PORT CHALMERS, December 2.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 298, 3 December 1862, Page 4

PORT CHALMERS, December 2.

Wind at noon, N.E., light bveeze. Weather, fine. High water on the 3rd December, at Port Chalmers, 1.3 a.m; and 1.13 p.m.; at Duuedin an hour later. ARRIVAL. ■ Prince Alfred, s.s., Wheeler, from Sidney, via Northern Ports ; general cargo. 37 passengers. G. Brodrick, agent. DEPARTURES. Nil. PASSENGER LIST. F.Per Prince Alfred—Cabin : Messrs Frazer (-2), Kells, Captain Robertson, Rev. Viekers, M'Donald, lluby, Marks, Hudson, Abell; fore-cabin, 27. EXPEOTED ARRIVALS. From London— Empress ot India, Storm Cloud. From Glasgow—Phulda, Broomielaw, Benlomond. From Melbourne - Golden Age, City of Melbourne, Benjamin Heape, Yibilia, Diana, Kate Waters! Conimissaris dcs Konigs Van der Heyne. PROJECTED DEPARTURES. Witch of the Tees, for London, 15 January. ; Prince Alfred, for Bluff and luvercargill, this day. Folly, do do.. Ht. (Jlair, for.Melbourne, Bth inst.

The Intercolonial Company's steamship arrived in port in the morning, having left Sydney on the 15th ■jilt. From Sydney to Nelson she made the passage in five and a half days, under unfavorable circumstances, arriving there on the 21st. Her subsequent dates of departure were : From Nelson, on the 25th; Picton, on the 27th; Wellington, on the 20tli ; and Lyttelton, on the Ist inst. Noticing the return of this vessel to the New Zealand trade, the Nelson Colonist says;—"Yast improvements have been made in her since her last visit to this port. While in Sydney she was stripped to her hull ; her (iodines pulled to pifces and refitted ; new and larger boilers put into her : new propeller fitted ; new decks laid down ; saloon rebuilt; and sundry other minor alterations and improvements made in her. The result is that she is now one of the finest steamers in the New Zealand trade. On her trial trip she ran at the rate of Hi knots per hour; and her making the passage from Sydney to this port, under adverse circumstances, in Jive nnd a half days, shows that she is capable ef maintaining a high rate of spee<\ An impression seems to be generally prevalent that this steamer is more addicted to rolling at sea than steamers usually are. Whatever may have been the case previous to her refit—we might almost say her rebuilding- -we hear on all hands from those who came down from Sydney in her, that a more easy or comfortable boat could not be desired. Indeed there is further proof of this in the iact that of the thirty horses shipped by Mr Potter all in an emaciated condition, through the present drought in Australia, not one died on the passage. The saloon of this splendid vessel is large and very tastefully decorate 1. Her state rooms are capacious and fitted with every necessary. She has first-class accommodation for forty saloon passengers, and sofa berths for ten more. Marble wash stands are placed between the state-rooms, so that those gentlemen who, when the ship is full, are compelled to take the sofa berths, can perform their ablutions without feeling they are trespassers in. another's cabin. Tho ladies' cabin is unusually large, and its fittings are in keeping with the elegance and comfort that characterise the dining saloon. In the second cabin there are thirty fixed berths; but should three or four hundred wassengers ofll'r, as many berths may at once be erected in her spacious 'tween drcks—the iittings and appliarces all being there in readiness. The Frince Alfred is a large steamer oflooo tons, and is commanded by Captain Wheeler, late of __ the Lord Ashley — a gentleman who has gained golden opinions in the North, and vtho is well known and ntuch respected in this province." Of her trial trip the Sydney Herald says:—" On tastes her SJW it was found that under easy swam

she averaged ten, and with moderate pressure, up-, wards of eleven knots an hour.; Her machinery worked smoothly, and the vibration so much comp'aimc by passengers in screw steamers was scarcely percept'bie. On Her previous trip, on the 3rd instant, her compasses were adjusted. Yesterday, the results of ihe observations taken on that occas'on v/rre' verified. So thorough ha^» been the overhaul unlerjjone by the Prince Alfred—new boiler.?, new decks, new mast*, etc., —that she niiy be considered as equal to a ik-w ship. When und?V the disadvantage of having1 boilers ail but worn out, she made generally very good passages, in her present state of comple efficiency it may reasonably bj expected that her performances for some time to coins will equal, if not surpass, those of any steamer in the New Zealand trade. Leaving the (Jrafton wharf at 5 o'clock in the morning, it is not surprising that but few visitors were on boar.l. Amongst those present we noticed the Honorable Cr.'jsbie Ward, Postman terGeneral of New Zealand; Mr Evans, engineer and surveyor; Mr M-Arthur, inspector of A.S.N. Co.'s works; Captain Vine Hall, aud Captains Konnely and Woods. The compass observations were taken by Captain Vine Hall, the I.C.R.M Co.'s manager. Mr Lowes, chief engineer of the ship, superintended the repairs, etc., in her machinery department. The barque Bengal, which left Otago on the lltfr. of October, only arrived at Sydney on the 12jtti November, having carried away her mainmast arid' fore'opmast. ; I The steamer Lyttelton, formerly at Otaco, and now owned by Messrs. Edwards and Co., Nelson, has effecte.l the passage up the Opawa to Blenhaina. In honor of the event, her captain and officers were j invited to a public dinner . Her next trip is to Buller river. Of the Claude Hamilton, the Nelson Examiner. 1 says :—' This fine vessel returned from her first voyage to the South on Friday last, having kept her mail time at all the ports on her passage both up and down the coast. Notwithstanding this, however, Captain Johnson, the Government Inspector of Steamers, has reported that the Claude Hamilton, irom her deficiency of steam power, is not suitable for a mail steamer. It is a great pity that the I directors of the I.R.M. Company should have sent out a steamer to New Zealand with so lit'le power as the Claude Hamilton possesses. In all other i-espects this vessel is the best in the service, as her accommodations for passengers are most excellent. The Ida Zeigler, from London, arrived at Auckland on the 2lst ult. The gunboat Caroline, with his Excellency the Governor on board, returned to Auckland from Kawau on the 19th. The Fanny A. Garrigues arrived on the following day, and we regret to notice that, while discharging cattle at Taranaki, the mate was severely gored by a bullock. The animal's horn entered his groin aud literally tore the abdomen open. The sufferer is improving, but still lies in a precarious state. The wreck of the Lord Worsloy was sighted by the Claude Hamilton ou her l;»st trip from Auckland. The Worsley was apparently very much hogged, the stern entirely out, and all the saloon fittings taken away by the natives. Her lower yards, mizen-top-mast and jibboom removed. Otherwise, the ship appeared all standing, as when abandonel. The articles removed from the ship appeared to be stored in a small cove, just ahead of the ship. The Taranaki News says:—"The coal has a'l been removed by the natives to the vilhge. where it is stacked for future sal-j to the pahelca. • The goo Is from the wreck (including, we believe, one mail-box) seized by the king natives at Warca, were sold by them last week by public auction, one of the natives acting, without license, as auctioneer, when all the arcles were sold, without any reserve, for what they would fetch ; the proceeds being, ro doubt, set apart for Matutaera's use. Mr Riemenschnei-.lcr'.-? gooJs have been also sold in the same manner, consisting of the household furniture of a six-roomed house, cooking utensils, and a library of books."