THE SAFETY BEACON.

Greenhithe, April 10th, 1843. MR. EDITOR.-Having observed in the Nautical Magazine the notice of a Beacon of Refuge, which Mr. Bush falsely asserts to be the prototype of that which Capt. Bullock has placed upon the Goodwin Sand, I claim the privilege of a regular subscriber, to call your attention, to the relation of a few facts, with which the public are generally unacquainted.

In the first place, Captain Bullock has received a letter from the Secretary of the Admiralty, confirmatory of his claim to the origin of the Safety Beacon, (a copy of which I enclose) and therefore the Service can no longer doubt it.

2ndly. The Elder Brethren of the Trinity Board, by their Secretary, have given Captain Bullock their testimony, (this letter is also enclosed,) that no such beacon, as that, was ever presented to that Board, by Mr. Bush; and 3rdly, the only Model presented to the Committee of the House of Commons, was that of a "Lighthouse" of solid masonry, at an estimated cost of £100,000, so that his reference to these three public bodies is a fallacy.

Besides, on referring to the Nautical Magazine of February, 1842, you will find that Mr. Bush,* has embellished his own plan of a Harbour of Refuge, with Captain Bullock's beacon underneath his caisson, or lighthouse, and that it stands for ever, a recorded testimony of Captain Bullock's right, and a proof that Mr. Bush, never had such an invention, or he would not have forgotten in the early part of 1842, that which he had projected in 1836, and which he deferred claiming till the December following.

In a word, Sir, I conceive this new project of Mr. Bush, calculated to injure Captain Bullock's reputation, and which you, as the Editor of a public Maritime work, are bound to expose.

It may also be remarked that the report of the Committee of the House of Commons, and the Trinity Board letter, only recognise "a Model" not "Models", so that Mr. Bush cannot stand upon the plea of a second Model, even if he ever had it, which I deny.

I remain, Sir, yours, &c.,

A REGULAR SUBSCRIBER.

Admiralty, 12th December, 1842. SIR. Having laid before the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty your letter of the 10th inst. relative to Mr. Bush the Engineer, who through the medium of the Times Newspaper, accused you of having pirated his invention, I am commanded by their lordships to acquaint you, that My Lords are quite satisfied of the justice of your claim to

The sketch of Captain Bullock's Beacon was added to the plate of the Refuge Harbour, without any reference whatever to Mr. Bush, and he, therefore, had nothing to do with it.-ED.

the invention of the Safety Beacon, and of the merits of that struc

ture.

To Captain Bullock, H.M.S. Fearless,

I am, Sir, &c.,

JOHN BARROW,

Secretary.

(A true Copy) Trinity House, London, March 30th, 1843. SIR. Having laid before the Board, your letter of the 24th inst. I am directed to transmit to you, the enclosed copy of the only letter, which subsequently to 1836 has been written to Mr. Bush upon the subject of the "Model," which he submitted to this Board in July and August of that year, and I am farther directed to remark, that the sum at which he estimated the cost of erecting the Building, viz: £72,000, may, it is considered be received as conclusive evidence that, the "Model," and plans to which it has reference, were of a very different description to your inexpensive Safety Beacon.

am Sir, &c.,

J. HERBERT,

Secretary.

Trinity House, London, 20th December, 1842. SIR. I am this day in receipt of your letter (without date) and having laid the same before the Board, I have been directed to acquaint you, that it appears you attended this Board on the 19th July, 1836, and submitted a Model descriptive of a method by which you proposed to erect Beacons upon sandbanks, and permission was then given you to send in an estimate of the cost of making such erections, and it farther appears, that you accordingly again attended on the 23rd of August, 1836, and submitted farther plans in relation thereto with an estimate of the cost of erecting the building in such situation, amounting to the sum of £72,000. Whereupon you were informed by letter bearing date the 25th of August 1836, that this Corporation did not entertain any intention of adopting "your plan."

(Signed)

W. Bush, Esq.

I am Sir, &c.,

J. HERBERT.

Deal, April 14th, 1843.

SIR. Pursuant to your wishes, I have searched for the date, when you directed me, as Superintendent of the Naval Yard, to build your Safety Beacon, and I find it was on the 26th of August, 1840, on which day you gave me a sketch of your ideas, which were carried into effect by Mr. Wise, the carpenter of the Yard. Mr. Bush had nothing whatever to do with it, nor, during the time he was erecting his Caisson, when I was continually in communication with him, rendering him every service in my power, did he ever intimate to me, that he had invented a similar Beacon, but, on the contrary, always spoke of it as yours.

I have always considered that the merit of this simple contrivance, was entirely your own, and am only surprised, when I consider its trifling expense (about £60) its stability and usefulness, as a Beacon of Warning, as well as of Refuge, that more of them have not been erected; for I feel convinced, that it has already been the means of preventing many vessels from running upon the Sands, and consequently of saving life, which in spite of the envy of those who seem disposed to rob you of the merit of the invention, entitles you to the gratitude of the com munity, and must prove to you a never failing source of gratification. Believe me, yours very faithfully, EDWARD BOYs, Commander R.N.

(Signed)

Late Superintendent of Deal Yard.

P.S.-You see by this, that several ships have been saved and warned off, Captain Martin counts either five or seven.

[This controversy has unfortunately grown out of a subject which it became a point of duty to record in this journal, in common with others of importance to Seamen. Of the invention of Captain Bullock, independent of Mr. Bush, and in entire ignorance of his ideas on the subject, no one can entertain a doubt; and he is therefore justly entitled to all "the merits of that structure."

Both parties however have now been heard, and we do not consider ourselves called on to go any further into the subject.-ED. N.M.]

REPORT ON EAST INDIA ISLANDS.

Victoria, Port Essington, Aug. 30, 1841. SIR.-I have the honor of reporting to you the information I obtained during my late excursion in her Majesty's ship Britomart, to the Arru and Ki Islands, Banda, Amboyna, and the Serwatty Islands. The particulars I gained concerning the customs, &c., of the aborigines, though perhaps interesting, would swell this account so considerably, that I will confine my remarks to those points more immediately connected with the interest of the settlement.

We arrived off the south end of the Arru Islands on the morning of the 21st of June, after a passage of forty-eight hours from Port Essington, and anchored off the town of Dobbe on the following day.

The Arru Islands extend from north to south about 100 miles, but the eastern side of the group not having been surveyed, its limits in that direction are unknown; the land is only a few feet higher than the level of the sea, except in spots were patches of limestone rock rise to the height of about twenty feet; but the immense trees which cover the face of the country give it the appearance of being much more elevated. The inland parts of most of the islands consist of fresh water swamps, and the jungle is so thick that it is seldom penetrated by the natives; the communication between the different villages, all of which are erected on the sea-shore, being carried on by means of boats.

The town of Dobbe, which is built on a sandy point extending from the north side of the Island Warud, is the chief resort of the foreign traders. We found the town, which consisted of about 30 houses, some of considerable size, occupied by a few Dutch traders from Macassar, about a dozen Chinese, and 300 Bughis and Macassars, the greater portion of whom were preparing to visit the island on the east side of the group, to collect produce for the vessels that were expected after the setting in of the westerly monsoon. The only sea-going vessels

we met here were two large Macassar prahus and a Ceramese junk, which were about to sail in a few days. The trade of the place appears to have increased considerably of late years. Four or five ships and brigs, with a number of Macassar and Bughis prahus, whose united crews were said to have consisted of 5,000 men, had sailed with cargoes about two months previous to our

visit.

The produce of the Arru Islands consists chiefly of pearls, mother-of-pearl, tortoise-shell, birds of paradise, and trepang; but the trade of Dobbe does not entirely depend upon the produce of the Arru Islands alone. The Bughis prahus import large quantities of British calicoes, iron, hardware, muskets, gunpowder, &c., from Singapore; to obtain which, Dobbe is visited by natives of Ceram, Buru, New Guinea, and all the adjacent islands, it being the only spot in this part of the world where British manufactures can be procured. The tortoise and mother-of-pearl shells,, ambergris, birds of paradise, ebony, cloves, and massay-bark, rosamald, an odoriferous wood, and kaya buku, a wood much prized in Europe for cabinet work. British calicoes and iron are the only articles taken in exchange for these by the prahu of New Guinea.

The closeness with which the native traders conceal their commercial transactions even from each other, rendered it impossible for me to learn the amount of the exports and imports. Each Bughis prahu imports to the amount of from 10,000 to 20,000 dollars, and at least one-half of her cargo consists of British goods. Taking the yearly average at thirty prahus, and the amount of her import cargo at the lowest above stated, this will give 150,000 dollars as the annual value of British goods imported at Dobbe. This appears a large amount, but upon examination I am convinced that it is rather under than above the actual value. In fact, the greater portion of our cotton manufactures sold at Singapore are consumed in the less civilized portion of the Indian Archipelago, where the natives prefer cheap goods and gaudy patterns, while those of Java select or prefer their own or Indian manufacture, which, though dearer, are far more durable than ours.

The value of the return cargo of a Bughis prahu at Singapore will be about 200 per cent. on the outlay. It was with much regret that I observed a notice posted in a conspicuous place in the town, signed by the commander of the Dutch brig of war Nautilus, which had visited Dobbe about three months previous to our arrival, ordering the Bughis to depart from Dobbe. The Bughis certainly did not appear to heed it; but this document evinces a spirit of interference, which, if carried out must be severely felt at Singapore.

Of the timber of the Arru Islands there are several varieties highly spoken of by the Bughis, who build and repair prahus here, for its durability and ease with which it is worked. Although of immense size, the trees are almost invariably sound, and as they can be felled within a few yards of the beach, it is not impossible that timber may at some future time form a valuable article of export.

The western islands of this group are thinly inhabited. Wama, although nearly forty miles in circumference, contains only about from 200 to 300 inhabitants, who are scattered along the coast in little villages containing about half a dozen houses.

The eastern islands are said to be more thickly inhabited; the natives appear to be a harmless race, and although their country in produce is so rich, the greater portion are in a state of poverty. This is to be attributed to the inconsiderate use of spirituous liquors, large quantities of which are brought by the traders from Java and Macassar; indeed, with rice, it forms the bulk of their cargoes. From their language and personal appearance, the natives appear to be a mixture between the Malayan and the Polynesian negro. They are not many degrees further advanced in civilization than the natives of the north coast of Australia, to whom many of them bear considerable personal resemblance.

In concluding my observations on the Arru Islands, I cannot avoid remarking their favorable position for communication with Port Essington. In both monsoons the passage to and fro can be made with a fair wind, and the passage either way will never be likely to occupy a longer period than three days.

ENLARGED SERIES.-No. 5.-VOL. FOR 1843.

2 Y

On the evening of June the 24th, we sailed for the Ki Islands, where we arrived on the 26th. The Ki group, sixty miles distant from Arru, consists of two large islands, called the Great and Lesser Ki, and a number of smaller ones lying to the north-west of the latter. The Great Ki is about sixty miles long, high and mountainous; but the Lesser Ki is nowhere more than 50 feet above the level of the sea. The natives of the islands differ very considerably, both in personal appearance and in language, from those of the Arru Islands, and are evidently the same race with that inhabiting the Serwatty and Timor-laut. During our stay at Ki, the inhabitants maintained the high character they have acquired for industry and hospitality to strangers. The population is between 8,000 and 10,000.

(To be continued,)

THE NEMESIS STEAMER.-From a Chinese Drawing.

This war steam ship is above 300 cubits long, and more than 30 high, in the hull. Iron is employed to make it strong. The hull is painted black, weaver's shuttle fashion. On each side is a wheel, which by the use of coal fire is made to revolve as fast as a running horse. White cloth sails are used to propel the ship when the wind is favourable. At the vessel's head is a Marine God, and at the head, stern, and sides, are cannon, which give it a terrific appearance. Steam Vessels are a wonderful invention of foreigners, and are calculated to afford delight to many.

On the chimney are the Chinese characters, Yeu tung, smoke passage, and on the paddle box, Chay Kae, wheel covering.

40, Tonbridge Street, New Road.

WM. HUTTMAN,