British Ship Adoption Society

it cannot be called a meeting—we visited the Theatre Royal, at the kind invitation of Mr. Staines, to see a performance from behind the scenes, and were shown round the set, workshops and dressing rooms, where we spoke to one or two of the Company. Our thanks for such an interesting afternoon are due to Mr. Staines and the Stage Managers. P.J.R.M.

The "Mountpark" has, all this term, been on charter to a New Zealand firm, but delays in Australian and New Zealand ports are bad, and the ship has in consequence travelled surprisingly little in the last three months.

On arrival from Bombay about Easter, the ship dry-docked in Sydney. Mr Ellis tells us that the dry-dock is called Cockatoo and is on an island which was one of the prisons used in the days of convict settlement. From Sydney the ship went to Newcastle (N.S.W.) and loaded a part cargo, mostly of steel and telegraph poles. Further cargo was loaded at Port Kembla, the port for Wollongong, where there is a big steel plant. Loading was then completed at Sydney : machinery, tea, beer, spirits, railway sleepers, acids, and even seven big tubs of goldfish—about 250 fish per tub. Apparently aquaria are popular in New Zealand.

This mixed cargo was discharged at four New Zealand ports : Lyttleton, Dunedin (where 30 days were spent discharging 3,000 tons of cargo), Bluff and Timaru. Of Lyttleton, Mr. Ellis writes, "it is a nice place at the foot of very high mountains, from the top of which there is a beautiful view of the Canterbury Plains and Christchurch. I was very interested in the path taken by the first pioneers to view the Canterbury Plains 100 years ago. The path is still preserved, and at the top is a small shelter marked 'They Passed this Way' ". Bluff, in the extreme south of S. Island, Mr. Ellis tells us, "is a great place for oysters, and we could get sacks of them for nothing. They trawl for them off Stewart Island. Some, they say, are flown to U.S.A.".

From Timaru the ship proceeded to Lyttleton, where she arrived on 27th July, and is due to go to Wellington for fuel, before proceeding to Sydney with a small cargo of 1,200 tons of wool, soft wood, tinned fish, etc.

In the Birthday Honours List we were more than delighted to read that Mr. Ellis had been made an 'M.B.E. We have sent, and repeat here, our hearty congratulations on this recognition of his long and honourable service in the Merchant Navy. 34