Other formats

    TEI XML file   ePub eBook file  

Connect

    mail icontwitter iconBlogspot iconrss icon

Historical Records of New Zealand

Wm. Fenwick to Chas. Graham

Wm. Fenwick to Chas. Graham.

Chatham Yard, 16th August, 1821.

Sir,—

Agreeably to your request to furnish you for the Comptroller’s information with a statement of the result made of the New Zealand hemp lately landed from the Dromedary, I beg to inform you that we have not received any New Zealand hemp from the Dromedary (for Government). I obtained a small sample from a person on board the said ship, which I have dressed and made into a twelve thread line, also two other lines of the same size and weight, one from Petersburgh, the other from Riga hemp.

Undermentioned is a statement of their comparative strength, viz.:—

Cwt. qrs. lb.
Line made from New Zealand hemp suspended three feet in the clear, broke with 3 1 7
Do. made from Riga hemp suspended 3 ft. in the clear broke with 3 0 0
Do. from Petersburgh hemp do. 2 3 2

It will appear from the above trial that the New Zealand hemp is the strongest, and if the small sample which I procured from the Dromedary is a fair specimen, I beg to observe, from the solidity of its fibre, that it will produce more prime hemp for the construction of cordage, lines and twine than Russian hemp.

The lines broken, together with a sample of the New Zealand hemp, will be sent by the coach to-morrow.

Wm. Fenwick.