The Sun.
London, England, 1849-04-07 00:00:00

THE RIVER NESS.

THE EARL OF ITARDWICKE AND HER MAJESTY'S
SHlPletter VfroEmNG:nlosffic C:le—r'Ornheboftlwhienrg is
aesnty's extract
ship Voefnr!
sOmnntnhree t
geance, 84, at Genoa. The whole affair is eminently
characteristic of the Noble Earl who has lately sue •
inh the March
Moleh e her
f Genoa, Majesty's
it
ceeded to the command, and is well worthy of being made
intention of the gallant captain, the Earl f Hardwicke,
public:
—w6a‘
to have sailed that day for Spezzia, but the wind being
right in, and blowing fresh, could not start her.
Next morning (Friday) sbbei being glr et
hne-
unnsoored,, pilot came on
board, wind being much lighter than usual off the land.
The pilot did not wish to start the ship, but the captain
being very anxious to proceed in the execution of his
orders, said, must go.' She then weighed and made
all possible sail before the wind right out of the har-
bour. On opening the Molehead a tremendous heavy
swell setting in, wind gradually going down, in fact,
nearly a calm, ship lost steerage way, and driving right
for the North east Molehead, let go the best bower, but
not bringing her up, let.go small bower, and veered away
upon both ; ship then brought up in a very dangerous
position. Laid out a kedge with four hawsers right an
end, intending to try, if possible, to warp her out. The
French steamer Tonnerre, sent on board and offered her
services. Lord Hardwicke politely thanked them, but
in case he should want her he would send, and begged
the captain to light his fires. The United States screw-
steamer Princeston also offered services and boats
(quite calm). At 9.30 the wind set in with
a light breeze from the southward, the sails being
loose at the time, furled them, hove up small bower, and
hove short on best bower, setting taut the hawser at the
same time; the pilot wished the captain to drop into his
old berth, but the latter was determined on getting out.
And now was displayed the finest piece of seamanship I
ever witnessed. Braced the yards sharp up on port tack,
sail loosers aloft, ready to let fall, weighed the best bower,
hauling taut the kedge (noose), ship falling round off,
set the jib and driver and the courses. Being then close
to the rocks, but deep water alongside, made all plain
sail, ship closing the rocks, and not feeling the sail. The
pilot wished to throw all aback, braces all manned; but
at this moment his Lordship, who was watching her_veery
narrowly, in the coolest manner possible, said, ',6llLs
gathering way, and is all right.' Her Majesty ship
n
Vengeance at this moment passed the rocksin
less uthan
four yards off. The people who were` looking
idling on them,
the Point ran back, afraid of the shiph. Nothina. but the
naturally concluding she rousi•*ieub
firmness and decision of his Lordship saved her Majes-
ty's ship this day from being a.total wreck. After get-
ting out we proceeded in execution of our orders." The
Vengeance, we are happy to hear, is now quite:free from
fever, and we trust this ship will no longer suffer, having
been so well cleaned out down to the kelson at Malta.
PORTSMOUTH, FRIDAY.—The Leander, 50, new fri-
gate on the design of Mr. Blake, late master-shipwright
of this dockyard, will be commissioned in a few days at
this port by Captain Charles Eden, private secretary to
the First Lord of the Admiralty.
The Stromboli steam-sloop, Lieutenant T. Davies,
Acting Commander, arrived this morning from Jersey
and Guernsey, whence she brought the depots of the
16th and 54th Regiments, the latter being from Jersey.
The ships and vessels in the old basin will be removed
next week for the purpose of clearing out that receptacle.
Yesterday being the last day. of the financial year, it
was expected several commissions for vessels would
have been issued last night. The expectations of the
service were, however, not realised.
IN PORT AND FITTING.
In Commission—The Blenheim, 60, steam guardship,
Captain Horatio Austin, C. 8.; the Arrogant, 46, Cap.
tain R. Fitzroy, fitting for sea; the Sparrow, 6, survey-
ing vessel, Commander Fraser; and the Rolla, 6, exer-
cise brig for the naval apprentices. Steamers The
Stromboli, Corn. Lord Aurelius Beauclerk; Reynard,
Commander P. Cracroft ; Plumper, Commander Nolloth;
Cornet surveying vessel, Commander Otter; and Poly
phemus, Commander Crawford; the royal tender Fairy,
Mr. Welch, master in charge; the Fire Queen, Mr.
Allen master commanding; the Myrtle, Mr. Balliston,
acting-master, commanding; the Bee, instruction ves-
sel for the students at the Royal Naval College; and
the tug Echo, Mr. Harding, pilot and master; also the
Portsmouth and Fanny, sailing yachts, tenders of the
two Admirals.
At Spithead—Tho Superb, 80, Captain Purcell.
in the Steam-basin—The Ajax guardship, and the
Termagant, Dauntless, and Retribution, first-class fri-
gates; the royal yachl. Victoria and Albert; the sloops
Phoenix and Cormorant; and the Urgent and Sprightly
packets.
In the Ship-basin—The Collingwood, 80; the Pem-
broke, 72; the Defence, 72, converted into a convict
depot; and the Sparrow ketch.
In Dock—The Princess Charlotte, 104; the Vindic-
tive, Grampus, and Leander 50-gun frigates; the Devas-
tation steam-sloop; and the iron gun-boat Bloodhound.
On the Stocks—The Royal Frederick, 110; the Prince
of Wales, 110; the Princess Royal, 90; the Argus and
Furious steam-sloops.
Wind, S.E. by E , fresh breezes and fine, with flying
clouds of fog seawards.
PLitatotaii, Ar>3lL 5.7-Her Majesty's ship St.

The bed of the river has presented an extraordinary
scene during the week. A few weeks ago the Ness rolled
in immense flood, sweeping over its banks, and flooding
the town. No one living had ever seen it in such ma-
jesty, but now wo have come to the reverse of the pic-
ture. No one living ever before saw the channel of the
Ness so dry. The ferry-boat can hardly find water
enough to float it; and the little boys wade from bank to
bank, the stream hardly reaching their ankles. The
smallness of the eurrent is occasioned in this way:—
When Loch Ness had subsided, after the floods, to its
usual level, a considerable body of water still found its
way into the channel of the river through the broken
bank of the Canal at Dochgarroch, and the loch was
thus gradually brought down until it fell several feet
below the lowest part of the weir, and the river was
fed by the breach alone. The piles having been driven,
and the earthwork partially deposited at that place,
the water that now runs down the channel of the river is
only that small portion which percolates through the
new gravel and amongst the stones beneath the weir.
On Monday the level of the loch was more than two feet
below the lowest part of the weir, and as we have had
fine dry weather for some time past, it will be some time
before the loch rises so as to pour its surplus into the
river in the usual way. The river, as it passes through
the town, is now little more than a succession of shallow
pools, in which the ducks delight themselves, connected
by a small thread of running water; and the long gravel
banks and stoney shallows, bleached white in the sun,
where the river swept along grand and deep, present an
extraordinary and not altogether pleasing sight. Early
last week, as the river rapidly fell, the ferry-boat was re-
moved to what was the " black stream," opposite Ness
House, where long stages have been erected on both
sides to form quays for the boat. But boys and girls
may be seen at all times crossing at the foot of Ness
Bank, and at the head of Douglas-row. Men and women
too, not unfrequently cast their shoes and stockings and
take to the stream.
The lowness of the current has presented a favourable
opportunity for removing the ruins of the old bridge, and
Mr. Bain (the contractor for the gaol) has had a large
number of men employed removing the stones to the
side, where they can be of service at a future time.
Nothing, however, has yet been resolved upon as to
a new bridge ; and Mr. Bain has only an arrangement
with the town for the removal of the stones. Large
masses of the centre arches had adhered together, but
under the hammers of the labourers they are fast dis-
appearing. The old bridge having been built for the
most part of small stones, the destruction has been cora-
plete, and many of the stones have been carried down a
very long way. From the position of the stones of the
small southern arch, Mr. Bain is of opinion that it first
gave way ; the whole force of tho current having
been directed against its foundations next the street,
undermined it, and caused it to spring. This opinion
corroborates the account of the fall of the bridge
given by us at the time. The workmen have also been
busy during the week preparing the foundations for the
new breast wall of the roadway to be formed past
" Tolmie Castle," in place of the wall and road carried
off by the flood. Mr. Bain has obtained this contract,
and will soon carry it through. The Gas Company have
also taken advantage of the smallness of the river, and
their workmen are now busily engaged cutting a bed
across the channel at the foot of Ness Bank, for a line
of pipes, and the pipes are now stretched across, upon
trestles, and will soon be rendered water-tight and ready
for laying down. These various operations all taking
place in the bed of the river, and with the ferry-boat
plying from side to side, the boys and girls wading and
paddling about, and the crowds of interested spectators,
of both sexes looking on at all hours of the day, give a
new, strange, bustling, and agreeable aspect to the scene.
The present generation have seen what none before them
ever saw—the Ness, within a few months in its highest
and then in its smallest stream.
In the course of the operations for replacing the
breast-wall at the foot of Bridge-streer, the workmen
have come upon a flight of stone steps, about six feet
broad, leading down to the bed of the river. On the
other side of the stream, exactly opposite these steps,
the fall of the bridge disclosed what had been an ancient
gateway, also leading to the river. It consists of two
narrow towers, with handsome projecting Gothic corbels,
leaving a passage of about six feet in width, defended by
a gate, the marks of which appear. The corbel on the
west side has been roughly cut away, apparently to ad-
mit the pump of some unusually large body. The
discovery of this gateway on one side of the stream, and
the stone stair on the other aide, has set conjecture to
work. Some suppose that the communication across the
river was by boat, or by a bridge of boats, and others
conceive that there was a raised ford. The remains are
evidently older than the date of the wooden bridge,
which fell in 1664. They are not unlike the work of
the religious orders before the reformation. The low
state of the water has laid bare several of the piles of
the wooden bridge, and they are eight or ten yards
farther down the river. The stone bridge had been
erected on the site of the original ford or ferry, the
towers on the west side being used as an abutment for
the bridge; and the stairs on the cast side being covered
up when the roadway was formed.—lnverstess Courier.

GOING A-HEAD.—In the town of Ashburton there
are two public clocks, which differ in time generally
some twenty or thirty minutes. The old adage, " Two
of a trade never agree," is shown in the practice of the
o rival horologists who superintend these clocks—the
church clock being kept by Mr. John Horton, who
keeps his time according to the old coach pace of former
days, and the old shambles clock by Mr. James Conney-
bear, who is determined, spite of the non-commencement
of the Ahburton Railway, that the peoplo of hat ancient
boroughs shall at least have railway time`—Western

Times:
Loss OV TUB STEAD-SHIP FORT. li.—An investi-
gationthe loss of the
into the circumstances attending
steam-ship Forth, on the ..Aiyrarnrlsungeselfw, was held at
as composed
Southampton on Saturday. 111
of the following gentlemen, whoe constituted an inquiry
committee of the company;--Captain Shepherd,
~ of the
East lndia Company. an Elder Brother of Trinity house,
Chairman; Captain Mangles,
a managing director, Vice-
Chairman; Captain Nelson, an Elder Brother of Trinity-
house; Captain Barton, R.N. the company's superinten-
dent at Southampton; Captain E. N. Chappell, R.N.,
secretary of the company; Captain Wish, R.N., auditor
of the company; likewise the commanders of three of the
company's ships in port, Lieutenant P. Hast, R.N., of
the Avon (the senior officer and commodore of the com-
pany's fleet); Captain William Allan, of the Dee; and
Captain W. Vincent, of the Severn. The whole tenour
of the evidence (to which a patient and careful hearing of
four hours was given by the committee) demonstrated
that the loss of this fine steamer arose from—l, an error

in the reckoning; which, however, ought to have been
counteracted by different observations and attention to
the sounding lead; 2, a violation of the company's regu-
lations in regard to frequent soundings, as before alluded
to; and, 3, by the taking from his post of one of the look-
out mon. As the most explicit instructions on these
heads are laid down in the company's volume of regula-
tions published for the information and guidance of their
officers, the resolution arrived at, after deliberation, was,
that a laxity of discipline in relation to the duties of the
navigation of the ship caused .her position to be wrongly
computed, and her total destruction consequently fol-
lowed. The decision arrived at by the Committee was
—that it would be their painful duty to recommend to
the Court of Directors the dismissal of Captain Sturdee
and the chief officer from the company's service; that
the second officer should be reduced to the grade of third
officer for one voyage, and that the third officer should
be reduced to the grade of fourth officer for one year.
Cnosscilotortnr Cnuica.—A stained-glass chancel
window has this week been put in Crosscannonby
Church, by the liberality of the parishioners. It con-
sists of three lancets; on the centre one, the Crucifixion,
and St. John and the Virgin at the foot of the cross; on
the left lancet, St. Peter; and on the right, the saint to
whom the church is dedicated. The ground of the
centre lancet is blue; the side outs ruby. The remainder
of the window is filled with flowered quatre-foils, en-
closed in circles. It was executed by Messrs. Scott, of
Carlisle, and is one of the richest they have made. The
colours are crimson, ruby, blue, green, orange, yellow,
and purple.,--Carlisle Journal.
HULL BANKRUPTCY COURT, WEDNESDAY.—Before
Mr. Commissioner Ayrton.—lte John Stringer, o
draper, adjourned final examination from the 31st of
January. At this examination the bankrupt produced a
list of his creditors, as ordered by the Court, but not
having given them in before the time fixed, there had
been no time to ascertain whether they were correct.
His Honour, under these circumstances, adjourned the
examination sine die, but extended his protectionh .foroa
montb.—Re Thomas Carlitt, of Hull, grocer, owaasicead-f
assignees and proof of debti. The
m
juurned for the bankrupt to annul t e_fisete.tinlhere will
be no business on Wednesday next.—Hull Packet.
" I,Tsw."---The North Star, steamer,
SOMETHING
brought a novel importation last week—an extensive
and_ other early vegetables, from
the London
of new potatoes,
London market, for Mr. Burns, fruiterer, Church-
street. The importation seemed to be fully appreciated,
and the potatoes, though costly, were 80911bcought up.—
inversta 'gorier.