New Zealand Gazette AND WELLINGTON SPECTATOR.

New Zealand Gazette and Wellington Spectator, Volume II, Issue 97, 11 December 1841, Page 2

New Zealand Gazette AND WELLINGTON SPECTATOR.

Saturday, December 11, 1841.

By the arrival of the Antilla, we have Cape papers to the 9th October, mentioning the loss of the long-expected Prince Rupert. The Captain of the Prince Rupert had addressed a letter to one of the papers there, of which the following is a copy :—: —

"To the Editor: Sir, — In consequence of the rumours current as to the loss of the above ship, I have requested a Court of Inquiry to be held as to the circumstances under which it took place. — In the meantime I trust you will allow me to state through your columns, that the ship left Gravesend on the 16th April, and Plymouth on the 14th May last, under the command of her owner, Sir Henry E. Atkinson, Knight and Captain in the Royal Navy, having on board Her Majesty's Commissioner, and a staff of surveyors for New Zealand. On the Bth July she put into Bahia to fill up her water. Captain Atkinson had suffered much from ill health during the voyage, and became so much worse at Bahia, that his medical adviser thought it necessary that he should return to England. He therefore gave over the command to me, and at my request, and with the concurrence and aid of her Majesty's Commissioner and the British Consul at that port, engaged Mr. Thomas Beazley, ■who bore ahigh character for skill and ability, and had made several voyages to the eastward of the Cape, to act as chief officer from Bahia tb-stiew,Zealan d. Weleft Bahia On the 23rd July, and proceeded on the voyage till, finding our provisions would run short, it was deemed necessary to bear up for the Cape for a further supply. On

the 3rdinst. wejnade the coast, Saldanha.Bay, distant about 20 miles, and worked up towards Table Bay withjight baffling winds, till about noon of the 4th," when we made Table Land. About 2 p.m. the wind became fair, and we stood on under all sail, until 6, when we -.took in the royals, and about 7 passed Robben Island and stood for the,anchorage, keeping the lead going until the water shoaled to 6J fathoms ; when, the night being 1 dark, it was thought advisable to anchor for the night to avoid, fouling the shipping, and the best bower was let go with 45 -fathoms chain, .and the hands" sent aloft to furl the sails; 1 and .while this. was* doing, the ship swung bead to wind, and then struck aft on the rocks; her head sails w,ere then set, and the cables slipped, in the hope she would get off", but without effect."' , - . E. Ram age.

His Excellency the Governor of theXape J of Good Hope acceeded to the request contained in the above letter, appointed G. r M. Pedder, Esq., Acting Port Captain, G. Robb, and J. Smith, Esqrs., Master Mariners, -as Commissioners to take such evidenceas might be brought before them, and to report the result of theiT inquiry into the causes which led to the wreck in question. — The said Commissioners examined Edward Ramage, the Master, Thomas Beazely, Chief Officer, H. Atkinson, second Officer, James Wells, Midshipman, John Winter, Boatswain, Joan Higgins, seaman, ' all belonging to the said vessel,' and M/ Clayton, Signalman, and came to the following opinion on the subject : — H ~ We, the undersigned, having 'been appointed by his. Excellency ;the Governor .as a Commission to enquire into the causes which, led .to the loss of the Prince Rupert, on the'nightof the4th September 1841, after carefully examining the Officers and part of the crew of that vessel, and having maturely weighed the evidence adduced, are of opinion,, — that had the Officer in charge of that vessel made more sail when the breeze sprung up, (amfbecame steady,) instead of reducing sail, that he would have-approached near enough to the port to have ascertained his exact position before dark, and would have theVeby avoided the danger which led to the loss of the Prince Rupert. We find by the Captain's chart (which was produced in court,) that there- was no attention paid to the directions which are very clearly laid down. -We also find that when the anchor was Jet go and 45 fathoms of, chain veered, that the ship struck on her heel, but that no attempt wasmade to shorten in cable previous, to slipping, which, had it been done, "we are fully .of opinion !the vessel would have been extricated from her dangerous position ; had even an attemptbeen made to run out a stream anchor and cable, we think it would haye 1 been 'the means of serving her ;' or had a-spring been clapt on the cable previous to slipping, it would have materially assisted in giving the vessel headway, jf The whole of the proceedings from tnei%e of being abreast of Robben Island untiPnie vessel was on shore at Green-point, we consider to be highly culpable, — but we fully acquit Captain Ramage' and his Officers of intentionally losing the vessel. We avail ourselves of this opportunity of expressing our opinion, that had there been a good light on the Mouille Point, vessels migh* approach the anchorage in the night with perfect safety. Given under our hands, at Cape Town, this 24th day of September, 1841. " . G. M. Pedder, President and acting Port Captain.

G. Robb, T Master Mariners and Commis- ; J. Smith, j sioners.

(> All the passengers, and indeed every living thing on board, were safely got out, but the cargo, including much- valuable property belonging to the passengers, was all lost or almost irretrievably damaged. The morning- after the wreck, two gentlemen, Mr. Froode, a passenger in the Rupert, and a son of Serjeant Mereweather of London, resident at the Cape, put off in a boat with (we believe) three sailors from the Bucephalus in order to save some property from the wreck, and the weather being extremely boisterous, were upset, ancUl] drowned. Some of the property saved -was sold at the Cape at a great sacrifice.

On board the Rupert were Mr. Spain, the Chief Land Commissioner, with his wife and family and Lady White, Mrs. Spain's mother ; also Mr. Ligar, the Surveyor-General, with Mrs. Ligar and family, and five assistant surveyors. The Antilla brig was chartered to convey these gentlemen in the employ of Government, to New Zealand, for the enormous sum of £2,000 ; they, of course, felt it their paramount duty to reach New Zealand, at any cost, as soon as possible. - The immigrants, about sixty in number, sent out by the New- Zealand Company, remain at the Cape, where high wages were offered them. Some passengers for A 'this place will arrive by the first opportunity. Mr. Froode, the gentleman whose unhappy death was mentioned above; *< was' married to a sister of Mrs. Ligar : the widow returned to England from the Cape.

The second mate, Mr. Atkinson, son of the Captain of the Rupert, exerted himself with much gallantry and coolness in recovering the passengers and property from the wreck, and he received a vote of thanks for his conduct on the occasion. We regret very much;,to add that, among, the property lost or sadly, damaged, are some most valuable drawings and books of reference executed by and belonging to Mr. Swainson. This is a public as well as private loss,'- and is quite irreparable. '

The Tyne arrived from Auckland on Thursday; last. 'She sailed" two days later than th^Munford, but does riot bring any later papers.

" The Tyne cleared out at the Custom-house, Auckland, on the 6th of November, but was detained three*' weeks, owing to" the desertion of part of the crew. Captain Robertson,' with difficulty, procured a few hands from the Bay of Islands.

In reference/ to the murder committed at the Bay of Islands, and noticed in our last, we learn that, by the' praiseworthy. -exertions of ,Mr. W. Wilson and Mr. Thomas Spicer, aided by Rivers and other chiefs of Kororarika, the murderer had been apprehended. , The Government brig Victoria arrived at Auckland on the 28th November, having the murderer in custody, with full accounts of the coroner's inquest.' Great excitement, it is stated, prevailed at the> Bay of Islands, both among Europeans and natives. . ,

W.hen the Anne left Akaroa, L'Aube, Heroine, and another French vessel were at aucKor there ; but the two first named where to sail the following day for Auckland, thence to Sydney. L'Aube was then to^retagn to Akaroa, and shortly to be relieved- *bs£tr^4j gun frigate from France ; Commodore v Lavaud will remain at Akaroa.- The 'Catholic Bishop's brigantine St. Marie had sailed for an island in the vicinity of Tongataboo, where it' was' reported a Catholic' priest "had been killed by the natives. ;His Lordship theBishop went in her. The Portenia had sailed for Molyneux-harbour, and' will call at Port Nicholson. "Mons. Belligny,' with' the assistance of the French settlers, had undertaken to get off jthe brig Jewess, wrecked at Perake ; if they "succeed, she will come on to this port to be valued.

' The Australian (Sydney paper) appears to have a" very trustworthy and sagacious correspondent somewhere in this quarter. -A late number of that paper is supplied with the following precious bit of news from Wellington —

"The good folks- 1 at Port Nicholson had received the Governor in a manner wholly different to what is expressed by the New Zealand Gazette, published at that port. That paper appears to express solely the views and wishes of the New. Zealand Company — certainly not that of the colonists who are about to commence a newspaper expressive of- their own views; The' settlement of Port Nicholson has been unhappily ''chosen "for their exertions— a spot that is surrounded by mountainous heights, preventing accjejs to the fertile inland districts,' that will be, found impossible to overcome. It is supposed that the new colonists for the in--tended township of Nelson will be placed to the northward of Auckland, which will occasion within a very few years the entire colonization of this island to the north of the , River Thames 1 ."

Ask the Governor himself what he thinks of his reception in Port Nicholson 1 Was there any address ? ' Any public dinner I Any public expression of approbation ? 0n the contrary, was not his only Levee a miserable failure ? Were not his other meetings with the Colonists obtained for the purpose of complaint and protests ? No person with any regard to truth can assert that his Excellency was well received here. In fact, we .happen to know that h"e himself frequently expressed mortification and. disgust at his reception; and since his return to Auckland, we are told, that, to use a vulgar phrase, he has " abused us right and left."

As to our not representing the views of the Colonists'," the writer is as much, at fault as in his statement respecting the Governor's reception. Of course we cannot expect the approbation of the minority who take the part of Auckland versus Wellington ; but the principal and more intelligent portion of' the community are with us. We can also assert that this journal is entirely independent of the New Zealand Company.

The sagacity of the writer is displayed in his assigning some district north of the Thames for the Nelson settlement,, which will be founded in Tasman's G.ulf ; and we have another specimen of his regard to facts 'in asserting that there is no coummunication from Wellington with the interior. We have taken rr ore notice of this folly and falsehood, and bad grammar, than it' deserves.

|. . ' •« In another column we have given copious extracts from English papers, bringing down the intelligence from the Mother Country- to "the Bth of August. The elections were over, and the Conservative majority was estimated at sixty. Under these circumstances the Whig ministers contemplated a speedy retirement from office, and Lord John Russell had informed his constituents of the City of London, that he soon expected to be in opposition. There appears^ however, to become doubt as to the course which events ' may take. Parliament was to meet on the 19th of' August, and Lord John Russell had issued a notice of more than usual earnestness for the Ministerial members to be in their places dn that day. Sir Robert Peel ha\d signified his intention of not opposing the reelection of the Whig, Mr. Shaw Lefevre,

to the Speaker's ' chair, and had thereby grievously offended that portion of the Tory party which the Times newspaper represents. The Conservatives are evidently not friends united in their allegiance to Peel, and this reluctance to fight the battle on the Speakership> is -symptomatic of weakness in the Tory leader. 1 ,,' '

Arid we do not wonder at his caution ; for no Tory Ministry ever yet held office long against an opposition nearly or quite three hundred strong ; and when that opposition is backed by the Court, the odds ' may almost be said to be against the Minister. ». When out of office, the Whigs will again take up popular, .questions, and by degrees the JWhig-Radi-. cal party will be re-formed. Under thes.e circumstances, it seems.pretty, clear that the next Ministry will be formed of Moderate Tories and Moderate Whigs ; or, at least,. that it will be a Ministry of concession to the people, not like that of the Whigs, a Ministry ' of concession to the aristocracy. We think that the liberal cause will gain by the change, although some Liberals lose their places. • As regards the Colonies, and especially NewZealand", we apprehend no change' of "policy. Our friends must be strong in any Administration.

Among the new elections 1 , we notice those of Mr; Roebuck for Bath ;r; r Dr. Bowring for Bolton ; Cobden for Stockport ; Commodore Napier for Marylebone ; and, Howard Elphinstone for Lewes. "Mr. Leader, " also, ' retains his seat for Westminster., The -WhigDe Lacy Evans, was the ousted member. The. loss, of Mr. Grote, and of Sir -William Molesworth, will be felt severely by the Radicals ; but Roebuck and Cobden will go far to supply, their loss ; and numerically the ' independent party seems to -have sustained no dimunition. - We are glad that Mr. Ward keeps his 'seat for Sheffield.'

The Commercial Wharf, 'abreast of "Medical Hall, is completed ; and. will prove a great source of convenience to shipping. Steps' have been affixed to it', and passengers from vessels • can embark and dis-embark with, facility." The wharf is well situated, and craft of 30 or 40 tons can lay alongside,- /and' always be in smooth water. This is the fourth' wharf erected in Wellington, ziprivate expense/

Some mischievous persons on Thursday^ night were guilty of defacing several of the* most respectable looking and well painted' houses and stores' with black paint. The 1 front of the Exchange' will require fresh, painting entirely. We believe some clue has been got to the parties, and no exertions ought to be spared to bring it home to them. Such gross wanton mischief, we hope, will be visited by the Magistrates with the utmost' rigour of the law. The y p'roprietors of the Exchange offer' a reward of £10 for the discovery of the parties.

Bench of Magistrate si — On, Thursday, Mr; Alexander Frazer, of Kapiti, applied toliave his chief' headsman, Evans, bound over to keep the peace. From the evidence, it appeared that a dispute had arisen as to the manner in which Mr. Fraser had served out certain rations for his .whaling party ; and that Evans called the plaintiff a rogue and a swindler, and with clenched fist, threatenedto "do "for him. A good deal of -contrary swearing took place in the Court, " ancl the Bench ultimately required Evans to find, two 1 sureties in £20 each, and himself in £40, to keep the peace for twelve months^ Mr. , Hanson appeared for the plaintiff, and Dr: Evans for defendant. < • •

Married. — At ■ Wanganui, on Monday, the 29th November, by the Rev. John Mason, Gilbert Francis Dawson Esq., Police Magistrate, to Harriott Heywood,. the second daughter of William Hancock Styles, Esq., of New House Farm, Northfleet, in the County of Kent.

State of the Auckland Streets. — The culprits sentenced to hard labour are, it appears, to work upon the streets, and a party of them is now so employed. 'Tis to be'hoped ■ it may be soon a less tedious and difficult process 1 to move along Short] and-Crescent : that part between Messrs. Brown and ■ Campbell's and Mr. Joseph's premises, ; and across towards Messrs. Williamson and- Crammer's, is in a shocking state, and at night it is' aM'bu'timpossible to traverse it, and escape immersion .iv some^ drain "or filthy sink: -In wet weattier ,it is a disgraceful spectacle, and as thatplace is a cross to Fort-street and the water-side generally, and also to High-street, it' happens that the worst spot in town is that which the greatest thoroughfare. The Crescent, tfjjttje above Watson's Hotel & Mr. Whitaker's office, is so steep, and after rain becomes so slippery., it is often almost impassable. The impractit cable state of Shortlarid crescent and (Jueenstreetin wet weather is an intolerable nuisance.c c. We hate all exaggeration and unreasonable complaints, and have hitherto said but litpe on this subject though we have been constan :ly urged to take it up. — Auckland Herald,