The Telegraph.

Chartered by Shaw, Savill and Co., the ship Telegraph, 1118 tons, visited New Zealand on one occasion only, this being in 1863, when she was commanded by Captain A. R. Pope.

Leaving Gravesend on March 23, with 172 passengers, the Telegraph had an uneventful trip to the Line, which was crossed on April 24. On May 21 the ship crossed the meridian of the Cape, and on July 4 picked up the Three Kings, and arrived at Auckland on the 6th. The passage from anchorage to anchorage was thus made in 104 days. During the passage the Telegraph encountered a succession of gales, which resulted in some damage to the ship.

In referring to the trip, Mr. L. L. Cooper, who was a passenger by the vessel, says: "Several of us came out as special settlers under the forty acre system—we paid £25 and received 40 acres of land. During the voyage one poor fellow became insane and jumped overboard, while a lady passenger and her two babies died, and were buried at sea. We received a bad fright when the Alabama, an American warship, bore down upon us, but she allowed us to proceed after establishing our identity. On arrival in the Waitemata, where a number of men-of-war rode at anchor, all the able-bodied men were sworn in, and many a bitter tear was shed as we marched away. Sometimes a concertina would play them away as far as the Harp of Erin. At this time the milioary headquarters were at Otahuhu, and Drury, and we lived in constant fear of an attack by the Maoris. I had to give up my bunk to a girl who had walked all the way from Pukekohe to Drury carrying a bundle of clothes for her mother, who laboured in with a baby in her arms."