AN ADVENTUROUS VOYAGE

Auckland Star, Volume XLIII, Issue 201, 22 August 1912, Page 2

AN ADVENTUROUS VOYAGE

AMID TOGS AND ICEBERGS.

MATATUA ARRIVES.

Some unusual experiences b&fel the Slrctw S.ivi'J steamer Matatua. under cliiirKT to the New Zealand Shipping < ; ,:i.;,iiiv, in her voyage from England, in AiK'kV.intl. via Mcmtreal and Australia, v-)iir!i wiis roTnplrtcd this morning, 'nil- Miita.;-ua lefjc the River T.yne on ■».i;iv -4 last for Montreal. Atter pass- >:!•.' ilip VI ah nap Islands, the wind freshcurd !u a gale, but /our days loiter the wmliier niDilerated, nod from M.ay 2£>th til! .limp -Uh .the vt-ascl >vaa enveloped

in ;i dense blanket iojr. Diving the win'!.' lime the Muita,tua was in wireless communication wil'h steamers to the nurtii anil so-nth, and information was reivivci! timt there wore heavy icefields in the tracks usiiaily taken by steamers bourn! to 'the United Sta-fres and Canadian port?. By .taking a course midway between liie usual routes Captain GUlnian .to keep clear of ice, but the indict :'.or.s of big ice -were s.o nrac-li in eviuenve that ithe steamer was "hove to." During tno following ni.crht those aboard eouul hear Lh<> p-rindini; and cracking of the loergs, a? they driiled ahead of the sU-.inior. Aitar five day«, diurinjj wik'h considoraWo anxiety ■was -frk Ttv fhe p.T-=wnj:oi-s and crew of the. Matatita and other largo steamers in the vicinity, the fo? lifted, and the ptramer continued her jiiiss-.uiP for Mjiirwejil. The steimpr railed from Montreal on 'June 'V.si, ;>.nd fine wra'Oher prerailefi till, when off Tape JSreton Island, a thick fog dcseemlr-d. Here tihose aboard observed something in t-he natture of a phenomenon. On either side of the vessel vvas a thick fog, Tnit for a dis-fcaiK-'e of thirty miles she steamed in a perfe<ily clea.r lane, until the fog cleared awn y.

The remainder of the passage down to Melbourne was without any unusnal incident. After landing cargo at Australian ports, the Matatua sailed from Sydney on Saturday last for Auckland. When two days out from the L \"cw South Wales port wind came up from the south, and increasing in violence blew with hurricane force during Monday and Tuesday last. The Matatua was riding fairly light, and in consequence did not ship so much water as she -wotiM have bad she been, heavily laden. The pale blew itself out on Tuesday iikrht, and the voyage ■was continued in comparatively "fine weather.