Correspondence.

New Zealand Herald, Volume I, Issue 212, 18 July 1864, Page 4

Correspondence.

To the Editor of the Ni:w JSkaland 11 i:ka 1.11. PiR, —T beg lo call your attention to n paragraph which appeared in your paper of (he 23rd June last, headed 'The Novelty,' praising the gallant conduct . of Captain Austin, in saving the he.roUe 'Novelty' on her passage from Auckland to .Sydney. It states that the men threatened to abandon the ship, and to prevent them doing so. he smashed (as he terms it) all the boats. Now, sir, 1 heir to contradict this statement in toto ; the men did their duty as becomes the character of British senium (pump or sink), never refused to do theft' Work, or gave the slightest intimation to leave the ship. Re-peeling his smashing the boats, they are on board now, as existing evidence of their never being touched, —to the Coii"trary, the men prepared them with sails, oars, and a l .! the necessary equipments, in cise of emergency, (bv the captain's orders), therefore : T beg to repeat, on behalf of my fellow shipmates, and to the credit of British Seamen at lnrpe, that the whole statement of Captain .Austin is a concocted tissue of falsehoods, which lam prepared to prove. Hoping to hear from him through the medium of your valuable paper, I am, sir, yours respectfully, David Raui'lett. [We refer the writer of the above letter to our shipping report of the 23rd .Tune, as to what took place on board the 'Novelty' on her late trip to Sydney. The report was not furnished to us bv Captain Austin. The fact that the bo-its are still' on board the ' Novelty'does not affect the truth of the statement that Captain Austin threatened to destroy them if the men did not return to the pumps, and to the manly determination of Captain Austin we must still be permitted to believe that the men owe their lives, and the owners the preservation of the ship. Captain Austin's conduct is deserving of tho highest praise.'—Jiu. N. Z. H.] °