berland and Devonshire. Victoria is a trifle later, but of the same duration; its wool is said to be equal in quantity to that of the two adjoining colonies. Melbourne; the season for shipment extends from 15th October to 1st April; the bulk of the shipments are over by the 15th of February.

SOUTH AUSTRALIA; wool is usually made up in dumps bound round with iron bands, measuring 2 feet 3 inches long by 2 feet 9 inches broad, and 2 feet deep; weight greasy say 400 lbs., washed 300 fbs. Clipping continues from 15th September to 31st December; shipments go on to 28th February. At Adelaide the average weight of 35,884 bale.

bales shipped in the three years ending in 1862, was 362 lbs. NEW ZEALAND; bales are generally small, seldom exceeding 24 cwt. The new clip is in November and December; shipments nearly all the year. Otago; 1,004 bales and 3 half-bales shipped in February, 1860, averaged 323 lbs.; the season for shipment is stated to be from December to May inclusive. Lyttleton; 611 bales shipped in December, 1859, averaged 334 lbs. bale. Port Chalmers; 740 bales greased averaged 435 lbs.; 1,079 washed 336 lbs.

CAPE OF GOOD HOPE; the shipments are few, and occur all the year round. Algoa Bay; the bales are 200 to 336 lbs. each, pressed and fastened with iron bands; the weather is very uncertain, sometimes there are great floods, at others droughts; when a drought follows an ordinary good harvest, there is no nourishment for the cattle which convey the wool, &c., to the sea-side; the seasons of shipment are consequently uncertain.

PERU; at Arica and Islay the clip is generally in November, December, and January; bales of alpaca weigh 150 to 180 lbs. each; about 3 feet by 2 feet.

SEA OF AZOF; wool is shipped principally after July-in the autumn.

A ship with a cargo of wool requires about two-thirds the quantity of ballast necessary when in ballast only; it should be as dry as possible, and levelled fore and aft. Some experienced masters contend that cargoes of wool, like cotton, require for dead-weight, if the ship is tolerably stiff, not less than one-third her register tonnage; tender ships require more. Pig iron or kentledge, if it can be obtained, is the most economical, as by its use a height of bales of wool may be saved; this cannot be done with lighter ballast. The dunnage for the ground tiers should be laid as the bales are being stowed, the depth (if the ballast be perfectly dry) need not exceed three inches; this will keep the wrappers of the bales clear. Should the ballast be the least damp, as great a depth of dunnage must be laid as the heights will allow without loss of stowage, for wool will draw moisture from any damp substance near; although the bale may not touch the ballast, yet the wrapper will become damp, heated, and rotten; this of itself constitutes "damage," and the wool shares the same fate to

a greater or lesser extent. "Stow" or "fathom" wood, when dry, is sometimes used for dunnage, there is generally a quantity on board; it does not however lay very evenly; gum-wood treenails in the rough are also used-they are produced in the colonies, and sell well at home; this is also the case with iron bark timber, which answers the purpose of ballast, and is excellent dunnage for wool. At Geelong, Melbourne, and Sydney, copper ore from South Australia and New Zealand is frequently taken for ballast. The wing bales of the ground tier should be dunnaged at least nine inches at the lower corners in the bilge, increased to 12 inches in the shoulders, and gradually decreased to three inches up the sides. The breast-hooks, pointers, pump-well, chain-lockers, masts, and hold stanchions should be carefully dunnaged as the cargo is being stowed, and bales should not be allowed to touch iron knees.

1878. The packing of colonial bales has been much improved lately, both as regards their form and pressing; it is now usual to compress them on shore by hydraulic power, and to lash them with Manila or New Zealand strands, or hoop iron, at the ship's expense. The bales are generally pressed on their flats, but sometimes for the sake of stowage, on their ends, when they are termed "dumps;" for the same reason two are frequently pressed together side by side, and are called double bales; they are secured with from four lashings to as many as may be considered necessary, and should be stowed immediately after being pressed, for if left any time, especially in the sun, the wool swells and sometimes breaks the lashings, when it must be re-pressed or stowed disadvantageously. New Zealand lashing is now chiefly used for baleing at Sydney, but galvanized iron hoops would probably be better, as they will not "give" after being pressed; there are from eight to twelve lashings to each package of Sydney wool, which are called single dumps, doubles, trebles, or fourbles, according to the number lashed together; trebles are the most numerous. Two lashings at least should be left on each bale, or the contents will be so disarranged, if not diminished, when breaking out for discharge, as to cause trouble and inconvenience to all parties concerned, and justify claims for damage from the consignee. At Melbourne, where the New Zealand hemp lashings were worth £25 pton in 1865, the stevedores who contract for stowing the cargo, are tempted to "draw" more lashings than they are entitled to by their agreement, through which the wool is greatly damaged, especially when discharging.

1379. The ballast for a cargo of wool, like that for a cargo of tea, should be levelled so as to be equi-distant from all parts of the

beams above, in other words, so as to meet their sweep or bevel, or great loss of stowage space must occur on reaching the upper tier under the beams. The method of stowing is by commencing each tier at both ends, and by heaving off every longer with quarter trunks, excepting the ground tier, as it is more liable to rise in the wings than the tiers over it. To make good stowage, it is necessary as each tier is being stowed, to use screws of different lengths, from six inches up to four feet, together with "sampson posts" and "trunk planks," &c.; the planks are of hard wood six or eight feet long, nine inches broad, by two and a half or three inches thick, with a hole in the end, the use of which will be explained hereafter; two, sometimes four, of these planks are inserted between any bales of a tier which are selected to be "screwed off," and placed, if only two are used, against the middle of their sides respectively; between them is entered a short screw, which when hove out is succeeded by others of greater length, until the bales are forced sufficiently apart to admit of another being entered between the planks, and forced in by the aid of a screw "set" against a sampson post. When the tier has been thus increased by the additional bales, it becomes so tightened as to require two and eventually four screws to set the bales apart; in the latter case four planks are so placed as to distribute the pressure equally against the "trunk bales," as the term is. The smooth surfaces of the planks materially assist the slipping of the bales, while being forced into their berth in the "trunk way,” which gradually eases the screws and admits of their removal. When cargo such as wool has not been fixed (by screw or otherwise) sufficiently tight against the sides, the dunnage has subsequently slipped down by the motion of the ship at sea, and the goods have been injured by leakage, &c. On account of the high rate of wages at Sydney, stevedores will not screw off" now so willingly as they did formerly.

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1380. It sometimes occurs that the tiers have a tendency to rise, when it is necessary to use toms or shores from the beams, together with a screw forcing downwards. This operation must, however, only be done when absolutely necessary, and then with great caution, or the decks will be injuriously raised. "Tomming off" is frequently required when renewing the screws, and on various occasions incidental to the work, and for the safety of those employed, particularly when screwing in the " trunk." Great care is necessary in setting the screws to prevent their capsizing, for the collapse of the tier, from the great elasticity of the wool, has sometimes caused fatal accidents. The bale being stowed, the planks are drawn out by a

tackle attached to the hole previously mentioned. A gang of stowers (which usually consists of four men for the hold) may be employed with advantage at each end of the ship for the ground tier; and when a few tiers are advanced, other two gangs can be employed at the next or second tier, and two or more gangs in the 'tween decks, if they are laid. The quantity a gang can stow varies considerably, being dependent on the amount of screwing, &c.; some bales requir ing much more than others. Through deficiency of height under the break of a forecastle or half-deck, or various beams, it is necessary frequently to screw down for stowage, for which bales screwed on end, and termed dumps, are particularly adapted; this is a tedious operation requiring great care, as every bale has to be secured down in its individual tier by toms, until the last bale is got in. Care should be taken to shore from beam to beam, in the wake of the screws; and the extent of screwing should be regulated by the strength of the beams, against which the screws are "set." Occasionally the lashings are cut after a bale is stowed, in order to keep it firmly in its place, as on being released it immediately jams itself into the space intended for it; some, however, contend, as has been already stated, that two lashings should always be left on each package; they would keep the strain off from the sides of the vessel; ships have had to pay heavily for damage to wool caused by cutting the bales adrift; consignees will at times refuse to receive them in that condition. Merchants contend that bales should not be pressed in any other direction than that in which the wool was packed into them.

1381. In stowing wool near the water tanks, great care is necessary to prevent their becoming leaky by over pressure, or the water will be lost and the wool damaged. The tiers before the tank should be screwed tight enough from side to side, to prevent their starting by any pitching of the ship, and those stowed each side should be well secured by pressure fore and aft. In this case the chain lockers are supposed to be each side of the mainmast, and the tank forward of all. It is not considered prudent to cut the bands of bales stowed in the 'tween decks, because the deck planking being only fastened above, is consequently weak against any upward pressure; the deck planks may be started. The heat of, and steam from, cargoes of wool, sometimes warp the decks.

1382. Wool should, if possible, be shipped dry, when wet it is liable to spontaneous combustion; several ships leaving Australia have been destroyed through inattention to this important point. Some Australian agriculturists contend that the principal if not the

only cause of spontaneous combustion, arises from the practice of clipping sheep in the morning with the previous night's dew on; if placed under a shed the danger is considerably decreased or avoided altogether. Care should be taken to ascertain that every bale is dry in the heart; the usual mode of testing is with a rod. Wool frequently gets wet and damaged on the drays, on its way from the interior of the country; it then becomes dry outside, and too frequently reaches the ship for stowage in this dangerous condition. Spontaneous combustion may ensue, especially on such a long voyage as to England, in which so many changes of temperature occur; it begins to smoulder first in the centre of the bale. Mates ought not to receive a wet package under any circumstances; they should see that all the cargo is perfectly secured from rain and off the ground, when giving a receipt for it; and stevedores should be urged to stow the same as soon as possible. If spontaneous combustion occurs the fire may not come out in a blaze immediately; in 1846, a cargo smouldered for 70 days; her beams were converted into charcoal, but there was no flame. The details of some important instances of spontaneous combustion will be found towards the close of this article.

1383. Masters should be careful in shipping wool which has not been properly cleansed from grease; the inducement to do which, in preference to clean wool, is the greater amount of freight it pays through being heavier. When labour in the colonies is scarce, the quantity of greasy wool is increased to the disadvantage of the grower, who has to pay freight for grease and dirt, &c. The ship is benefited by the dirty wool, provided spontaneous combustion does not occur; some Sydney colonists doubt the possibility of such an occurrence unless it be wet. Washed wool, thoroughly dried, may be regarded as free from this risk, unless tar, oil, &c., is spilled on it. It is usually freighted at pb.; very greasy wool 25 less than clean.

cent.

1384. As the stowage of an Australian wool cargo is tedious, and usually occupies much time, it is highly necessary that the topsides and decks of the ship should be well caulked, in harbour, just before sailing, and after all the cargo is in, as the pressing requisite for stowing the upper bales may have opened the seams. It frequently happens in high southern latitudes, that the ship has to experience very heavy gales during the whole of her passage eastward to Cape Horn. The slightest neglect in the caulking would be sure to cause serious damage to cargo, and cannot be remedied at sea.

1385. Vessels loading Sydney wool generally obtain dead-weight of hides, tallow, &c. Hides are sometimes spread out flat and salted