THE LADY JOCELYN, AND THE TROOPS IN HER.

Wellington Independent, Volume XVIII, Issue 2000, 24 December 1863, Page 3

THE LADY JOCELYN, AND THE TROOPS IN HER.

The arrival of 700 soldiers three months ago would have been the subject of much greater interest than the landing of nearly that number from the Lady Jocelyn was yesterday morning. With a rmurii feeling oi" security, we can afford to look with a less- degree of interest at the arrival of reinforcements. The .crisis has passed,!; and with it has passed the longing for help,? which was so apparent in the critical position in which the province was then placed, Auckland has certainly been highly favoured, for from no quarter of the British dominions in which help has been asked has it been refused. The influence which the arrival of such large reinforcements must bare had upun the natives in dissuading them from attempting more extensive hostile movements, must hare been great, and we may reasonably hope that they will not be so blind to their own weakness, and to the power of the British arms as to fight much, longer against their destiny. The troops commenced to disembark yesterday morning at four o'clock. The colonial gunboat Sandfly, or the Corio, not being here, the men were landed by the boats of the Lady Jocelyn, and those of the the men of war in the harbour. It might be supposed that this would be a tedious process, but such was not the case ; and we question very much whether the debarkation would have been even so raidly accomplished if the Sandfly had been here. The last of the troops left the ship about seven o'clock, and the invalids, women and children, and baggage were brought off afterwards. Of course the Albert Barracks was their first destination ; but their stay was not long there, for about ten o'clock the whole of them marched for Otahuhu, headed by the band of the regiment. They are a fine body of troops, and if called upon to fight, they will, we believe, render good service. We may mention that Lieut. Colonel Booth served with the 43rd in the Kaffir war of 1851, 1853, for which he received a medal, and that several of the officers under him have either seen service in the Crimea or in India. In our notice of the Lady Jocelyn yesterday, we gave a few particulars of that vessel, and we now supplement them with a few others which may be interesting. The Lady Jocelyn is really a splendid vessel, and as an auxiliary screw steamer, none have entered the harbour (excepting the Himalaya, of course), which could compete with her tonnage or general capabilities. She belongs, as we have stated, to the East India and London Shipping Company, whose vessels trade regularly from Londen to Calcutta, via Cape of Good Hope and Madras. The vessels belonging to this company are as follows :-Golden Fleece, 2765 tons ; Lady Jocelyn, 2365 tons; Hydaspes, 2345 tons; Indiana, 2300 tons, Queen of the South, 2222 tons; and the Mauritius, 2165 tons. An idea of the value of such a fine fleet of auxiliary screw steamers may be formed, when we state that the Lady Jocelyn cost £80,000 or £90,000. This, however, was so long ago as 1852, when iron shipbuilding had not reached the perfection and economy that it has now. The Lady Jocelyn had only arrived a week or two at Calcutta when she was chartered to convey the troops here, and the cargo being discharged as quickly as possible, she took in her living freight for this port. The Lady Jocelyn is specially adapted for carrying troops, being fitted with troop decks, which when not required are filled with cargo, Her total crew, all told number 102, and her officers are, Captain Robert W. Ker, Mr Pinkerton, chief officer, Mr Frost, second officer, Dr. Richards, medical officer and Mr Playfair, purser. Captain Ker is a lieutenant in the Royal Navy Reserve, and several of the crew also belong to it. It is hardly necessary, we presume, to explain what the " Royal Navy Reserve" means, but we may mention that merchant seamen, by submitting to a certain number of days training during the year on board a man-of-war, entitle themselves to rank in this Reserve. For instance, the captain of a merchant vessel, undergoing such training, ranks as a lieutenant of the Royal Navy, which rank Captain Ker holds. The establishment of the Naval Reserve was contemporaneous with that of the volunteer movement at home. About two years ago the East India and London Shipping Company lost a fine vessel, called the Jason, which it will be recollected was driven ashore at Madras. All the Company's vessels are classed at Lloyd's. The accommodation of the Lady Jocelyn, as a merchant vessel, is most commodious and complete. Ordinarily she can carry no less than 100 first-class passengers ; and the saloon is very large and airy, and handsomely fitted up. The engines of the Lady Jocelyn are nominally of 300 horsepower, which without sail, in fair weather, are sufficient to propel the vessel seven knots per hour. The Himalaya bad full steam power, even for her enormous size ; but the Lady Jocelyn uses steam only as an auxiliary. There were, altogether, 909 souls on board this ship on her passage here, and, as showing the quantity of food required to supply so many mouths, we may give the weight of some of the articles consumed :— 12,000; lbs beef; 19,000. lbs pork ; 31,000 lbs bread ; 13,000 lbs flour; 1,200 lbs tea ; 13,000 lbs sugar ; 2,000 salt ; 2,500 lbs preserved potatoes ; 5,000 lbs preserved meat ; 3000 lbs rice. We believe it is not yet determined when the Lady Jocelyn will leave this port, or what will be her destination. Since writing the above, we understand that the Lady Jocelyn is under offer to the Government for further employment in the transport service.— Southern Cross, Dec. 12.