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Lyttelton Times, Volume XIII, Issue 752, 21 January 1860, Page 3

Departure of the Great Eastern' for America on the 24th October.—The 'Observer' of October 16th says:—Notwithstanding all the rumours, and confident assertions to the contrary, the announcement that the great ship would before the end of the present month be far upon her voyage to the United States has been found to be correct. As at present decided, the vessel will leave Holyhead on the 24th instant. There may be a short delay beyond this date, but it will not extend to more than a day or two. The cause of this delay, if any, will arise from the inspection of the ship and engines, in accordance with the terms of the contract with Mr. Scott Eussell previous to their final acceptance by the Company. The directors are, it is stated, satisfied with the performance of the ship on the late trial trip. Some very extraordinary notions have been indulged in respecting the speed which the ship was to make, very far exceeding the,. anticipations and calculations of Mr. Brunei, to whom the great ship owes its origin. A short time only before his death he stated most distinctly, to some persons who were talking of the ship's making twenty knots, that she was never designed for such a high rate of speed, and that his calculations were that she would make the voyage from England to Calcutta or Sydney in from thirtytwo to thirty-six days : this he stated in the most confident manner she would accomplish, the rate of speed required for that purpose being only from fourteen to fourteen and a half knots per hour. The Great Eastern is not only the largest but the swiftest steamer in the world. None of its rivals can carry coal for more than three weeks' consumption, the Great Eastern can take sufficient for the voyage to India or Australia and back. The Queen's yacht is the fastest ship afloat, but she does not make more than fifteen knots or eighteen miles an hour in her ordinary work. But the Victoria and Albert has engines of 1000 horse-power for a tonnage of less than 3000 tons ; there one horse drags three tons. In the Great Eastern one horse drags ten tons, and the speed of the royal yacht is not higher than that of the great ship. T. he consumption of coal of the Great Eastern, if taken at the highest estimate of 250 tons per day, is still immensely below the proportion which, compared with other vessels, would be due to her size and speed; \

Forgiveness.—The brave only know how to forgive ; it is the most refined and generous pitch of virtue human, nature can.arrive at. Cowards have done good and kind actions. Cowards, have fought, nay, sometimes conquered; but a coward never forgave; it is not in. his nature;, the power of doing it Hows only from a strength and greatness of soul conscious of its force and security, above all the little temptations of-resenting every fruitless at« tenant to interrupt its happiness, ■ ••»

The Championship of the Thames.—There nevor wns a race creating more interest or excite» mcnt, nor inflicting a greater disappointment to the thousands assembled to witness it, than that of yesterday,- between Robert Chambers, the champion of the Tyne, and Henry Kelly, the champion of the TluimoH. From the renown both men possessed, coupled with their previous performances, a great race had been anticipated—a fierce, close contest; the entire distance; instead of which, the race might pretty well have been considered over after the first three-quarters of a mile; although it i» due to the sternmost man to say that he rowed in his usual form from first to last, but his opponent was so superior as to make a great gap between them. The contest was for £400, and the championship, it may be said, of both rivers. Kelly first came into notice as a sculler in 1852 by winning the apprentices'race at the Thames Jtegatta. In two years afterwards he carried off the picked scullers' prize at the same great meeting, and renewed his conquest the following year, but was disqualified, owing to a foul, defeating on each occasion some well-known and well-tried men. After some other races he acquired the proud distinction of champion of the Thames in May, 1857, by beating James Messenger, the then possessor of it, from which time he had not been engaged in a scullers' match until yesterday. Robert Chambers, of Newcastle, first di&tihguished himself as a sculler in 1853, in a contest with Shaftoe, a famous man of the North, and in 1856, to the surprise of all the Londoners, carried off the scullers' prize at the Thames Regatta, In 1857 he again won the same prize,^ and has been repeatedly successful at provincial aquatic meHings, and has in four-oared crews won, we believe no less than [our races for'the champion prize of that class in London. The present race had originated in a recent gallant contest on the Tyne, wherein Chambers defeated White, of Bermondsey, who was considered nearly as good as Kelly; that victory was considered by Chambers's friends as the steppingstone to the championship, and they forthwith, backed him for £200 some .months ago. During the interval both men have been in active training, and yesterday came to the starting-post as well as it was possible for them to be. The course was from Putney to Mortlake, and thousands of persons; equestrians and pedestrians, lined the shores and towing path. There were no less than fourteen steamboats engaged to accompany the race, some of which were so crowded that they toppled under their burden upon deck and there were hundreds of small boats' crews, unmindful of the peril in which they were placed by the moving mass of steamers. The umpires were the renowned Harry Clasper. for Chambers, Stephen Salter jfor Kelly, and Mr. E. Searle referee. The start did not take place until Kelly had been at the station above a quarter of an hour, and when Chambers appeared there was a delay on the part of the other man. Both looked very confident. Chambers, who rowed in a boat built by Henry Clasper, is the same age as- his opponent (28), is 5 feet 9| inches in height, and weighs 11 st. He rowed without a guernsey, and was piloted up by Thomas Grant. Kelly is 5 feet 8£ inches high, and weighed half-a-stone less than his opponent; his course was pointed out by Driver. The men were not long in preparation, nor did they make any false start. Betting at that moment was six to four on Kelly, although more or less odds had been previously given by those anxious to get money on the^ event. .They started at a.quarterpast four, precisely at the same instapt, and as level as men could be, Chambers with the inside station on the Middlesex side. They rowed scull and scull to opposite.the Star and Garter, where they began to decrease the distance which they had started apart, and Chambers having to pull his left hand strongly to escape a barge a little in his way, they became much closer a beam, and it was feared that there would be a foul. Having passed the barge Chambers used his right hand too strongly, and hugged the Middlesex shore very closely, and Kelly keeping close to his man, they were so near each other that the blades of their sculls almost locked. Chambers then began to draw slightly a-head, and in the next minute it was marked and decisive, for before they reached Craven, Chambers had drawn himself clear, and presently took his opponent's water. 6 to 1 was freely offered upon Chambers at this point of the race, and no takers. At every stroke Chambers went further away from his man; he was four lengths ahead1 at Hammersmith Bridge, and resting occasionally through the heavy water in Carney-reach, ultimately won by twenty .lengths; doing the distance, with a bad tide in twenty-five minutes twenty-fiveseconds.Thenorthcoutttryman's victory is the first ever achieved over the champion of the London river and it is probable that he will long enjoy the proud distinction. Very large sums of money changed owners upon the event. A great many gentlemen from the north had come to town to back Chambers, and have been well repaid for the expense and trouble of their visit.— Times, September 29th. .

Examples op Glutton j.—The accounts which travellers give of the quantity of food which can he consumed are extraordinary. Sir John Boss estimates that an Esquimaux will eat perhaps twenty pounds of flesh and oil daily. Compare this with Valentin's six pounds or with Cornarb's twelve ounces of solids and fourteen ounces of wine! Captain Parry tried as a matter of curiosity, how much an Esquimaux lad who was scarcely full grown, would consume if left to himself. The following articles were weighed before being given. He was twenty hours getting through them, and certainly did not consider the quantity extraordinary :•— ; lbs. oz. Sea-horse flesh, hard frozen ... 4 4 Do ' boiled ... ... 4 4 Bread and bread dust ...... 1 12

. , ■ . Total ... ... 10 4, To this must be added one and a quarter pint of rich gravy soup, three wine glasses of raw spirits, one tumbler of strong grog, and one gallon one pint of water. Captain Cochrane, in his Journey through Bussid and Siberian Tartary, relates that the Admiral Sariseheff was informed that one of the Yakuti ate in four and twenty hours the hind quarter of a large ox, twenty pounds of fat and a proportionate quantity, of melted butter for his drink. To test the truth of this statement, the Admiral gave him a thick porridge of rice boiled down with three pounds of butter, weighing together twenty, eight pounds: and although the glutton had already breakfasted, he sat down to it with great eagerness, and consumed the whole without stirring from the spot. He also states, that he has seen three Yakutis devour a reindeer at a meal; and a calf weighing two hundred pounds is not too much for live of these gluttons.-— Lewis' Physiology of Common Life. . Hunting in Yokkshibe.—ln Yorkshire there are ten packs of fox-hounds, one pack', of, staghounds, and five or six of harriers, equal in all to' thirteen or fourteen packs of fox-hounds. Thirteen packs of fox-hounds, of fifty couples each— i.e. 1300 hounds —consume annually 200 tons of oatmeal, at a, cost of £2600, besides the carcases of^bput 2000 dead horses. There are at least 1000 hunting men in Yorkshire, keeping upon aii average four horses each : 4000 horses cost £200,000 at £50 each, and their keep at £50 per annum each makes £200,000 more. 4000 horses employ 2000 men as grooms, and consume annually 40,000 qrs» of oats, 2000 q,rs. of beans, and 800Otons of hay and grass.;

TJgly Trades.—The ugliest of trades have their moments of pleasure. - Now, Jf I were a grave-digger, or even a hangman, there are spine people I could work for with a great deal of eDJoy«