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Grey River Argus, Volume XV, Issue 1951, 6 November 1874, Page 2

The only departure yesterday was the p.s Wallace for Nelson direct. The s.s Murray was to have left for Westportin the evening, but the dirty weather from the nor'-west compelled her to remain in port. Many theories have been started as to the probable name of the wrecked vessel of which a portion was found some years ago considerably above high water mark to the northward of the Haast, and one is that the wreck is part of the ship Schoinberg, which was stranded on the Victorian coast some nineteen years past. Examination of the relics of the wreck now lying in the B okitika Museum and Wellington has led to this suggestion, and we learn from Captain Tumbull that inquiries are now being made in Victoria with a view to ascertaining whether there is any identity between the piece of wreck found on this coast and the portions still remaining on the shores of the other Colony. Through the intervention of Captain John M'Lean, the Minister of Telegraphs in Victoria has been induced to give instructions to a te'ograph party working ia the vicinity oE the scene of the wreck of the Schomberg to procure any portions of the hull that they may be able, and to forward the sama to Melbourne. On this being done, there will be an opportunity of examining the different relics thus found so distant from each other, and of deciding the accuracy of the present surmise. Captain Tumbull has personally taken considerable interest in the question, and it is to be hoped may at some time be able to lay before the Mew Zealand Institute a record of such information as he has been able to procure. It is s ated that the vessel is evidently of more" modern construction than was readily supposed, the felt attached to the timbers being apparently impregnated with coal-tar, which can only have been in use since the introduction of gas. The suggestion that the wreck is part of the Schomberg might, to some extent, be settled by a comparison of the date of the loss of that vessel and the first discovery of the wreck on this coast. If we remember rightly, it has been asserted that the wreck was observed by whalers or sealers on this coast a goodly number of years ago, and in the same situation as that in which it was found by those who visited the locality in the early days of the diggings. Should this be the case, the Schomberg theory would prove a rather weak, one, but ttose who are best informed ou the matter will, no doubt, make every inquiry regarding the probable origin of this interesting maritime relic. — " West Coast Times." [Is this the same vessel about which Captain TurnbuU held the theory some years ago that it was La Perouse's ship. — Ed. G.R.A.] The barque C. L. Taylor, from Puget Sound, arrived at Lyttelton on the 28th ult. The vessel was built in Brooklyn's navy yai d, and was employed as a gun-boat under the name of Wainuna. During the war, she was the first vessel that passed the New Orleans forts, twenty-seven men on board being killed. After the war the vessel was stripped, and over five tons of lead were taken from her skin. Owing to the length of the vessel, she has been able to bring some immense lengths of Oregon pine, some being 160 ft long, 16 x 16, all clear, and others over 100 f fc, 18 x 18 The decks of the vessel are lumbered up with sleepers. A vessel called the Splendid is now being fitted out in Otago as a whaler, and she is almost ready for sea. The " Tunes" furnishes the following account of her equipment: — "Her try works, comprising two pots, a cooler, and a receiver, are in position, and a ground tier of casks has been laid and filled with saltwater, to act ' as ballast for the ship, and her four boats have been put in first-rate order, together with the requisite gear for each. The Splendid is provided with the bomb-harpoon, a deadly and efficacious implement used in the capture of whales.' The harpoon, to the staff of which is attached the bomb-gun, is thrown by hand, and when it enters the fish a certain distance, apiece of mechanism attached to the gun is acted upon, and pulls a trigger, exploding the gun, and the bomb-arrow, headed with sharp steel, is driven with great force into the whale. The explosion, of the gun ignites the slow-match or fuse of the bomb, and in about ten minutes the latter explodes, and, as a rule, instantaneously kills the fish. The try works in which the oil is extracted from the blubber are notable features of the Splendid's appointments. Two huge iron pots firmly set in brickwork occupy the centre of the main deck. Each has its furnace, and the latter are so arrauged that when the fires are going a layer of water can be kept between them aud the deck, thus obviating the danger of the deck taking fire. A huge oblong copper vessel into which the boiling oil is ladled for cooling purposes, is fixed on one side of the try works and is connected with a receiver, into which the oil is baled in turn when it is cool enough to be poured into the casks below." [Since the above was written the Splendid has proceeded on her first voyage.]