ARRIVAL OF THE COLUMBUS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1436, 31 May 1879, Page 13

ARRIVAL OF THE COLUMBUS.

The barque Columbus arrived off Otago Haads on the morning of May 28th, and wa* towed into port by tbe ps. Koputai at 11 a.m. She comes under charter to the New Zealand Shipping Company, and is still commanded by our old friend Captain * sion; while Mr Taylor, who w»s here in her two years and a-h»lf since t» seoond mate, is now chief officer. The Columbus brings 1200 tons of cargo, of which half is dead • weight, a"d the rest measurement goods, and will discharge at the Railway Pier Her passage has been an unusually lengthy one for so smart a ship, and is accounted for by the fact th»t she experienced strong he»d winds in the Chops of the Channel, together with very light and variable wine's across the Southern Ocean. We thank Mr Taylor for the following account of her pMtmge cut I—Left Graves«nd on February Bth wl^h lieftt 7&.W4 wind?, and .passed the Nove Li^ht on the Jjtb 0! the «*me month, meeting a itrocg; S.W. gale,

which continued until February 28'h, when she took her final departure Jrom Lizird Point; thence she hiwl H.E. winds which gradually increased to a g«le on March 7th, and carried away her foretopgallantmast. The notth-east trades were taken in latitude N. ; they proved moderate, and gave out in htitude 421 N. on March 12th; the S.ffi. tradei were picked upon the next day in latitude 3 X., and the equator crossed on March 15th, in longitude 23 W.—2o days from the Lizard Point. She carried the 9'Hith-eait trades to latitude 23.19 8., and lojttbem on March 24:h; thence she experienced calms and moderate and variable winds; wit a stoug N.E. gale, which lasted for four days, aud on April 6th, in latitude 39 S , longitude 3 26 W.. encountered a strong ga'e from the southward; it lasted for three days, during which the tihip w«s hove-to, labouring he&vily. The prime meridian was crossed on April Bth, in latitude 88.38 S, and the Cape of Good Hope rounded on April- 18th, in "latitude 89.47 8; thence she had variable winds across the Southern Ocean, and erased the meridian of Cape Leuwin in latitude 48,50 on May Bth ; strong N. W. breezes followed, and took her past the Island of Tasmania on May 14th, thence she experienced light E. and S.K. winds with very thick weather, and made the Traps on the 26th instant, tck light S.W. winds, and passed Mxg«;et Point at 9 pm. on the 26 h, making the Heaos at daybreak on the 28ih. Her easting waa run down in the parallel of 44 south latitude. During the passage the following vessels wero spoken: —Match 17th —American barque Jonathan Chase, from the i uon Ir lands for Falmouth, in latitudo 5 44 S., longitude iB 6 W., 78 days out. Letters were sent Uome by this ship. March 19th—BriUsh ship Kirkwood, of Liverpool, from that port to Bombay, 34 day* out, in latitude 23.40 S., longitude 26 40 W. Apiil22nc'— Briti»h ship Eddeaide, of Liverpool, for S-ydney, in latitude 39.24 8. longitude 51.23 E.