ARRIVAL OF THE ZELANDIA.

Otago Witness, Issue 1248, 30 October 1875, Page 11

ARRIVAL OF THE ZELANDIA.

The welcome signal announcing the arrival of the Zelandia at the H?ads was made early on Wednesday morning, and the QetloDgjpromptiy wttendipg her she was towed to the anchorage off the Port beiu.e noon. The Health Officer, Captain Thomson, and the Immigration Commissioners then boarded her, and also our representative, a few minutes later, without let or hindrance on anybody's part. This proceeding however, was not viewed favourably by Air Colin Allan, the immisrration Agent, who expressed hla disapproval of it oy asking the Press man whether he was uot aware of the order that had lately been issued prohibiting any person whatever boarding a Government immigran; ship nntil eho had first of all been cleared by the Commissioners. The reply to this question was confined to the itrict letter of the law. A verbal notification to the above effect had been given, but was couched se vaguely as to be scarcely regarded as competent to override the clause in the harbour regulations, permitting persons authorised by His Honour the Superintendent to board bhips before they had been cleared. Mr Allan rejoined that it would be his duty to report the circumstance, and we sincerely trust that he w,ll survive the painful ordeal berore him. At the same time we would ask what in the name of common sense this extraordinary action on tne part of the Immigration Department means, or in what manner the presence of the members of the Press on board immigrant ahip3 before they are cleared interferes with the proceedings of the Commissioners? That our readers may understand that we are absolutely guiltless of any breach of etiquette °J]u £ffenceL ence m the remotest degree with the action or the Customs and other officials with whom we have hitherto been accustomed to board ships, we will trive a brief outline of what occurs when ships arrive If oue bringing immigrants, the Health Officer and Commissioners go alongside in the Customs steam launch, and the members of the Press in their rei JKi^nm U t !"> sni P¥ 3a «lean bill of health , the Health Officer and Commissioners board her, and °J «* b y tfa e Press men. All proceed to the , cabin, and after the usual courtesies are exchanged ' witn .he captain and doctor the passenger roll is pro- ! duced and its contents noted by all present, the Pre-s ! men thereby saying time and obtaining sure informa- ' ton relative to the number of passengers and their &?^ tlO rt Heal ' h Officer Commissioner **m«i ZZI h « • a ? d .' * tte » de d by the doctor, and sometimes by the captain, proceed to inspect the immigrants quarters, the Press men meantime remaining m the cabiD, and, if the captain is there, obtain from him a report of the ships passage out By that time the officials have completed their inspection and return to the cabin. Adieus are said, and away they K o ashore excepting the Immigration Agent, who re"Sff l ? ssts s ti * questions conceding the disembarkation of hw numerous charges. The Press J!i ei !r?n J !, m - OVe ° a hu Dd .' "companied by the doctor *"■ inspect the immigrants' quarters, and so finish their duties, so far as the shfp is concerned. a W^*^ asses betw een the Press men and the officials whilst they are on board. The Press &'^ J *M. after the turn of the officials hat been served, hesitates not to chat with the passengers, to ascertain if al was well with them during the pas6%ge, and also with the view of ascertaining the quality article -« question which ye opine the Province takes, or at any rate ou^httotake a very keen interest in. A few words of advice and encouragement is often addressed by the Press men to the new arrivals; and who dare say that ihey are thereby guilty of an impropriety? We have time and again urged, and we still maintain we are rirht that aU matters appertaining to immigration should l be X lZ^"""wwtomjn character, and ought uot ™£™ P f O^ Cl * te - P ec »niarily interested in the ~f P ei> c is one official to whom our nllu«nn fh» « S^ PP 3f«~ we mean ThoinS&rf offlcer -» gentleman who is gifted with that exceedingly rare commodityefuiTZ" "f" 86 - c ]m e been indebted to his ourtesy mauy a time and oft, and we are very suio between officialdom and the Press so far as this nort is concerned, would be entirely obvi ? ated. If m^vos verted by the iomjgration A^BS*£'t£ late

restriction placed upon the Pre* originated in sometht. g that occurred at Lyitelton, all we can say is that the something was kept remarkably quiet, for not a word respecting it appeared in either of the Christchurch papers, papers which we are proud to recoenise us contemporaries, and yet papers not given to critically report on the shipping or immigration in its immediate relations with vessels. Bur, if anything did oceurat Lyttelton to wound offlcialsensibilities.itmust nave been very trifling and not worth such a sweeping mandate as that recently issued. Why should the faults of Lyttelton be visited on this port? That is to say if Lyttelton hw committed a fault, for we certainly do not regard her honest criticism as one, but rather as something to be commended, and that highly, by every .section of the Fourth Estate. We snrewdly surmise that personal animosity is at the bottom of it all, either here or elsewhere, or both We are pleased to incur our share of the responsibility, because is thereby demonstrated the fact of our having done our duty to the public without fear or favour.

The Zolandia arrired in capital order ; a cleaner shin or a more satis-actory bill of health never came under our notice. She comes here in command of Captain Sellars, with Dr Peurde as surgeon-supe-in-teinlciit. He was here last year iv a similar capaoitv in the *hip Wilihni Uavie. < v aptaln Cellars aiu> Dr Pearde h.ive fciiriy earned a liberal meed of praise for the attention they bestowed upon their charges, and fortliea-lmirahk'diseiiiliiie maintained from first to last. Ihe male immigrants were exercu-ed in boat and fire drill, o t«ct watches were kept th roi^hout the night, and the closest supervision exercised over the single women A school was instituted for the benefit of the yomi"--s-ers on board, and was very ably conducted by Mr Horn, one of the passengers. To aid in neutralising the monotony of hoard-a-ship life, the doctor started a newspaper— the Zelandia Gazette, a weekly publication—of which three copies were written— one for the after part of the ship, one for the married people, and one for the single men and crew. Private theatricals were also initiated, ana proved a gre.it success, whilst the doctor, who is an ardent Uood Templar, forgot not to deliver a few temperance lectures, aud thereby guned several adherents to the cau-e of total abstinence Having adopted such measures to render the vbynsre endurable, if not altogether pleasant, no wonder that the immigrants expre&sed their entire app wal of the treatment they had received, and demonstrated their satisfaction by presenting the doctor with three testimonials— one from the marrie.l people, one from the single men, and the thirdfrom the single women. Our inspection of theship was satisfactory. She was clean, well ventilated, and the single men and women were very comfortably berthed, as also could the married folks, if a little more privacy had been vouschsafed them. The bucks were arranged London fa-hion, in blocks, with side alleys. Dr W. Pearde informed us that the shii> was, the fiist to leave London under the new charter party, which provides for a much more liberal uietary scale than had before ruled. He gave the immigiatits good character, not one case of punishment had occurred during the passage, an.l no a ckuess, beyond that which a doze r.f salts and senna was sufficient rpmedy. Only one death had occurred, that of Daniel Gabbins, aged 32, who died on August 2nd, from inflammation of the bruin There was also only one birth, a Mrs Harvey wis confined of a daughter on September 10th. We found the offices of ihe immigrants' quarter-, as they should have been, and the doctor particularly commended the m inner in which the fresh water condenser, one of Graveley's had worked during the passage. It supplied the ship from nn,t to laut, and as a consequence she brought into port all the water in tanks, 41 of them, that she left London with. Of the immigrant* there were 2iJ married couples, 89 children, and seven infants under one year old, 44 sintrle women, and 63 single men. The immigrants, especially the married people and single women, looked remarkably well, and very respectable. The great majority of the men were described as arti-ans, mechanics, and tarm labourers. The single Rirl* were in charge of Mrs Rodgersou, the matron, wh-> spoke well pf them, Durinar our inspection of the ship, we noticed a defect in the exceedingly flimsy diameter of the boohy hatches of the main and and after hatchways. A heavy sea breaking on board would have converted them into match wood, As it was a small sea that tumbled on board did some damage to foe main booby hatch.

Captain Sellars is an old voyager to this port, having been here as master of the ship Bombay 14 yeais ago, This is his f-econd vojage in the Zealandia, and befoie I he took charge of her, he made several voyages to Wellington. We thank him for the report of the Zealandia's passage. It rung as follows :— Lef t the East India Docks, July 15th ; passed survey on 17th at Gravesend, then embarked passengers the same day, and proceeded to sea in the evening in tow. Cast off the tugs off Dungeness next day, and stood down Channel with light westerly winds and thick foggy weather. On the 22nd the pilot left her off Torbay, her point of departure Thence light westerly and N.W. winds prevailed to 2» N. and 21 W., where she fell in with the Trade on the 6th August, sorry progress having been so far made. The Trade proved light and indifferent, and gave out en the 12th, in lat. 16 N. Light southe-ly and S.W. winds attended her to the Equator, which . she crossed on the 84th day out, on the 25th Au<mst i in long 27 west. The S.E. Trade met her therefand provei light and poor throuehout, and were lost on the Ist September, in 20 S. and 33.30 W. Light variable winds, chief] v westerly, thence prevailed to , the meridian of the Cape, which was rounded on the 22nd September, in lat. 43 A, on the 68th day out Tristan d'Aeunha had been passed in sight on the I2th September. From the meridian of the Cape to Tasmania the ship was humbugged by very unsettled weather and winds. The latter flew about in all directions, and wee uncertain in force, squally and variable, whilst the barometer ranged low Keeping below 29 for a period of 12 days. On the 25th S-ptember, the ship passed an Iceberg in lat. 43 South l'W. 32.6 K. It waa pretty well water-worn, and Yfxs about 300 feet long and 100 feet high. When the ship breasted Tasmania, the barometer moved up, and on the 19th inst., a whole gale from the S.E. came on put only lasted a few hours. Then easterl/ winds light and variable, mii2zled her, aad thus it was not until the evening of the 24th inst. that she sighted the Snares. Still humbugged by winds, she crawled alon<' the coast, passed the Nusgets on Tuesday, and ar> rived as before mentioned. She ran her longitude down between the parallels of 43 and 45, and, on the whole, had moderate weather, the one or two gales that caught her in the Southern Ocean being shortlived. She brings 1200 tons of cargo, of which about 360 tons is deadweight, including two ten ton locomotive engines. She is voyaging on account of her owners, Me-sr3 Shaw, Savill, and Co. The ship Douglas Castle, from Glasgow, bound to Sin^ipore was spokun on August 4th, in the N.E. Trade, and next day the Great Victorian, from London to Brisbane, was sighted and passed. j Mr Taylor, who was formerly here as chief officer of the Dover Castle, holds the same position on board the Zealaudia.