The following is the section of the act relating to the importation of spirits. It was passed on the 4th August, 1855 : SEC. 46. After six months from the time this act shall come into operation, no rum, brandy, gin, or alcohol, shall be imported or brought into this colony in casks not capable of containing at least fifty gallons; nor shall any such liquors in any smaller casks or packages be exposed for sale, or be in possession of any person unless imported before the said time, or unless the same shall have been transferred to such smaller casks or packages after it shall have been brought into this island or its dependencies; of all which the proof shall be upon the party in possession. Any person offending against any of the provisions of this section shall forfeit ten pounds for every such cask or package, and the liquor shall be forfeited. Nothing in this act contained shall apply to any such liquors imported into this island or its dependencies from Europe, the British West Indies, or any of the British possessions in North America. FREE IMPORTATION OF CEREALS INTO FRANCE. - The Moniteur Universal, of Paris, has the following official notice :"The postponement fixed by decree of September 8, 1856, respecting divers measures relative to alimentary articles, is further continued to September 30, 1858." The purpose of this decree is thus explained in the same number of the of ficial journal :-The government of the emperor has decided to prorogue to the 30th September, 1858, the regulations relative to articles of food. These regulations have a two-fold character; they facilitate the importation of cereals, while they also suspend their exportation. The facilities granted for the importation of cereals have been deemed necessary, not with a view to affect high prices of articles of subsistence, which the great abundance of our crops does not permit us to apprehend in the slightest degree, but to assure the safety of the commercial operations undertaken under the existing state of things-operations which will also conduce to the replenishing of the reserve supplies exhausted during a three years' scarcity. As respects the regulations which suspend exportation, the postponement does not constitute, as in the case of importation, a sort of positive engagement on the part of the government. Circumstances and future events must decide whether the suspension shall be continued or not. AMERICAN VESSELS GOING INTO FRENCH PORTS. The Courier des Etats Unis publishes the following notice, by order of the French Consul-General in New York : "Several American vessels recently arrived in French ports, (at Marseilles among others,) after having delivered part of their cargoes at intermediate ports, have considered themselves entitled to claim the favorable treatment resulting from the treaty concluded between France and the United States, June 24th, 1852. According to the laws of the French custom house, this treatment is only applicable to vessels arrived in French ports directly, and without intermediate stoppage. We are consequently requested to give notice that, although this favor has been accorded exceptionally by the government in the cases before mentioned, American vessels cannot make, unless from absolute necessity, any stoppage, without losing, on their arrival in France, the benefit of the treaty in question. This rule is, moreover, indiscriminately applied in France to all the vessels of foreign States which are allied with France by treaties of navigation." NAUTICAL INTELLIGENCE. DECREASE IN THE DEPTH OF WATER ON GEORGE'S BANK, MASSACHUSETTS-COAST OF CAPE COD PENINSULA. Subjoined is a letter from the Superintendent of the Coast Survey to the Secretary of the Treasury, communicating extracts of a report by Lieutenant Commanding C. R. P. Rodgers, U. S. Navy, in relation to the gradual decrease in the depth of water on George's Bank : BANGOR, Me., October, 17, 1857. SIR-I have the honor to communicate to the Department the result of a development made by Lieut. Commanding C. R. P. Rodgers, U. S. N., Assistant in the Coast Survey, showing a gradual decrease in the depth of water on the shallowest part of George's Shoal, off the coast and eastward of Cape Cod Peninsula. The examination was made under favorable circumstances on the 10th of September, and the results are thus reported by Lieut. Com'g Rodgers :- 'George's Shoal seems to consist of narrow sand ridges, (like those at the entrance of Nantucket Sound,) lying parallel to each other in a direction generally north and south, though some incline to the eastward and westward. The tide rushes across them with great violence. We kept the steamer over the crests of these ridges, and, aided by our experience of last year, probably found the most shallow spot where the soundings, reduced to mean low water, show a depth of only thirteen feet, or two feet less than the least found in the year 1837. The least water found differed only some seconds, either in latitude or longitude, from that found by Capt. Wilkes in his examination of the shoal twenty years ago." I would respectfully request authority to publish this communication as a notice to mariners. Very respectfully yours, Hon. HOWELL COBB, Sec'y of the Treasury. A. D. BACHE, Sup't U. S. Coast Survey. MAGNETIC VARIATION NEAR BOSTON. The following notice, from G. W. BLUNT, is of importance. In the Merchants' Magazine for December, 1857, we published two authentic tables of the variation of the compass in Europe :- It appears from a recent observation on the magnetic variation, near Boston, made by Prof. Bond, of Havard College Observatory, and communicated to J. I. Bowditch, Esq., that it is now 11° 20' W., instead of 9° 20' W., which is on the old charts in use, it being Mr. Bond's observation of 1840--the Coast Survey of 1855 makes it 10° 20'. A vessel making the Highland Light of Cape Cod, and shaping her course by compass for Boston Light, with the old variation, would be two miles to the south of the expected position when at the end of her run, perhaps among Cohasset rocks. NEW YORK, December 10, 1857. BEACON RANGE LIGHT AT SAPELO, GEORGIA. GEO. W. BLUNT. A beacon light will be exhibited for the first time on the night of January 1st, 1858, from an elevation of fifty feet above the mean level of the sea, from the frame structure recently erected in front (to seaward) of the main light situated on the southern extremity of Sapelo Island, Georgia, to serve as a range for crossing the bar in the best water. The beacon is painted black, and fitted with a fifth order catadioptric apparatus on the system of Fresnel. To run in across the bar, bring the beacon in range with the main light, and keep on that range line until the outer or east beacon on Wolf Island bears by compass S. W. by W. one-half W., when steer N. W. by W. one-half W., keeping in not less than four fathoms water, to the anchorage abreast of the main lighthouse. By order of the Lighthouse Board, SAVANNAH, Geo., December 7, 1857. J. F. GILMER, Capt. Engineers. LIGHT SHIP OFF THE BLACKWATER BANK. COAST OF IRELAND-ST. GEORGE'S CHANNEL. Official information has been received at this office, that the Port of Dublin Corporation has given notice, that on or about the first week in October, 1857, a light-vessel will be placed off the north end of the Blackwater Bank in the Irish Sea, St. George's Channel. The vessel will exhibit two white lights-one revolving, the other fixed. The revolving light, which will attain its greatest brilliancy once in every minute, will be shown from the mainmast of the vessel, at a height of 39 feet above the surface of the sea. The fixed light will be shown from the foremast of the vessel, at a height of 26 feet above the same level. The illuminating apparatus will be catoptric, or by metallic reflectors, and of the third order. The revolving light should be visible from the deck of a ship in ordinary weather at a distance of about 10 miles. The lightvessel will be painted black with a white band, having the word BLACKWATER ON her side. She will have three masts, and carry a ball at the fore and main mast heads. She will be moored in a depth of 19 fathoms at low water, at about 1 mile E. S. of the black buoy on the north end of the Blackwater Bank, in lat. 52° 29' N., long. 6° 7' west of Greenwich, nearly. A gong will be sounded in foggy weather. All bearings magnetic. Var. 25° 10′ West in 1857. By order of the Lighthouse Board, TREASURY DEPARTMENT. Oce Lighthouse Board,} Washington, Oct. 5, 1857. THORNTON A. JENKINS, Secretary. ENGLAND, WEST COAST-ROCKS IN BROAD SOUND. Official information has been received at this office that several rocks having been lately discovered in the vicinity of Skokham Island and Broad Sound, near Milford Haven, during the progress of the Admiralty Survey under Com'r Aldridge, R. N., the following notice is published for the benefit of the mariner :-1. A rock awash lies to the northward of the east end of Skokham Island, 200 yards N. E. N. from the Stack. 2. A rock, with 2 fathoms on it, lies in the same direction from the Stack at 400 yards off. 3. Two other rocks, with 34 fathoms, exist at 533 yards N. N. E. E. of the Stack. All these rocks are directly in the track of vessels passing through the Sound to or from Milford Haven. 4. To the southward of Skokham Stack there are also rocks, with 34 fathoms, at 820 yards S. S. E. E. from the Stack. 5. To the westward of Skokham Island, rocks have been found in the race, known as the Wild Goose Race, with 4 and 5 fathoms, at 1,300 yards N. W. W. from the west end of Skokham Island, and the west end of Skomer Island, bearing N. by E. E. 6. To the Northward of Skokham Island there are rocks with from 34 fathoms to 44 fathoms on them, which lie midway between, and in a line from, the west end of Skokham Island and the Mewstone of Skomer Island, or 1 miles N. W. by N. from Skokham Stack. 7. A dangerous rock, with three fathoms on it, lies directly in the track of vessels passing through Jack Sound to or from Milford Haven. It lies nearly mile W. by S. S. from the Bench Rocks, with the outer point of Gateholm Island bearing S. E. by S., 1,733 yards distant. 8. A rock also lies off Long Point, bearing W. N. W. N., 4 of a mile distant, with 4 fathoms on it, the outer part of Gateholm Island bearing N. by W. W. All bearings are magnetic. Var. 24° 40′ W. in 1857, decreasing 6′ annually. By order of the Lighthouse Board, TREASURY DEPARTMENT, Office Lighthouse Board,} Washington, Oct. 16, 1857. THORNTON A. JENKINS, Secretary. PILOT CUTTERS OFF DUNGENESS, &c. TRINITY HOUSE, LONDON, November 7, 1857. Notice is given, that with a view of facilitating the supply of pilots to vessels arriving from the westward, this corporation has caused an additional pilot cutter to be stationed on the cruising grounds between Dungeness and the Downs, and that from this day, November 7, 1857, the said cutters, now three in number, will cruise in the order and on the stations following, viz :— The first or westermost cutter off Dungeness. The second or middle cutter in the fairway of vessels between Dungeness and Dymchurch bearing N. N. W. The third or eastermost cutter off Folkstone, well out in the fairway, so as to supply such vessels as may have passed the other cutters without obtaining pilots. The attention of masters of ships coming from the westward, and bound to the rivers Thames and Medway, is particularly directed to the 378 sec. of the merchant shipping act, 1854, whereby it is provided, that the "Masters of any ship coming from the westward. and bound to any place in the rivers Thames and Medway, (unless she has a qualified pilot on board or is exempted from compulsory pilotage.) shall, on the arrival of such ship off Dunge ness, and thenceforth until she has passed the south buoy of the Brake, or a line to be drawn from Sandown Castle to the said buoy, or until a qualified pilot has come on board, display and keep flying the usual signal for a pilot; and if any qualified pilot is within hail, or is approaching and within half a mile, and has the proper distinguishing flag flying in his boat, such master shall, by heaving-to in proper time or shortening sail, or by any practicable means consistent with the safety of his ship, facilitate such pilot getting on board, and shall give the charge of piloting his ship to such pilot; or if there are two or more of such pilots offering at the same time, to such one of them as may, according to the regulations for the time being in force, be entitled or required to take such charge; and if any such master fails to display or keep flying the usual signal for a pilot in manner herein-before required, or to facilitate any such qualified pilot as aforesaid getting on board as herein-before required, or to give the charge of piloting his ship to such pilot as herein before mentioned in that behalf, he shall incur a penalty not exceeding double the sum which might have been demanded for the pilotage of his ship, such penalty to be paid to the Trinity House, and to be carried to the account of the Trinity House pilot fund. By order, P. H. BERTHON, Secretary. NORTH SEA, EAST COAST OF ENGLAND. Official information has been received at this office, that the Corporation of the Trinity House of London have issued the following notices : - STANFORD LIGHT-VESSEL, OFF LOWESTOFt. In consequence of the north end of the Newcome Sound having grown up, the Stanford light-vessel off Lowestoft has been moved nearly a cable's length to the E. S. E. of her former position, into six fathoms at low water springs, and now forms a fair-way or channel-light. The vessel lies with two remarkably high chimneys at Lowestoft, nearly in line N. W. by W., East Newcome buoy just open to the eastward of the N. E. Newcome S. S. W. W. Also, the north end of the Scroby Sonnd, off Caistor, having grown out to the westward, the north Scroby buoy has been moved about a cable's length to the westward of its former position. and now lies in 5 fathoms at low water of spring tides, with the following marks and bearings, viz.:-Caiston Mill in line with the Beachmens' Lookout, S. W. W. Cockle Light-vessel, N. W. by N. Middle Scroby buoy, S. by W. W. BRAN SAND-LIGHTS, RIVER TEES. In consequence of an alteration in the direction of the channel at the entrance of the River Tees it has become necessary to move both the Bran Sand-lights about 300 fathoms to the eastward, and since the 10th July, 1857, these lights have been exhibited from temporary buildings in the new position, bearing from each other S. by E. E. The South Gare buoy has also been moved, and now bears from the spiral buoy S. W. by W. No. 1, black buoy, has also been moved about 40 fathoms to the westward, and now bears from the spiral buoy W. S. W., and from the South Gare buoy N. W. by W. Masters of vessels and others entering the Tees are cautioned not to use the old light towers as daymarks until further notice. RED BUOY AT ENTRANCE OF TYNE. A red buoy has been placed at the end of the north pier, now in course of construction at the entrance of the River Tyne, in 24 fathoms depth at low water spring tides. Tynemouth Castle bearing N. N. W. at 250 fathoms from the Cliff, and the high beacon at South Shields, a little open to the north of the low beacon. All bearings magnetic. Var., in 1857, 21° 5′ W. off Lowestoft; 23° 20′ W. off the Tees; 23° 30′ W. off the Tyne. Decreasing 6' annually. By order of the Lighthouse Board, TREASURY DEPARTMENT, Office Lighthouse Board,} October 5, 1857. THORNTON A. JENKINS, Secretary. PORT L'ORIENT, ATLANTIC OCEAN-FRANCE, WEST COAST. LEADING LIGHTS FOR THE GREAT CHANNEL. Official information has been received at this office, that the French government has given notice of the following change in the position of the lower light of the Grand Pass or Great Channel to Port L'Orient :-On the 15th September, ult., the lower light of the two fixed lights which, when in line, lead to Port L'Orient by the Grand Pass or Great Channel, will be removed in the same line of bearing to the south bastion of Port Louis, and will be placed in lat. 47° 42′ 13" N., and long. 3° 21′ 12′′ west of Greenwich. Its height above the sea at high water will be 20 feet, and it will be visible at the distance of 8 miles. The high light will be 1,826 yards from it in the direction of N. 83° E, and being 62 feet above the sea will be visible at the distance of 12 miles. Commanders of ships are reminded that the compas course (N. 83° E.) on which these two lights lead in through the Great Channel must be left as soon as the two lights of the Little Channel appear over each other, and that these two lights kept in that position must be carefully steered for. All bearings are magnetic. Variation in 1857, 22° W. By order of the Lighthouse Board, TREASURY DEPARTMENT, Office Lighthouse Board, Washington, October 16, 1857. Board,} THORNTON A. JENKINS, Secretary. MEDITERRANEAN-GIBRALTAR BAY LIGHT AT THE NEW MOLE. Official information has been received at this office, that the Captain-Superintendent of Her Majesty's Naval Yard at Gibraltar has given notice that on and after the 25th day of August, 1857, a temporary colored light would be placed a the outer extremity of the new works now in course of construction at the New Mole in Gibraltar Bay; and in order that the temporary light may be distinguished from the fixed red light at the original Mole Head, it will show a red, white, and green light, viz.:--Green to the north, white to the west, and red to the south. By order of the Lighthouse Board, TREASURY DEPARTMENT, Office Lighthouse Board, Washington, October 24th, 1857. THORNTON A. JENKINS, Sec'y. |