At Bosworth, the 29th December, the Rev. Charles Bucknill, to Mary Sophia, daughter of Rear-admiral Mason, CB. At Bryanston-square, Wm. T. Grey, Esq., eldest son of the late Hon. Col. W. Grey, to Maria, daughter of Capt. Shireff, RN., superintendent of Deptford dock-yard. At Reading, 22nd Dec. Mr. H. Horlock, of Southampton, to Caroline, eldest daughter of Lieut. Dutton, RN. of Southampton. At St. Ann's, Westminster, Mr. H. Clark, son of Capt. Clark, RN. of Guernsey, to Jane, grand-daughter of the late J. H. Jones, commander RN., many years acting-governor of Bombay. At Westbourne, the 5th January, L. How, Esq., Wanstead, Essex, to Emily Ann, daughter of Capt. B. S. Bluett, KH. RN. of Prinsted, Sussex. On the 5th January, at Bideford, E. J. Pridham, Esq., surgeon of Exeter, to Catherine Helena, daughter of the late W. Pridham, Esq., surgeon RN. At Padstow, Cornwall, the 5th Jan. the Rev J. H. Williams, BA., Oxford, to Eliza, daughter of D. Willams, Esq. Inspecting-commander of Coast Guard. At Liverpool, 22nd Dec. W. B. Prichard, Esq., CE., of Holywell, Flintshire, to Lavina, daughter of the late Mr. M. King, RN. At Taunton, 5th Jan. Commander J. W. Aldridge, RN., to Ann daughter of the late C. Knight, Esq. At Adelaide, South Australia, the 9th July, G. M. Stephen, Esq., son of Judge Stephen, to Mary, daughter of Captain Hindmarsh, KH., RN, the Governor of Heligoland. At Rio, Lieut. A. Heseltine, RN, to Georgina, daughter of Lieutenant J. R. O'Reilly, RN. At Northwood, Isle of Wight, 12th Jan. Lieut. Morris, Coast Guard, to Har riet, daughter of Mr. .W Smith, customs, West Cowes. Beaths. On the 3d Jan. in London, aged 65, Rear-admiral Sir P. B. Vere Broke, Bart., KCB. At West Cowes, the 20th Dec. Mary, widow of the late S. Osborn, Esq., admiral of the Blue. At Thorpe, Capt. F. Banks, RN., aged 74 years. At Weymouth, the 7th Jan. Sophia, widow of the late Sir W. H. Mulcaster, RN. On Dec. 30th, at Leamington, Capt. S. G. Pechell, RN., of Berely, Hants. At Penzance, on the 18th Dec., Commander W. Burgess, (1794,) RN., aged 89 years. On the 18th August last, after a few days' illness, on board HMS. Wellesley, in the China Seas, C. W. Newbolt, Esq. mate, son of the late Sir John Newbolt, chief judge, at Madras. At Gillingham, Kent, Dec. 28th, Mrs. P. Sturgess, mother of the late Lieut. W. Sturgess. RN., aged 87 years. At Keyhaven, Hants, Dec. 16th, Com. J. C. Symonds, RN., aged 50 years. At Malta, Dec. 23rd, Mr. Augustus F. Shawe, midshipman, of Revenge. At Malta, suddenly, on 23d ult., Lucy wife of Dr. J. Allen, RN. On the 29th ult. on board the Asia, at Malta, Mr. J. Allen, son of the above Dr. Allen. At Southsea, Dec. 26th, Ann, the wife of J. B. Hutchings, Esq. purser. At Worthing, Jane, daughter of the late Vice-admiral P. Woodhouse, in her 20th year. At Southsea, aged 86 years, Dr. Seeds, the senior surgeon in the Navy, on the active list. The deceased was surgeon of the Cæsar, in the 1st of June action. On the 5th Jan. at St. Pancras, suddenly, Charles Newman, Esq. RN., aged 64 years. At Portland-place, Gosport, the 6th of Jan., Mrs. Moubray, relict of Lieut. Moubray, RN. On the 15th Dec. at Nairn, J. Rose, Esq., commander RN. On the 18th Dec. at Turriff, Alexander Ingram, Esq. commander RN. METEOROLOGICAL REGISTER. Kept at Croom's Hill, Greenwich, by Mr. W. Rogerson, of the Royal Observatory. From the 21st of December, 1840, to the 20th of January, 1841. 20 W. 30.05 30.05 33 32 DECEMBER-Mean height of the barometer = or 2) 4 oprs(1) (2 oprs (34) 30-082 inches: mean tempera ture= 314 degrees: depth of Rain and melted Saow fallen Note. On the 3rd of January, 1841, at 7 A.M. Greenwich and neighbourhood were visited by a tremendous storm of thunder and lightning, attended with wind and hail! The night of the 8th, and the morning of the 9th were excessively cold, at Greenwich, the thermometer sunk to 4 degrees, or 28 below the freezing point: at the same time, Mr. Dent observed one of his thermometers at Kensington to be at 1 degree, or 31 degrees below freezing! which is the greatest cold experienced in these parts since the memorable 20th of January, 1838. TO OUR FRIENDS AND CORRESPONDENTS. We have been reluctantly obliged to defer the reply of LIEUTENANT EVANS on Shingle. The late despatches have also occupied our space so much as to interfere with our Bermuda, and Nicaragua papers, which we shall make up for in our next number. A Shipwright of 1812, if possible in our next,—but the controversy must end. The papers from the Asta have reached us. We shall be glad of a continuance any other matters. REMARKS ON THE PASSAGE UP AND DOWN THE CHINA SEA.-By Commander P. J. Blake, H.M.S. Larne. ALTHOUGH the passage up and down the China Sea, against either Monsoon is now constantly performed, it may be useful to state a few remarks derived from my own observation, as well as from the experience of several captains of "opium clippers," whose constant practice of late years has given them a very tolerably perfect knowledge as to the best method of effecting the passage up and down the China Sea, between Sincapore and Macao in either Monsoon. In beating against, or running with the strength of the Monsoon up or down the China Sea, ships should always pass to leeward of the Paracel Islands and shoals, as well as of the "Prata," or the "Scarborough Shoal," should they be near them, on account of the invariable set of the current to leeward. An exception may be made in beating up against the north-east Monsoon, after reaching near 14° north, as there is an extent of sea room, and a ship must get well eastward towards the coast of Luconia before she can fetch Macao. In running down the China Sea with the north-east Monsoon, the direct line mostly adopted is nearly mid-channel between Hainan and the Paracels, holding rather to the latter where a southerly current of thirty, forty, and fifty miles a day is usual, and between 14° and 11° north, I have known it reach to sixty miles in twenty-four hours. Thence making the coast of Cochin China, about Varela, and shaping a course south-ward, so as to pass thirty or forty miles outside of Pulo Sapata, from whence the course to Sincapore is clear, giving the "Anambas a berth of about forty miles, and always, if possible, sighting Pulo Aor to ensure the reckoning, more especially should the weather be thick, when the lead should be constantly attended to. In running up the China Sea with the south-west Monsoon, there can be no doubt but the outer passage by the Macclesfield Bank is the best, thus passing to leeward of the Paracels with a clear sea. This Monsoon generally hangs very southerly during June and July, viz. from S.S.E. to S.S.W., the current always setting in the opposite direction with a velocity proportioned to the strength of the wind. Although the inner passage by the coast of Cochin China is recommended by Horsburgh, for weak or leaky ships, I think, on his own shewing, it is to be avoided, he having adopted that passage, and very narrowly escaped being wrecked on the North Shoal of the Paracels in July,- —on which, in the same gale a Portuguese ship was lost. This was during a gale blowing severely at north-west, out of the Gulf of Tung-quin, which is not unusual to happen at this period of the year, while a steady southwest wind is blowing in the middle of the China Sea. Owing to the strength of the southerly current, both his own and the Portuguese ship were set down towards the north-west part of the Paracels, when trying to weather them, and this same circumstance has twice happened within the last three years :-two English ships, the "John Bannerman," and the "Martha," having been wrecked on the same shoal owing to the same cause. In running with the south-west Monsoon by this inner passage * See a beautiful chart of these just published by the Admiralty. ENLARGED SERIES.-NO. 3.-VOL. FOR 1841. U in thick weather, the current, varying as it does in velocity and direction, must render it precarious as to shaping a course with precision or safety. On leaving Macao to proceed down the China Sea against the southwest Monsoon, it is advisable to make the best of your way southward for the Macclesfield Bank, keeping in from 113° 30′ to 116° 30′ east, and taking every advantage of the least veering of the wind. The "Larne sailed on the 30th of May from Macao Roads, for Sincapore, Penang, and Madras. Had moderate breezes at east and south-east for forty-eight hours; when having made nearly a due south course from the Ladrones about 250 miles, the wind drew to southward, and blew very hard with heavy squalls. This obliged us to stand eastward under close reefed topsails, and reefed courses. It moderated P.M. 2nd June, having found by our observed latitude and chronometer at noon, that the current had set us north, 28° east, fifty-one miles in twenty-four hours! With the wind at S.S.E., S.E.b.S., we had recovered our lost ground on the 4th, from which day until the 11th, we made a course to south-eastward, the wind invariably between S.S.W. and S.b.E. On this day at noon, in latitude observed 14° 13′ north, longitude chronometer 116° 25' east,-tacked to westward. By standing a few hours to south-east each day, in order to make up for the northerly current, we made nearly a due west course for the coast of Cochin China until the 16th, when we made the land about Cape Varela, which is very high with a curious conical hill inland. We here felt the additional strength of the current northward, which we found at noon the 17th had set us north, 46° west, forty-three miles. We at once stood away again to south-east, the wind still sticking south and S.S.W., and on the 20th at noon, we were within 10m. by the reckoning, of the "Investigator Shoal," but perceived nothing, the wind being light and a perfectly smooth sea. Tacked to north-west for twenty-four hours, and on the 23rd had grappled slowly to southwest, about 60m. We were now nearly in what I termed the turnpike-gate of the China Sea, viz. the narrowest part between Pulo Sapata and the West London Shoals. Here a fine easterly breeze sprung up, not more to our surprise than our gratification, with which we made way to southwest, and on the 25th had reached 7° 34' north, and 108° 14' east. Here the wind again became southerly and light for a day, but opening as we now did, the Gulf of Siam, we had light breezes west, W.N.W. and north-west, until the 1st of July, which left us nearly 150 miles to the southward. Here having again shut in the Gulf of Siam, the winds became southerly, light and variable, as before. On the 2nd of July saw Pulo Timoan S.S.W., seventeen or eighteen leagues. From this day to the 8th, we were beating to the southward, in sight of these islands, harassed by very light southerly winds, and a daily current to the northward, of from twenty to twenty-five miles, retarding our progress. I thought we were doomed to a perpetual view of Pulo Timoan, Pulo Aor, and Pulo Pisang, nor was it until daylight of the 9th, that they had disappeared to northward, though we could distinguish the peak of " Pulo Tingy " to north-west that day at noon. After noon we made out Biatang Hill, Barbreit, and False Barbreit, a joyous sign of ap proaching Sincapore. Working to southward, wind still light and southerly, and holding on by the stream anchor when calm,-current two knots and a half N.b.E. On the evening of the 10th anchored in twenty-four fathoms, Barbreit Hill W.S.W.; and at 3 A.M. the 11th, started with a fresh breeze off the land at north-west, and stood for Sincapore Straits. At noon passed Pedro Branco, and at 5 P.M. anchored in Sincapore Roads in ten fathoms, forty-two days from Macao. Flag-staff on the hill N.W. N. I conceive we had thrown away at least eight or nine days in our passage from Macao, for want of experience in making it. We should not have approached the coast of Cochin China as we did, nor have stood over so far eastward as the "Investigator Shoal." Had we made shorter tacks hereabouts, keeping the middle passage between the coast of Cochin China and the eastern shoals, we should undoubtedly have gained several days by it. The increased strength of the current in with the coast, we found spoke for itself, and after tacking to northwest from the " Investigator Shoal," we could only stand on the larboard tack, on account of the shoals southward, viz. the "Dhaulle Shoal," and the" east and west London Shoal," with the wind sticking dead at south-west. We ought also to have made the "North Natunas," and then got to south-westward, as the winds out there are much fresher and steadier than more eastward towards the Malay coast, where we experienced them so directly southward light and variable. I gathered the foregoing information from comparing the abstract of reckonings with an opium vessel, whose captain had had much experience, and which arrived at Sincapore from Macao the same day as ourselves, although she had left ten days after us, and the advantage gained by the track she pursued as above described, in contradistinction to our own which was obviously manifest. The passage down the China Sea, against the south-west Monsoon, I conceive to be more tedious than difficult. With the exception of the "Blow" we had forty-eight hours after leaving Macao, we had nothing to call a breeze, but the following abstract of winds and currents each day, will shew how tedious and tardy was our progress. The direct course from Macao to Sincapore is, nearly as possible S.S.W. (true) distance 1,350 miles. Sailed from Macao Roads for Sincapore, the 30th of May, 1839. Days. Winds. Direction Miles. May 30 E.S.E, east, E.b.S. June 1 S.E. S.S.E. (blowing hard, heavy squalls) No observation. 31 E.b.S., E.S.E. (blowing hard) 2 S.E.b.S., S.E. Little or none 6 S.b.E., S., S.b.W. 7 S., S.b.E., S.b.W. 8 S.S.W., S.b. W., S.S.W. 9 S.S.W. |