THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE. 33

Colonial Secretary's Office,
Wellington, 21st January, 1870.
HIS Excellency the Governor has been pleased, on
the recommendation of the Honorables the
Speaker and the Chairman of Committees of the
Legislative Council, to appoint
GIBBES WALKER JORDAN, Esq.,
to the office of Clerk Assistant and Clerk of Com-
mittees of the Legislative Council. This appoint-
ment takes effect on the 1st instant.
W. GISBORNE.

General Post Office,
Wellington, 15th January, 1870.
HIS Excellency the Governor has been pleased to
authorize
The CHIEF CLERK, Superintendent's Office, Auck-
land,
to frank, free from prepayment of postage, Letters
and Packets sent through the post on the Public
Service, in lieu of the Provincial Secretary, Auck-
land.
W. GISBORNE
(for the Postmaster-General).

General Post Office,
Wellington, 20th January, 1870.
THE following Report of the Court of Inquiry
held under "The Inquiry into Wrecks Act,
1869," on the boat accident at Timaru, on the 18th
December last, is published for general information.
W. GISBORNE
(for the Postmaster-General).

INQUIRY INTO WRECKS.
REPORT on the casualty which happened to the
steam vessel "Maori."
To the Honorable the Postmaster-General of New
Zealand,-
I, the undersigned Belfield Woolcombe, Esquire, one
of Her Majesty's Justices of the Peace, and a
Resident Magistrate in and for the Colony of New
Zealand, having been on the twenty-third day of
December, 1869, applied to by Charles Edward
Cooper, Esquire, Principal Officer of Customs at the
Port of Timaru, for a formal investigation pursuant
to section 3 of "The Inquiry into Wrecks Act,
1869," and other provisions of the said Act, respect-
ing the casualty which happened to a certain British
steam vessel called the "Maori," on the eighteenth
day of December last, while she was lying at anchor
at the Port of Timaru, did duly proceed with the
said investigation, to wit, on the twenty-ninth day of
December instant, and had before me and examined
on oath divers persons and witnesses, to wit, George
Babington Parker, J.P. and Sheepfarmer, Waitangi;
James Malcolm, Master, s.s. "Maori;" James
Graham, Second Mate, s.s. "Maori;" Alexander
Macdonald, Steward, s.s. "Maori;" John Clarkson,
Boatman, Timaru; Alexander Smith, Manager,
Landing Service, Timaru; Henry Cain, Merchant,
Timaru; Campbell Campbell, Chief Engineer, s.s.
"Maori;" and Alexander Mills, Harbour Master,
Timaru; the original deposition of whose evidence
are hereunto annexed, signed by me; being assisted
therein by Richard Scott, Master Mariner, who was
duly appointed by Charles Edward Cooper, Esquire,
Principal Officer of Customs at the Port of Timaru,
to act as Assessor to me the said Justice of the
Peace and Resident Magistrate; and upon such
investigation and examination of witnesses as afore-
said, I find and beg to report to the Honorable the
Postmaster-General of New Zealand as follows, that
is to say:-

1. That the official number of the said ship
   called the "Maori," is 62,401, of which James
   Malcolm is Master, who holds a Certificate of

Competency, and which ship belonged to "The
Dunedin Harbour Company," of Dunedin.
2. That the loss or damage herein more particu-
larly mentioned, happened on the eighteenth
day of December, 1869, at about half-past
five o'clock in the afternoon, while she was
lying at anchor at the Port of Timaru.
3. That the loss or damage appears by the
evidence to have been caused by the capsizing
of a certain life-boat belonging to the said
steam ship "Maori."
4. That the nature of the loss or damage done
was the loss of two lives by drowning. That
the s.s. "Maori" is schooner rigged; her
Port of Registry, Dunedin; her registered
tonnage, 118. That two lives were lost
through the upsetting of her life-boat.
And I, the said Justice of the Peace and Resident
Magistrate, further state my opinion on the matter
aforesaid to be as follows:-
That on the eighteenth day of December, 1869,
the life-boat belonging to the steamer "Maori,"
manned by the second mate and four seamen,
while conveying the master and seven pas-
sengers from the cargo-boat of the Govern-
ment Landing Service to the "Maori," then
lying at anchor in the roadstead of Timaru,
was capsized by an unexpected heavy breaker,
when nearly alongside the "Maori," throwing
the passengers and crew into the water,
thereby causing the loss by drowning of two
of the passengers, namely, Messrs. Balfour
and Smallwood.
That the casualty was purely accidental, and no
blame can be attached to any one.
That considering the steamer was so short-
handed, the master, second mate, and four
seamen, being in the boat when she was
capsized, (the master in particular having
been seriously injured,) leaving only the
mate and two seamen, with the engineers,
stokers, and stewards, capable of acting on
board, every available effort was made for the
assistance of those in the water.
Given under my hand this twenty-ninth day
of December, one thousand eight hundred
and sixty-nine, at Timaru, in the Province
of Canterbury, New Zealand.
B. WOOLCOMBE,
Justice of the Peace and Resident Magistrate.
I, Richard Scott, Nautical Assessor on the Inquiry
into the casualty which happened to the s.s. "Maori,"
do fully concur in the above Report concerning the
said casualty to the said vessel.
R. SCOTT,
Nautical Assessor.
New Zealand, 29th December, 1869.
Memorandum on Boat Accident at Timaru.
AFTER reading the evidence, I am of opinion that
the loss occurred through the boat being allowed to
get broadside on to the sea. Had the boat been
kept head on, probably the accident would not have
happened. A boat steered with rudder will, when
rowers ease or cease rowing, turn broadside on to
the sea, and in that state, with a heavy sea running,
will probably either be capsized or swamped. A
boat steered with an oar is much more manageable
than when steered with a rudder, this Captain
Malcolm ought to have known and seriously con-
sidered before taking the boat on the weather side
of the ship. The reasons he assigns for doing so
do not appear to me satisfactory, and probably
the truth is he did it to save time and trouble. The
reasons given are, first, "That the davits were on that