London, loaded nitrate of soda at Iquique, sailed 3rd October, 1865, and arrived at Falmouth (112 days) 23rd January, 1866, and at Plymouth, her port of discharge, on the 28th. She is 145 feet long, (160 over all) 22 broad, and 12 feet 3 inches deep; from the upper part of her beams to the lower part of her combings, the height is 6 feet 3 inches. The barque is constructed with three water-tight compartments; the middle one is 90 feet long, and in this the whole of the cargo, 3,330 bags (gross weight 450 tons), was stowed. She then drew 11 feet 2 inches aft, and 9 feet 10 inches forward, which is her best trim. The dunnage wood at the bottom (she being an iron ship with no great depth of hold) was only 10 inches; in the bilges 9 inches, and in the sides, right up to the beams, 3 feet. Her hold is strengthened with iron stringers, which run from beam to beam, say about two feet from the sides. On these wood dunnage, about two inches thick, was placed to receive the first tier of the upper bags of nitrate. After this it was stowed without dunnage, from a foot to 18 inches off the sides. The keelson is 10 inches high; each side there were placed four bags flat-say about 8 feet. The next tier was a little wider, and so on, until the beams were reached. The first tier on the beams and stringers consisted of about 20 bags. The upper part of the cargo was rounded off, like the cover of a country waggon. The hatchway was filled in closely; the beams and stringers were well dunnaged, or they would have worked holes in the bags, and the rust from the iron would have rotted them. The dunnage in the sides in the lower hold was sufficiently open to allow a man to creep along (with a safety lamp) and see if any leakage had occurred. In a wooden ship there is not so much necessity to keep the cargo off the sides, for fear of injuring the nitrate, which is beneficial to wood and hardens it. The master stowed the nitrate himself, the skin from the tips of his fingers was worn off, and they bled occasionally. Some European stevedores protect their hands with leather, but they are not then so well able to control the bags. While loading from the balsos, the Witch of the Tees had an anchor out astern to keep her steady. The crew finished her in twelve days, but fine weather prevailed; with three labourers in addition she might have been loaded in perhaps ten days. 973. Although the barque was quite tight, the pump-well was sounded at sea at regular intervals. When first pumping out the bilge water, in order to ascertain if there was any leakage from the cargo, Capt. COOPER saturated some paper with it, and on applying a light the paper ignited immediately, by which the presence of nitrate was made palpable. Although when the cargo was completed the hatches were put on with difficulty, yet it had settled down 30 inches on arrival at Plymouth. Bags of nitrate seldom move in the hold, and in this case they had not shifted an inch; they appeared to be locked one into the other, and had become so solid that it was necessary to use the crowbar to break them out. The stringers, beams, and iron knees of the Witch of the Tees were paid over prior to receiving the cargo with a mixture of red lead, bright varnish, and a little boiled oil. On discharging it was found that although the dunnage in the bottom was only ten inches thick, the iron-work was not corroded. Much of the dunnage wood under the bags was perfectly dry. With a deeper ship it would have been necessary to place more dunnage in the bottom to keep the cargo up for the sake of trimming her. Previous to the reception of the nitrate the barque swarmed with rats; on arrival in England only one was known to be on board. There was no apparent diminution of the cockroaches. The cat was much wasted, it was supposed by inhaling the vapour of the cargo when chasing vermin. It is said that cats when they take to lying on a pile of nitrate of soda become lethargic, and seem attached to the spot, getting gradually weaker, until they crawl away and die, apparently through inflammation. 974. Masters bound to Iquique should be careful not to get to the north of the Island, as there is a current constantly running north, and the prevailing winds are from the south, so that a vessel may lose two or three days in getting back. A ship may stand close to the shore with safety, but if it fall calm her head should be put off immediately, as at times there is a very heavy swell from the westward; a constant surf runs on the beach. It generally falls calm about nine p.m. and the sea breeze sets in about eleven a.m. There are no pilots, and boats are not allowed to come alongside before the Port Captain has been on board, if they do they are fined $50=3s. each. Launches can be hired at $1 ton; there are several at Iquique which will carry from 5 to 50 tons. If there are but three or four vessels in port, launch hire is reasonable. When their cargoes have been on board 48 hours, all ships must leave the port, and masters are not allowed to land after the vessel is cleared by the authorities. Fresh provisions are scarce, and the beef is not very good, being full of blood; all provisions have to be brought from other ports. Capt. COOPER considers that the health of a crew is much promoted by having a plentiful supply of fresh-water, so much that the men can wash their clothes in it on the passage home, and thus avoid the use of sea-water, by which scurvy and some other disorders are, under certain circumstances, promoted. PORT CHARGES OF THE “WITCH OF THE TEES” AT IQUIQUE. Port Agency, Chili currency, $50 @ 25 o/o prem. 62 50 $166 50-£24 198. 6d. 975. The Witch of the Tees left London in June, 1854, with passengers, who were landed at Brisbane, in Queensland; thence she proceeded to Newcastle, New South Wales, and took in coal for Wellington, New Zealand. She returned back in ballast to Newcastle, and shipped coal for Otago, and proceeded thence in ballast to Valparaiso, where authority was obtained to load at Iquique the cargo of nitrate previously referred to. In this round Capt. COOPER'S chief expenses were as follows: at Brisbane, pilotage in or out 4d. ton, 300 tons, £5 each way; light dues £3 15s.; health officer coming down the river in a steamer to Moreton Bay, 23 miles, £10, paid in this case by the passengers; towage up £15, ships must not draw over 15 feet; ballast, Moreton Bay, 9s., Brisbane 3s. P ton. At Newcastle, pilotage in and out £11; tonnage dues £7 10s. ; trimming 3d. P ton; 420 tons, draught aft 11 feet 4 inches; forward 10 feet 2 inches (ships drawing more than 20 feet, haul off into the stream); entering and clearing £1 11s. 6d.; tug boats in and out £10 5s.; beef 3d. b.; water plentiful. At Wellington, ton, pilotage in and out 3d., light dues 4d., ballast 5s., water 10s. At Dunedin, p ton pilotage 6d., light dues 4d., ballast 58., water 12s. and under; beef 8d., mutton 10d. Ib.; entering and clearing £3 3s. At Valparaiso, custom-house £15; water 6s. P ton; beef 34d.; bread cheap; ships can now be moored safely; floating docks. 976. SALVAGE is the rescuing of property from the probable danger of being lost: and the award to the salvors is adjusted on the joint consideration of the value of the property rescued, and the labour done and danger incurred by the salvors. When an award has been given, it is well to ask the court to distribute it amongst the several claimants. The usual scale in the Admiralty Court is-ship receives, the master s, and the crew, in proportion to their wages. 977. SANDAL WOOD grows in the island of Timor, the South Sea Islands, in Western Australia, and in some parts of China. That produced in Australia is of good quality and is shipped in logs from four to six feet long, varying from three to eight inches in thickness. The product of islands is smaller in point of size, rarely exceeding three inches in thickness. It is obtained chiefly from the South Sea Islands, and seamen have a saying that it grows only where the natives are in a savage state. Ships send large whale boats, which are moored some distance from the beach; their crews are provided with loaded muskets, to protect them from unexpected attacks by the islanders, who stand in the water up to their arm-pits to carry on the traffic. In China the tree is usually found in rocky and hilly situations; when growing on low land the quality degenerates. As an article of commerce, the sizes are three or four feet long by four to six inches diameter; of these, eight to twelve weigh a pecul. It is frequently shipped in India for the China market, each piece being carefully branded at both ends. Many consignments have been re-shipped in England for China. Being valuable it is sold at per pound, weighed carefully. Sandal wood is very heavy and sinks in water; contact with oil, coal dust, &c., must be avoided; salt-water turns it black. It should never be used for wing dunnage with other cargo, however convenient it may be in size; and care should be taken that the logs or pieces are neither cut nor broken. The stowage is simple, but care must be observed when filling in, especially with small pieces. Judgment is required in ballasting, especially if it is convenient or desirable to try for any deck loading; and if ore is not obtainable, sand or stone must be trimmed and kept low, and the largest and heaviest description of wood put in the ground tiers and worked amidships, with lighter stuff in the wings. No grease, oil, hides, or guano should be stowed on sandal wood, as it is easily stained and would be rejected as unsaleable and thrown on the ship. The markets of Singapore and China are supplied almost entirely from Swan River (West Australia), upwards of 3,000 tons having been shipped direct from the port of Fremantle (Swan River) during the first six months of 1869. The wood varies in size from logs two to three feet in circumference, weighing four or five cwt., to pieces of two or three pounds-which latter are better stowed in bed places or cabin lockers. The pieces, large and small, are stamped on both ends, but permission is frequently given, for the convenience of stowage, to cut a certain number. Freight is paid on the weights delivered. Bills of lading merely state number of pieces, weights stated to be so much, but unknown. In the event of dispute "all on board to be delivered." An ordinary ship's crew, under the supervision of intelligent officers, and general instructions from the captain, could stow the ship without the expense of selfstyled stevedores. The ballast would be stone, sand, and lead or copper ore, or some of each, the ore only being shipped for England via China, with a through bill of lading. The quantity of ballast would differ with the build of the vessel, but a ship carrying a quantity of wood equal to her register tonnage would carry well. Where a ship is very stiff the cables could be all ranged and secured on deck and the chain lockers filled with wood up and down, as also the cabins and all covered-in deck spaces. Many vessels have carried also partial deck loads, and there is no evidence that exposure to weather or sea-water tends to deteriorate the wood in the market. If the wood is not seasoned or has been recently cut, there will be probably a loss of quite two cent. in weight on delivery. At Liverpool, 16th June, 1853, MULLER v. SIEVEN, it was decided that the owner was liable for oil damage to sapan wood improperly used as dunnage. Bengal and Madras ton 20 cwt. for dunnage, which should be specified on the bill of lading; Bombay 16 cwt. 978. SAND, or mud ballast impregnated with sewage or other deleterious matter, may subsequently cause severe and sometimes fatal sickness among the crew; it should therefore be carefully selected. Occasionally, when shingle, &c., is shipped as ballast, the Customs' authorities on discharge, subject the vessel to light dues, &c., as if she were delivering a cargo of building stone; this liability induces masters to use sand or mud however unsuitable. In levying light dues, the authorities state that where a profit can be made on ballast, dues are leviable. Some masters are under an erroneous impression that when freighted with government stores their vessels are exempt from light dues, &c. Sand ballast for long voyages requires shifting boards, or shoreing down; if not secured it is liable. to shift. WEIGHT OF SAND PER CUBIC FOOT. 118 lbs. Sand, pit, clean coarse......... EARTHS, &c. The average quantity of cubic feet equal to a ton in weight, Sand, river, as filled into carts Ditto, pit Thames ballast Gravel, coarse Shingle, clean 21 22 Marl |