hopes, however faint, of obtaining something definite of these unfortunate people.

Enlarged surveys of Ki-lung and Soo-au will be made by Mr. Blackney, the Assistant Surveyor, on his rejoining the Acteon; and here I cannot omit to notice the indefatigable exertions of this scientific young officer, who evinced the utmost zeal in the performance of his surveying duties. I beg also to mention the name of Mr. J. P. C. Clements, Master, who was of great assistance in making the surveys I allude to as well as the notices of the coast.

Accompanying this despatch are the enclosures which I received for my guidance before leaving Hong Kong.

Translation of a Report by Urian, who was sent to Formosa by the United States Consul at Amoy, to search for missing Europeans. I sailed from Amoy on the 12th day of the 7th moon (August 8th, 1851), and arrived off the mouth of the Tung-keang, near Pongli, on the evening of the 15th day, where we anchored. At midnight a typhoon commenced with unusual severity, and on the following morning, in company with three other junks, we were wholly wrecked, with great loss of life, and all our lading and luggage.

After having been exposed to peril for about twelve hours, I providentially escaped on a small raft, and reached the shore, saving nothing but the clothes that were on me. My effects consisted of thirty Spanish dollars, value of fifteen dollars in medicine, and seven to ten dollars in personal clothing. The medicines having been procured for the ostensible purpose of trafficking in them, so as to avert suspicion from the real object of my coming.

I remained one day at the village of Tang Keang, to get a suit of clothes made; and whilst there was waited on by a military officer, who informed me that he had orders to arrest any foreigner, or any Chinese subject employed by foreigners, who might land on that shore; showing me at the same time his warrant therefore, and saying that he was fully aware I was of the latter class thus interdicted. He dismissed me, however, with a caution to be careful as to the nature of my communications with the inhabitants. From Tung Keang I went to Lung Seavu, the residence of Bancheong, a person of much wealth and influence, and the principal agent in effecting the rescue of a portion of the Larpent's crew. Deeming it important to confer with him on the subject, previous to adopting any definite plan of research, at an interview which I had with him he spoke of the improbability that any foreigners were then in captivity in the South part of the island, since the liberal reward which had been lately given by the British Government for the manumission of such was widely known, and would surely have brought them to light for the sake of further reward; besides which, he declared he was intimately acquainted with the whole region of the South, including its interior, and if such captives were there he could scarcely fail of knowing the

NO. 1.-VOL. XXVIII.

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fact. He further informed me that the suspicions of the Mandarins of Tung-shan district had been awakened by the recent visit of H.B.M. steamer Salamander, and that they had sent police officers to apprehend the persons concerned in liberating the Larpent's men; also that he himself had been summoned to appear at Tai-wan-foo to answer for his part in the matter, which, however, he refused to do. The other individuals spoken of had succeeded in bribing the police, and were thus allowed to escape.

I had heard that Bancheong was the owner of a watch, spyglass, and sextant, and on inquiring the manner in which he possessed himself of these articles, he replied, they were brought to him by some aborigines about four years ago for sale; that he neither knew their use nor their value, only that they were foreign instruments. He exchanged some goods for them, and while in his possession they were seen by a Mandarin, who taking a fancy for them, Bancheong begged him to accept of them, which he did. Just about the time that these instruments were brought to him for sale, an European vessel was wrecked on the very spot where the Larpent was lost, and he supposes that if any of its men escaped to the shore, they were murdered by the same people who killed the larger part of the crew of that ill-fated barque, the locality being considered as highly dangerous to the safety of even a Chinese traveller.

It was against the remonstrances of Bancheong that I proceeded more than a day's journey South-easterly to the point where these catastrophes had occurred, hoping to learn facts there in relation to these and other wrecks, in which, however, I was not successful. Two or three days before, in the typhoon of which I have spoken, three junks were wrecked at this fearful spot, and three persons from their crews were murdered, the headless body of one of whom I saw lying on the beach.

All these massacres of shipwrecked seamen are commited by a small but ferocious clan of aborigines, supposed to number about sixty or seventy persons only, who inhabit a woody mountain bluff, at the foot of which wrecks are frequent, and the total destruction of life and property almost certain. These savages are said by the Chinese, and by the native tribes, to have a passion for acquiring human heads, which was thought by my informers to be more their object than the possession of booty.

Hence I travelled in a course N.N.E. as I judged about 200 le (say sixty-five miles), visiting the Chinese villages of Lae Chong and Luiluk, situated just at the base of the mountain range, held by the aborigines, at the distance of seventy le, or thereabouts, from the West coast. In this interior region I spent three days, diligently prosecuting my inquiries, but could learn nothing further than that three or four years ago a foreign vessel was wrecked on the East shore; of the fate of the crew and property they could tell me nothing(this item of information I obtained from the aborigines through an interpreter).

From this place I went two and a half days' journey, and reached Puu-heang village, on the West coast, sixty le North of Tai-wan-foo. No intelligence could be gathered here, except that two European vessels were lost on the Pescadores on the 29th Tam-kwang.

At Puu-heang, lying on the same coast, forty le still further North, this statement was confirmed, and having learnt that a certain individual, resident at this place, but now absent at the said islands, could give the fullest information concerning wrecks, I took passage thither and landed at Nea-kem, the principal island, sought him out and found him. This man stated, in the 29th Taou-kwang, 3rd moon, (24th March to 22nd April, 1849,) near an island called Kil-pe, lying but a short distance from Na-kem, the top of the mast of an European vessel was discovered standing out of the water. Also, that on the 28th day of the 7th moon of the same year, (13th September, 1849,) a vessel, the cargo of which consisted principally of teas, was wrecked in the same place; (Sarah Trotman?)-that the crew of this vessel got off in two boats, one of which was driven to the West, so that nothing further was known of it; whilst the other succeeded in making Ma-kem, whence they were sent by the Mandarins to Amoy in a Chinese vessel.

From this island I embarked for Tai-wan-foo, where I in vain sought for additional facts of the matter. After one day I sailed for Amoy, and arrived here on the 9th day of the present moon (September 4th, 1851).

Report of the quality of Ki-lung coal tried on board H.M.S. Inflexible, June 22nd, 1858, in a boat's galley.

Quality of coals under steam. Engines working on the second

grade of expansion.

From the 26th to the 28th of June, 1858, the coals received at Kilung, in the island of Formosa, were burnt on board this ship. They were found to keep steam without any difficulty, the engines working on the second grade of expansion, the two after boilers being used. There was a great quantity of light coloured smoke, very little ashes, and scarcely any clinker. The consumption per diem is thirty-six tons, or more than double that of the Welsh coal (the consumption of the Welsh per diem is fifteen tons). In a mixture of the coals in the proportion of one third Welsh to two thirds of Ki-lung, the consumption per diem was six tons less. With equal parts of Welsh and Ki-lung the saving in the consumption per diem was 9 tons 12 cwts, It is my opinion that a mixture of Ki-lung and Welsh coal would be advantageous to steam vessels not making a longer passage than three or four days, particularly for the gunboats;-the steam could be got up more quickly, and with the hanging bridges the soot and scoria would be rapidly taken to the foremast end of the tubes. In the tubes of H.M.S. Inflexible I find that the soot collects only at the fire-box end, the funnel being placed over the furnaces, and the tubes being return tubes. Whereas in the gunboats, the funnel is over the foremost end of the boiler, so by using a nozzle of the largest size on the exhaust pipe in the funnel, the steam would escape with much more velocity and much less resistance to the engines.

JAMES CONNER, Acting Chief Engineer.

WINDS AND WEATHER OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN.

(Continued from vol. xxvii., page 671.)

New Zealand.

The following, abridged from the valuable paper by Captain Byron Drury, R.N., of H.M.S. Pandora, published by the Meteorological Departmeut of the Board of Trade, gives an account of the winds and weather of New Zealand.

It is a matter of interest to trace the extent of the almost rotatory storm, the N.E. wind, which commences at East, and frequently, after suddenly changing from N.E. to N.W. and S. W., ends within a few

points of where it commenced. This is more observable at sea than in the vicinity of the land; where it is an expanded rotary gale, and therefore has not the dire effects of a hurricane. Its prognostics are so certain, and commence so gradually, that the anticipated changes can be inade subservient to effecting a passage.

This N.E. gale appears to be common to the southern regions from Bass Strait eastward to Tierra del Fuego. Descriptions of it at the latter place do not materially differ from what is observed here, except that here they are more decided in the spring and summer than in the winter.

Before discussing the local winds of these islands, we may describe the ordinary winds off the coast, extending to Australia and Van Diemen Land, beyond those latitudes where periodical monsoons exist.

The barometer is a certain indicator of changes in these latitudes; no vessel should be without it; but it requires study, for the greater height presages N.E. gales, and its changes require special notice in reference to the weather. In the latitude of Auckland we have known it to range from 30-66 to 28-80 during the revolution of a gale, which began at N.E.

The ordinary wind of these seas is westerly nearly the whole year round.

It may be generally assumed that the barometer falls to North and N.W. winds; that these are the rainy quarters; and that although the wind becomes stronger at first as it draws to S.W., the weather will clear up.

The steadiest wind is about W.S.W. The changes are almost invariably with the sun, or contrary to the movements of the hands of a watch. South winds bring cold clear weather; and raise the barometer high. S.E. winds are uncommon, but when they do set in, usually in April, May, and June, they last several days; with cold raw weather; and the barometer about 30.00. The N.E. wind occurs about once a month in spring and summer, but less regularly in winter; it is preceded by cloudless serenity and calms; the barometer from 30-30 to 30 60. A light breeze from the eastward, drawing to N.E., is gradually accompanied by a dull sky; the barometer begins to fall and the breeze freshens briskly. The sky becomes overcast, and usually in twelve hours it begins to rain. From that time to thirty-six or forty-eight hours the wind continually increases in a heavy squall it will suddenly shift to the N.W., from which quarter it blows still stronger for from six to eighteen hours, latterly accompanied by heavy rain or hail; lightning is frequently seen in the S.E. quarter. The barometer is at its lowest a little before there is another (sometimes) sudden change to the S. W., from which quarter it begins to clear, while the glass rises rapidly, although the squalls are at first very violent. The wind sometimes remains in this quarter,

Contrary to those of the northern hemisphere, though still with the sun, which of course is there viewed differently.