GREY RIVER.

West Coast Times, Issue 301, 10 September 1866, Page 2

GREY RIVER.

HiSH Wateb Tuis Day. — 9.40 a.m.; 10.5 p. mi.

Within the last forty-eight hours, the p.s. Lioness has passed through an ordeal that we believed no vessel could have undergone without becoming a total wreck. There, however, upon the beach she lies, high and dry, in a position infinitely superior to any she lias ocaupied since the day of her stranding, and her captain and agents are now more sanguine than ever that their attempts to refloat her viil be successful. At midnight, en Friday, the Lioness was resting on the beach, at the end of her sliding ways, having been washed up that distance by the preceding tide, and it was then hoped that, providing the next day vras favorable, she would be relifted and carried close tfi tho river. But it was otherwise ordained, as the night's rain brought down such a flood in the morning, that backed up by a high spring tide, it overflowed the wharf, and submerged the end of the South Spit, and, as the tide reefeded, cut three channels through tho Spit, one of them' Tight underneath the unlucky boat. In an hour or two the channel had cut down to a depth of between six and seven eet, and then widened gradually until the Lioness hung by her bow taid stem only, the entire midship section being unsupported ; and as therein was contained the enormous weight of her boiler and machinery, it was feared that her back would break. Strange to say, she discovered no signs of weakness, although she lay in this frying position for nearly two hours, until the channel having widened still further, she settled gently down, and took the ground fore-and-aft in its bed, on her po v t beam ends. In the meantime, the tide rereded, and the river fell rapidly, so that the three channels erased running, and the Lioness was once more left dry. but partly buried in the sand, with her deck full exposed to the sea, which was increasing fast. We never saw a vessel look more like a wreck, and certainly believed her late was sealed, and that during the next two tides she would break up, as with such a heavy bank of sand behind her, any attempt to lift her itgain, in the face of such a sea as threatened to sweep the Spit, as the tide made, would have been useless. She was, therefore, virtually given up far lost, and everything that could be removed from her was lauded on the beach, and afterwords carted up to the signal itation for safety. Her machinery was of coursu left, as thore was no time to take it out; ani after every precaution had been adopted, Sy battening down hatches, securing the companions, &c, to prevent her filling with water, the Lioness was left to resist as best she might the terrible surf which, as the tide was making, approached her^fast. The day closed in with every indication of a stormy night, and but very faint hopes were entertained — by even those who most believed in her powers of enduv*nce-»that the tug would survive it. But she stood the trial bravely, in a manner which astonished the least doubting of her friends, and yesterday morning was high and dry upon the beach, with the after part of her keel clear of the sand. She was visited during the day by crowds of people, and in the afternoon the hatches wi-re taken oil* and the vessel closely inspected fore anil aft by Captain Joyce and the first and second engineers of the Keera, who reported so^ favorably » upon her condition that it is determined to once more place her on ways, stop the rents in her bottom, and proceed with th<s relaunch. Tl»t commencement of this work will, howerer, be unavoidably delayed for a day or two, as *te\r sliding ways must be procured, the old ones having been washed away by the flood. Whether this attempt will result successfully, depends in a great measure upon the weather, but as the Spit has extended very considerably seawards, thus removing the Lionels further J'rom the surf, we are inrlined to think it will, and that by the end of the week v ehe will be once more in the river. We are disinclined to .comment upon Her actual condition, further than that she looks - rather shaky, as Icr port broadside is started, and the paddle-box shattered to pieces. The engineer* who examined her yesterday state tha\ the damage to her bottom i^ trivial, as

besidus where she is stove forwards, only two

of the k id plates are started in the v after hold. 1 Thirteen frames on the port side have broken. Once more there is a straight channel and a clear bar, and we sincerely trust that those vessels so long delayed inside will take their departure to-day. The flood has effectually done its work, by sweeping away the tail of the South Spit, and the sand thus removed has been hove up on the North Spit, which is, in consequence, increased in size, and much extended seawards. But there is little likeli-

hood that it will long remain so, for at tho

river decreases in volume the surf will again 'form the South Spit, and the stream again diverted northward will eat its way into tlia north bank, and soon reduce it to its former proportions. Provided always that the woafr&er feeeps dry, othepwiia. there it every pro-

babilily that the present excellent channel will keep open for some weeks. The^' Otaj;o Daily Times" of the 3rd hist., informs us that the Enterprise, which was once a paddle-wheel steamer, has been converted into a fore-and-aft schooner, and sailed from, Dunedin for Wauganui on the 2nd.

The slvirp westerly gale of Saturday raised a tremendous sea in the roadstead and drove the vessels which were at anchor there on Friday night to seek safety in the more open -water outside. Yesterday there was no sign of the schoone^ Spray, or the cutters Charlotte and Australian Maid ; and it was well for them that they had taken the precaution to gain an offing, as we never remember seeing such an awful surf as that which whitened the roadstead and rolled up in terriflic walls- of water upon tho beach yesterday. The break commenced nearly two miles fronftue shore and at times the intervening space was milky white covered with a seethintr mass of travelling waves in which no vessel could have ventured and lived. Some of tho outer rollers must have been twenty feet high, whilst those which expended their fury upon tlie sands reached, in some instances', an altitude of ten and twelve. It % being spring tides the spit was occasionally swept, and at high water its southern end was completely submerged. The sea, however, fell considerably during the afternoon, and last night there was every appearance that tho* bar would be workable to day. We trust it may be so.