THE STRANDING OF THE TARTAR.

Auckland Star, Volume V, Issue 1391, 25 July 1874, Page 2

THE STRANDING OF THE TARTAR.

NARRATIVE OF AN AUCKLAND PASSENGER;

' The following graphic account o&the groundf ing of the R.M. steamship Tartar on the reef is extracted from a private letter from an Auckland passenger, received by the last mail. It is dated 20th June, 1874:—At Kandavau we trnnshipperi into the Tartar, a large Biropg steamer* but. with only half.the n^commoci^tioh required for the large numbers of passengers. We left on Sunday the 14th. Everything -went well up to Sunday the 21st. On Mod day morning at about 3 o'clock something woke me up with a start, and I found the engines stopping. I thought at first nothing of it, but when I felt the ship give two or three hard bumps and found the engines going hard astern I got up, and you may imagine my horror at finding we had run on a coral reef, wiih breakers all round. Soon the,whole of the male passengers came on deck, half afraid to speak to one another lest the ladies should get to know wh^t was the matter, as we all hoped before morning to get off the reef. But they had felt the shock as well as we, and before sunrise most of them came on deck, betraying their anxiety in their alarmed looks and questions. When daylight broke we could see the dangerous position we were in. The ship seemed literally surrounded, by reefs. They extended as far as we could see fore and aft. We were fifty miles out of our course, arid with ho hope of any, vessel coming to our assistance. I thought the ladies would give way to their fears, and by creating a panic make matters worse, but they behaved nobly. Not a murmur was heard. All seemed resigned and determined ) to await the issue. Had the breeze freshened we should indeed have been in a bad case. The boats were all got ready for lowering, but they were only capable of taking about half of us ; besides it is a poor chance when it conies to the boats in the middle of the ocean. My thoughts at this fearful time where of my old father and of all of you. Had we gone down it is possible you would never have known our fate. The Captain commissioned one of the passengers to address us. Tf we could only keep calm. and bear with him in this critical and dangerous position he would do all in his power to get the vessel off. He should expect all of us to lend a willing hand to assist. Fortunately the wind kept Heht, and the surf was nothing to speak of. When it blows hard this breaks on the reef in large rollers. When it was found that the engines would not move the ship, an anchor was carried out astern, and an attemptwasmade to heave her off that way; but after a short time the hawser parted and the anchor was lost, our hopes of escape at the same time becoming less buoyant. The word was then passed to lighten the ship by throwing overboard the coals for we had no other cargo. We had about 1000 tons on board. All the male passengers were told off into four watches or relays for-^this purpose, the officers and crew being engaged in sounding all round the ship and ill carrying out a second anchor. The warp, however, broke again, and all chance of dragging her off in this way was lost. We now commenced our work. There were nine Europeans and three Chinamen in each ■watch. You do not know what it is for hands which have never been used to it to shovel up coals out of a ship's hold in the tropical heat of these regions. We were only about six degrees from the equator. Oh my God I trust never to be obliged to go through it again. Some of us went down the hold and the rest remained on deck to empty the baskets as fast as the steam-engine could hoist them. Hardly a word was spoken from the time we

went below until our watch was relieved, as we all understoood how much our chance of saving our lives depended on our exertions.

It is not an easy task to lighten a heavy ship. You should have seen us coming from our work. Our singlets and trousers were the only clothes we had on, and you could wring them out, so profusely did the perspiration stream from us. This and the coal dust tojrether made us miserable-looking objects. It would have puzzled our nearest friends to have recognised us. For twenty-five hours we -woi-ked like Englishmen can work when they are put to it. Old and young alike stuck to it manfully. When the watch I

belonged to went down on Tuesday at eleven o'clock we were told that every basket would now tell. The coals were being sent up out of three hatches. We

were discharging about 80 baskets an

hour, the engines going full speed astern all the time. All at once the captain, whether in despair or as an experiment I do not

know, ordered the engines to be put full spead ahead. Immediately after the change we felfc the ship right herself. She had before been lying over on one side. Then we felt her begin to movrf sover the rocks. We knew at once what it meant, but we continued working might and main. A heavy surf swell coming in at this moment lifted her up over the reef, and our hearts gave a bound of thankfulness as we felt her settle down in deeper water. A loud hurrah burst from all of us, and we rushed on deck in a great state of joy and excitement. You should have seen the faces of our passengers and heard the congratulations all round. Then, and not till then, did the ladies give' way, and their pent up feelings found vent in tears, and, in some cases, hysterical sobs. You may fancy the position of a large ship, with 210 souls on board on a coral reef, right oat of the track of a friendly sail ; add to this shoals of sharks swimming round the ship, as if waiting with diabolical patience for their prey. Our boats were all in good order except one which, was smashed m the surf- an accident which nearly cost the second officer his life. The moment we got into deeper water the captain anchored till the crew in the steam-launch should find an outlet in the encircling reefs. Although we had sufficient water to float us we could see the bottom plainly. On Wednesday we started, the little steamer taking soundings ahe*d of us. We had steamed very s.owly for about half-an-hour when our little pilot-boat put up the red danger nag. By reversing the engines we just escaped going on another reef. The captain now determined to remain where he was until the launch had discovered a channel into deep water. This took a long time, and the time seemed longer from our anxious susoense. At last she returned, having found an outlet We started again, and this time got safely ' out into the open sea. Thank God for ou escape, We arrived here without furth >

mishap lastnight. The vessel is, I hear *c little the worse for her bumping on tl? i** rocks. My bands are getting better no* They have been very badly blistered a W in-all directions, and quite stiff. OnSund ' before we struck the captain could not fefr the sun, as it was aveiy cloudy day, end* found that a current which is £uppoaedt! run in the opposite direction had carried m out of our course very nearly to our desW tion."