strong current setting to the S.S.W. About eleven, or rather later, the mate called me, saying that there was "land handy." I awoke up in a surprise to hear that land was near. When I came on deck there was not dry land near but breakers under the lee not far off, and the ship was fast approaching them. I attempted to stay her, but she had so little way upon her that she would not stay. In a moment more she drove upon the reef and instantly went to pieces, barely giving the passengers time to get upon deck.

As she was breaking up, several of the women and children were put into the larboard quarter boat and would all have been saved had not some one in the hurry and confusion that occurred lowered one of the tackles, which allowed the sea to break into her and all were swept out of her into the breakers. Only Mrs. Newby and a little boy named Arthur Heath were saved. My own three dear girls are all drowned and fourteen other women and children, in all seventeen lost. Our only chance of being saved now was by the long boat, into which we got so many as we could. As the boat was stove on the starboard quarter we put off clear of the wreck till we mended the stove parts as well as we could, and then, after picking up some oars, pulled back to the wreck, on which were several individuals. It was for some time a question with us, whether the boat, in her shattered state, would hold all, but as the water was tolerably smooth we returned to take all in, trusting to the omnipotent hand of Divine Providence for our safety, and never, perhaps, were the mercies of God more strongly manifested than in this instance of our preservation. The top side had parted from the bottom of the vessel, and was now drifted by the current over and off the reef. We pulled away for Craggy Island, and then passed it at about 1. A.M. On Sunday we landed on the N.W. coast of this island and set out in search of the settlement, where I arrived with a part of my crew on Monday afternoon. Nothing can exceed the kindness and humane treatment of Doctor Milligan, the superintendent here; indeed all parties on the settlement have lent their aid in sending provisions overland to the survivors. Capt. Collins has lost two of his little girls and Mrs. Evans has lost six children. Every thing is lost, no one having saved a covering of clothes, ship's papers, and I may say that I have lost my all in the world, only my wife is yet spared to me. I cannot speak too highly of my crew for their cool and intrepid conduct throughout this disastrous event, I wish I could include my officers also in my recommendations. The ship was wrecked upon a sunken rock situated to the N.W. of Wright Rock, and S.E. from Kent Group, not laid down in Flinders Chart.

With kind respects, &c. &c.

Yours most respectfully,

R. H. NEWBY.

THE LOSS OF THE MARY.-We are informed that Mr. Ashmore, the surveyor alluded to in the narrative of the loss of the above ill-fated ship, is not one of the surveyors known as "Lloyd's Surveyors," appointed by the Committee for managing Lloyd's Register Book. We further learn that the Mary was surveyed in the year 1835, and classed E 1, but owing to her not having subsequently undergone the surveys which the rules enjoin, in proof of her continuing in an efficient state of repair, and deserving of the character which had been assigned to her; that character was discontinued in the years 1838-9, and the ship was altogether struck out of the Register Book in 1842-3.-Shipping Gavette.

[Query-Will this account for the passage in Mr. Newby's letter," she instantly went to pieces?"]

NO. 1.-VOL. XV.

H

RODGER'S ANCHORS.

EVERY day, nearly, brings fresh testimony of the great superiority of Lieut. Rodger's anchors over all others that we have heard of, arising, no doubt, from their peculiar form, giving them the extraordinary holding properties they possess, by burying themselves with stubborn pertinacity in the ground. We do no more than justice to Lieut. Rodger, in aiding him all in our power to make his useful invention known to our readers, and, therefore readily give place to the following letters which he has received from the Admiralty, accompanied by that patronage which they so richly deserve.

Admiralty, 18th December, 1845. SIR.-In pursuance of the directions of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, I herewith transmit a copy of a letter of the 25th October last, from Captain Hope, of H.M.S. Thalia, to Admiral Sir Charles Ogle, Commander-in-Chief at Portsmouth, respecting the merits of the anchors on your plan on board that ship.

To Lieut. Rodger, R.N.,

I am, &c.,

Shawfield Street, King's Road, Chelsea.

JAMES MEEK,

For Storekeeper General.

H.M.S. Thalia, 25th October, 1845. Lat. 23° 52' North. Lon. 37° 15′ West.

SIR. Although I have already made two official reports to the Lords' Commissioners of the Admiralty upon Lieut. Rodger's Small Palmed anchors, I cannot think of paying the Thalia off without writing a few more lines in their favour, as the more I see of them, and I have always used them constantly, the more I am convinced of their excellence.

I should say that the palm of the Bower anchor in the Thalia is sufficiently large.

It is now nearly four years since I left England in H.M.S. under my command, and during the whole of that time, and at all the many places the Thalia has visited in her circuit round the world, and in every variety of ground, I have used Lieut. Rodger's Bower as the working anchor, and have invariably found it to answer most admirably.

Both his Stream and Kedge anchors are invaluable, and I have used them both repeatedly, particularly the latter.

As I entered so fully into the merits of all Lieut. Rodger's anchors upon former occasions, I shall not now take up more of their lordships' time, and shall, therefore, content myself with referring them to my former lengthened reports of the 27th April, 1842, and the 15th March, 1844.

Although I shall not give their lordships any further remarks of my own, I cannot refrain from giving them two strong and striking instances of their superiority over the common Bower anchors as related to me by Mr. Henry Paul, now master of the Thalia.

In September, 1843, Mr. Paul was master of the Wolf, in China, when she experienced that awful typhoon on the 1st of that monmh, off Sing Ramoon, in the island of Chusan.

It appears, from Mr. Paul's statement, that the Wolf drove, when the wind was N.E., with a common Bower anchor; it then shifted suddenly to the S.W., and though it blew fully as furiously from that quarter as it had done from the other, the Wolf then rode the typhoon out with Lieut. Rodger's Bower anchor, and did not drive a fathom, though she had less scope of cable out on it than she had had on the other anchor when she drove. During the same typhoon at Chusan, Mr. Paul says, "The English merchant bark Ina was driven on a

rock off Macclesfield Island, and knocked a hole in her counter, to get at which she was hauled on a mud bank on the north side of Trumball Island, with one of her common Bower anchors taken over an embankment into a paddy field, but when the tide receded she slipped off the bank, bringing the anchor home. This occurred twice. One of Lieut Rodger's patent anchors, considerably smaller than the one used before, was then procured from a ship in the harbour, placed nearly in the same position in the paddy field, and as soon as a strain came upon it, it became so embedded that it held on, which enabled the necessary repairs to be made."

I shall only now add that I have to request you will be pleased to forward this letter to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty.

To Admiral Sir Charles Ogle, Bart.

I have the honour to be, &c.,

CHAS. HOPE, Captain.

H.M.S. St. Vincent, Portsmouth, November 3rd., 1845.

SIR.I regret I cannot find the report that was officially made to the Admiralty, respecting your Small Palmed anchors, but it was decidedly in favour of your anchor over the present established anchors in the navy, which, I believe, are called the Admiralty anchors.

I can only repeat what was said in that report, that your anchor always brought the other anchor home, and also, that on one occasion when both anchors started, your anchor caught fresh hold whilst the other continued to come home.

To Lieut. Rodger, R.N.

I remain, &c.,

R. F. ROWLEY. NOTE.-The above refers to a series of experiments made at Spithead, in July, 1844, with anchors of 38 cwt., under the superintendence of Captain Rowley and other officers.-W. R.

H.M.S. Athol, Woolwich, November 16th., 1845.

MY DEAR SIR.-I feel great pleasure in making you acquainted with the particulars of a severe trial of your Small Palmed anchor at Spithead, in September last.

On the 16th, in a strong gale from W.S.W., I let go your Small Palmed anchor as a second anchor, and veered to thirty-five fathoms on it, and to one hundred on the other. The gale continued from this quarter until 3 A.M. on the 19th., when it shifted to W.N.W., and moderated a little, but still blew a moderate gale. This shift of wind of course brought all the strain upon the short cable and your anchor, and I rode in this manner until 11 A.M., in 7 fathoms water. I then hove in to 10 fathoms, and pawled the capstan for a few minutes, to try if it would break out of the ground at a short stay. It still, however, held on, and did not break out until it was quite up and down, when the pitching of the ship broke it out. When the anchor was catted, it was impossible to say which had been the under fluke, for both arms were full of mud, and it was evident that it had been buried in the mud, stock and flukes.

I am very glad I had the opportunity of giving your anchor that trial, as it quite removed a doubt I had of its holding qualities, with a short scope of chain. I have used your anchor generally as a working anchor, and am much pleased with it, but have had no severe trial with it since I left Spithead. I rode out a gale by it, under Inch Keith, in the Frith of Forth, when it held well; but I do not consider it as a trial worth remarking on.

To Lieut. Rodger, R.N.

I am, &c.,

E. I. P. PEARN, Master, R.N.

Commanding H.M.K. Athol.

H.M.K. Sparrow, Portsmouth, December 15th, 1845. DBAR SIR. Having had several of your anchors now in use for nearly two years, I cannot, in justice, do less than let you know the result.

The Bowers have been worked in every depth of water, and in every kind of ground, and have been found equally good in all.

On one occasion, the Sparrow rode out a heavy gale of wind in Aberdeen Bay, when every other vessel was driven from her anchors; and I have had frequent opportunities of witnessing their great holding power whilst riding at a short stay, a point on which I had previously made up my mind that they must be defective. The pickaxe Stream was put in frequent requisition for anchoring in deep water (30 and 40 fathoms) in the Murray Frith, and other exposed positions in the North Sea; and though the shank has bent, the anchor has always held well.

To Lieut. Rodger, R.N.

I remain, &c.,

HENRY C. OTTER,

Commander, R.N.

QUALIFIED MASTERS AND MATES OF THE MERCHANT SERVICE. WE have received the following from the Secretary to Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping. In recording this first result of a salutary measure in the pages of the Nautical, we cannot help expressing our satisfaction in doing so, arising from a conviction that it is only the first appearance of a new state of things in the executive of our Mercantile Marine. And we may congratulate the commanders of our merchant vessels, on the good results which will ensue therefrom, as being themselves the regenerators of their own profession. For while the test of qualification for similar official trust under Government, is made not only severe but compulsory, the commanders of our Mercantile Marine will always possess the advantage of having rendered theirs voluntary.

2, White Lion Court, Cornhill, Dec. 24, 1845.

MY DEAR SIR.-A step having been taken towards proving the qualification of masters and mates in the Merchant Service, both professionally and as regards their moral character, thus has commenced a system of voluntary examination, which, I trust, in the end, will prove a vast improvement in the Mercantile Marine.

If anything were wanting to shew how a voluntary system, under a judicious management, is sure to work its way, the Institution for carrying out that important work, Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping, now of nearly eleven years standing, may be fearlessly adduced. Without any unnecessary effort, in the exercise of any arbitrary or overruling measures, the determination to give good characters to good ships, and thus to give the greatest possible encouragement to the improved construction of ships and their substantial repair, has produced a beneficial effect, the advantage of which is now universally admitted. The moral force of such a system has actually operated as its chief agent.

The owners of bad ships, without their being shewn up, have had to pay in insurance, what the owners of good ships, in keeping up their efficiency, have saved, and more wisely laid out in maintaining their ships in substantial repair.

I feel, therefore, that those masters and mates who have subjected themselves to the examination prescribed by the Board of Trade, and who have

boldly challenged an inquiry into their professional attainments and moral character, and obtained satisfactory certificates, deserve to be placed as prominently before the public as possible, not doubting that their example will have a most salutary effect.

I, therefore, send you a list of the masters and mates examined up to the 16th of this month.

Mr. Lefevre, in sending me the MS. list, by order of the Lords of the Committee of Privy Council for Trade, expresses their Lordships' hope that the Committee for Lloyd's Register will," in conformity with their intention of co-operating in the measure, take the necessary steps for inserting in their widely extended work, the names of the Masters and Mates who have thus obtained Certificates."

This we have already done, and it occurs to us that it might be satisfactory to the readers of your periodical, as well as advance the object in view, were you to insert the list in your next monthly, if in time-together with such of the foregoing hastily written observations as you may approve. Your's faithfully,

To the Editor of the N.M.

CHARLES GRAHAM.

A LIST of Masters and Mates in the Merchant Service who have voluntarily passed an examination, and obtained Certificates of Qualification for the Class against each assigned, under the Regulations issued by the Board of Trade.

MONTHLY RECORD OF NAVAL MOVEMENTS.

MALTA, DEC. 2.-The Acheron, 2, steam-sloop, Lieut.-Com. Aplin, left on 28th ult. for Marseilles. Amazon, 26, Capt. Stopford, at Barcelona. Beacon, 6, Capt. Graves, at Zea. Bloodhound, steamer, Lieut.-Com. R. Phillips, at Athens. Bonetta, 3, Com. Brock, on surveying operations in the