Queen of the Colonies

THE QUEEN OF THE COLONIES.
The Queen of the Colonies. Captain Cairncross, brings an addition of 433 persons to our population. Of this number, 92 embarked at London, and the remainder at Queenstown. There appears to be a very general desire, amongst the Irish, to emigrate to this colony, as no fewer than twenty six persons secreted themselves on board the ship, at Queenstown, and they were not discovered for a considerable time after the vessel left the port.

Soon after sailing from Queenstown, measles made its appearance amongst the passengers. In all, there were thirty-five cases of which six proved fatal. This mortality was exclusively contained to infants. There were also two deaths of adults in childbirth, one infant from convulsions, and one adult who died from injuries received by falling into the hold, thus making a total of ten deaths. By way of counterbalance to these losses there were seven births, five of which were females. A couple of the passengers were joined in the hands of holy wedlock by the Rev. Terence Joseph Quinn, the Roman Catholic Chaplain, who accompanied the immigrants from Queenstown.

The Queen of the Colonies spoke but two vessels during the passage, the Isaac Newton, bound for the Phillipine Islands; and the Queen, steamer, from Otago to Melbourne.. The steamer was passed near Bass Strait.
Dr. Hobbs (the health officer) visited the ship yesterday, and made his official inspection of the passengers, and finding they were all in a healthy state, passed the vessel with a clean bill of health.

The passage, on the whole, may be regarded as satisfactory ; but the casualty mentioned in yesterday's issue has cast a gloom over the minds of the passengers, which the excitement consequent on the termination of the voyage could not dispel. The information we at first received was somewhat incorrect, but we are now enabled to give the full particulars, which are us follow: - On Tuesday, while the Queen of the Colonies was anchored off the Cape Moreton light-house, the life-boat was manned to convoy ashore for interment, the body of one of the female passengers, who had died in childbirth. This was about five o'clock in the afternoon. In the boat there were the husband of the deceased, Captain Hill, and Messrs. Durrant, Arundel, Barnfield, Langford, Ford, Eldridge,  (chief officer), Grant (fourth-mate),Roach and  Murray (quarter-masters), and three able seamen. 

The boat returned from its melancholy errand about 7 p.m., and while going round under the stern to get to leeward of the ship, a violent squall drifted her away before the crew were able to catch a rope dropped to them by one of the passengers on board the ship. The boat was seen fruitlessly endeavoring to reach the ship again, but the wind carried her farther and farther away ; and she was soon lost to sight in the surrounding gloom. As the wind was blowing off shore at the time, it is feared that the boat has been driven out to sea ; but as she is a life-boat and is managed by experienced seamen, we are inclined to  believe she will return safely. As might be expected there were no provisions on board. Immediately the matter was reported to the authorities in Brisbane the Acting-Colonial Secretary decided on sending the government steamer Brisbane to search for the boat. Water Police Inspector McDonald accordingly left town yesterday afternoon to direct the search.

The subjoined is a list of the cabin passengers: - Mrs. Hill, the Misses Hill (2), Messrs. Charles H. Eden, George Ogilvry, William Durrant, Martin J. Soames, Chas. Morgan, W. Rich, Dominic Lynch, Frederick Hill; about 75 in the second cabin, and 345 in the steerage. William James Ring is the Surgeon Superintendent.