where it took the corner of the post, thus making a pad that might form and lie solid when the guy was hauled taut. To these short chains we connected top-sail sheets and purchase chains (two on each side), taking one in-board, after part of main, and the other after part of fore chains, and hauling them well taut with lanyards and luff tackles. To keep these from working on the side with the wash, we put short perpendicular guys in one or two places, and kept them taut on deck, the gudgeon at the bottom of the rudder-case being left, we put a short chain round the main-piece, rove it upwards, through the gudgeon, and took it up the case, which kept it in at that part, and also kept the rudder from rising; the gudgeon and pintle on deck being saved, were put as before.

To ship it, a gun was attached to the lower part to sink it; if a hole is made at the bottom, a good line rove through it, and secured at the head of the rudder, the gun, or heavy kedge anchor, will unreeve itself, when that is let go, and can be hauled in by the other part. As the guys may get foul in shipping, the rudder should be launched over the taffrail, keeping the guys in at the quarters, with a good rope down the case, it may then be hauled up and secured, and steer as formerly.

It is particularly necessary to pay close attention to the guys, keeping them well taut, otherwise the rudder will lose power. After three weeks, arriving at St. Helena, we took it inboard to examine it; we found the chain guys very much damaged with the copper; the short ones, next the rudder, were safe; we, therefore, condemned the long parts, and cut up a hawser, tarring it and serving it well, and where it came against the vessel, it was rounded with small rope, &c.; as the lower guy was independent of the upper one, we took them up, once a fortnight, one at a time, and examined them. Care was necessary to keep the short perpendicular guys well taut, to prevent their washing up and down the side.

With this, although deeply loaded, I believe we made as good a passage to England as the other vessels (seven weeks). When near the Channel one of the short chains gave way, which caused me much anxiety, as the weather did not permit us well to unship it, but the other guy held. I found, although these guys were not touching the vessel, yet where there was slack water, the chain was cut as with a gouge, on the outer surfaces particularly; but the vessel's lines being finer below, the lower guys were not so much hurt, but they had been seven weeks out. Rope might be safer, or the chain well covered with tarred canvas; next the rudder, I would recommend rope along the side. In St. Helena we succeeded in getting a pintle made, and shipped in the gudgeon left at the water's-edge; this kept it stiffer, but we then found it necessary to put a forelock in the pintle, under the gudgeon on deck, and also lashed å kedge anchor on top of the tiller to keep the rudder down.

I am afraid, Sir, I have taken up much of your time, but as a neglect, or mistake, in the bustle, hurry, and anxiety, attending such a case, might prevent the plan succeeding, I thought it better to state the whole process; also, what experience pointed out afterwards. I may mention, that the vessel was often rolling gunwale under, and in danger of losing her masts; keeping with the Cape current on the edge of the bank; with an exceedingly cross sea, while we were engaged in making the new rudder. Had not the crew used the most praiseworthy exertions, we could not have succeeded. Should you think the above might be of service to any in future placed in the same position, perhaps you would allow it a place in your valuable Magazine. I remain, Sir, &c.,

D. SCOTT.

[This is a subject which has received much attention in the Nautical Magazine. Our Correspondent will find a variety of contrivances in our early as well as our recent volumes. The first appeared in our volume for 1834; several others, in 1836, with illustrations, and the last adopted in the Royal Navy, is described, with a sketch, in our volume for last year, p. 258, May number; all well worthy the attention of seamen.-ED.]

THE REGULATION OF EMIGRANT SHIPS.

At the Court at Osborne House, Isle of Wight, 15th of April, 1848; present, the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty in Council.

Whereas by an Act, passed in the eleventh year of the reign of her Majesty, intituled "An Act to make further provision, for one year and to the end of the then next Session of Parliament, for the carriage of passengers by sea to North America," it is enacted that, it shall be lawful for her Majesty, by an Order or Orders in Council, to be by her made, with the advice of her Privy Council, to prescribe any such rules or regulations as to her Majesty may seem fit, for preserving order and for securing cleanliness and ventilation on board of British ships, proceeding from any port or place in the United Kingdom, or in the Islands of Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, Sark, or Man, to any port or place on the Eastern Coast of North America, or in the islands adjacent thereto, or in the Gulf of Mexico. Now, therefore, her Majesty doth, by and with the advice of her Privy Council, and in pursuance and exercise of the authority vested in her by the said Act, order, and it is hereby ordered, that the following shall be the rules for preserving order and for securing cleanliness and ventilation to be observed on board of any such ships proceeding on such voyage as aforesaid:

1. All passengers who shall not be prevented by sickness or other sufficient cause, to be determined by the surgeon, or, in ships carrying no surgeon, by the master, shall rise not later than 7 o'clock A.M., at which hour the fires shall be lighted.

2. It shall be the duty of the cook, appointed under the 3rd clause of the Act 11 Vic., cap. 6, to light the fires, and to take care that they be kept alight during the day, and also to take care that each passenger or family of passengers shall have the use of the fire-place at the proper hours, in an order to be fixed by the master.

3. When the passengers are dressed, their beds shall be rolled up.

4. The decks, including the space under the bottom of the berths, shall be swept before breakfast, and all dirt thrown overboard.

5. The breakfast hour shall be from 8 to 9 o'clock A.M., provided that, before the commencement of breakfast, all the emigrants, except as herein before excepted, be out of bed and dressed, and that the beds have been rolled up, and the deck, on which the emigrants live, properly swept.

6. The deck shall further be swept after breakfast, and after every other meal, and as soon as breakfast is concluded, shall be dry holystoned or scraped. This duty, as well as that of cleaning the ladders, hospitals, and round houses, shall be performed by a party, taken in rotation from all the adult males above 14, in the proportion of five to every hundred emigrants, and who shall be considered as sweepers for the day; but the occupant of each berth shall see that his own berth is well brushed out.

7. Dinner shall commence at 1 o'clock, P.M, and supper at 6 o'clock.

8. The fires shall be extinguished at 7 o'clock P.M., unless otherwise directed by the master, or required for the use of the sick, and the emigrants shall be in their berths at 10 o'clock P.M.

9. Three safety lamps shall be lit at dusk, and kept burning till 10 o'clock P.M., after which hour two of the lamps may be extinguished, one being, nevertheless, kept burning at the main hatchway all night.

10. No naked light shall be allowed at any time, or on any account.

11. The scuttles and stern-ports, if any, shall, weather permitting, be opened at 7 o'clock A.M., and kept open till 10 o'clock P.M., and the hatches shall be kept open whenever the weather permits.

12. The coppers and cooking utensils shall be cleaned every day.

13. The beds shall be well shaken, and aired on deck, at least, twice a week.

14. The bottom boards of the berths, if not fixtures, shall be removed, and dry scrubbed, and taken on deck, at least twice a week.

15. A space of deck-room shall be apportioned for a hospital, not less, for vessels carrying one hundred passengers, than forty-eight superficial feet, with two or four bed-berths erected therein; nor less, for vessels carrying two hundred or more passengers, than one hundred and twenty superficial feet, with six bed-berths therein.

16. Two days in the week shall be appointed by the master as washing days, but no washing or drying of clothes shall on any account be permitted between decks.

The

17. On Sunday mornings the passengers shall be mustered at 10 o'clock, A.M., and will be expected to appear in clean and decent apparel. Lord's-day shall be observed as religiously as circumstances will admit.

18. No spirits or gunpowder shall be taken on board by any passenger; and if either of those articles is discovered in the possession of a passenger, it shall be taken into the custody of the master during the voyage, and not returned to the passenger until he is on the point of disembarking.

19. No loose hay or straw shall be allowed below for any purpose. 20. No smoking shall be allowed between decks.

21. All gambling, fighting, riotous or quarrelsome behaviour, swearing, and violent language, shall be at once put a stop to. Swords and other offensive weapons shall, as soon as the passengers embark, be placed in the custody of the master.

22. No sailors shall be allowed to remain on the passenger-deck among the passengers, except on duty.

23. No passenger shall go to the ship's cook-house without special permission from the master, nor remain in the forecastle among the sailors on any account.

24. In vessels not having stern-ports, or scuttles in the sides, such other provision shall be made for ventilation as shall be required by the emigration officer at the port of embarkation; or, in his absence, by the officers of

customs.

And the Right Hon. Earl Grey, one of her Majesty's principal secretaries of State, is to give the necessary directions herein accordingly.

C. C. GREVILLE.

SUPPLY OF SEAMEN.-The following is a copy of the report of the committee appointed by the Admiralty, to inquire into the supply of scamen from the merchant service :-

"In accordance with the directions of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, to report the number of merchant seamen entering Her Majesty's Navy, we have the honour to state, for their Lordships' information, that we have given the subject due consideration, as far as time and the means at our command would admit; and we are enabled to give the following opinion as to the result of our inquiries. We have taken the entries of the last eight years, from 1839 to March, 1847, extracted from the muster books of Her Majesty's ships in commission, and find that of 68,559 men entered, about one-third of that total, (22,543), were said to be merchant seamen, and filled the ratings of working petty officers, able and ordinary; that 8,940 were first entries into the service, of landsmen, artificers of various descriptions, and persons in the capacity of cooks, stewards, and other servants; and that 37,076, petty, able, and ordinary, had previously served in the navy. We beg also to report that, in the course of our researches we found the desertions from the service of merchant seamen and persons from the shore, had been in the proportion of 26 per cent. upon the total of the entries for the above eight years, and but 16 per cent. upon the total number of seamen who had previously served in the navy for the same time. It is right to observe that, the average number of men borne for the last eight years is 29,903. In conclusion, we beg to remark that, of the seamen entered during a period of eight years, (landsmen, artificers, &c. deducted,) nearly two-fifths appear to be of the merchant service, and three-fifths seamen who had previously served in the navy. We enclose for their Lordships' information, a return of the number of seamen entered into the navy from 1839 to 1847 :M. F. F. Berkeley, Captain; T. Maitland, Captain; W. W. Chambers, Capt tain; J. W. Nicholls, Clerk of the Cheque, Greenwich Hospital.-Nautical Standard.

METEOROLOGY.-One of those phenomena, the frequent spectacle of Arctic climes, but a rarity in our own latitude, was observed on Wednesday last, and remained visible for upwards of two hours, causing wonder and amazement to all who witnessed it. In a less enlightened age it would have been regarded as a portentous omen of the times. Our correspondent describes it as it appeared to the untutored astronomer, leaving it to those more versed in the science for a more detailed account, as regards the cause aud effect. About thirty-five minutes past noon, the sun obscured by a cloud, the atmosphere otherwise clear, of a bright bluish colour, interspersed with a few fleecy clouds radiating from the northward and eastward; light breeze from the southward and westward; barometer 29:55, thermometer 57°, there appeared a large pale white circle, parallel with the horizon, of about seventy to eighty degrees in diameter, passing through the sun, and extending itself to the northward. The cloud having passed over the sun, it now appeared enveloped in a mist of halo, outside of which there was a ring of about fifteen degrees diameter, beautifully tinged with varied colours, particularly that part of the ring to the eastward, which was much more luminous; from hence proceeded another ring, of an elliptical shape, and here, at the junction of the two rings, was exhibited a luminous parhelion; also at the parts where the larger circle intersected the other rings, were seen two parhelia, beautifully tinged with purple. In the W.N.W. quarter, at some distance off, there appeared a segment of another circle, having all the beautiful tints of the rainbow, and which intersected a long range of numerous streaked fleecy clouds (more like alternate blue and white lines, than anything else), which traversed from N.W. to N.E., where they converged. At the same time similar clouds diverged to the southward, where there appeared another segment, similar to

that in the western quarter. This extraordinary appearance in the heavens lasted until half-past two o'clock, when the phenomena gradually disappeared. On referring to several works on the subject, for explanation, we find in Milner's Gallery of Nature, that a similar phenomenon is related, by Matthew Paris, to have occurred in England in the year 1233, and which lasted from sunrise till noon. At the same time, on the 4th of April, about one o'clock, on the borders of Herefordshire and Worcestershire, besides the true sun, there appeared in the sky four mock suns, of a red colour; also a certain large circle, of the colour of crystal, about two feet broad, which encompassed all England, as it were. There went out semi-circles from the side of it, at whose intersection the four mock suns were situated; the true sun being in the east, and the air very clear. An engraving appears in the same work, from a drawing by Capt. Parry, as "The gorgeous phenomena which appeared" to him during his winter sojourn at Melville Island, and which, in almost every respect, corresponds, or rather, bears a resemblance to the phenomena in question. A still more remarkable phenomenon occurred at the same time-that of a white cloud in the N.E. quarter, having all the appearance of a hand, with the fingers and thumb extended in an upright position. We merely mention this as remarkable for its singularity.-Hunts Paper.

HYDROGRAPHIC DEPARTMENT OF THE ADMIRALTY.

Or all branches of our public expenditure there is scarcely any, of the cost of which, less complaint can with justice be made than of the hydrographic department of the Admiralty.

From returns recently laid before parliament, on the motion of Mr. Hume, (Sessional Paper, 1848, No. 232), we learn that the expenditure of the Hydrographical Department, (exclusive of Arctic and Antartic expeditions,) has been :-In 1837-8, £68,517; in 1838-9, £59,202; in 1839-40, £58,862; in 1840-1, £52,517; in 1841-2, £91,832; in 1842 3, £142,235; in 1843-4, £134,126; in 1844-5, £126,583; in 1845-6, £178,782; and in 1846-7, £123,678.

What has been effected by means of this outlay will be seen from the following report by Admiral Beaufort :—

A Return of the Surveys undertaken by the Hydrographic Department of the Admiralty, between the years 1838 and 1847 inclusive.

1838. In that year the surveys in progress were the following:-At Home: River Thames, H.M. steam-vessel Boxer; coast of Wales, hired boats; North Sea, H.M.S. Fairy and tender; Solway Frith, hired boats; Orkneys, H.M.S. Mastiff and tender; N.E. coast of Scotland, hired boats; coast of Ireland, hired boats; Lough Derg, hired boats; Irish Channel, H.M.'s steam vessel African.Abroad: Mediterranean, H.M.S. Beacon and Magpie; West Coast of Africa H.M.S. Etna and Raven; West Indies, H.M.S. Thunder and Lark; St. Lawrence River and Gulf, hired schooner; West Coast of South America, H.M.S. Sulphur and Starling; N.W. Coast of Australia and Bass Strait, H.M.S. Beagle.

1839. The surveys were the same as in 1838, except that of the west coast of Africa, which was discontinued in consequence of the sickness which prevailed in the vessels; and that at home-the party employed on the survey of the coast of Wales proceeded to the coast of Cornwall.

1840. The same surveys continued, except that the Lough Derg party was transferred to the navigable parts of the river Shannon; and that of the Solway Frith was extended along the west coast of Scotland.

NO. 5.-VOL. XVII.

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