ARRIVAL OF THE TWEED.

Otago Witness, Issue 1189, 12 September 1874, Page 12

ARRIVAL OF THE TWEED.

The fine ship, which arrived at tlio Heads on the 3rd inst., was towed in on the evening's, tide, and as day. light was fast closing in Pilot Kelly, who was in charge, brought her up for the night at the Quarantine Ground, below the shipping. The Health and Immigration Officers boarded her in the st amer Golden Age— the sanitory report being in every way satiifactor\\ It was fully confirmed by subsequent investigation, and Uie ship, moreover, was found to be m admirable condition fore and aft — the immigrants' compartments being clean, roomy, and well-ventilated, whilst the Immigrants themselves bore the impress of good health, and by their appearance other waya discovered unmistakenWe indications of the judicious care and kind treatment they had received during the pass.igp ; and they exp-essed in the most hearty and unanimous manner their entire satisfaction with the rule of those to whose charge they had been consigned. Not the shadow of a complaint was made by any one on board, and when the officials left the ship ringing cheers were given for the captain and doctor and officers. The Tweed is certainly very superior to the ordinary run of passenger vessels. Her great size gives abundance of room between decks, and ample promenadinsr space on t>e main deck and poop. The whole of the 'tween decks was devoted to the acenmmoda ion of the married people and single men, whilst the single women were accommodated in the cuddy, and had very g'>nd quaitcr-. indeed. As it was dark when we boarded the ship, we had not the opportunity of inspecting her general appointments. But everything relating to the passengers was quite en reyle. There were first-class offices, a good galley, and a very superior fresh water condenser— one of Kirkcaldy's patents— capable of producing 000 gallons of water per diem, which produced COO g .lions on an average during the pass -go Tho Tweed brings 039 souls, a con.siJer.ibie proportion o« them being nonii lated immigrants. Thcv arc classilind a-, under ; — ')! nvirrw-d • ou-,>los. 108 si-mle men. iMsiiialo'vumc.i, 75 males a;i'l 8V fen de-. mi lor 12 >i v- of :v:e and VI nolc and 10 fo vale in fan s. mt.uijv'il iiccordin • i<> their imlioiulitjesl 'lore an3 :— English, o .o,')mnlesaiid 175 fpnvilps : Miotch, -1 limlos and 2i females ; Irish, f)(i nmlt-s and b'.) females ; Foreigners, 3 males and 2 females ; Total, 330 likvloi, 259 females. The good feelinff of tho iinmiicuviith towards the captnin and officers w.xs reciprocatod by the latter. Both Captain Stuart and Dr. Cunningham gave them an excellent character, and the Doctor remarked that during his 10 years' experience as a medical man in charge of immigrants, he had never travelled with a more mauagoablc lot. Mi.i Bakor, the matron, spoke very favourably of those she had m special charge — they were, with one or two slight exceptions, good, well-behaved girls. They cettainlv looked wo! I, and seemed very happy, and when we loft the shipwere lustily trolling forth a chorus to a song one of thefr number swig the buiden of it having reference to somebody s blue eyes. It was scarcely to be oxpt-cted that so many human beings cooped up together should escape a visitation from. King Death. That potentate lavlod tribute by tha way, and carried off 13, tho causes of de&fh beh>g diarrhoea, mewntwlc diseases, convulsions, and consumption.

any of the immigrants above the age of two yeais>. One of the seamen died of congestion of the lungs, and one of the passengers named Jeremiah Uurnand, a«ed 45 years, fell overboard. This happened on the 23rd Jufy, the ship at the time going nine knots. The unfortunate man had been repeatedly warned not to venture into the main rigging, but persisted in doing ho, affirming that he was an old soldier, used to travelling, and knew what he was about. He, however, ventured once too often, lost hib hold, and fell. A lifebuoy was thrown over to him, and the ship v.is immediately rounded to and a boat lowered and despatched inseirch, hut to no effect-he was never seen again. The Tweed is a handsome stately ship, built at J3ombay of teak. She was built for a steamer, to run in the East India Company's service, and during the first two years of her career afloat she was known as the Punjaub. Then she was sold, and converted into a sailiiv vessel, and is now owned by Messrs John Willis and Sons, of London. Her dimensions areLeivth, over all, 287 feet ; beam, 40 feet ; depth of hold, 24 feet. She arrives here in just about ballast trim, having only some 730 tons of cargo — chiefly dead-weight iron — on board. She was chartered by the Agent-General, and comes here consigned to the New Zealand Shipping Co. She left Graveseud on June lbth, passed the Downs next day, and cleared the Channel on the 18th, a last departure being taken from the Eddystone. Variable winds and moderate weather attended her to Madeira, which was sighted and passed on the '23rd, and next day the Tiade caught the ship. It did not prove much to be thankful for, ami subsided on July Ist, in lat. 15 N. Seven days of bad doldrums followed, and on July Bth the south-east Trade was met with, in lat. IN. The Equator was crossed on the following day, in long. 29 W., and the Trade held good to 19 south, where it left the ship on the 13th July. From that date to the 29th she was muzzled by light southerly and easterly weather, and got no farther ahead than the meridian of Giceinvich, which was crossed in lat. 39 south. Better winds eauf/ht her there, and on the third day after she crossed the meridian of the Cape. During the et suinir 15 days she made poor progress, exceedingly \ amble winds pievailing, sometimes trc-h from the westward and then hauling ahead, falling nwMx to a clock calm. On the 15th August, being then in lat. 42 and lons'. G9 east, the proper westerlies- found her, and she commenced to knock her Easting off- and during the next eleven days logged at the rate of from 2SO miles to 328 miles in the 24 hour*. On the 22nd she passed the meiidiau of the I cuwin during a heavy southerly urale, and thence to Stewart's Island, which was sighted on the 2nd inst., variable winds and weather pre\ ailed. She had a fnir run along the coast, and reached the Heads on the 3rd, and as it was then blowing hard from S.W. she stood off .shoic and ran m again that e\cning, and was boarded by the Pilot, and last night ■» as tow ed to port. On the 13th July, the day she lost the S.E. trades, the ship Zoroaster from London, bound to Biisbano with immigrants, was spoken. She was 40 days out.