The Sun.
London, England, 1837-04-12 00:00:00

DRY ROT COMPANY.-
KYAN'S PATENT.
The Directors of this Company have the greatest satisfaction in
laying the following letters before the public :
2, Lime-street-square, April 5, 1837.
Great St. Helen's, April 4.
Dear Sir,—Accompanying this we send you a Report from Cap-
tain Lisle, the master of our ship, the Samuel Enberby, the first
ship wholly saturated with Mr. Kyan's preparation for the preven-
tion of dry-rot and mildew. We delayed obtaining the report al-
luded to until such a survey had been held on the ship as to have
warranted an opinion on a subject of so much importance to the
public, and we beg now to state, that we feel so well satisfied of the
beneficial effects of the preparation on the timber that in any cases
where we m have occasion either to build or repair our ships we
shall continu&to use it, and in like manner for the masts, and in
which particular, we think, we have derived considerable benefit
from its application.
The iron fastenings, of which she has but few, are not in so satis-
factory a state as we had reason to expect, but we are not prepared
to attribute the cause to Mr. Kyan's preparation ; and with respect
to the copper bolts, they appear as good as on the day they were
driven.

ANTI

The sails and cordage appear not to have worn so well as we an-
ticipated, and for which we cannot account, as from the numerous
satisfactory experiments we have made, and from the most favour-
able reports we have received of similar canvass,,so prepared, in
other vessels, we had considered that point long since settled.
We remain your obedient servants,
Charles Terry, Esq. C. 11. and G. ENBERI3Y.
Messrs. Enderby,

Sirs,—ln compliance with your orders, to report as soon as I ar-
rived in England on the state of the " Samuel Enderby" in reference
to the several points mentioned in your memorandum, in order to
give information on the ship, she being the first vessel built whose
timbers and sails have been prepared according to Kyan's Patent
Process, I beg now to state the following particulars in the same
order as put down by you, viz. :—Sailing and trim of the ship,
health of the crew during the voyage, effect of the process on the
bilge water, state of the timbers and masts, state of the sails and
rigging, effect on the metal bolts by the prenkred timber.
We sailed from London on the llth of October, 1834, and re-
turned to Gravesend on the 7th of March, 1837, being ab,ent from
England 29 months. We reached the Celebes Islands, long. 125
deg. east, lat. 1 deg. 04 min. south, on the 20th February, 1835, and
remained in those latitudes fishing until October, 836. The ship
was nearly at sea during the whole period, crossing the line several
times.

Respecting the Ship Sailing.—During the whole voyage, having
met with many English and American vessels, I have found none
whose sailing qualities were equal to the Samuel Enderby's, and am
persuaded (according to my humble opinion) she is the best ship
adapted for the Southern Fishery.
Health of the Crew.—During the whole voyage, all the crew
have been more than usually healthy ; indeed, 1 have never known
the crew of any ship return from the South Sea Fisheries so free
from sickness, therefore I have no hesitation in stating it
is my firm opinion that the patent process in its application to ships'
timbers must in some way improve the internal atmosphere of the
ship, for, as you are all well aware, we frequently use the water hose
over the casks of oil between decks and in the hold, by which, in
southern latitudes, the hold is filled with steam from evaporation
and intense heat, and that circumstance, in ordinary cases, affects
the timbers and iron work, as well as increasing the putresence of
the bilge water, but in the " Samuel Enderby, from the time she
was launched at Cowes, in August, 1834, until her return to Eng-
land in March, 1837, the bilge water has been much sweeter and
more free from noxious smells than any ship previous that I have
been in on the same voyages.
Timbers.—As regards the timbers, the ship is perfectly sound in
every respect, and shows no symptoms or indication of decay in any
part throughout the whole ship, and it is my belief that the timber
and plank have shrunk less than any new ship I have witnessed.
Being at Cowes inspecting the ship from the time that her keel was
laid until she was launched, and the greater part of the deck beams
being made from green timber just felled and afterwards submitted
to the process, they are now perfectly sound, and as firm as if cut
from the most seasoned timber. These facts I consider to be strong
evidence in favour of the process, and I am so satisfied myself of its
good effect on timber that I should recommend new ships to be built
of timbers prepared when quite green, and to let it be quite dry be-
fore placing it in the ship.
Masts and Yards.—As to her masts, the lower ones are from the
usual Canada white or yellow pine timber, the others are the red-
pine, all of which remain in a good state ; and have not lost any
during the voyage from the ill effects of dry-rot.
Metal Bolts.—Since my return to England the ship, after being
discharged, was put into dry dock, and many of the bolts, iron and
copper, have been driven out ; the latter are perfectly sound, and in
good condition as possibly can be. The iron bolts are from some
cause (I cannot comprehend) much corroded, probably from the
effect of salt water being so frequently thrown on them.
Sails and Cordage.—The effect of the process on the sails has
not been so satisfactory as you anticipated, for they have worn out
sooner than I expected. The standing rigging has given way in
some places, and, as a precautionary measure, I tarred it to prevent
die effect of the wet weather ; whether the sun has had any par-
ticular effect on the canvass and rigging so prepared, as we were for
the most part under the meridian sun, or whether the solution in
which the canvass and rigging were prepared was too strong, I can-
not pretend to say, but it requires further trials (in my opinion) in
similar voyages to establish the efficacy of the process on sails and
rigging. I remain Sirs, your obedient servant,
WILLIAM LISLE, Commander of the " Samuel Enderby."
London, March 28, 1837.