removed. By these means thorough ventilation of the cargo was 1112. At a trial, the Estelle, DUCKETT v. SatterFIELD, Common Pleas, 5th February, 1868, it was stated to be the custom at Pernambuco and Paraiba, to take by the printed table of rates, 29 arrobas of 32lbs. each of cotton as equivalent to one ton of sugar. The vessel carried about 196 tons cotton, and by the calculation the freight produced would be £834, whereas her capacity for sugar with sufficient bags for broken stowage being 315 tons, would produce £1,338. Mr. SHALDERS, British Vice-consul at Paraiba, states 8th February, 1868, that Capt. E. GARDNER left that port the day before in the brig Melita, belonging to Blyth. He was asked to sign bills of lading for his ballast of sugar, 1,000 bags, and about 150 bags of cotton, before 300 bags of sugar were on board, and having refused, his consignor detained the vessel all her 30 lay-days. On the last but one, 25th January, he wanted to put the rest of the cargo, 60 to 80 bags, on board, to prevent demurrage claims, but it was after Customs' hours, and it was impossible to stow the cotton below. It was received on the Monday, and there being insufficient space for eight bags, the master desired to have them landed or else to have the bills of lading endorsed "on deck at shipper's risk." The consignor not only refused this but made an exorbitant charge for pressing the cotton, and for exchange, but this was somewhat rectified by the Judge of Commerce; the eight bags of cotton having been lodged in the custom-house. The mode of conducting business at Paraiba requires much watchfulness by masters. The consignor wanted the master's signature that he might put the bills of lading in the market at Pernambuco. 1113. Bahia. In chests, 70 arrobas of 32 lbs., 2,240 lbs., or 80 arrobas in bags, 2,560 lbs., go to a ton for freight; the difference of weight requires attention. 2,240 lbs. Brazilian 1,500 English. Bahia chests, from 18 to 25 cwt., are occasionally strengthened with iron bands, for conveyance coastwise. Piassava is much used there for dunnage; it is in bundles 4 feet long and 6 inches thick, weighing about 28 lbs. Three double bundles, 36 inches, compressed by the cargo to 18, are laid on the ceiling from the keelson to above the bilges, and two double bundles up to the 'tween decks, which are battened or cased. Piassava twines like ivy round the trunks of trees; it is an excellent substance for dunnage, not being liable to rot or to become heated; it will not ordinarily retain water, and air circulates freely through it. Piassava sells readily in England for the manufacture of brushes, brooms, &c., and is frequently used as a substitute for horse hair. Good wood dunnage is expensive, it is however better for the flat of the floor than piassava, the compressed bundles of which retain leakage there, and prevent it from running freely to the pumps. Coker-nuts may also be used for dunnage at Bahia, &c., as they generally find a ready market on arrival. In place of mats, palias, the leaves of the cocoa-nut tree, are used; they are procured from some of the small ports to the north, and cost per 100 a little more than one mil, which ranges from 2s. to 2s. 4d.; about five are required for every ton of sugar. A flat-bottomed barque, sharp at both ends, 304 tons register, which could carry easily 440 tons of coal, was capable of stowing 6,000 bags of Pernambuco sugar, with ample space left in the hold. The barque Moultar, 372 tons register, Capt. KIDD, of Dumfries, loaded sugar at Bahia, in August, 1862. For dunnage she had 4,519 double bundles of piassava, five of which weighed 44 lbs. They were laid four thick in the bottom, with a little wood between to compensate for the compression; after discharge, this part was found 15 inches thick. The same number of bundles was continued well up to the round of the bilge to prevent contact with leakage, for if a corner or angle of a chest had been wetted, the whole contents would have been damaged. The cargo consisted of 536 cases, averaging 17 cwt. each. So laden she drew fore and aft 16 feet 2 inches; with 570 tons of coal she draws 17 feet fore and aft. The Moultan is 98% feet long, 19 deep, and 18' broad. January is considered the best month for the shipment of sugar from Balia. 1114. Bahia Charter-party and Sugar. Vessels sailing for the Brazils are often freighted for the voyage out and home, for which the freight is usually paid after the discharge of the return cargo. The charter-party should be examined carefully (particularly if the vessel be destined for Bahia) as it generally contains: "freight will be paid (£3 10s. or £4) per nett ton of sugar in cases, delivered weight, other goods in proportion, according to Bahia Table Rate." According to this rate, the ship is always the loser, as a vessel actually taking 300 tons of heavy goods receives freight from Bahia only on 250 tons. The Bahia Table Rate being always to the disadvantage of the ship, owners are advised to get all the information possible about the port for which their ships may be chartered. Captains receiving cargo in Bahia should take care to have inserted in the charter-party "Brazilian products," else they may be sure to receive a cargo of palm oil. Cedar wood in blocks is not yet fixed in the tariff. The first shipment of it was made by the Margareth, and received at 50 cubic feet per ton. 1115. Mauritius. The dunnage, which is small brushwood, should be continued right up the sides, to take off any leakage from the decks, chain-plates, or sides, as continual dropping only of salt water will ruin an entire bag, which in turn destroys others. All leakages not only injure and waste sugars, but make them weigh heavier, which is of serious consequence when passing through the custom-house scales. When cargo is allowed to lie on the decks in the sun previous to going into the hold, the pitch from the seams will greatly injure it. Capt. SEDGWICK recommends that where there are 'tween decks a few planks should be removed amidships, for if heavy weather is encountered, and the cargo in the hold is washed, that in the 'tween decks will fall through and prevent the ship from foundering. A tierce weighs 7 to 9 cwt., but it is usually shipped in mats or vaca bags, averaging 1.36 cwt. gross; the finer sorts in double vaca bags, the coarser in gunny bags inside vaca bags; tares, ordinarily, 3 to 4 cent. Mauritius sugars occupy more space than Calcuttas; the best shipping season is from September to April. [Rats commit great depredations from cargoes of sugar in the Mauritius; see the article vermin.] 1116. The barque Ione, of Sunderland, built on the Weir in 1861, 364 tons register, took in 8,306 bags of sugar in December, 1862, which weighed net at Mauritius, 572 tons and 9 lbs. The bags, mat and gunny, contained on an average 160 s. gross. nage, wood, was 15 inches thick on the floor, 18 in the bilges, and two inches against the sides, all the way up. The Ione is a large The dun carrying ship and loads a little by the head. The sugar being heavy, space remained for about 600 bags, of which 300 could have been placed forward, and the remainder close up to the deck, from amidships fore and aft. So laden (that is without the 600 additional bags) she drew 16 feet aft, and 15 forward, or 16 feet on a keel, the same as in June, 1862, when she took in 602 tons of Aberavon steam coal at Cardiff, which weighed out 508 tons only at Monte Video. The Ione is 119 feet long, 27 feet beam, and has 17 feet depth of hold, with about six feet height between decks; she sails well. During the passage from Mauritius the sugar steamed considerably, turning the white paint in the cabins to a lead colour, and where there had been water, black. The usual quantity shipped per day is from 1,000 to 1,800 bags, but more can be shipped if necessary. It is sent alongside in lighters carrying from 400 to 800 bags each. Capt. THIRKELL says: "Mauritius is an excellent place for dispatch; it is a port easy of access, but liable to be visited by hurricanes, which extend from November to March." Small vessels such as the Ione are moored to buoys laid down for the purpose; larger ships are moored with four anchors. Her port charges during a stay of 19 days amounted to £32 10s. Ships are supplied with water by tanks (there are one or two steam tanks), or if preferred, they can fill up with water in casks free of expense; the charge from the tanks is 3s. ton. Beef brought from Madagascar in regular bullock traders, 6d. pound. Sheep (and horses) are mostly imported from the Cape; mules are sometimes brought from the River Plate, but never on freight. There are two or three graving docks capable of taking in large ships. The Ravenscraig (see linseed), with 11,017 bags of Mauritius refined crystallized sugar, drew 19 feet 2 inches aft, and 18 feet 9 inches forward. In 1117. East India.-Colonial. Entire cargoes are frequently dunnaged with sapan wood and bamboos. Quantities (in bags of 160 lbs. each, or two maunds,) are shipped in December at Calcutta, where 20 cwt. are estimated to occupy 39 cubic feet, but this depends upon the nature of the packages. Calcutta sugars occupy less space than Mauritius, and much less than Batavias. Dobah sugar, shipped at Calcutta in bags, is perfectly dry, and there is not much tare. the lower hold, stow right up to the beams, and use a sufficiency. of hides (which should be previously engaged, even at a decreased freight) between the beams, and fill well above them. Cross the hides skilfully with bags of sugar, and the beams will be secured from unfair pressure. Hides need not be used in the square of the main hatch, for being in the middle of the ship, it is desirable to place as much weight there, comparatively, as possible. The lower part is frequently trodden on in loading, and is, therefore, tolerably solid; if, however, there is any settlement, it must be right down on the sugar. Saltpetre in bags, if not packed separately, should be put under sugar; its specific gravity is greater, and it is liable to less injury from sugar than sugar is from saltpetre; nevertheless, sugar will alter the colour of saltpetre, and it is better for both that they should not be stowed together. Some masters recommend a break of cowrie shells in bags, right athwart the hold, in the wake of the pump-casing, and to put the sugar one side and the saltpetre the other. East India sugars are liable to injury from indigo, which see. A bag of East India sugar weighs from one to two cwt.; a bazaar maund at Calcutta 84 lbs. ; two maunds, 168 lbs., make a bag, and 13 bags go to a ton for freight. Penangs are in double grass mats half to three-quarters cwt. Madras, in gunny bags, 1 to 2 cwt. each. The loss on ordinary Madras sugar is 12 cent. on delivery in England. E.I. Co.'s ton for freight 20 cwt. in bags. 1118. Jaggery. The term is applied derisively to higher-class sugars in a low condition; it is also applied by some to all common East India sugars. Jaggery is a very dirty kind of sugar, said to be extracted from the toddy or palm tree, and is produced plentifully between Madras and False Point on the Coromandel Coast, on the west side of the Bay of Bengal. The new crop is usually ready for shipment at Bimlipatam in some part of the month of February. 20 cwt. go a ton for freight. It is always taken for dead-weight, stowed in the bottom. When new from the factory it is in hard lumps, but after exposure to heat it becomes soft, and in a ship's hold treacle runs from it to the pump-well. 4,114 bags jaggery, gathered in February, 1863, on an estate 30 miles from Bimlipatam, were shipped there in February and March, on board the barque Cheviot, Capt. J. H. HENDERSON. This jaggery was packed in double gunny bags, each containing 163 lbs. Some of the upper tier became soft, like a jelly, in consequence of being trodden on by the crew. When discharged, the trodden portion had become very hard. All had hardened to a certain extent. The intake quantity weighed 298 tons 11 cwt.; net delivered in London 265, showing a loss of about 11 p cent. The Cheviot is 501 tons, and belongs to Messrs. T. and W. SMITH, London. She left Madras 2nd June, 1864, when her cargo consisted of |