SHIPPING SUMMARY.

West Coast Times, Issue 1160, 11 June 1869, Page 1 (Supplement)

SHIPPING SUMMARY.

Our present summary is for exactly the month, and now that the steam communication with Melbourne is likely to be regular, it will for the f utnre enable us to report from regular dates, and for certain periods, by which means we shall be much better able'to show the progress or letrogression of our trade. Taking first the returns for the month of May we find that the arrivals irom foreign ports have been 8 vessels of an aggregate burthen of 1365 tons. There have been an equal number of departures, but their total tonnage was 2162 tons. By the arrivals there were 86 passengers, and 67 persons left, thus showing an increase of immigration from foreign ports over enrij gration of 19. Thirty-two vessels, of 3171 tons, havo arrived coastwise during the I month, anu 29 vessels, rcinvseuting 2430 tons, sailed. Tho increase of immigration over'euiigration by coastwise vessels is very hirgo, the passenger arrivals being 146, and : the departures being only 44 — an increase to the advantage of the County of nolens than 102; thus there Is mi increase in the foreign vessels and i onn ;ge as compared with the March month I the. last for which the returns wei'c singly compiled ; and now, taking from the date of | the last summary to yesterday, we find that i there v> r cre 39 arrivals from all ports.. Of these • 8 were foreign arrivals ; 5 wore j steamers belonging to Messrs. M'Meckan [ and Co.'s line. They were the Tararua, | Omeo, and Gothenburg, from Nelson and ; East Coast Ports ; and the Rangitoto, from i Melbourne. The sailing vessels were the j Aborigine (which car lies J. Ches'ncy an-l Co.'s j Hag), and the Alma (Spenee Brothers), from ! Melbourne ; and the Oceau Wave, from | Adelaide. From inter-provincial ports there have been a good many arrivals, the grain season having given loadiug to many vessels. DuneJlin Bent U3 the Queen of the Isles, the Kaiunw, the Glengarry, the Elizabeth Curie, and the Margaret. From Lyttolton there came the Jano Anu, Dancing Wave, and the William and Mary ; and the Jaue Anderson brought a cargo from Lyttelton. In addition, the little schooner Nile came in with a cargo of potatoes from Taranaki. Our coastal steam service has been well kept up. First, we have to record the return to the Hokitika trade of the favorite paddle-stermer Bruce. She has, during the mouth, j made three trips to and from Nelson via East Coast ports. She may not remain in this trade, but hopes are expressed that she will yet be often seen in the Hokitika waters, -and those hopes may 1)3 realised in the open-ing-up of an entirely new trade. The Provincial Government of Otago have pr 'posed, and the Provincial Council have authorized the subsidising, by an annual grant of £2000, a steamer to make fortnightly trips from Dunediu to this port via the Bluff and other southern ports on the East Coast. It is thought that the County Council will encourage the service still further, the more so as the vessel could call at Okarito and the other southern ports of our coast. That a remunerative trade would spring up there i 3 no doiibt, for the proposed route would take in a large tract of good country for agricultural settlement on the Otago borders, and would extend to the well-known but not yet fairly-tried auriferous grounds of Westland. And no vessel we know of would be better suited to the trade than the Bruce. But to return, to the more immediate doing 3of <he month. The Nelson steamers have plied regularly, and our produce markets have been well 'supplied. The Charles Edward, the Murray, and the Kennedy have each made a successionpf trips, and the Waipara has made her usual runs to Westport and Nelson. The trade in the Grey coal has been brisk, aud the little Yarra has been knocked about to some advantage by her able skipper, Capt . Kerley. Since the 19th ult., he has made seven trips to Greymouth, aud has besides run in and out of the Terernakau three times. With the latter place a fair trade is springing up, one which it is to be hoped will increase. The Waipara made her usual subsidized trip to Okarita aud the Southern bays. The p.s. Lyttelton made her first appearance at the wharf for a long time yesterday. Among the departures since the last summay be noticed those of tho Tararua, Omeo, andGotheuburg, for Melbourne. All arrived pretty true to date, were easily tendered, and and despatched with punctuality. Of tho coasting vessels, most from Duneclin cleared out for Picton to load timber ere returning to Dunedin. But the Kaiunia aud Glengarry sailed direct for that port. The foreign departures have been the Storm Bird, for Clarence river ; the Aborigine and Ocean Wave, for Melbourne. During the month to come, there will be considerable briskness iv- our shipping, there being four regular traders now about due from Melbourne, and others to follow. This trade is very much on the increase, and it is a pleasure to be able to record tho regularity i with which the^ fleets engaged go ami ro-

turn, and keep up the supplies. Indeed, the trade is so firmly established, that we see each month the Baine vessels, and the same lommanders; and the departures and arrivals of the vessels are always watched with interest, there always being tests.of speed aud sailing qualities discussed and wagered upon. That fine liner, the Alma, ia the only Melbourne vessel now berthed, and she takes her departure to-day, with a load of pine logs — the commencement, it is to be hoped, of a regular return trade. Of the state of the bar since the last summary, there is nothingbut good to report. It has rarely, if ever, been .in better condition; certainly for the lapfc twelve months it has not worked so well. It has been found- scarcely necessary to move the beacons— that on the beach, the leading one, not having been shifted more than ten yards, five each way. The weather has been unusually fine. The prevailing winds have been E. and S. and S.W., all light; a sometimes it has veered round as fur as W., but has not remained any time. There have boen.no northerly winds to speak of.