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Wellington Independent, 6 January 1860, Page 1

she sailed again for Wanganui yesterday about noon, with a fair cargo and a few passengers. The Bteamer Pirate, from Melbourne, arrived at Otago- on the 21st Dec, after a passage of eight days. She had a number of passengers, 2L horses, 750 sheep, and a large general cargo. She cleared but again for. Melbourne on the 29th •ult., with 12 passengers and a full cargo of colonial produce, The .schooner Northern Light, 89 tons, Tohin, Is advertised. in. the Otago JVitness of the 31st ult., td sail for Wellington on the 4th inst. ENOLisa Oarsmen Astonishing the French. On the 6th instant six sons of the Thames effected -a landing at Dieppe to compete for the different prizes offered at the regatta which took place on the 7th. The races were for four-oared and six •oared gigs, and a second four^oared race as a prize ■of honor for the viators of the above races, a handfiome gold Cup, given by the Emperor. Thirteen boats started for the four-oared prize, a purse of £16 and a gold medal.. The weather was delightftd, the watSr. quite smooth', the shore lined With all the llite of Dieppe,' and the elegantly dressed ladies' __ded _d_ch tb the ectot of the scene. At 8 o'clock the sighaTglln fired to prepare: a second i pop n_ade : 9very m„n bend the blade of his oar. A few 1 ' miiiuWs sufficed to show the Union Jack had a slight advance, hut they Were not yet disentangled from: two of their adversaries; although it was evident that the long, quite, stroke of the English' brew" would last longer than the overqtfick?:oh*rg;etic style of the French. "By degrees they iricfeaSed-theirdistaiic'e, and had the pleasure of showing the others the way oVer the course. The crew was composed of Thomas White; A. Chitty, W Bell, and R: Bain. The same crew Were joined by G. Driver, and E. Bell, and soon started for the six-oared race for a prize, a purse, of £20 and a gold ftSe'daL The same suc,teess,.;.with a greater advantage; awaited them in this contest. The next day the race for the "Emperor's Gold Cup took place/ and was, Won by bur "countrymen.^ It Was gratifying to see that; with the exception bf some few,' most of the ! spectators admitted the BUpe"rior 'skill 'and strength of the English and their style of rdwirig was much admired,- 'After ' the above successes our little corps pushed forward' tb Roueti^-br as one of the crew termed.it v " row-on' "—and there' they found the whole town alive, and out to see them row on or be rowed out. - Races for pairs, four-oared, sixoared and scuffing -boats were offered. The first event was a_pair„oared race. The English crew, W. and JpJ. JBfell, h&A a very inferior boat, which caused a terrific 'struggle between themselves and a/good .French crew, who had a very superior and faster boat, with which they took a considerable leadjbut qfter. 15 minutes of the hardest .pulling in the .world, British, pluck rowed by. them, winning! by lO.jboats' lengths. Then followed the four and^ix, oared md. sculling races, which they WQU«r^burtjting ,to about .£3O in, money, with a gojidinie^al.'Yor each race. Elated with their good luck^put fH*ew irjpye4 .on the same evening to Paris. l.Tfce. ifoiloWing,. morning our six Britons were again *-6ri. the b?ipkß of the Seine: and owing to the great number of boats that were entered for the different racees*, 15 18 for each race, they had" to pull trial marches, '-'he final heats commenced at 8 o'clock and_ after some of the hottest Vices' ever fun flic English .crew won them all, five in number, and added another £40 and five medals to iheir trophies.