ARRIVAL OF THE WAIMEA.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 4240, 20 September 1875, Page 2

ARRIVAL OF THE WAIMEA.

This fine ship, flying the house flag o! the New Zealand Shipping Company, arrived at the Heads yesterday morning -after a very fair passage of 91 days from Graveaend. The Waimea, late the Dorette, her name having been altered last year in accordance with the nomenclature adopted by the Company relative to its vessels,-Is a handsome full-rigged ship of 818 tone register, of German build, and of iron throughout. She is a full-poop and topgallant forecastle ship, very faithfully put together, and well modelled;"and Is how imherseco'nd voyage in the Company's service as one of iteown, vessels. Last iyear the Wauaeaj: then the Dorette, mode a voyage to Canterbury, there changed her commander.-being taken charge of by Captain Woreter, who was promoted to the position from that of chief officer of the ship Waikato. He is still in command,; and has brought his ship into port in the Very best o! order alowvaiul aloft" The" WaimeaTias has come here with immigrants, and is an exceedingly suitable vesse for* (ha Conveyance of such precious freight."" Acorntortablc sea boat"and'good'iravellcr, she;Msseijsss, besides (i/spedal ;.recomhiewWti6n:hiVher grand 'tween decks, nearly c-ijrht feet in height, and pierced .with side, scuttles, fore-and aft. Boomy,'liberally -ventilated and lighted, and fitted up in .accordancel . .with the London

plan, ihe 'tween decks constituted a comfortable, healthy abiding-place, • piio tern, for the 800 and odd souls who were quartered in them. That this was the case is demonstrated by the conditioner the immigrants,- than whom ■■■.■we' hive seldom inspected a healthier and more respectable body of people. The 'immunity vouchsafed them from serious r sickness of any kind is no doubt to be attributed, in some measure, to their healthy condition when they embarked, and, in : a very great -measure, to the skilful , care of the surgeon-superintendent, Dr., Whithers, who occupied, a similar position onboard tho shlp-Hlndostan, which brought- immigrants here last year. By heartily co-operating, with the Captain, he succeeded in maintaining good order amongst his charges,-and-thoroughpaced cleanliness from the beginning to the end of the voyage. Prom the outset, strict discipline was insisted upon by Captain Worster and was rigorously carried out, and after the passengers hai surmountedJtheir preliminary trouble, mat de mer, the men were subJivided into sections, and put through a course of flre and hoat drill, and attained very creditable efficiency. This, as in the case of that well-ordered ship the Rodney, which arrived at "Wellington three weeks ago, waa done to provide for those possible dread contingencies,, firo or wreak. Both crew and passengers were frequently exercised, and soon learned to act smartly and in unison ' r.nd that this was the case, was demonstrated by the' Captain when the ship was crossing the South Atlant:e. A false alarm of a mm overboard was raised, anil iti three minutes and a half all hands were at quarters, and a boat, ready manned, was lowered into the water, and pulled away after a life-buoy that had been thiown over. We hope to see the system of firo and boat drill enforced iir the.case of all immigrant ships, for nothing < tout" good can come of it, whilst the practice itself, affords healthy exercise for the men, and an agreeable diversion to the monotony of board-of-ship life. Then again, should real peril threaten, every man knows his station, and ties to it, and so the chances of fatal contusion arising are, in a great degree, lessened, if not altogether obviated. The Waimea's passago was pleasantly equable, only two incidents of note being recorded. One of these was ; the imperilling the safety of the ship and all on board by two young rascals of ship's boys named Clark and Stanley, whs were cauirht wi»,h a naked light in the hold plundering cargo on the Bth September. They were handed over to the Police j •when the ship arrived, and will be dealt with according to law. The other incident, noted by a few only, happened on the 29th August, when tlie ship, then being in lat. 14.9 S., long. 09 E., a quantity of wreckage was passed through. A, cabin door, with frame attached, and fitted with a Venetian blind, door, Jrame, and blind, being of a brown coloured wood, brightly varnished,. was clearly distinguished. Tho other wreckage was farther off, but appeared to be fragments of a ship's cabin fittings. We have said that the immigrants..enjoyed very good health during the voyago, but \ve may remark that one or two cases of whooping cough appeared at tho beginning of it, but being promptly dealt with, the complaint was stam cd out. The Waimea arrive lat the Heads early, ami was towed up harbour, and moored off the Railway Vier by 2 p.m. She was then boarded and inspect- d by th; health and immigration officials, and passed as strictly in order at all points. She deserved no less, t.ie emigrants' compartments being the quintessence of neatness and cleanliness, whilst the immigrants, one and all, spoke in high terms of their entertainment on board. They numbered 324, all Md, equal to 2C7 statute adults, and included 51 married couples, 78 single men, 4(J single women, 39 male and 17 female children, between the ages of 1 year and 12 years, and 14 infants. Only one death "occurred during tho pissage, and that in the cose of an infant, 0 months old, nsuned Archibald M'Mallan. Exhaustion suporvening upon bronchitis and diarrhoea, was the cause of de;ith. There were three births, viz., August 7, Mrs E. Mathcson, of a son; September Ist, Mrs T. Elliott, of a daughter; September sth, Mrs B. Jackson, of n daughter. 'J he single women were under charge of Mrs Ennis, a matron holding a Government appointment, and evidently a superior woman, well fitted for the position. Both doctor and matron gave the "girls a good character, the'foririer asserting that their behaviour was exceptionally good. No trouble cither., was experienced with the other immigrants, who conducted themselvos becomingly. The berthing was'carried out aS'Usual, excepting the afterpart of the poop was sot apart for the hospitals of the women —single and married—and alaa contained the matron's room avid bathroom. It was entered from a companion hutch at the after-part of the poop deck, and wa3 connected, by another hatch with the ainglo women's compartment iii'the after-part of tho 'tween decks. Thus, wit) the cabin in front of it, tho only inlet to the women's quarters was by the poop deck hatchway. The ship was well provided with offices of all kinds—a roomy dispemswy, spacious and liberally appointed cooking-house, connected with the engine-room, where one of Gravcley's distilling apparatus did efficient duty during the passage. The married people were berthed with that offensive promiscuous of which we have so often complained, but as much privacy as could bo afforded by a faulty system was ensured them. The proportion of children was rather in excess, but, as a set - off, the little folks were tho personification of good looks and hoalth, ono family being specially noticeable in this respect.

Touching the details of tho run, the log-book informs us that the Wnimea left, Gravesend on the 19th of June; landed the pilot at Dartmouth on tho 24th, and thence experienced light S.YT. and \V. winds and calms until July 2nd, when she was in lat. 40 £T., long. 11.21 W. Thero tho breeze wen ound to the north.

ward, and freshening took her to tho N.E. Trade, which was found in lat. 35.4 N., and first in lat., 8:2 H. On tho 21st of July she crossed the Line mlong. 24.22 W\, and next day, in 3 S., had'tho foot of. the. S:K Trade. The Trade proved a Very poor affair, being variable, light, and hanging much to tho'southward.It gave out on the 28th in lat. 17 S. Thence she experienced much variable weather, with occasional strong S. and S.E. winds, until the Bth August, when the westerlies found her in lat. 31 S., long. 27 W. From that time her; progress wm uninterruptedly good. Westerly winds, veering and hauling between N.N.W. and S. W.;stuck to her right across the Southern Ocean. On the'lfith August she crossed the meridian of Greenwich, and on tho 19th that'of the Cape, in lat. 43.39. . The Isjand of Tristan d'Acimha having been passed on the 12th, but not in sight. From the Island she made the run to the Snares in 34 days, averaging 235 miles per day, her better days' works being 2SO, 275, and 270 miles. She ran her longitude down on or about the 45th parallel, weather cold and wintry, with frequent snow-storms, but otherwise moderate. On the 13th Inst., she, being then drawing up to the Snares, the wind took southing, and on the ISth, when she sighted the Snares, it was. at S.E., and the ship on a taut bowline. She knocked about for 24 hours between the Suares and the Traps, and then, the wind freeing a little, she laid a course along the coast, and arrived as above...-The following vessels were spoken—July 19th, Electra.from London to Bombay, 25 days out; June 25th, off Ushant, Elizabeth Graham, from London, bound to this port; July 20th, Argyleshire, from Harilepool to Curachee, 35 days out; September 14th, off the Snares, ship Helen Denny, from London to Hawkes Bay.

The steamer Shag left on another trip to Shag Point on Saturday morning, but on arriving there found a S. E. soarunning in,and tooheavy to do anything with. She accordingly returned to the Port, and went up to Dunedin in the afternoon.. ■ The barque Woodville made but a short stay iii dock. She remained in long enough to have her. bottom sighted and cleaned, and on Saturday forenoon took her departure for Newcastle. . The Geelong towed her clour of the Port. The Union Company's steamer Samson returned from Oamaru on Saturday afternoon, landed a few passengers at the Railway pier, and then proceeded to Dunedin. The brigantine Augusta sailed for Oamaru on Satur^ day. The ship Waimea brings about 750 tons of cargo, of which 300 tons is dead-weigh". She is to be beitlied j at the Railway pier'this morning, and her immi-'. grants will then be disembarked and forwarded to' Dunedin; ' . • .'. ":. . •' • . ...,■■ : A very fine ship, the Portland, has been laid on the berth for Melbourne, and will sail early next month., She is a vessel of great power, and has excellent cabin: accommodation. Messrs Bouman, Macandrew, and Co. are her agents. : Tho Union Company's steamer Beautiful Star, Captain Pelersen, came in from the Coast yesterday at 9.30 a.m. Her round trip to Lyttelton and intermedi-' ate calling places commenced at 3 p.m. on the 13th inst., with cloudy S.W. weather, which held to her arrival at Timaru, at 5 a.m. next day. There she di<embarked passengers, and landed 70 tons of cargo, and left for Lyttelton at 6 p.m., arriving there at 8.15 a.m. on the 15th. Left again at 2 p.m. on the 10th, wind strong and increasing from the southward, with nasty: sea. rPutinto Akaroaat llp.m;,and the gale still in-: creasing, with much sea, she lay there weatherbound until 0 p.m. on the 17th, then proceeded on her way South. Arrived at Timaru at 5 a.m. next day, breeze i still strong from the S.E., whilst a heavy sea rolled, into the roadstead. Had much ado to get cargo on board, but managed to secure 300 bags of grain and other freight, and at 6 p.m. left for head-quarters, :• steamed up against a strong-S.W. gale and sea, with; rain, and arrived as aforesaid. Tho Star remained at' Port Chalmers yesterday, coaling, mid will be at Dunedin early this morning, and is to leave again for the coast this evening. The ketches Huon Belle, Isabe!la,!and Fanny were still at anchor at the Heads last evening. Repairing the Taupo is progressing as rapidly as practicable. She will be ready to leave as per adver-: tlseinent. .■ ..'•:': ''.. : ,:; '• • : ■.:.'

Messrs Houghton and Co.'s s.s. Wanganui returned to Dunedin yestordayfrom one of her regular southern trips. She left Port Chalmers at G. 30 p.m. on the 15th inst.*, arriving at 1 p.m. next day. Discharged a large cargo, took in return freight and passengers, and sailed at 4.16 p.m. on Saturday. South-east winds were experienced along the coast, accompanied with thick weather "and.drizzling tain. Captain Frascr reports the barque Lady Emma had sailed from the Bluff with a cargo of timber for Lyttelton.