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Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 12, Issue 925, 14 March 1868, Page 3

The Duke of Edinbuhgh. — A letter has just been received by a gentleman in Adelaide from one of the officers of the Galatea, stating " that his Uoyal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh is to go from New Zealand to Tahiti, Honolulu, Callao, Valparaiso, Falkland Islands, Monte Video, Ilio, Demerara, Trinidad, Tobago, Grenada, and Barbadoes, and thence home to Portsmouth, where he is to arrive in January, 1869. This is no yachting voyage, considering the Galatea must round Cape Horn in September." The Galatea has been safely, docked at Sydney, having previously transhipped her armament to a 1000-ton hulk. The work of lightening commenced by transhipping the provisions, guns, shot, &c, when the steam tugs and Commodore's orders to shift ship arrived simultaneously. Yet such is the celerity of the British JNavy that by 5 o'clock she had left the Golden South in charge of her moorings, and was moving gracefully up the harbor by the united power of the steam tugs Breadalbane, Vesta, and Herald lashed alongside, and every officer at his post from her lloyal captain on the bridge to the midshipmen in charge of their respective boats, following astern. Our readers may not be aware that it is the practice in H.M. ships to be piloted even in harbor by their own officers, and such would also have been the case with the Galatea had they not been total strangers to Port Jackson, for which reason they availed themselves of the services of Captain Myles, Deputy Harbor-master, who piloted the vessel to the buoy off Fitzroy Dock. The officers and crew being at their stations, and the Captain the Duke of Edinburgh at his, on the bridge, with Captains Mann and Myles on board to assist by their suggestions, .the ropes were got out to swing the vessel and haul her into dock. About half-past 6 the order was given to slip, and the noble vessel swung round with head towards the dock entrance, and the steamer giving a turn ahead the bows entered. About 11 o'clock she was visited by Commodore Lambert and Commander Brownriff, of H.M.s.s. Challenger, who expressed themselves highly satisfied with the security of the vessel, merely suggesting the use of a £ew more shores. Only a portion of the water was pumped out on Friday ; but on Saturday everything being ready, the dock was quickly dried and the bilges shored up, giving a full view of the vessel's bottom, and displaying the extreme beauty of her lines. — Sydney Morning Herald. The " Gbeat Meat Question " continues to occupy much of the attention of the public, and during the week some usefully suggestive letters in regard to it have appeared in the columns of ouv daily contemporaries. One writer suggested, as a means of popularising Australian preserved meat, and introducing it to the English market, that the colonists interested in the matter should send home specimen tins to their friends, with a request that they in their turn would introduce the new comestible among their respective circles of acquaintance. We can easily imagine that much present social enjoyment might be got out of tasting juries, summoned to sit upon Australian tinned beef and mutton, but would suggest that the greater part of the experimental consignments should be forwarded to persons whose taste for animal food is not blunted by too frequent indulgence. There is a considerable proportion of Bi'itish households in which our meat would be all the better- received from the fact of meat of any kind being a rare visitor ; and we hope this will not be overlooked when the sample tins are being sent off, especially since it is not the wealthy and luxurious whom we expect to become our regular customers by-and-by, but persons to whom economy is a consideration. One proposition is, that some kind of society or committee should be formed to carry out this scheme of gratuitous meat distribution iv Great Britain, and no doubt the work could be better done on a somewhat extensive scale than by individual effort. If there was an office at which persons could call and pay for one or more tins of meat, and give the addresses of the persons to whom he desired that it should be forwarded, with a certain knowledge that it would bo so forwarded, of the best quality, and at the minimum cost for carriage, we have no doubt but very many would avail themselves of the opportunity. During the week some more meat was publicly tried, after having been three months in tin, and was found excellent. The Medical Society has now taken up the meat question, and some useful hints are likely to be derived from the investigations of its members. In the meantime^ attention is still being given to what we cannot but consider a more important matter than the popularising of our preserved meats, viz., the discovery of a method by which our meat can be sent to England fresh, uncooked, and in sound condition. — Awtmltiswi, Feb. 15.