from this country to New York, was recently recorded, of which passage the Inman steamship 'City of Berlin,' under the command of Captain Kennedy, was the heroine; and now, with sincere gratification, we record that this same splendid steamship has surpassed her own previous triumph on her homeward passage from Sandy Hook to Cork Harbour, in October last, which she accomplished in 7 days, 15 hours and 28 minutes, mean time, being 2 hours, 44 minutes less time than was occupied by her outward passage. This gives the extraordinary average speed of upwards of 15 knots steaming an hour during the entire voyage.

CORNISH SARDINES.-A new trade, which promises to become of great importance, has lately been established in Cornwall. The fisheries of that county are of a world-wide renown, but there is one branch which has not been developed to the extent of which it is capable, and that is the pilchard fishery. A company called the Cornish Sardine Company, whose offices are at Falmouth, has established works for the purpose of curing these fish in tins in the same way as the well-known French "sardines" are prepared. Considerable doubt has been expressed whether the pilchard and the sardine are identical; but the question would appear to have been settled in the affirmative, for the fish prepared by the above-named company are fully equal in flavour to the best sardines imported from France. The fish are beheaded and cleaned, and after being cured are placed in tins, which are filled up with the best olive oil and hermetically sealed. Both large and small fish are prepared in this way, the former being called "Pilchards in oil," and the latter "Cornish Sardines," and both form a very valuable addition to the food produce of the country. Up to the present time pilchards have been almost unknown beyond the limits of Devonshire and Cornwall, except that quantities are annually exported to Italy in a

salted condition, under the name of 'fumadoes," which has been corrupted into "fair maids," and an immense waste of food has followed in consequence of the want of some means of preparing the pilchard for the English market. These means the Cornish Sardine Company has supplied, and "pilchards" and home-produced "sardines " equal to any of foreign production may now be had. With fish and meat continually increasing in price, any means of developing a new source of food supply ought to be encouraged, and the Cornish Sardine Company, in its endeavour to add to the industrial resources of the country, deserves every

success.

THE FIRST ATLANTIC STEAMSHIP.Mr. J. C. Shaw writes :

"The 'Royal William,' steamer, under my management as marine manager to the City of Dublin Steam Company, and to the Atlantic Steamship Company, was the first to make the passage from Liverpool to New York, in June, 1838, but not the first to cross the Atlantic, being preceded by the 'Great Western,' from Bristol, and the 'Sirius,' from Cork.

"As an historical fact, the Royal William was a paddle-box steamer, and only 175ft. long, and yet she made the passage from Liverpool to New York by continuous steaming for 18 days, and returned in 14 days, being the smallest paddle-box steamer that ever performed such a distance before or since 1838."

LOSS OF THE 'SHANNON'.-Great regret is felt at the loss of the fine steamship 'Shannon' 3,608 tons, especially as it follows so closely upon the total wreck of another of the largest vessels of the Royal Mail Company's fleet-the 'Boyne. Just a week elapsed between the receipt of the first telegram announcing the fact of the 'Shannon' having gone ashore on the Pedro Bank and the telegram received on Monday from Jamaica reporting her having become waterlogged and been abandoned, the mails, crew, and passen

gers being all saved. The 'Shannon' was built in 1859 as a paddle- wheel steamer by Messrs. R. Napier and Sons, of Glasgow, and was regularly employed with much success in the mail service on the West India line until she was withdrawn, and ultimately converted into a screw-steamer, and at the same time the vessel was slightly lengthened by the addition of a new bow and stern, and fitted with new compound engines and machinery. The present was only her second voyage since conversion, and, leaving Southampton on August 2nd with the West India mails, she made the quickest run out to St. Thomas on record, having reached that island in eleven days, running 3,650 miles, with a consumption of only 635 tons of coal. At the time of the disaster the 'Shannon' was on her homeward voyage from Colon with the mails due here on the 29th inst. She was commanded by Captain E. M. Leeds, one of the oldest and most experienced of the company's officers, and this was to be his last voyage before retirement from the service.

"MAKAROFF'S MATS.". -UNDER this name a Leadenhall-street has just introduced an invention that has been in use in the Russian ironclad squadron for the last four years. These mats, which are intended to be used instead of sails in "fothering" a leak, resemble gigantic doormats. They are made of the finest hempen rope, coated with some waterproof composition, and are applied to the leak hairy side inwards. It is claimed for them that they can be hauled over the most jagged edges of timber or iron without ripping, and that they are far more staunch than any sail-cloth, however well "thrumm ́ed." Admiral Boutakoff has reported most favourably of them, citing several instances in which they have rendered important service. We understand that ten of these mats have been ordered by

the Admiralty, and will shortly be submitted to trial.-Broad Arrow.

A "RESTUE."-In The Times of the 23rd ult. there was printed under this heading a letter from Miss Wood, of 4, Lauriston-villas, Walton Cliff, Clevedon, stating that a training-ship lad had, at the imminent risk of his own life, rescued a child from what appeared to be certain death, and that, notwithstanding the efforts of the training-ship authorities, his name could not be ascer tained. Miss Wood now writes to state that the lad is James Stone, of Her Majesty's ship 'Minotaur,' and that he was expected to leave England in his ship shortly. It is proposed to give the brave young sailor a watch as a memorial of his heroism, if such a testi. monial can be got up in time.

THE ARCTIC EXPEDITION.-A corres pondent sends us the following extracts from a letter written by Captain Nares, R.N., dated Her Majesty's ship 'Alert,' Carey Islands, July 27:-"I am leaving a notice in a cairn here in order to send home, if possible, my latest news. We have had the most extraordinary success. The season has proved to be the best that ever was, and, by a happy calm for two days, I have turned it to such account that we have made the quickest passage, thus far, that ever was made so early in the season as this. The Ameri cans did it in August, but here we are in July, with a clear month before us, and no ice whatever in sight; and I am sure that there is very little ahead of us. Of course all is wild delight at our prospects. The old whaling men thought I was mad to choose a new route, but it was (as I reasoned it would be) successful. We are sure to

get as near to the Pole as the land goes, and then it will be our own fault if we do not complete the work. I shall leave another letter to-morrow at our next depôt,"

Jackman, with the sum of £5, to be divided amongst himself and crew.

A letter was also read from James Osborne, Esq., Hon. Agent at Aldeburgh, applying for a reward for the master, John Pallant, and seven of the crew of the smack Nautilus,' of Aldeburgh, for having saved two men who had been capsized from the boat of the fishing lugger Brothers,' of Lowestoft, which had in tow the dismasted schooner

'Rainbow,' of Mistley, near the Whiting Sand in November last, during a heavy gale from the north-west.

It was moved by Admiral Sir C. Buckle, seconded by Captain Steele, and carried unanimously, that the sum of £10 be awarded, including £2 to the captain, and the remainder to his crew, giving preference to those men who manned the boat on the occasion,

REWARDS FOR SAVING THE following rewards were granted by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution during the past quarter :

October 7th.-Mr. Thomas Chapman, F.R.S., V.P., in the chair.

The committee expressed their deep sympathy with the relatives of the three lifeboatmen who perished on the 27th ult. from the Liverpool tubular lifeboat, which belongs to the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board. It will be remembered that the boat had capsized after taking off the crew of the wrecked ship 'Ellen Southard,' of Richmond, Maine, United States, when the New Brighton tubular lifeboat of the Institution went to its assistance, and saved nineteen persons from the water, while twelve were unfortunately lost. The committee voted £100 in aid of the local subscription now being raised on behalf of the families of the three men, besides granting £30 to the crew of the New Brighton lifeboat in acknowledgment of their prompt and humane conduct and special exertions on the occasion.

The Carnsore lifeboat was taken through a heavy sea a distance of over six miles, against a rapid tide and head wind for the greater part of the way, and was then the means of saving the crew of nine men and a boy from the Spanish brigantine 'Paquete de Terra Nova,' which afterwards drove ashore in Tecumshane Bay, County Wexford, and became a total wreck. The Broughty

LIFE ON THE COASTS.

Ferry (Dundee) lifeboat was instrumental in rescuing from the stranded schooner Cathrina,' of Riga, her crew of eight men, the vessel at the time being in a very dangerous position on the Abertay sandbank at the mouth of the Tay. The Ramsgate Harbour

steamer Vulcan' and lifeboat 'Bradford,' which are under the management of the Board of Trade, had rescued the bark 'Bucephalus,' of Shields, after she had been in collision with another vessel and was in peril of being driven on the Goodwin Sands. Fortunately, with the active help of the lifeboat men at the pumps, the vessel, leaking badly, was towed by the steamer to a safe anchorage in the Downs, and she and her crew of twenty men were thus saved. The Padstow lifeboat had taken off and safely landed the crew of eight men from the brigantine Immaculata,' of Naples, which afterwards drove ashore and became a total wreck. The Wexford (No. 1) lifeboat, the Ethel Eveleen,' was also, happily, able to save in one trip the crew of thirty-two men from the steamer 'Montagu,' of Liverpool, which became a wreck on the North Bar at Wexford. When the lifeboat reached the spot the steamer had begun to break up, and the sea was making a clean breach over her.

Payments to the amount of £5,220 were ordered to be made on the 250 lifeboat establishments of the Society.

Nov. 4th.-Mr. Thomas Chapman, F.R.S., V.P., in the chair.

The silver medal of the Institution and its thanks inscribed on vellum were voted to Mr. Thomas Monger, chief boatman in Her Majesty's Coastguard Service, and late coxswain of the Tenby lifeboat, in acknowledgment of his long and gallant services in that boat in saving life from shipwreck.

Rewards amounting to £470 were also granted to the crews of other lifeboats of the Institution for numerous services rendered during the past month. The Holy Island lifeboat Grace Darling' had, on the occasion of the wreck of the steamer Britannia,' of Leith, on the bar of Holy Island harbour, brought safely ashore seventeen of the passengers, while later in the day she was the means of saving the steamer's crew of eighteen men. The Seaham lifeboat had also landed the crew of six men from the schooner Lucinde,' of Whitstable, when that vessel drove on the rocks off Seaham, after coming into collision with another schooner. The Caister No. 1 lifeboat had also been the means of saving four men from the bark 'Young England,' of Middlesbrough, which was in a helpless condition off Winterton, and the crew of seven men from the schooner Hampton,' of Newcastle, wrecked on the Middle Cross Sand, off the Norfolk coast. The Whitby No. 1 lifeboat rescued the crew of nine men from the stranded brig Teazer,' of Whitby, and four days afterwards proceeded to the assistance of the brig 'Svadsfare,' of Porsgrund, Norway, which was in a perilous position off Whitby. With the assistance of the lifeboat men the brig and crew were taken safely into Hartlepool harbour. The Broughty Ferry (Dundee) lifeboat had been called out on two occasions recently to vessels wrecked on the Abertay sandbank. The first time she was the means of saving the crew of six men from the schooner 'Leopold,' of Riga, and on the other occasion she rescued eight men from the brig‘Vida,'

E

of Drammen. The Brancaster and Hunstanton lifeboats had gone off in reply to signals of distress from the stranded brig Cuba,' of Abo, and the former boat had assisted her off the Burnham Flats, and into Lynn harbour, The Peterhead lifeboat had saved the crew of four men from the smack Nathalia Jacobine,' of Nife, Denmark; the Yarmouth No. 2 lifeboat had landed four of the crew of the schooner 'Saucy Jack," of that port; and the Seascale lifeboat had brought ashore the crew of four men belonging to the schooner 'Elizabeth,' of Carlisle. The Seaton Carew lifeboat had performed two excellent services in saving the crews, numbering altogether seventeen men, from the brigantine 'Porthan,' of Aland, and the schooner Auld Reekie,' of Middlesbrough. In the latter case the lifeboat was unable at first, after a long search in the darkness, to discover the distressed vessel, but some hours afterwards, when the moon rose, the ship's masts were sighted, whereupon the boat was again launched, and the shipwrecked men were discovered in the mizzen rigging of the wreck in a most exhausted state, from which perilous position they were saved by the lifeboat. The Sunderland lifeboat 'Good Templar had encountered much peril in saving the crew of fourteen men from the steamer Altona,' of Hamburg, inasmuch as the boat struck heavily on the rocks when returning ashore from that wreck, and received serious damage. It was only with great difficulty that she safely regained the shore with her own and the steamer's crew, twenty-seven men in all.

Payments amounting to £2,420 were ordered to be made on different lifeboat establishments.

Dec. 2nd. Thomas Chapman, Esq., F.R.S., V.P., in the chair.

The second service clasp of the Institution was voted to Mr. James White, coxswain of the Fishguard lifeboat, and £36 11s. to himself and the other men forming the crew of the boat on the