitika, and the schoonsr Hesult, for Allday Buy, sailed this forenoon.

Our Auckland correspondent telegraphs : — The English papers by the San Francisco mail contains the following list of arrivals and departures for New Zealand : — Arrived: Anne, from Wellington ; Venus, from Napier ; Shun Lee, from Canterbury. Sailed : Celestial Queen, for Auckland ; Hulcuue, for Wellington ; Wave Queen, for Otago.

The cyclone at Madras on May 1 was terrific, and its equal in intensity has not been felt there for many years. The Friend of India's telegraphic despatch says : — Many houses had been damaged, some having their walls blown down and others having their windows and doors carrie I away. Substantial panditls were thrown down andshattered. These were scenes sad enough to behold, but a still more dreadful sight was to be witnessed on the beach, from where one could see that almost every vessel that had been riding at anchor in the roadstead on tbe previous evening had suffered severely. About half a dozen vessels were wrecked, others were in great distress, aud others were fast drifting towards shore. By 11 o'clock the following English ships were found to be wrecks : — Hotspur, Burlington, John Scott, Armenian. Sir Robert Seppings, Inverness, Ardberg, Missir, and Kingdom of Belgium. About a dozen native and three foreign vessels were also destroyed, and the pier was divided into two parts by vessels being driven against it. The loss of life is not ascertainable.

June 19th. The screw steamers Tararua, for Melbourne via the Bluff, and Alhambra, 'for Melbourne via Northern and West Coast ports of call, sailed last evening. The cutter Jane, for Moeraki, sailed this forenoon. The p.s. Samsoawas yesterday placed on Isbister's slip for cleaning and painting purposes. The ship Helenslee arrived at Auckland on June 5, after a passage of 145 days. She left the East India Docks on th« 11th of January. From the very first, encountered a succession of strong head winds, which sadly marred this part of the passage. Passed the North Foreland on the 14th, and beat into the Downs on the 16th, iv the face of a strong head wind. This increasing to a gale, the ship had to be brought to an anchor, riding with 90 fathoms of chain down. The gale continued with terrific violence, and the captain gave his vessel 120 fathoms of starboard chain and 45 of port. The weather continued bad for three

days. Got under way again on the 20th January, with a light breezo from the E.N.E. At 8 o'clock the same night the Lizards were bearing N.N.E., about 15 miles

distant. On the 24th, a sudden squall s coming expectedly upon the ship, .split if the foresail and lower topsail f rooi clew to d earring. The squall Mraq followed by 'a 1 terrific gale from the W.S.W., so that in I the condition of the ship, with her sails split, r it was thought advisable to put back for new canvas, and the veisel squared away for 2 Portland at 8 p.m. Made Portland on the t 27th, and after taking fresh canvas on board t and getting it bent, left again the next day. 1 Fair wind until the Bay of Biscay was ( reached, when, on February 3, the ship ex- ] perienced nnother terrific gale, with a tre- ] mendeus high sea. The ves3el was strained ( greatly, and shipped large quantities of ] water, which fell on the deck in masses of j tons weight at a time. But again the ] weather moderated for a while. On the 7th : another terrific gale broke upon the un- < fortunate ship from the westward, accom- i panied by a perfect deluge of rain and a very high and broken sea. This weather, on and off, lasted until the < 15th, after which it moderated, and fine weather was experienced for some weeks. On April 30 encounted another terrific gale from the KW, which struck the ship on her starboard quarter, accompanied by a wild and heavy sea, which broke on board and stove in the porb side of the deck-house. The intermediate passengers were then removed to the cabin for safety. After continuing for twenty-four hours the gale moderated. But the ship seemed doomed to meet with a succession of reverses in the shape of bad weather, for on the Bth of May a terrific hurricane sprung up from the E.N.E. accompanied by a dangerous and fearfully high sea, which caused the ship to roll and labor heavily, filled the decks, cabin, &c, with water, and split and carried away several of the sails of the ship. The sjale moderated the same evening ; but on the 12th. four days after, it recommenced with equal fury, and continued for three days, to the imminent danger of ship, passengers, and crew. The storm commenced again on the 16th. Shipped enormous quantities of water throughout the day, and at 1.30 a.m. a tremendous sea struck her clean amidships, and smashed in the topgallant rail, besides doing great injury to the decks. People were employed for several hours clearing away the wreck, and pumps sounded every two hours. Gale moderated the next day, but re-com-menced on the 19th with almost similar results. The intervals between these gales were sometimes filled up with head winds, and often with calms, so that after the weather encountered 'v taken into consideration, the wonder is not that the Heleßßlee was 146 days, but that she ever reached port at all. June 20. The f.f Beautiful Star sailed last evening for Oamaru at 11 o'clock. The?. a Wellington arrived at 8 o'clock this morning, with cargo from Oamaru for Northern Poits. She sails for the North tbh evening. Tlie American ship Alice Ball, for Newcastle, in ballast, was to-day preparing for sea. Her departure will probably take place to-morrow. The cutter Hope was to-day removed fiom Dunedin to Port Chalmers, where part cargo was discharged, after which she loads coals, and proceeds to Kakanui, June 21. The s.s. Wellington, * sailed at 2 this 1 morning, for Northern Ports. ; The s.s. Stormbird arrived from the Bluff early this morning, and proceeded to Dunedin to discharge cargo. The ketch Redcliffe sailed at noon to-day ' for Moeraki. Th« schooner Pioneer, for Waikava, sailed at 1 p.m., but owing to the heavy sea on the ! bar was expected to anchor at the Heads. J The departure of the ship Alice Ball for J Newcastle to-day, was also deferred from the ' same cause. i June 22. The American ship Alice Ball, for New- ; castle, in ballast, was towed to sea this fore- !■ noon by the steam-tug Geelong. The barque Glencoe arrived this forenoon ' and was towed to jPort Chalmers by the " steam tug Geelong. She will proceed to> Dunedin to-morrow to discharge cargo. The barque left Hobartown oa the 12th inst ; experienced light winds throughout ; made the Snares on the 22nd, and met with light baffling winds, thick rainy weather, and a heavy south-east sea to arrival at the Heads The Glencoe brings a cargo of timber and fruit, and is consigned to Messrs , Gibbs and Clayton. ' " ' " A lady passenger who went home in a ship from Auckland, the captain of which was : known for his religious enthusiasm, writes a ' very bitter letter to a friend, which ib pub1 lished in the Southern Cross recently. She : says the captain was "religious to satiety ; 1 had so much conscience that he had no occasion to care what he did ; and was such a > teetotaller that when the women were in actual want of stimulants as medicine not a drop could be had. After alludingto the hypo- ■ crisy of his religion, tha writer says :—": — " He t proved the quality and genuineness of his conr Bcientionsness by packing us like pigs — 21 ' souls ia a space 26 feet long by 9 feet wide • by 6 feet 74 inches deep, in which \ye had to ' sleep and eat, and in wet weather to live together ; by never once venturing down the ladder to see whether we were alive or dead or • fed or starved, by short-provisioning the ship, • so that'at the end of 90 days we were nearly L without flour, sugar, oatmeal, potatoes, salt i pork, preserved meat, and biscuit, and had ■ to be put on short allowance of flour and > sugar till we met with a ship that] supped us i with sugar." This is what the passenger : says of "the good captain." We will not i attempt to take the good captain's part, ali though we cannot refrain from saying that , the actual complaints cau be very much nari rowed. The passenger appears to have been one of the third class, and as such would ■ know the space and provisions she might cxi pect. The twenty-one souls may in reality [ have represented only a fourth that number < of adults, for which the space would be more than adequate in a sailing ship. She also takes care to insert the word nearly when alluding to the scarcity of provisions after ninety days sailing. We perceive that " the • good ship" Beth Shan occupied 126 days on ' her last trip from Auckland.