ENGLISH SHIPPING

North Otago Times, Volume VI, Issue 110, 29 March 1866, Page 2

ENGLISH SHIPPING

Vessels Loading fob New Zealand. The following ships were loading at London for this 'Colony, on the 24th January : — Auckland. — Monarch, Deacon ; Rob Roy, Sangster. Canterbury.— Japanese, Boyd; David Brown, Nichols ; Bombay, Sellars. Nelson and Taranaki.— Konigen Augusta, Schade ; Dreadnought, Henry. Ot AGO.— Sir George Pollock, Carter ; King of Trumps, Founder ; Faaithea, Stroud. Wellington.— "Wey mouth, Morris} Veritas, "Wy•berg; Lord Kaglan, Law. The following had sailed : — "Wellington.— Cruiser, Kirby ; Jamiary 10th, from Deal. Otago. — Ariadne, Bonde; January 14th, from Gravesend. Auckland. — Alexandra, Dalgarno ; January 17th, ■Gravesend. Queen of the North, Crombie ; January JSfith, from Gravesond.

Between 300 and 400 vesels hare been wrecked on the British coast from the middle of December to the middle of January. The lo»s of life and cargo is immense. The Helenslee, from Glasgow, anived at Otago Heads on Thursday hut, and has since reached her anchorage. She left Lamluh Bay on 20th December. She brings 74 passengers. The barque Strathspey, from London, reached Port Chalmers on Saturday afternoon, having left the Downs on 8th December. The Sir W. Wallace, 1091 tons, was launched from Messrs Duthies' building yard, Aberdeen, on 1st January. The Murray, a barque-rigged paddle steamer, intended for the Australian coastal trade, was launched at Messrs Wingate and Co.'s, on the Clyde, on 2tth January. The John Temperley, with New Zealand troops, arrived at Plymouth on 13th January. The s.s. Ruahine was appointed to sail from Gravesend for New Zealand on 20th February. The Herald of the Morning, Atalanta, Wanata, Glee Maiden, and P. G. Blanchard, all for Australia, put back for repairs, occasioned through stress of weather. The Lincolnshire, while at Gravesend, was run into by the brig Spartan, and has returned to the East India Dock {or repairs. Seldom has the commencement of a new year been more noted by a dismal record of wrecks on our coasts, and of founderings in the deep seas, than that of the prosent year. A series of terrific gales, which commenced on Dec. 28, continued with but slight intervals of admission until within a. few days past. A list has been forwarded to the Board of Trade oy the Receiver of Wrecks, of something like 400 good ships that have become wrecks, and in their ruin have destroyed an immense amount of property, and, what is still more serious, have involved the loss of many lives. The record of these disasters is not entirely a dark one, for it also tells of acts of heroism, of noble daring, and of patient endurance, which do honour to humanity. A nobler light has seldom been seen than that of Captain Martin, of the London steamship, standing on the deck of his sinking ship, conscious that all hope of saving the vessel was lost, and calmly directing his chief engineer to do his best to save the lives of the few who would venture with him into the frail and tempest-tossed boat which had been launched. That crowd, too, of men and women gathered together in the cabin, joining together in prayer with the clergyman on board, and calmly resolved to meet their inevitable fate, was a scene of which any country may be proud, even while it mourns the loss of the gentle and loving hearts that are now stilled in the depths of the ocean. In Torbay alone not less than 77 lives were lost in 42 ships that were wrecked, and the amonnt of property destroyed is at least L200.000.— Home News.