Shipping Intelligence.

Westport Times, Volume III, Issue 371, 8 October 1868, Page 2

Shipping Intelligence.

POUT OP WESTPOET. HIGH WATEE. This Day ... 2.14 a.m., 2.44 p.m. AEBIVALS. Nil. DEPAETt T EES. Ml. PKOJECTED DEPABTIJEES. Alert, for Fijis, on or about Ist Not. "VESSELS IS EOET. Ketch—Mary. Schooner —Necromancer, Ceres. EXPECTED AEEIYALS. ; ??f -Mary, from Melbourne Kennedy, from Hokitika.

TOTAX. I/OSS OF THE Sn'lP NEPTUNE. —By the arrival of the s.a. Boomerang yesterday afternoon,-we arc in pssession of the full particulars of the above unfortunate wreck, which has been furnished by Captain Sehofield, who, with his crew, arrived by the Boomerang : " The above vessel was lost on 1 er way from Shanghai to Newcastle, by strikii g on a reef not named in the chart, about nine p.m., on tho 23rd of August last. The loss occurred principally through the gross neglect of the second mate, "who was in charge of the deck at the time of the accident. The man on the look-out repotted breakers ahead three times before he took any notice of the warning,and then it was almost too late, as the ship was close on the breakers, and in the confusion of the momci t he ordered the helm to be put hard up, wl ich run her with greater speed on the reef; whereas had he put the helm down she would have gone ronnd on the other tack, and very likely got clear of the reef, she being close-hauled on tho port tack when she struck, steeling about south by west, the direction of lhe reef running SSE and NNW. The first intimation Captain Schoficld got of the danger was the vessel striking, when ir was too late to save her. In five minutes she was firmly fixed on the.reef, with only four feet water to leeward, and nearly on her beam ends. The boat 3 were got ready as soon as possible, but breakers being all round the vessel, except a few feet between her and the reefs, it would have been certain death to leave the ship during the night, and morning was anxiously waited for, when the boat-; were with great difficulty got over the edge of the reef into the interior. The quarter-boat was so much damaged that all hands were obliged to get into the long-boat —thirteen in all, including the captain's wife. About nine a.m. on the 24th, sail was made on the boat, and an opening sought for to clear the reef; and, after sailing round the interior till dusk, without perceiving any safe outlet, they at last saw an opening and got clear. On leaving the reefs they had about 180 lbs of biscuit and twenty-eight gallons of water, and the supply being small, the captain's first intention was to make for the south-east end of tho Solomon's Group; but after taking into consideration the probability of meeting with illtreatment among the natives, the captain altered his mind, and steered for Cleveland Bay, where the}- arrived safe on the 7th hist. in a very exhausted state, having subsisted on 4 ozs of biscuit per day and three-quarters of a pint of water. The captain's chart was rather old and on a very small scale, Cleveland Bay not being marked on it as a settlement, and consequently the captain was not aware that he was so near relief, and beached tho boat on the Magnetic Island to obtain water. Water was found about a mile and a half from the beach" At noon on the Sth the boat was got oil'the beach] and s.iil was made with a view to work tide work along the coast, wall ihe hopes of reaching Bowen in a few days. But fortunately their suffering* ended sooner than they expected ; they met tho steamship Boomerang coming out of "Cl°vcland Bay, were picked up, and taken to Port Denison, where a subscription was got up for the benefit of the distressed crew, and was very handsomely met. The captain reported himself and crew to tho harbor-ma,ster of Port Denison, who ordered them on to Sydney. Tho captain's wife, who was in a very exhausted state when picked up, soon recovered under the very kind treatment she 'met with on bpard the Boomerang; and Captain Schoficld takes this opportunity of returning thanks to Captain Harley for his ; kindness and humanity to himself and the distressed orcv. The ship struck in lat. 12 deg. 51 min. S., lon. 161 deg. 45 min. E.— Sydney Morning Herald, September 16.