WAIKATO HEADS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume I, Issue 80, 15 February 1864, Page 4

WAIKATO HEADS.

THE «KOHEROA.' [FROM A COBKESPOMDENT.] February 12. No doubt the reports relative to the accident which ..occurred to the ' Koheroa,' caused Bome little excitement in town. Everything in fact which bears upon the movements at the front, cannot but bo a matter ' of interest, and I have therefore thought it advisable - to lay before your readers the following account of the running ashore of the 'ICohcroa,' of her subsequent repair, and successful trip up the river. "." So urgent have been the demands for the services • of this vessel, that, though in an unfinished state, it ■was resolved to push her forward to the front early Inst week. The break down of the staunch little .'Avon,' rendered the carrying out of tliis resolution •; the more imperative. , ,On Wednesday last, then, a start was made with tho ' Koheroa,' and she got under weigh, in charge of Capt. Hunt. Mr. Jones of the Commissariat, Capt. Breton, and Mr. Stewart, C. E., were amongst those • ou board. Three large fats deeply litfen, were lashed alongside, one on the one side, and two v.poh the other. ■Thin, then, was the manner in which the ' Koheroa' was sent upon licr maiden trip. I dare say maiiy..Qf.yoiir readers know the W/u----fcato, and arc aequAiuted with the Kohantja shoals. |

— Si I' — I. ii i' " - —— | To those who do not I may say that they are nearly dry at low water, and at all tunes the mariner an obstacle in the navigation of the"\\ aikato requiring on his part great care to avoid. Thoy should not be crossed even in canoes except during the flood-tide, for the simple reason that if you ground during the ebb you must wait until the flood makes, whereas grounding with the young flood you are floated off as it makes. Now, the ' Koheroa,' in the extraordinary trim mentioned above, started nnninst the full force nf the *hh tide, and the current of the river. Notwithstanding all these drawbacks, sho reached tile shoals, showing how groat the power of the boat. She Grounded, however, as might have been expected, on the sand banks, and as the ebb tide left her she remained nearly high and drv, lying with a sharp edged bank under her middle. Lying thus, the great weight of her boiler forward caused a crack in ono of the side plates amidsliip. As soon as the tide rose, the foreman of the works at Wnikato Heads, Mr. Laing, took the vessel down there under steam. On the evening of the same dav the Hon. the War • Minister, the Commodore, and Col. Gamble, arrived at Waikato Heads, and a consultation was held. It. was then resolved to place the vessel on the ways, repair her, and take her up at once. She was then placed on the gridiron, (level ways 011 which she was fitted up) and strong iron plates were rivetted over the split one, and, 1 rith the tide of (he next day, the ' Koheroa,' towing the Jhtis, went gallantly up the river. The passage from Putataka to Maungatawhiri was made in fix hours find a half. ir/mi finished, which she certainly is rot at present, the 'Koheroa' will be a most useful vessel: her draught of water is less than two feet, and her power, as proved bv her passage to Maungatawhiri. very great. As an experimental trip this may be considered a complete success, indeed the ' Koheroa' possesses all the qualifications necessary for a vessel running on such a river as the AVaikato. She has power, speed, light dmft, turns in her own length and a half, and when towing flats, steers remarkably well. The great danger to bo dreaded, and which may occur at any moment, is that 'which proved so fatal to the ' Avon'—sunken snags. Once on her trip to Maungatawhiri she touched ground—but the danger from snags is far more to be dreaded. Let us all hope, however, that better things are in store, for our colonial-built little craft, and that she mav long cleave the waters of the Waikato, carrying with her the food necessary for the army of the General and many casks of leaden pills and indigestible shells for the consumption of the rascals who set the Queen's sovereignty at defiance and put the colony to continual loss of life and daily trouble and expense.