THE NIMROUD.

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 188, 9 August 1924, Page 17

THE NIMROUD.

VIOLENT CALES.

Many of our early settlors came to Auckland by the ship Nimroud, a vessel nf just over 10011 ton?, chartered by Willi*, '.an,, anil Co.. which made three

wiyagc? '.'in from London in tlie 'sixties. The vessel's first arrival in Auckland

was cm .Tnnuarv IT. ISiiO. and among the

passengers on that occasion were the latfi Mr. W. FiofTnian. who wa« one of the pioneers in the pianoforte husiiu'SS in Auckland: Mrs. Annie Buchanan, nf

Devonpnrt: Mr. Alfre.i .Tmvitt. of Xew North Kond. Auckland: and Mr. S. .T. Gorman, of Aueklnnii. tlie three latter being still alive. Mr?. Buchanan, who is m-t>r !tl) year? of age. is the widow nf Mr. William Buchanan, a very well-known A nek lander, and she is Mill living at Drvonport. wliieh has Hern bor home for

so many vnir.-. <»n the occasion n( this trip Hip Xiniroud was in command nf Captain Ilsrrison. The passage orr'.ipicrl 1:23 days and was uneventful with the exception of a fatal accident that happened to a cabin passenger named Duncan John McNeil, who was knocked overboard by ono of the staysail sheets and drowned. Mr. Gorman, recalling the primitive Auckland of those far-away day?, writes to mc: '"The first building i 'saw when I "landed was Hugh Coolihan's biscuit factory, built, on pile?, just where the Waiteniata Hotel now stands at the corner of Queen and Customs Streets. At that time a wall was heing built along what is now Customs Street, and it s>retched as far as Fort Britomart eventually. . Them was when I landed water inside the wall, and it. spread nearly up as far as thn present Fort Street. It was called th«

"intake.' . When we arrived we were landed in cargo boats at the end of the old wooden Queen Street, wharf."

The second voyage of the Ximroud was made in 1862-3. under command of Captain Edmonds. She sailed from London on December 2S, ISG2, but owing In'a heavy storm in the Channel shp had. to put into Deal, which port she did not leave until December 31. She arrived in Auckland on April 27, 1803. In the followinp; year the Nimroud was again in the Wa.temata, this time m command of Captain Oughton. The ship left the Downs on August 12, 1564, and arrived in Auckland Harbour on December 17, having been 126 days on thft passage. When running down her easting she encountered terrific gales. On October 30 and 31 she was hove-to under close-reefed topsails, and during this time she was struck by a heavy sea that, filled the decks and shifted the cargo. On the 29th of the same month many large icebergs were passed. On November 1 a tremendous sea swept over the ship, flooding the decks and doing much damage on deck. . The Nimroud was in Auckland for two months, and then "cleared for Guam."

It is interesting to recall that the peal of bell? that for many years hung in th» Cathedral Library. Bishop's Court. Parnel!. and are now in the tower of St. Matthew's, Auckland, came out by thn Niinrpud on the ISti.'i passage, and that". Bishop and Mrs. Sehvyn paid a visit to the ship while s-lie was in port.

The Ximroud must not be confused ' wiT.h the Ninirod, which did not come jto Auckland, but was in Wellington. where she arrived on April 27, 1564. in command of Captain Poynton. Thn almost identical spelling of the two names would be likely to lead to some i confusion. ■ Captain Bennett in the Maori War. The third mate of the Nimroud when ! she visited Auckland in lSt>4 in command lof Captain Oughton, wits a young man

' named Bennett, who was afterward-; connected with the noted Loch line. ; When the Ximroud was in Auckland I young Bennett left her to serve in the

' Maori war then raging, and attracting; 1 most of the adventurous spirits that i lived in the little township of those early I days. It was not his first visit to New ■ Zealand, as he had been here as an