CORRESPONDENCE. NAVIGATION COOK'S STRAITS.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXVI, Issue 4002, 20 June 1870, Page 4

CORRESPONDENCE. NAVIGATION COOK'S STRAITS.

To the Editor of the Daily Southern Cjlioss Sir, — As the question o£ the port of call is attracting the attention of all parties in "New Zealand, and'' Wellington' having boasted so much of its capabilities as a port, and said so much to the disparagement of Auckland, I thiuk it my duty to put on record my experipn.ee of the former during two years' trading in its waters. About ten years ago, I sailed from Melbourne with a' brigantine ' of 120 tons, with the intention of opening up a trade with the settlements in and adjoining Cook's Stvait3, and after a run of 11 days sighted Separation Point, and ran down the Straits before a north-west wind, which, as we proceeded, increased to a gale. As we made the e*it ranco of Port Nicholson, we received the pilot on board ; and, after some time and I considerable labour, managed to beat into i Low Bay, and there anchored inside of a reef of rock?, finding it nttei'ly impossible to get any further. As we were beating in, the s.s. ' Airedale' was steaming out for Nelson : however, we were scarcely anclioied before she returned, unable to face the gale in the Stvaite; and had to ride it out with two anchors and engines going slowly ahead. We were detained here for three days, during which time the gale increased rather than diminished. As we dragged our anchor, we found ourselves on the thh*d morning close upon the reef, and weve preparing to slip and endeavour to get out, when the -mind fortunately abated, and. we got' into port, to be nearly blown up the Hutt by the southeaster which set in. Upon another occasion, while I lay in the poll, a French ship of the line, lying in the harbour well up the river, dragged the whole length from the north-west to the southeast end of the Bay, and was only saved i from wreck on the rocks near Te Aro by a change of wind. j At another time we left Port Lytfcelton for Nelson, and upon making the Straits were met by a north-west gale, which carried us out to sea, and we did not make land again for Touvteen clays, and then bad to run into Port Underwood for shelter, and lay thei-e two days before the weather moderated. Again I had occasion to go from Nelson to Wellington, time in the s.s. 'Lord Ashley,' and we were not we]l out of Blind Bay before we were met by a south-easter, and, after a day's hard work trying to steam under the lee 'of Kapiti, were compelled to 'bout ship and run into Port Ciore, where wo lay for three days, not daring to show our nose out. This is a specimen of the Cook's Straits navigation, and I cannot believe I was more unfortunate than otheis. I do not state this in any ill-feeling to the people of Wellington, though they had a very different feeling toward Auckland, as whenever I hinted at my intention of visiting that place, I was met with the exclamation, " What, go to that hole! It is always raining there." I think no more requires to be said to prove that Port Nich. is not all the Wellingtonians would have us believe. I trust you will insert this, as I think the truth will be of service, if only to teach our neighbours better manners for the future. — Yours, &c, Peo Bono Publico.

It cannot be too extensively known upcountry that the ripe fruit of the tutu plant makesamostexcellentwine. We have it on the authority of a gentleman who has a thorough knowledge of the art of wine-making, both theoretically and practically, that such is the case ; and we would recommend some of the settlers, where tutu is abundant, to try the experiment. The recipe has been forwarded to us for insertion : — Take any quantity of the ripe berries stripped from the stalks, and bruise them, a bucketful at a time ; throw them into a tub,, raised so as to be able to run the wine off into a bucket after f ermention. In the bottom ofthe fermenting tub aquantity -of green fern should be well trampled down before the bruised fruit is thrown in, so as to act as a filter when the wine is drawn off. Itshouldbe covered over during fermentation, and on no account stirred of disturbed. The seeds are not crushed, but le f t till the wine is racked off, which may be done in ten days to a fortnight. It should be put into a clean vessel, but not corkeddownforthreemonths. It will be fit for bottling in twelve months. It, can be made for a shilling a< gallon, as no addition of sugar or spirit, is necessary^ and the refuse of the fermentation is very trifling, so that a bucketful of fruit will yield nearly the same quantity of wine. The quality of this wine is equal to, and much resembles, the best brands of claret or burgundy,