NAUTICAL ITEMS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1241, 11 September 1875, Page 11

NAUTICAL ITEMS.

Captain "Rowe, of the barque British Empire, informg us that when his vessel was off the Island of Tristan d'Acuuha during her late passage, a boat, as of times occur-,, put off from the island and boarded her. The persons in the boit reported that in May last the crew of a ship destroyed by fire in the South Atlantic, landed upon Inaccessible Island, and after staying there a short time, were taken off by a passing vessel. Neither the name of the ship burned nor tbe name of the rescuing vessel could be ascertained. The boat's crew further stated that six weeks anterior to the British Empire's visit, an Italian barque (name also not given) was wrecked upon Tristan d'Acuuha, a-id the crew saved. They were subsequently taken into the Cape of Good Hope by a sealing vessel. The tonnage at the port of Newcastle at date, August 2t, amounted to 42,376 tons, the aggregate registering of 79 vessels, comprising 19 ships of 20,876 tons, 47 barques of 19,172 tons, 11 brigs of 2475 tons, and 2 schooners of 365 tons. The tonnage of the ships ranged from 1014 tons to 623 tons ; that of the barques from 990 tons to 254 tons, and the brigs from 285 to 162 tons. There were loading on the same date, 2 ships for San Francisco, aggregate toanage, 3800 ; lof 900 tons, for Manilla ; loi 1000 tons, for Mauritius ; 1 of 600 tons, for Hong Kong; 1 of 350 tons, for New Caledonia. Other vessels were loading intercolonial. A shocking case of murder and suicide at sea occurred, as reported in the Maritime Register, on board the brigantiue Mary Kichmoi d, whilst she was on her way, loaded with pilm oil, from Lotos to Rotterdam. On the evening of last Good Friday, when she was iv 29.16 N., tbe steward, a Mahomedan named Moisu, attacked tHe chief officer, a Dutchman named Van der Howt, with a sharp axe as he was descending- the companion ladder, and at once disabled him. His cnes of murder drew the captain to the scene, and he seized the mate aud dragged him on deck, and then made a rush to disarm and secure the steward. The latter, however, made a cut at the captain and narrowly missed him, and the captain, retreating, had barely time to shut the companion door and ward off another attack. By this time, the crew were aft to assist, but the stoward refused to surrender, and seeing that, escape was hopeless, gashed his throat three times with the edge of the axe, then reversed and struck himself on the forehead, and fell dying on the cabin floor. His head was nearly severed from his body. The chief officer was shockingly mutilated. His right jaw wits cut open, his right leg nearly severed, and the left partly cut away, He received every assistance that could be rendered him, but mortification setting in death ensued. The steward's body was thrown overboard, aud that of the mate buried in tbe manner usual at sea.

According to the Board of Trads returns for the month of May last, the tonnage of vessels employed in the foreign trade was : inwards 1,364,714, outwards 1,439,780, being a slight increase upon tbe return < for the same month of 1874. An analysis of the return shows that 194,903 tons entered inwards, and 298.'899 tons cleartd outwards. The general coasting trade stood thus :— Inwards, 1,912,844 tons of British shipping and 11,377 tons foreign entered in, and 1,718.230 British, and 022 : tons foreign tonnage cleared outwards. Trade with Ireland was represented by 051.109 tons British and 5567 foreign inwards, and 628,907 British'and 1213 foreign outwards, bringing the total constinjr business up to 1,924,2il tons inwards, and 1,724,452 outwards. All the leturns record »n increase upon those of May, 1874. - „,. , The New Zealand Times says : Information hag been received from the fub-CoUector of Customs at the Chatham Islands that on the 29th May last the following articles were picked up on Kaingaroa Beach, viz : —A piece of pine plank about eight feet in length and eight or nine inches wide, with two oblong holea cut in it by way of a sort of rough ornamentation, and a camp-stool, roughly made, with a strong new :anvas seat, with tbe letters J. MM. painted on tho under •ide. These a tides appeared to have been in the water but a short time. Pephaj s the letters on the camp-stool misdit lead to its identification.

Besides those above named, five water- logged and abandoned vessels, brijp and schooners, names not known, were passed in the North Atlantic in May last; and on the 19th May a German barque, about 500 tons, waterlogged, abandoned, and all masts staudiug, was passed iv lat. 39 N., long. 43 W, Another waterlogged vessel, apparently a ship, with foremast and fore-yard standing, was p»ssed on the ISth May in lat. 39 N., louir. 38 w. Vessels supposed to be those that were sighted bottom up in the Atlantic in April last, were again seen iv May. We compile as follows from Mitchell's Maritime Rejfister :— The arrival of the ships May Quo«i and AVaikato at London from Otago, is announced, the first on June 2nd, the second on June (sth. The May Queen sailed from here on Fsbruary 22nd, and thus made the run home In 100 days. The Waikato sailed on February flth, and was 116 days on the voyage. The ship Devon arrived at London from Boston on June 6th ; the H. T, Staines, from Tobago on the Sth. A collision, attended by lamentable results, occurred in the Strait of Messina, on the 12th May, when thesteamer Ava, bound from Marseilles to India, via the Canal, ran into & ship und sunk her. She immediately stopped, lowered boats, and cruised about until morn' ing, but could see nothing of tho ahip or a»iy of the crew. Neither the name nor nationality of the ship was ascertained. The barque Conway, from London to Now York, in ballast, was abandoned on May 7th in a sinking condition— latitude 45, longitude 44. Her crew were taken on to New York by the Schiller. An abandoned black painted coppered bottom vessel was passed on March 10th -latitude 40 north, longitude 38 west. Fore and main masts and bowsprit were gone, and on the lnizen-mast flags of distress were flying. The South Tyne steamer, arrived at Akyab, April 25th, from Rangoon, reported passing a vessel, bottom up, 0 miles S.W. of the Terribies. There was no stray wreckage about her, aud she did not appear to have been long id that position. Five vessels— the Abdiel Mary Ann. Blue Jacket, Union, Emma and Eliza, and Pearl— have been examined by the Board of Trade surveyor at Hull, pronounced unsf-aworthy, and detained in consequence. The Norwegian barque Aurora, from Tonsberg bound to Quebec, was abandoned in the ice on the 13th May. She subsequently sank. Advices from Mauritius, dated May 27tb, announce the arrival of the ship Canada, bound to Melbourne, from London. She had struck a. submerged wreck, and put into Mauritius leaking with rudder truck, stanchions, and deck started, and cargo much damaged. The brigantine Eleonore waa abandoned, leaking, in the early part of May in lat. 44. X, long. 43 W.— crew saved The barque Hesperus, from Sr. Mary's, bound to Montevideo, became dismantled aud waterlosrged, and was abandoned on the 21st March last in lat. 37 N., lonsr. 57 W. Another Norwegian barque, the Kong Sevorre, was crushed by th&ice, and had to be abandoned on the 17th April. She was bound to Quebec. The ice appoars to be very late this season in tho North Atlantic. The M. Wocd barque, which arrived at Shediac, from Liverpool, on May 23rd, found the Cape Breton Coastbiocked by ice and had to go as far north as Gaspe to clear it. Two hundred sail of vessels bound to the Gulf of St. Lawrence were detained by it. Three abandoned vessels were seen in the ice. The following paragraphs are susrgestive :— On the 17th May, during a dem>e foir, about 0 45 p.m., loud voices were heard t>y persons on shore as from a vessel in distress off ftocken End, ißle of Wight The tag lighting for a minute, a large steamer was descried, to it standing by afier being in collision. The fog then came on so thick as to prevent further being made out, On tho Oth a newly painted ship's stanchion and a cask were washed up of the boach both supposed to belong to the same vessel. Part of a Jibboom and topsail yard, partly burnt, and belonxtojr to a large ship, were picked up S.W, of Molljnbrpae, Donegal Bay. Palm ©Jl w&g jjub.Biquen.VJy pbjemd