4. Tea and flour, in barrels; flax, clover, and linseed, or rice, in tierces; coffee and cocoa, in bags, should always have 9 inches, at least, of good dunnage in the bottom, and 14 to the upper part of the bilges, with 2 inches at the sides: allowed to stow 6 heights of tierces, and 8 heights of barrels. All ships above 600 tons should have 'twixt decks or platforms laid for these cargoes to ease the pressure-caulked 'twixt decks should have scuppers in the sides, and 2 inches of dunnage laid athwartship, and not fore-and-aft ways, when in bags or sacks: and when in boxes or casks not less than 1 inch. Rice, from Calcutta, is not unfrequently damaged by indigo, for want of care in stowing.

5. Entire cargoes of sugar, saltpetre, and guano, in bags, must have the dunnage carefully attended to, as laid down for other goods. Timber ships are better without 'twixt decks if loading all timber or deals. Brown sugar to be kept separate from white sugar, and both kept from direct contact with saltpetre.

6. Pot and pearl-ashes, tobacco, bark, indigo, madders, gum, &c., whether in casks, cases, or bales, to be dunnaged in the bottom, and to the upper part of the bilges, at least 9 inches, and 24 inches at the sides.

7. Miscellaneous goods, such as boxes of cheese, kegs and tubs of lard, or other small or slight-made packages, not intended for broken stowage, should be stowed by themselves, and dunnaged as other goods.

8. Barrels of provisions and tallow casks, allowed to stow 6 heights. All metals should be stowed under, and separated from, goods liable to be damaged by contact.

9. All manufactured goods, also dry hides, bales of silk, or other valuable articles, should have 2 inches of dunnage against the side, to preserve a water-course. Bundles of sheet-iron, rods, pigs of copper or iron, or any rough hard substance, should not be allowed to come in contact with bales or bags, or any soft packages liable to be chafed. When mats can be procured, they should be used at the sides for silk, tea, &c.

10. Tar, turpentine, rosin, &c., to have flat beds of wood under the quarters, of an inch thick, and allowed to stow 6 heights.

11. Very frequent and serious loss falls on Merchants on the upper part of cargoes, particularly in vessels that bring wheat, corn, tobacco, oil-cake, &c., arising from vapour damage imbibed by wheat, flour, or other goods, stowed in the same vessel with turpentine, or other strongscented articles: the shippers are to blame for such negligence, for not making due inquiry before shipping.

12. Ships laden with full cargoes of coal, bound round Cape Horn or Cape of Good Hope, to be provided with approved ventilators, as a preventive against ignition.

NOTE. Shippers abroad, when they know that their cargoes will be stowed properly, will give a preference, and at higher rates, to such commanders of ships as will undertake to guarantee the dunnage. The American shipowners, in the stowage of mixed cargoes in large ships, have, from experience, discovered what "pressure" flour barrels, provision casks, &c., will bear, and so avoid reclamations for damage if otherwise properly stowed: hence, in large ships above 600 tons, with dimensions exceeding in length 4 times the beam, and 21 feet depth of hold, orlop decks will come into general use, so as to relieve the pressure, by dividing a ship's hold like a warehouse, into stories. A large ship, called the "Liverpool," which left New York in December last, with an entire cargo of flour, has never since been heard of; it is supposed the lower tier of barrels gave way under the pressure, and the cargo having got loose, shifted in a gale of wind, and capsized the vessel. Ship's cargoes, for Insurance, will also become a matter of special agreement between merchant and shipowner, and merchant underwriters, and the premiums vary according to the dunnage agreement. The stowage and dunnage must stand A1, and is often of more importance than the class of the vessel, as experience has proved. When ships are chartered for a lump sum, the draft of water should be limited, as it not unfrequently happens that brokers insert a clause that coals are not to be considered as dead weight, in order to fill the ship up in case of goods falling short, to make up the chartered freight. All packages, bales, and cases, not weighing more than 25 cwt. to the cubic ton measurement, are designated as light freight.—Lloyd's, May, 1851.

MONTREAL, ETC.,-STOWAGE OF GRAIN CARGOES. Lloyd's instructions to Masters and Mates.

I. No ship exceeding 400 tons register can be entirely loaded with grain in bulk; and all exceeding 400 tons register may take two-thirds of the cargo of grain in bulk, and one-third in bags, or rolling freight instead thereof. In the latter case, the grain in bulk should be stowed 6 inches, but not more above the beams, to allow for settling.

2.

When ships take wheat, corn, &c., in bulk, it must be stowed in sections or "bins" (not to contain more than 12,000 bushells each), to be lined with thoroughly seasoned boards, grain tight, not less than 10 inches from the flat of the floor, and from 14 to 16 inches in the bilges graduated to the sides, which must be clapboard lined to the deck. Care must be taken to preserve a water-course under the lining. Good shifting boards, secured to the stanchions, extending at least 6 feet downwards and fitted tight to the deck. The stanchions not to be removed, but firmly secured. No loose grain to be stowed in the extreme ends, and no admixture of other goods. Pumps and masts cased and covered with mats and canvas, made thoroughly grain tight, with sufficient space in the well to admit the passage of a man to the heels of the pumps, and access had to the same by means of a man-hole from the deck, or by a clear passage from the 'tween decks aft. Mats to be used for covering knees, keelsons, and stanchions, if required, but not for lining or covering the sides.

3. Grain, when stowed in bags, must be dunnaged not less than 10

inches on the floor, 14 to 16 inches on the bilges, 3 inches on sides up to the deck; between decks the dunnage must be laid athwartships, at least 2 inches from the deck. Shifting plank extending at least 4 feet from deck beams downwards, secured to stanchions. The dunnage in the hold must be entirely covered with boards and sails, or mats, grain tight.

4. All bulk or loose grain must be taken in bins prepared for that purpose.

5. For dunnaging, deals are preferable to anything else. They should be laid fore-and-aft, about 3 inches apart, the second tier over the spaces of the first tier, the third tier over the spaces of the second, and so on. Staves or other materials generally used for dunnage to be placed so as to give free course for the water to reach the pumps. The dunnage should be raised from 10 to 12 inches from the floor, and in the bilges from 14 to 16 inches, according to the build of the ship and the discretion of the Inspector. Flat-floored, wall-sided ships should be fitted with bilge pumps.

6. The studs for the bulkheads should be made of three-inch deals, placed about 2 feet apart, and firmly secured at the top and bottom, and properly braced and cleeted on the lining and to the beams (or deck), to resist the pressure of the grain.

I

7. The studs for the bulkheads forward, and after bulkheads for ships not exceeding 10 feet depth of hold, must be 4 by 6 inches in size, and of 1 entire piece; of a greater depth than 16 feet, they must be 4 by 8 inches. They must be set 20 inches apart from centre to centre, firmly secured at the top and bottom, and properly braced and cleeted on the ceiling and deck, to resist the pressure of the grain.

8. The sides above the turn of the bilge must be lined on one-inch battens after the manner of clapboarding.

9. Shifting planks 2 inches thick must extend to the deck on each side of the stanchions, fitted tight under and between the beams and carlins, and extending not less than 6 feet downwards; care must be taken that the stanchions are well secured at both ends. In no case can single boards be substituted for plank, and the shifting boards must be shored from sides, midway between the stanchions.

10.

Materials for bins must be perfectly seasoned; unseasoned lumber must not be used where it will come in contact with the grain. Water-tanks, whether of wood or iron, must be cased with wood to prevent damage from sweat or leakage. And all ships with grain in bulk ought to have feeders and ventilators.

II. It must be seen that the grain is well trimmed up between the beams, and the space between the beams completely filled.

12. When ships are chartered, the draught of water should be limited, and provision made for loading under inspection.

13. The load draught must be regulated by the depth of the hold, allowing 3 inches to every foot depth of hold, measured from lowest line of sheer of deck amidships to the water, when upright. Ships having an additional deck put on after construction, the depth of hold to be measured from original deck.

Ships loading grain complying strictly with the above rules, lined and loaded under the supervision of the surveyor appointed by Lloyd's agent, will be entitled to a certificate to that effect.

Applications for supervision will have to be made in writing, and a fee of 10 dollars charged for such supervision and certificate.

In preparing the ship's hold to receive cargo, all the limber boards are to be taken up, all dirt removed from the floors as high as can be reached, and the limber holes effectually cleared.

All perishable goods require dunnage; the quantity required for the different cargoes is indicated under their proper headings. As a general rule, however, there must not be less than 6 inches in the bottom, and 9 inches in the bilge. Dunnage is chiefly required about the pumwell and bilges, masts, in the wake of the chain-plates and transoms; since, when a ship lies along she will have most water in the wake of the floor timbers, and ships are apt to strain in the wake of the chains, owing to the weight of the masts and rigging when she lies along. The 'tween deck dunnage to be laid athwartship, and the first or ground tier not to be carried too far over towards the bilge. The bilge dunnage should always be carried well up.

In stowing the hold, homeward, from India,* the dunnage should be levelled from about 2 inches above the keelson, before the main hatch, and lowered towards the wings, to allow for the droop of the beams. The ground should not be carried too far over towards the bilge, where there should never be less than 9 inches dunnage from the skin. If the dead weight consists of cargo in bags, in stowing the third height the dunnage may be reduced to 6 inches, and above that gradually to 2 inches from the ship's side, which will be sufficient in a tight ship, excepting in the wake of the chain-plates and bolts, where it should not be less than 3 inches.

When putting dry cargo on moist, or putting one against the other, let double mats intervene. Mat in the way of iron knees and iron stanchions; dunnage and mat round masts.

*The Sea Officer's Manual. By Capt. A. Parish.

Plenty of quoins should be used in stowing casks, which are to be placed bung up, bilge free, and exactly fore-and-aft, upper tiers, bilge, and cuntlines. The bilges should be free, not only from underneath, but from the casks also on either side; they may be stowed close, until the longer is completed, and then wedged off by driving quoins on each upper quarter. If the casks are not exactly in a fore-and-aft line, the chimes will lock and get broken, in breaking them out of their place. The space between casks should be filled up just high enough for the beds to rest upon, that the strain from the upper heights may not fall entirely upon the lower casks.

All cases should be stowed mark up, and entered in the hold-book as stowed.

IRON, BAR AND RAILWAY.-Bar iron should be crossed, and the crossings kept exactly one over another-the first precaution being to keep the centre of gravity up, and thereby prevent the violent rolling of the ship; and the second, to prevent the bars from working. The ceiling of the vessel should also be protected from the chafe of the ends of the bars, by putting about 3 rows of them, with their ends properly shifted, between the ceiling and the crossed bars.

An experienced stevadore recommends faggots, about 18 inches thick, to be laid athwartships from the keelson to the sides. The iron is to be placed fore-and-aft, solid or close together. Next tier to be placed angle-fashion, towards the keelson and the wings, pigeon-coated--that is, with a space of 4 inches from bar to bar. Cross the third tier the opposite way, so as to form a diamond in the openings. Then stow fore-and-aft, solid, and so continue stowing, 2 tiers open and 1 solid, until three-fifths of the cargo is in, finishing with a solid tier. On this lay dunnage as below, and then stow 1 tier solid and 2 tiers open, until the cargo is complete.

LEAD. When pig-lead only is taken, dunnage with coal and rubble until the keelson is completely covered, in order to raise the lead and make the ship easy in a sea-way. Lay plank, and stow in the middle in stacks, placing the pigs 3 or 4 inches apart, and crossing at the same distance.

MACHINERY.-Place it in the vessel before taking any other part of the cargo, on account of its great weight, and to afford the opportunity of securing the several pieces properly by beds and chocks. Articles such as cog-wheels, and castings of a similar shape, should be lashed vertically or edgeways to the masts, taking proper care to chock them on each side with rough cases of goods, well dunnaged.

BALE GOODS.-In stowing bale goods, care should be taken to put the bales on their flats in midships, and on their edges in the wings,