VESSELS THAT VANISH.

Auckland Star, Volume XXX, Issue 145, 21 June 1899, Page 8

VESSELS THAT VANISH.

GREAT SHIPS THAT HAVE LEFT

NO TRACE BEHIND.

In view of the way in which the Perthshire has eluded the searching steamers stories of the disappearance of vessels have an added interest. It seems passing strange, considering the enormous amount of ocean traffic carried on nowadays, that it should be possible for a vessel to put out to sea, in lit condition. only to vanish from the face of the waters, and leave no indication of its fate. True, there are hundreds of unidentified derelicts floating about the seas, and some of them may be the vessels which have so mysteriously vanished. It is appaling to think of such mysteries as the fates of these vessels, which, setting sail with hundreds of passengers to whom the voyage perhaps promises happiness, wealth, and all the joys of life, never reach their destination, and are never again heard of. Take. the. ease of the Burvic Castle as a striking example. She vanished, not in mid-ocean, but between the ports of London and Plymouth. Into the latter port she should have put on her way to Australia. But she never reached Plymouth, and not a living soul knows how or where she vanished, it is most extraordinary that she should have been lost so near to land without so much as a spar being washed ashore to tell

OF HER FEARFUL FATE. Equally mysterious is the case_ of the Atafanta. This famous training vessel was stationed off Bermuda with more than 250 souls aboard. Early in 1880 she set sail for a short cruise, and from that day to this she has never been heard of. A very considerable percentage of the vessels which disappeared for ever in this mysterious manner were running between England and America at the time. It might be thought that the terrific seas of the vast Atlantic were responsible,- but it has been proved that many vessels were lost when the ocean was almost at dead calm. A large sailing ship left New Orleans some years ago for London. Thrice she was spoken and reported all well, and she was facing exquisite weather and a smooth sea at the third time. Yet, it is known she was lost with all hands within twenty-four hours, and to this day no trace of her has been discovered. In the early part of 1592 a fivemast barque/ the Maria, a newlyconstructed vessel, and at that time the third largest in the mercantile marine, set sail.

IN BEAUTIFUL WEATHERS,

from one of the biggest ports m Cochin-China for Hamburg-, with every promise of a fair voyage. But she never reached Germany. She vanished shortly after being spoken off the West coast of Africa,, and nothing has been found since to indicate "the fate that befell her. Another vessel running between England and America which met an end of a kind none but those who shared it ever knew' was the firstclass steamship President. She sailed from New York, for a, journey to Liverpool, in the spring of 1841, having on board a full crew of experienced hands and officers and a distinguished company of passengers. She left New York in fine weather, in splendid condition, and with no reason for fearing anything she was likely to meet. But she was never spoken and never hoard of again ; and, although fifty-seven years have passed, no .one yet knows to what dire calamity h?r end was due.