VICTORIA

Wellington Independent, Volume VI, Issue 1694, 24 January 1862, Page 5

VICTORIA

By way of Otago, we have received a Melbourne Argus, of the 28th December, kindly furnished to us by Capt. Woodstock of the brig Fanny A Garriques. The principal event at Melbourne was the arrival of '• the All England Eleven," iv the steam-ship Great Britain/who met with the most hearty reception. We extract the following from the Argus, of the 28th December: — Yesterday (Deo. 27) was the second day of the Caledonian Gathering, and the attractions of the sports and their concomitants, thougk not sufficient to induce the prodigious attendance of the previous day, were yet capable of bringing together some 4,000 or 5,000 persons His Excellency the Governor and Lady Barkly were present duriug a part of the afternoon, and the whole of the proceedings passed off with a good deal of eclat. The sports differed from those of the preceding day only in trifles; for the archery, which would have been a distinguishing feature of the entertainments, did not come off, as there were only three entries, and seven, if not ten, were required by the conditions fixed upon by the directors. Almost all the sports both " Caledonian," ! and English, are now over; and to-day will be devoted to an exhibition of martial feats and exercises, the only exceptions being in favor of a football match and a couple of Highland dances, to wind up the gathering. On Wednesday (25th Dec.) an inquiry as to the cause of the fire which destroyed the ship the Empress of tho Sea on the 19th inst., was commenced by Dr. Candler, the district coroner, at the Quarantine Ground, Point Nepean. The inquiry lasted until five o'clock yesterday evening, and a large mass of evidence was taken. A number of gentlemen from Melbourne were present — Mr. Aspinull, appeared on behalf of Messrs. Janoes Baines and Co . the owners of the vessel; Mr. Read for Capt. Bragge, the master; Mr. Sandilands, for the salvors of the gold shipped by the vessel ; Mr. Parton, on behalf of the Oriental Bank, as shippers of gold ; and Mr. Pavey (representative of the firm of Duerdin, Bronckhorst, & C 0.,) for the Bauk of New South Wales and the underwriters. The evidence of Captain Bragge was first taken. It was to the effect that he left Hubson's Bay in due course, and upon arriving at the Heads he went on shore for the pur pose of engaging some additional hands. He gave the vessel into the charge of Mr. Kennedy, the pilot. When he left the ship 'there did not appear to be any dissatisfaction amongst the sailors. He had discovered that there were two men on board who had not signed the ship's articles, and offered to take them with him — an offer which was refused. AH hands were sober when he went on shoie except the third mate, who had been drunk for three days, and was suffering from delirium tremens. The next witness examined was James Fisher, the chief orSeer, who slated that he was on board the vessel when the captain went on shore, but received no special orders from Captain Bragge, and did Dot kuow where he was going, or for what purpose. He turned iv at about half-past twelve, leaving iutructions with the watch to call him at half-past four o'clock. Goldman, the quarter-master, was in the watch, and also a midshipman. The galley fire was out when he went to bed, and everything was perfectly quiet on board. He was called by the second officer at about halfpast four, and heard that the vessel was ou fire. He immediately got up, aud gave instructions for the force-pumps to be rigged, and the hose to be carried along. He heard from the forecastle that the pump handles were not to be found, and he then ordered that buckets should be used. He also broke a window on the port side of the booby hatch, and had water poured down. In the meantime the passengers aud gold were placed in the boats. The captain arrived on board at half-past six o'clock. The smell of the smoke was that of burned canvas, and there was no smell of burning wool until long after the commencement of the fire. Could the force pumps have been worked, the fire could have been extinguished, as for some time after it was discovered it did not get any stronger hold. Jn cross-examination, it appeared that the witness had quarrelled with Goldman when going down the bay and had kicked him, Goldman threatening to " knife " him afterwards. The second officer — Gffford— deposed to having been on watch on the morning of the fire. Tha pump handles were stowed in a conspicuous place, as he had noticed them at an earlier hour of the night. He believed, however, that they were thrown overboard. Goldman, the quarter-master was sub-

jected to a long examination. He stated that h^ was sent by the officer in charge of the vessel to shift the lantern from the foie rigging to the fore yard. When going forward he saw a man whim he believed to be a colored man, rush into the forecastle from near the foremast, on the starboard side. The man had no covering on bis feet und wore a red shirt. The fore hatch was closed, aud before it was the carpenter's tool or nail box. He had heard some of the crew, say they would rather see the ship on fire than go to sea ia her. He could not say who the men were who said so. They stated that they had not signed the articles; but had been hocussed and taken on board when insensible. Several other witnesses were examined, but their evideuco was not of a nature to throw any light upon the origin of the fire. The jury, after half-an-hour's consultation, returned as a verdict — " That the Empress of the Sea was wilfully set on fire, but that there was not sufficient evidence to prove by whom."