TELEGRAPHIC. Russell, Sturday.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXXII, Issue 5709, 10 January 1876, Page 2

TELEGRAPHIC. Russell, Sturday.

Arrivals: Rover, Mariner, "William and. Txilia, and Julia Price. Departures : Gem, Elsinoro, Policeman, aud Speedwell. The whalesliip Coral, Captain Marvin, is in Mangonui, (for supplies. The captain came overland here, and reports having taken only , 80 hands of sperm since leaving here in May. Spoke the Lagodi : she had taken 4G0 barrels of sperm since leaving here. Wellington, Sunday. Sailed : Phoebe, s.s., at 12.30 p.m., for the North. Passengers : Mrs. Jacobson, Messrs. Spiers, Master, Johnson, Fairbrother, Pickett, Saith, Wimliop, Hoy, M.irtin, P»iley, and Miss Roskruge.

Mussels ox Ships.- -Mr. Henry Lee contributes an inteiesting paper to Land and Water on a visit lately made to the Great Eastern, which is at present in dock at Milford Haven. The visit was made with a view of favourably inspecting an " enoimous quantity of barnacles aiid other marine animals," which it was rumoured h >s been found attached to her bottom. Ho f.\r as barn.iclcs weie concerned, there weie only tiaces of a few heie and theie ; but almost the whole of the huge hull was clad with an enormous multitude of mussels, clu.steied together in one dense and continuous deposit, extending over a suifacc of r>2,000 .square feet of iron plates, and in some paits the mussels were six inches thick. "It was found by careful experiment that the average weight of those on each square foot was from 121b. to 1 olb ; therefore the vessel was encumbered with no less than 300 tons of living marine animals adhering to her— mussels enough, in fact, to load witli full cargoes two ordinary collier brigs! Although the meie weight of this mass would not, pel haps, much iiiiV't the buojanoy of a vessel of 2."5,Ot)O ton.i burthen, it will be readily understood that the faction of buch \ lough jagged incrustation passing through the water would materially diminish her speed. As these troublesome adherents were scraped off with shovels by workmen employed under contract to remove them, they were earned away by cartloads and boatloads, and buried along the shore of the haven. The mussels had taken possession of every inch of plate surface, to the exclusion of almost every other living thing."