The Sun.
London, England, 1854-01-14 00:00:00

ANGLO-PERUVIAN B92TDS.

On Thursday, the 12th instant, a general meeting of
holders of these bonds was held at the London Tavern,
for the purpose of adopting measures fur the effectual
protection of their interests.

Mr. RICHARD THORNTON was appointed to take the
chair, and after explaining that the meeting had been
called to protect the holders of the original Peruvian
bonds against the consequences of the late conversion,
made without their consent, whereby their security was
diminished, and the market price had been knocked
down from 90 to 65 or 25 per cent., he stated that the
gentlemen who had taken the initiative in the present
movement had embodied their views in a series of reso-
lutions which would be submitted. A statemeat had
also been prepared detailing the whole facts of the case,
which would be now read by his nephew.
Mr. THos. THORNTON then read the following state-
ment :

" In consequence of the prejudicial changes which have
been made in Anglo-Peruvian Bonds during the past year,
the unprotected state of the holders, and the late attempt
to introduce bonds of the internal or home debt on this
market, this meeting has been called by persons who are
largely interested, for the purpose of submitting to your
consideration the transactions of which we have a right to
complain, and the remedial measures which it is wished to
recommend for your adoption. The situation in which you
have placed me makes it my duty to lay before you the
particular points which have attracted notice, and the first
case to which we beg to call your attention is the conversion
of the late Active Bonds or 6 per Cents., and with respect
to it we have to say that the principal condition of the
arrangement of 1849 not having been fulfilled, as we had
every reason to expect it woullbe, the late minister had
no right to force this conversion upon us ; at least, not
without six months' notice from Ist April, 1853. It
was needless, too, for the application of three-fourths of
the half surplus proceeds of guano, by which the bonds
were kept above par, would have ceased in a month, and
they would naturally have fallen to par—the vexed ques-
tion as to whether the bonds should or should not be
brought above par (which was one of the reasons alleged
for this conversion) would have thus settled itself. We
received 1181. 10s. in a 41 per cent. stock at 851. for 1001.
of 6 per cent., and thereby sacrificed 13s. sd. per cent. per
annum in interest ; it is true we obtained 1 per cent. addi-
tional sinking fund, and one month's interest on the new
stock ; but this was far from compensating us for the loss I
in the rate of interest. And this sacrifice we had to submit
to iu contravention of the wishes of congress, for we have
a copy of the act of that body, under which the late envoy
was acting, and find it to say very clearly and explicitly,
that in any arrangement ' the rights of the creditors
shall always be respected.' Unsatisfactory to us as this
conversion was, it cannot but be so to the people of Peru,
for at a saving in interest of about 8,6001. per an-
num, the capital of the debt has been increased nearly
600,0001., and is contrary to the spirit of the act under
the authority of which it was done. We would here re-
mind you that by the arrangement of 1849 we sacrificed *.?5
per cent. of arrears of interest, for which there was no
necessity whatever. We next come to the increase of the
interest on the Deferred Bonds, from one per cent. to their
maximum of 3 per cent. per annum. We do not think that
this measure has been properly understood by the bond-
holders. It seems to be a great concession on the part of
the Peruvian government, but in reality it is not so, for we
gave up the quarter of the half surplus of guano, which
was pledged for the redemption of this stock until April,
1856. A calculation we nave made, on, the supposition
that 200,000 tons will be sold annually, shows that Peru
will actually get by this operation about 240,0001. We
believe that she gets another advantage, for one reading
of the old bond implies that, after April, 1853, the
entire surplus of the half proceeds of guano shall be
applied to the extinction of this Deferred Stock. We
also gave up the right of converting this stock into
the home debt, which bears 6 per cent. interest, but we
are not likely to-regret the loss of this right. On the 30th
June last Messrs. Murietta and Co. received from Messrs.
A. Gibbs and Sons the sum of 201,0001., being the half of
the net proceeds of guano for the half-year ending that
date, and. exclusive of the 52,5001. they had already
received for the payment of the April dividends. We have
already mentioned that by the arrangement of 1849, three-
fourths of this surplus was to be applied to the purchase
If the Active, and one-fourth to that of the Deferred
Bonds ; and we hold it to be incontestible that as much of
this surplus as may result from the sales of guano up to
the Ist of April, 1853, must be applied, in the above pro-
portions, to the purchase of the present Four-and-a-Half
and Three per Cents., the money does not belong to the
Peruvian government. We are unable to say to a certainty
what quantity of guano was sold up to April last, but as
upwards of 119,000 tons were sold from January 1 to June
30, and as February and March are the best months for
the sale of it, we think we are under rather than over
the mark, in estimating the sales from January 1 to
April 1 at 60,000 tons, and producing upwards of
120,0001. for our half, applicable (as we have before said) to
the purchase of bonds. We have not heard that any such
purchases have been made, although more than six months
have elapsed. We now come to the issue of 1,800,0001. in
41 per Cent. Sterling Bonds to Uribarren and Co., of
Paris, and of 400,0001. also 41 per Cent. Sterling Bonds,
to Mr. Joseph Hegan, both being a conversion of 11,000,006
dollars from the internal or home debt. The origin and
character of this debt, and the nature of the operation,
have been so fully explained in a letter published in the
Times of the 17th ult., and which we presume most, if
not all, of you have read, that we deem it unnecessary
to take up the time of the meeting by repeating them.
That letter was written by one of our number, who
is prepared to sustain the general accuracy of the state-
ments contained in it. In reply it has been stated that
the contractors for the 1,800,0001. had not two years
allowed them for the delivery of internal scrip to
au equal amount into the Peruvian treasury ; but we
have the Lima official paper containing the contract, and
we again find, by the sth article and by the PresidenVs
ratification, that the contractors were to receive the ster-
ling bonds in London, on giving security for their amount,
and that the terms of two years was fixed for the delivery
of the home scrip into the Peruvian treasury. On this
2,200,000/ we have to observe, that it presents the singu-
lar anomaly of the existence of bonds representing pro-
bably double its amount—viz., those in Europe and the
,crip in Peru. We say, probably, because it is likely
enough that the parties concerned may have bought and
delivered a portion of the corresponding internal scrip.
On the 400,0301. issued to Mr. Hegan, we have particu-
larly to remark that, if we have been correctly informed,
by some means or another the bonds have been made to
bear a priority on the guano proceeds over our own."
Mr. RICHMOND said that, in calling the attention of
the meeting to the subject before it, he would confine
himself to the leading facts, omitting everything in the
nature of declamation or embellishment ; for, though
smarting under a strong sense of injustice, they would
gain nothing by using harsh epithets, as their case stood
out in such bold relief that it required no aid of that de-
scription. He would first allude to the circumstances
under which the conversion of the Peruvian debt took
place, for there were anomalies connemted with it which
made it different from every other conversion in England
of the debt of a foreign government. Many were aware
that some 24 years ago a committee was formed in
London under the name of the Spanish American Bond-
holders' Committee. They were invested with power
to add to their number ; a power very frequently
given at public meetings without, however, conveying
the idea that it was to be exercised ad infinitum ; but
this power the committee had possessed and exercised
from that day till now, and they had never thought it
right to come before a public meeting and have fresh
blood added to them. They were, therefore, entirely a
self-constituted body.- As Peru was one of those states
which the committee purported to represent, they were
he natural defenders of the Peruvian bondholders ; but

when the conversion in question was proposed they took
no steps whatever to call a meeting of the bondholders,
which was the invariable course in all cases of conver-
sion by foreign governments throughout the whole
history of foreign loans. This was, in fact, the only ex-
ceptional instance of conversion in which the bond-
holders were not consulted. (Hear, hear.) He held a
list of the names of the committee in his hand. Baron
Goldsmidt was nominally the chairman, and he noticed,
besides, the names of four or five as honourable gentle-
men as he knew in England ; but still not one of
these had in the least interfered in this subject,
for the very good reason that the constitution of the
oommittee did not render it necessary that the members
should be holders of bonds which they were appointed to
protect. (Hear, hear.) With regard to the chairman of
the committee, he (Mr. Richmond) was quite certain from
personal experience, having acted with him for several
years on the Mexican committee, that there was not a
better business man in London, and ho was quite sure if
his health had not placed him in such a situation as to
render him totally incompetent to attend to business, be
would never have permitted these things to have gone
on without immediately calling a meeting, and taking
the necessary steps to protect their interests. (Hear,
hean.) There were other members on the list in a simi-
lar situation. Several resided at a great distance from
town, and hack no means of knowing what was going on.
It must occur to every one that it was wholly useless
depending upon any committee, unless composed of in-
terested parties—those who were bona fide representatives
of the body they pretended to represent, and hence it was
that in the recent conversion the interests of the Peruvian
bondholders had been totally neglected. The new bonds
had been drawn without any regard to the protection
of those interests ; this was the result of their not being
drawn by the bondholders' committee, instead of by the
Peruvian Government, as in the case of the Mexican
conversion, where every point in dispute, several having
been raised during the arrangement, was discussed be-
tween the two parties, and ultimately adjusted satis-
factorily. The late Envoy to this Court, Mendiburn,
was Finance Minister of Peru ; and after an enormous
increase had been made to the internal debt, under his
administration, he was despatched to England, with full
powers from the Executive both as to the extent of a
new loan which it was proposed to make, for the purpose
of paying off other debts, which bore a higher rats of
interest, and for the conversion of the old Bonds, to
which the proposed loan was to form a rider. No one
appeared, however, on the part of the bondholders to
negotiate with this person, though it was a case pecu-
liarly suited for negotiation, as his powers were unlimited
and unrestricted, and involved no necessity for a further
reference to Peru.
The CHAIRMAN—No one was even asked to appear.
Mr. RICHMOND—TiIe result was that the gentleman
went to certain houses in town, who issued proposals for
. the conversion of the old debt, and for raising 600,0001.

more by way of loan. Little objection was taken to this
addition to the old debt, as it was said Chili was pressing
Peru very closely for money advanced during the revo-
lutionary war ; and as this money bore a high rate of
interest, it became a matter of economy to pay off the

debt. This was, in itself, unobjectionable ; but what he
complained of was that they had been deprived of their
security on the proceeds of the guano consumed in

England. Now, what were the claims on the Peruvian

government by its own subjects ? From information
they had received they had reason to believe that for the

most part they were fictitious claims ; they were got up

in every variety of form ; many of them were pure for-

genies, and all of them were enormously exaggerated in
amount. The domestic claims, proposed to be converted
into a foreign debt which was to come pan passu with

the old bonds, on the security of the guano proceeds,
were about 9,000,000 dollars, and the real claims were

somewhere under four or five millions of dollars ; so

that about 50 per cent. had been added. The late pre-

sident, who was the only honest man at the head of the
Government since the revolution, said the whole do-

mestic debt did not exceed 5,000,000 dollars when he
left office ; and if the Peruvian Government succeeded
in imposing this 9,000,000 upon the security given to
the English bondholders, they would be ready to bring
... _

. . . ..
forward 20,000,000 more, and where they would stop it
was impossible to say. As he had already observed,

this attempt to throw the new bonds on the London
market was without a parallel, and if it were submitted

and not exposed, Austria and every foreign Government
which borrowed money from England would adopt a

similar plan. Another reason why the bondholders
should move in the matter was, that the sinking fund

only amounted to 2 per cent. A great portion of the

stock had been taken up, not for speculation but for
family investment, it having been held out for several

years, and particularly by parties professing to be con-
nected with the Peruvian Government, that the quantity
of guano was inexhaustible. He was personally aware that
the stock had been purchased for this purpose to a great

extent ; he believed likewise that the security was one
of the best that could be offered, and hence it was not

wonderful that those who held old bonds should have

overlooked the fact, that there was no committee to're-

present them. It would be recollected that at the time
the stock was issued the interest of the Bank of England
was only 2 or 2i per Cent., and therefore a 5 per Cent.
investment on such a perfectly good security was a
very desirable object. In addition to what he had men-

tioned there was another circumstance which had tended

to lower the price of the stock beyond what there was

any real necessity for. He referred to the report made
by the admiral tin the Pacific—Admiral Moresby—re-

specting the probable quantity of guano remaining on
the Chilian Islands. As this reportlhacl already appeared
in the newspapers he would not now make any detailed

allusion to it, but what did Mr. Mackintosh, who made
the inspection admit? That his investigation was a

very imperfect one—(hear, hear)—that it eould scarcely
be called a survey at all ; and that he merely landed
on the island and took a superficial view of it. Any
one who had attended to the discussions in the different
journals, especially to the letters which appeared in the
Shipping Gazette, from ship masters who were perfectly
well acquainted with the condition of the island, would

say that the quantity of guano far exceeds the
amount estimated by Mr. Mackintosh. (Hear, hear,
hear.) He (Mr. Richmond) had not the slightes t
hesitation in saying that there was sufficient guano
to pay off, if necessary, all the legitimate debts of
Peru twice over. (Hear, hear.) What, then, they were
required to do was .to see whether they could not adopt
measures to compel the Peruvian Government to be
honest.
.He had no doubt, considering the deceptions
that had been practised upon them, that Lord Clarendon
would instantly interest himself on their behalf. Besides,
the agricultural interest was deeply interested in the
question. The Government and Parliament had been
memorialized by several important towns in favour of
greater facilities being obtained from the Peruvian au-
thorities for increasing the supplies of guano. Now,
unless the bondholders were secured to a proportionate
extent, every increase in the quantity imported would
diminish their security. (Hear, hear.)
After some further observations, the hon. gentleman
read the following resolutions, and moved their adop-
tion :

"1. That this meeting views with mistrust the measures
pursued by the government of Peru, and its agents, for
the conversion of a portion of the home debt of that re-
public into sterling bonds, and deems it necessary that an
inquiry instituted into all the circumstances connected
with the creation and enormous increase of that debt, and
into the attempt to put those bonds on to this market ;
also, that an investigation be made respecting the state of
the surplus funds arising from the sale of guano up to the
Ist of April, 1853, as well as into the facts connected with
the late conversion of Anglo-Peruvian bonds, in order that
the most efficient measures attainable be adopted for the
interest, protection, and security of the holders.
"2. That to carry into effect the above-mentioned ob-
jects, that a committee of bona fide bondholders be now ap-
pointed with full power and authority to prosecute such
Inquiries and investigations, and to take such other mea-
sures as it may deem expedient and effectual for these pur-
poses, and for soliciting the aid of the British Govern-
ment.

" 3 and 4 refer to the number of the committee and the
taking of the offices.
"5. That application be made to the committee of
Spanish American bondholders for a sum sufficient to
defray the expenseS of the special committee, from the
funds in its hands derived from the 9,0001. and upwards
received in Peruvian Deferred Bonds in 1849 ; and failing
this resource, the meeting pledges itself to contribute a
sum not exceeding one penny in the pound from their
respective dividends for the purpose.
"6. That this meeting fully appreciates the wise discre.
tion exercised by the committee of the Stock Exchange, in
not recognising the negotiation of the domestic debt of
any foreign state in the market, and confidently trust that
it will steadily adhere to that principle."
Mr. GUKDALL& seconded the resolution, and thanked
the chairman for his exertions in endeavouring to repair
the consequences of the neglect of the Spanish Ame-
rican commmittee, and to protect the interest of the
shareholders. The demands by which the domestic debt
had been increased arose, as he had been informed, from
corruption and the claims of court favourites, many of
them females, and had been purchased up in Lima,
Paris, and London, at from 40 to 70 per cent. He be-
lieved in this way the home debt of Peru had been in-
creased from four or five millions of dollars to something

like four times that sum. He believed the bonds were
all printed, and were at present in Lombard-street,
and if it had not been for the energetic exertions
of their worthy chairman and the gentlemen asso-
ciated with him who had taken the bull by the
horns at the proper time ; there could be
no question that they would have been all issued, and
would have completely swamped the old debt. Instead
of the Spanish American Committee giving their deter-
mined opposition to the conversion, he was afraid to say
that, acccording to current rumour, some of the mem-
bers were parties to it. But the supineness of the com-
mittee, their doing nothing at all, was alone a sufficient
ground for putting the affairs of the bondholders in fresh
hands, and he hoped immediate steps would be taken
with that view. For weeks there had been a fall in the
price of the stock, for no sound reason whatever, as the
dividends were perfectly safe ; but still the late conver-
sion had roused the suspicions of the public, and if the
new bonds were allowed to be quoted on the Stock Ex-
change, the present stock would yet be considerably
below 50. The secret, therefore, was to close the door
of the London Stock Exchange against the new bonds.
Mr. LEWIS HAZLEWOOD was convinced from his own
letters that the `bondholders would get all they asked
for. There was no fear but that they would get every
farthing both of principle and interest. He opposed the
issue of the new bonds because it was against his own
individual interests ; but it was just possible that the
Peruvian Government had no intention of committing a
fraud. .He learnt from Peru, and other parts, that the
security was ample, and that the Government had no
desire to break faith with the English bondholders. The
market twice of the stock was altogether without pre-
cedent, for there had been no lach,e2, and instead, as for-
merly, having as security only one half of the proceeds
of the guano, they bad now five-eighths ; and if the
debt were double the amount proposed, that would be
sufficient to secure it, the consumption of guano having
lately very much increased. In 1851 the proceeds were
450,000/., in 1852 602,0001., in the present year 750,000 i.,
and the chances were that next year they would
exceed a million, while that which was required for the
whole of the debt, including the new bonds, as well as
the old, was about 220,000/. a year. It was his own
opinion that the stock was perfectly safe, and certain to
be paid, &c., he should recommend its being held by the
bondholders. He should be happy to join with the pro-
posed
i committee in endeavouring to improve their posi-
tion f possible, but he deprecated any step that might
create needless alarm in the public mind, and thus run
down the stock than which there was none more secure.
A BONDHOLDER warned the meeting against what he
considered an attempt on the part of the last speaker to
mix up the new debt with the old.
Another BONDHOLDER, in reference to Mr. E. Hazle-
wood's observations, said he had called at the office of
the committee of Spanish-American bondholders to com-
plain of the proposed arrangement, but had been told by
Mr. Powles, the secretary, that it would be useless to
interfere.
Capt. Ross, R.N., thought the proposition for appointing
Ia committee of the bondholders highly necessary. Th s
was not the only instance in which the Spanish Ameri-
can Committee had failed to do their duty. They al-
leged as an excuse that no application had been made to
them, but if men were appointed to perform a certain

' duty and they neglect it, they ought to be kicked At
(" Oh.") He did not expect they would have had occa•
sion to find fault with the Peruvian Government because
they had more than enough to pay everybody, and to
feed their own corruption to any extent they liked. He
had very good authority for saying that their sales of
guano had not only increased considerably in England
and France, but in America also, and why could they
not have waited patiently until they were in a position to
liquidate their home debt instead of making it a foreign
debt and thrusting it on the London market? It was a pity
that a nation which might be one of the proudest
republics in the world should have so acted. When the
whole sales of guano only amounted to about 70,000 tons
yearly, they (the bondholders) had one-half for interest
and sinking fund ; now that the sales in England, France,
and America were rising up to near 500,000 tons, as he
was informed, Peru could certainly afford to give the
Old Bonds the whole proceeds of the sales in Great
Britain, and have an ample revenue left from the other
sales. It was her interest to extinguish the debt,
and their wish for it to be done. The house of
Murietta and Co., who had the principal management
of the bonds, ought, he considered, to have stood be-
tween the bondholders and the Peruvian Government,
for they knew there were many persons among them,
such as widows and orphans, who might be very much
injured by the conversion; but as they had not dons so,
he should propose a resolution on the subject at a sub.
sequent stage of the proceedings.
The resolutions were then put to the meeting, and

carried unanimously.
Mr. RICHMOND was very glad to see so much unan-
imity. He certainly should have been disappointed if
there had been the slightest difference of opinion. He
then moved that the following gentlemen should com-
pose the committee :—Messrs. Richard Thornton, Thos.
Thornton, Horatio Ward, A. B. Richmond (these being
the gentlemen who had called the meeting), and Colonel
John Harvey, Mr. A. Hodgson, and Mr. D. Gowan.,
A BONDHOLDER suggested that Mr. L. nazlewooti,
who could give very valuable information, should be a
member of the committee, and

Mr. RICHMOND opposed the addition of his name to
the committee, but from no personal feeling. Mr. L.
Hazlewood stood in a rather awkward position to the
committee ; and though he could give it some very use-
ful information, he would do that much better not being
a member than being a member.

Mr. L. HAZLEWOOD, deeming it advisable that some
member of the Stock Exchange should be on the com-
mittee, proposed the names of Mr. Kinnaird, banker, of
Lombard-street, and Mr. Luard, of the London and
County Bank, which would no doubt carry much weight
with them in the estimation of the Peruvian Govern-
ment.

After some conversation, in the course of which it was
objected that these two gentlemen were ineligible, from
being interested in the new bonds, the original list of
names was adopted.

n reply to the inquiry of a BONDHOLDER,

The CHAIRMAN said it gave him great pleasure to state
that the house of Messrs. Hambro' had, neither directly
nor indirectly, anything to do with these spurious new
bonds. (Hear, hear.)
Captain Ross said the resolution which he intended
to submit to the meeting was as follows :

" Resolved that Messrs. Murietta and Company,
agents of the Peruvian Government, by attempting to
introduce bonds purporting to represent the internal
debt of that State into the London market, have for-
feited the confidence of the Peruvian bondholders, and
that it be an instruction to the committee to insist on
their immediate removal by the Government of Peru,
and to demand that the agency be placed in hands
beyond suspicion."

The CHAIRMAN observed that this was a matter which
ought properly to be left in the hands of the committee.
The first thing he (the chairman) should recommend
was, a correspondence with Messrs. Murietta, and
a most searching inquiry as to the way in which the
new bonds had made their appearance. He hoped,
therefore, the gallant captain would withdraw his re-
solution.

Captain Ross acceded to the suggestion of the chair.
On the motion of Mr. GIIEDELLA, seconded by Captain
Ross, a vote of thanks was awarded to the four gentle-
men who had convened the meeting.
The CHAIIMAN, in returning thanks, assured the
bondholders that no exertion should be wanting on his
part to get justice done to them.

Mr. RICHMOND moved a vote of thanks to the press,
for the assistance it had given them. He relied upon
the•press to ten times greater extent than he did on the
honesty of the Peruvian Government. The growing in-
tercourse all along the west coast of the continent of
A.merica, made the governments there more amenable
to public opinion in Europe, and that opinion could not
be conveyed to them with one half the force by a pri-
vate communication that it could through the medium
of the English press. Their case was remarkable, as
involving an important public principle, and a departure
from all former usage, and he had no doubt it would
receive that careful attention from the press which it
had hitherto done.

The motion having been unanimously carried, the
proceedings terminated.

TRIAL TRIP OF THE HIM.ALAYA.

On Wednesday last we published a statement of the
first run of the great screw ship Himalaya, built for the
Peninsular and Oriental Company by Mare and Co., of
Blackwall, and fitted with machinery by Messrs. Penn
and Co., with Messrs. Lamb and Summers' patent flue
boilers. We then observed that the result of this first
trip was an astonishing triumph of a combination of
naval architecture and marine engineering. We have
now the satisfaction of stating that the stupendous ship
has had a thorough sea trial, and has not only confirmed
Tuesday's result, but she has exceeded the expectations
of the most sanguine.

With a gallant and distinguished party, including
Captain Thornton, R.N., Captain Nairne, and Mr.
Allan, directors of the company, Captain Mansel, R.N.,
Captain Forbes, RN., Captain Maxwell, R.N., Captain
Ommanney, R.N., Captain W. H. Hall, R.N., Captain
H. B. Young, R. N., Captain Domett, Sir Evans
Mackenzie, Captain E. L. Halsted, R. N., Mr. J.
Watts, Assistant-Surveyor of the Navy ; Mr. Lloyd,
Admiralty-Surveyor of Machinery at Somerset-house ;
Captain Engledue, R.N., superintendent of the Penin-
sular and Oriental Company; Captain Dent, Captain
Guthrie, Mr. Lamb, superintending engineer of the
company ; Captain de Quesada, Captain de Lamure
Captain Martin, Mr. Schetky, Mr. G. L. Browne,
Messrs. R. and N. Melville, Nairne, Russell, Collett,
Hall, T. Macdonald, Radcliffe, Lee, Price, and Hartrey ;
Mr. John Penn, the constructor of the engines, and Mr.
T. Waterman, the naval architect. The Himalaya left
Greenhithe on Thursday morning, and as soon as she
could get clear of the fog dashed on to the Channel at
full speed, and carrying on through the gale that blew
through the night very hard, and squally for some time.
The good ship brought up at St. Helen's, and soon after
daylight proceeded through Spithead to the measured
mile in Stokes Bay, and after four runs there went on
to Southampton, and, for the first time, entered the
capacious basin at that port.
We cannot today give a lengthened description of the
ship, her fittings, and her performances. We may say,
however, that in the trying night passage she exhibited
most extraordinary qualities of stiffness, 'easy motion,
and speed ; whilst her immense length glided through
the water like an eel ; and, although she met a heavy
head sea, she cleft the waves as cleanly as if they were
parted by a caisson—not a ripple was thrown out on
her sides, and scarcely a track of her course could be
seen in her wake. The screw worked uniformly well,
with scarcely any vibration, every revolution performing
its allotted task. The sea test was a complete one, and
well established the ship's character in the opinion of
the experienced naval officers, engineers, and naval ar-
chitects on board ; whilst the following table of results,
of four runs at the measured mile in Stokes Bay will
show the world that in the Himalaya the Peninsular and
Oriental Company have the fastest screw vessel afloat,
notwithstanding that she is of the enormous magnitude
of 3,540 tons, 375 feet long, 46 feet broad, and moo
chinery of 700 nominal horse-power, working only att
141 b. to the square inch

Run Rev. Time.

Knots.

Mean.

Mean•

True
Mean of
Your
Runs.

m. s.
Ist 27 410 14.400
2d 5B 440 12.857 13.628
3d 59 354 15.385 13.874
4th 57 456 12.162 13.773 13.947 13.910
Here is a speed of 14 knots an hour honestly and
fairly achieved, which is equal to no less than 16 statute
miles—a speed equal to some of our night rally's/
trains, and to that of many of the continental trains.
We repeat that the ship is a credit to the country, and.
the enterprise of the company that availed itself of the
first establishments in the world (both situated on the
banks of the Thames) to produce such a result is richly
deserving of national encouragement.
The officer by whom the Hiotala
uisya is d
in commanded was
selected as being the most distinghe the company's
service. Trained in the Royal Navy, Captain Kellock's
experience as a commander is second to none in the coun-
try. He has commanded the finest sailing ships a.nd
steamships of the age, and he bas now the distinguishtid
honour of having the command of the finest, fastest, anti
handsomest ship in the world—a screw-vessel some 6(.11
feet longer than the great screw three-decker, her
Majesty's ship the Duke of Wellington.