Abstract of Winds, Weather, &c., during the year 1859. Light to calm 24 9 Wind alternating a few days each way; st. 3 sh. 4 st. 2 April 67 S.W. to West Light airs 2 20 May 66 N.W. to West 9 Very light 15 S.E. (13th) June st. 3 sh. 4 st. 4 8 Generally fine; squally West with rain 65 W.N.W. to S. W. 14 2nd to 4th, heavy gale W.N.W.; light airs till 10th; moderate S.W. or light to end of month; smooth bay. Moderate S. W. or calms till 14th; gale of wind W.N.W. on 15th and 16th, followed by an unusually heavy swell, with light weather, indicating bad weather outside; cloudy and fine to end of month; boating interrupted for three days, i.e., cargo-boats; no rain during the month. S.W. to W.N.W. 23 Moderate and steady breeze, westerly, st. 2 sh. 5 st. 2 sh. 4 st. 4 15 Moderate breezes; fine, but cloudy; stiff st. ? sh. 3 15 2nd and 3rd, unusually heavy gale E.S.E. st. 2 E.S.E. to S.E. night of 3rd; another strong breeze, st. 2 sh. 6 tinuance of south-easterly winds there is a strong under-current setting out of the bay to the eastward. And I certainly think that a lighthouse on Cape St. Blaize would be of great advantage, especially to strangers, to point out the entrance of the bay as the general charts in use give a very poor idea of the place, and they might easily get into some of the bays to the westward of this bay. A. DREWETT, Master of the brigantine Prince. Cape Town, January 28th, 1859. I, the undersigned, James Glendinning, master-mariner, commanding the bark Admiral, declare that I have anchored with said bark in the port of Mossel Bay, on the 30th November last; that I have discharged a full cargo of general merchandise, and reloaded a cargo of aloes and wool; that I have left on the 19th January last; that during said period of seven weeks, the communication with the shore never has been interrupted, and that the ordinary cargo-boats have been able to work continually. And I further state as my opinion, that for shelter against westerly gales, especially prevalent along the coast in the winter months, this is the safest harbour and the best along the southern coast of Africa. That even with a strong S.E. wind, from which the bay is not protected, any vessel has ample opportunity of beating out, if prepared; and that, comparatively speaking, with little expense, a small breakwater could be made, the materials for which are on the spot, which would render this a perfectly safe harbour for all winds. If this port were better known, it would be resorted to by many a homeward-bound vessel now contending every year with dangers in rounding Cape Agulhas. JAMES GLENDINNING, Master, bark Admiral. Port Beaufort, December 3rd, 1859. Sir,-In compliance with your request I send you my opinion concerning the suitableness of Mossel Bay for the purposes of commerce, as a harbour of refuge, and the great necessity of erecting a lighthouse there. I consider Mossel Bay to be one of the best bays on the East coast of the colony of Good Hope. It affords excellent shelter from northerly and westerly gales, which prevail much; it is perfectly sheltered from South (round westerly) to E.N.E., but is open from south-eastward. Vessels windbound in the roads there will always have sufficient warning by the barometer and by the appearance of the weather to put to sea before the S.E. winds set in. These winds, in my opinion, are not so dangerous as is generally supposed, if vessels are properly found and the necessary precautions taken. They seldom blow home, and when they do so their duration is short. Captains can use their own boats almost in any weather with safety, as there is a good jetty at which to land. Were Mossel Bay better known, no master of a vessel would contend with heavy north-westerly gales (which last so long in these parts) trying to get to Simons Bay, to refresh his crew, repair damages, or provision his ship, which can be done with as much facility, and as reasonably, at Mossel Bay as in Cape Town. Until a lighthouse is erected (which is a necessary signal to a barbour of refuge and a great boon to vessels) the bay can never become a harbour of refuge to any extent; but were such done, and the mercantile community properly advised thereof, there can be no doubt that any expenses that would be required would be amply repaid. I am, &c., J. FOWLER, Master of the screw steamer Kadie. The Chairman of the Harbour Board of Mossel Bay. Mossel Bay, November 28th, 1859. Having been requested by the chairman of the Harbour Board to give my opinion on the capabilities of this bay as a harbour of refuge for distressed vessels, or for vessels bound round the Cape of Good Hope in the winter season, during the prevalance of westerly gales, I beg to state that I consider it to be the safest open bay on this side of South Africa. I have had good opportunity to observe the effect of sea and wind upon vessels riding here, having myself been here as many as twenty times during the last four years, and I may venture to state in every month of the year. With westerly or north-westerly winds a vessel is as safe as if in a dock; and even with $.E. winds I consider the danger is not so great of parting or driving as in other bays. I have rode out many S.E. breezes, and seldom let go my second anchor. As soon as I observe a Š. E. breeze is setting in, I give a long scope of cable, say sixty to eighty fathoms, and clap on my spring to the cable before windlass, then lash the other end of the spring to the stern and pay over same cable, so as to ride by the stern. I mention this as I consider it to be a precaution which every one should take in all the bays on this coast. But, independent of the last observation made, I consider the danger is not so great as many persons are inclined to think it, as I have observed that there is what is termed an under-tow, which has a tendency to keep a vessel nearer to her anchor, and consequently to take the strain off the cables,-I mean with a S.E. sea. I do think that if this bay was better known, fewer accidents would occur. It is a well-known fact that Cape Agulhas is noted for being a Cape of Storms, and, off there, how many vessels are disabled or spring a leak, and thereby unable to contend against the heavy N.W. gales and accompanying sea. How easy it would be to gain a port of refuge by coasting along and slipping into Mossel Bay. When there and the anchor down lives and property are safe, and communication with shore always practicable. The bay is easily entered, and the anchorage soon gained, by rounding Cape St. Blaize at about the distance of a mile, standing boldly on to six or seven fathoms water, then tacking to the southward; she will then fetch a good anchorage, where it is almost an impossibility to drive or part. Accidents may occur by bad ground tackle or carelessness in dropping the anchor and fouling it, but not otherwise. There is likewise a port-captain and pilot always ready to render their services. Now, respecting the S.W. winds and the effect they have on this, it is a well-known fact that a S. W. wind sets in the most sea in every bay on this coast; but, fortunately, it comes into this bay from south-eastward, and, consequently, when the vessels are wind-rode (from S.W.) they lay rolling broadside to the sea, never bringing a strain on to their cables; and I have noticed that winds from a southerly direction do not blow home; and I account for that by the land being deeply indented between Ball Point and Cape Receif. I have frequently suggested the propriety of having a lighthouse erected on Cape St. Blaize. I think that that, combined with a proper survey and an Admiralty chart published, would cause the bay to be better known, and prove a blessing to many distressed vessels, and be the means of saving many lives and much property. JOHN BURSTALL, Master of the Elizabeth Mary. Mossel Bay, November 12th, 1859. Having been requested by the chairman of the Harbour Board to give my opinion on the merits of this bay as a harbour of refuge in westerly gales,from what I have seen of it during the week I have been here, I consider it a very safe bay in westerly gales. Had I been acquainted with the safety of Mossel Bay, after my vessel sprung a leak, instead of trying to beat round Cape Agulhas to Table Bay, I should have endeavoured to work my vessel into Mossel Bay. But from the chart of this coast, on which Mossel Bay appears as a place of no shelter, therefore I should not venture in. If a lighthouse was placed on Cape St. Blaize, I am sure that many vessels, during the prevalence of westerly gales, would take shelter in Mossel Bay. Mossel Bay is open to the south-easterly winds, but in my opinion a ship might easily beat out to sea. JAMES MURRAY, late Master bark Ann Bridson. Testimonials of a similar character were furnished by Captain Duncan, of the Flower of Yarrow; Captain Staats, of the Theresa; Captain Armson, of the Therese, schooner; Captain De Groot, of the Ferdinande, brig; and various other masters who have visited the port. [The important survey of the South coast of Africa by Mr. Skead, R.N., has not yet reached Mossel Bay.-ED.] COTTON CULTURE IN CHINA. In a recent number of the Friend of China, we find an extract from Fortune's work on China, giving an interesting account of the mode of growing cotton in that extensive empire. That paper states that the word cotton is derived from Kho-ten, the name of the most western district of China, and it must have been cultivated there centuries before it was known to the western world. We have no means of learning how much cotton is produced there, but probably more than is now produced in India, as its immense population is supplied mostly from home manufacture. The Chinese or Nanking cotton-plant is the Gossypium herbaceum of botanists, and the Mie wha of the northern Chinese. It is a branching annual, growing from one to three or four feet in height, according to the richness of the soil, and flowering from August to October. The flowers are of a dingy yellow colour, and, like the Hibiscus or Malva, which belong to the same tribe, remain expanded only for a few hours, in which time they perform the part allotted to them by nature, and then shrivel up and soon decay. At this stage the seed-pod begins to swell rapidly, and, when ripe, the outer coating bursts and exposes the pure white cotton in which the seeds lie imbedded. I The yellow cotton, from which the beautiful Nanking cloth is manufactured, is called Tze mie wha by the Chinese, and differs but slightly in its structure and general appearance from the kind just noticed. have often compared them in the cotton fields where they were growing, and, although the yellow variety has a more stunted habit than the other, it has no characters which constitute a distinct species. It is merely an accidental variety, and, although its seeds may generally produce the same kind, they doubtless frequently yield the white variety and vice versa. Hence specimens of the yellow cotton are freNO. 10.-VOL. xxx. 4 E quently found growing amongst the white in the immediate vicinity of Shanghae; and again a few miles northward, in fields near the city of Poushun on the banks of the Yang-tze-kiang, where the yellow cotton abounds, I have often gathered specimens of the white variety. The Nanking cotton is chiefly cultivated in the level ground around Shanghae, where it forms the staple summer production of the country. The district, which is part of the great plain of the Yang-tze-kiang, although flat, is several feet above the level of the water in the rivers and canals, and is consequently much better fitted for cotton cultivation than those flat rice districts in various parts of the country,-such, for example, as the plain of Ningpo,-where the ground is either wet and marshy, or liable at times to be completely overflowed. Some fields in this district are, of course, low and marshy, and these are cultivated with rice instead of cotton, and regularly flooded by the water-wheel during the period of growth. Although the cotton land is generally flat, so much so, indeed, that no hills can be seen from the tops of the houses in the city of Shanghae, it has nevertheless a pleasing and undulating appearance, and, taken as a whole, it is perhaps the most fertile and agricultural district in the world. The soil is a strong rich loam, capable of yielding immense crops year after year, although it receives but a small portion of manure. The manure applied to the cotton lands of the Chinese is doubtless peculiarly well fitted for this kind of crop. It is obtained from the canals, ponds, and ditches which intersect the country in every direction, and consists of mud which has been formed partly by the decay of long grass, reeds, and succulent water-plants, and partly by the surface soil which has been washed down from the higher ground by the heavy rains. Every agricultural operation in China seems to be done with the greatest regularity, at certain stated times which experience has proved the best; and in nothing is this more apparent than in the manuring of the cotton lands. Early in April the agricultural labourers all over the country are seen busily employed in cleaning these ponds and ditches. The water is first of all partly drawn off and then the mud is thrown up on the adjoining land to dry, where it remains for a few days until the superfluous water is drained out of it, and is then conveyed away and spread over the cotton fields. Previous to this the land has been prepared for its reception, having been either ploughed up with the small buffalo plough in common use in the country and then broken and pulverised by the three pronged hoe; in those instances where the farms are small and cannot boast of a buffalo and plough, it is loosened and broken up entirely by manual labour. When the mud is first spread over the land, it is, of course, hard or cloggy; but the first showers soon mix it with the surface soil, and the whole becomes pulverised, and it is then ready for the reception of the cotton seed. Road scrapings and burnt rubbish are saved up with care, and used for the same purpose and in the same manner. A considerable portion of the cotton lands either lie fallow during the winter months, or are planted with those crops which are ready for gathering prior to the sowing of the cotton seed. Frequently, how |