WRECK OF A BARQUE.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 9812, 23 August 1897, Page 5

WRECK OF A BARQUE.

A MONTH IN AN OPEN BOAT.

THE CREW ON AN ISLAND TEN

MONTHS.

(press association tki_gram.)

AUCKLAND, August 21.

A singular " tale of the sea" is to hand to-day by the Taviuni from the South Sea Islands. The Fyi Times of the 7th inst. reports:—"One evening the Fiji Governm.eat despatch steamer Clyde, a small Auckland built vessel, returned to Suva, Fiji, from a trip up to Funafuti, Ellice group, in the Central Pacific, and had on board a shipwrecked crew which they had picked up at Sophia Island, after a period of over ten months. The vessel was tbe Seladon, a Norwegian barque of 1066 tons register, and she was wrecked on the 7th of August of last year, at Starbuck Island, a guano depot. The crew made a terrible voyage of hundreds of miles in an open boat to iSophia Island, where they lived until they were picked up. Captain Callaghan, of the Clyde, gave the fiji Times the following report:—" We left Mali Passage on 10th July for Funauti (Ellice Group), and decided to call at Sophia Island. On approaching land the look-out reported a boat tlying the English flag. It turned out to be part of the crew of the Norwegian barque Seladon, 1066 tons. One of the men in the boat told us there were thirteen men on the island, and they had been there for teu months and ten days. On coining aboard the second mate, Olairs Ladi, reported as follows:—The Seladon left Newcastle, New South Wales, on the 13th July, 1896, for Honolulu with a full cargo of coal. Everything went well until the night of the 7th of August at 11.30 o'clock, when the vessel struck Starbuck Island while running at a speed of seven knots per hour. About 15 minutes after she struck there was 4ft of water in the hold, and we proceeded to launch the boats. We had time to put a quantity of food and water in them. The two boats contained eight men each. We lay by till daylight, and attempted to board the Bhip to get a sextant, but on attempting it this was Found impossible, owing to seas breaking right over the ship as she lay on her side on the rocks. The captain then decided to attempt to reach Maiden Island, which he thought we might reach on Monday, or in about two days' sail. Having nothing but chart and compass we did not succeed. We then attempted to make Christmas Island, but missed thatalso. We then put before the wind, steering between S. and S.W. On the 18th of August, eleven days from leaving the ship, the gig we were towing capsized. We picked up all in her except Christian Nilsian, the ohief mate, whom we never saw again. We made fast the capsized boat and lay-to till morning. At daylight we cast her off and set sail again. On the 24th, seventeen days out, Captain Actolf Jaeger, died. He had been ill for a long time previous to leaving Newcastle. We buried him. Nothing occurred to make any change during our sailiug till the 30th August, twenty-three days out, when our provisions were finished. Our last tin of meat, bib, was shared out among fourteen men at one meal a day, and lasted three days. Having had rain occasionally we caught it in the sails, and so had water. During all this time we never sighted anything but sea and sky. We were reduced to skeletons, aud very weak. We sailed on, however, more dead than alive, for six days more, and on the evening of the sixth day sighted Sophia Island. An hour later we reached it, and attempted to land. We drove straight on to the reef, and were cast ashore, our boat being smashed to pieces. We lay on the beach unable to stand until assisted by some natives. We reached their houses, and were treated by them with the utmost kindness. The natives consisted of two Rotuma men and four native women. On the seventh day after our lauding on Sophia Island the carpenter, Tollah Olsen, died, never recovering from the effects of the exposure in the boat. The natives shared what provisions they had with us, and for the rest of the time we subsisted on cocoanuts, sea birds and turtle, which were not by any means scaroe. On the 25th October one of the Rotuma men died, and we buried him near tho carpenter's grave. We remained on the island in all ten months and ten days, till the arrival of the s.s. Clyde, only sighting one sailing ship a good way off, and a steamer which was too far off to see the signal we hoisted on the highest tree.

" The ship's crew consisted of Aotolf Jaegar, captain, who died in the boat; Kris tian Nielsen, chief mate, who was drowned; Olairs Ladi, second mate, a survivor; Tollah Olsen, carpenter, who died on Sophia Island; Lars Tonneresen, steward ; Peder Time, sailmaker ; Marrslies Aske, A.B. ; Hans Jensen, A.B. ; Karl Tholsen, A.B. ; Abram Halrsen, A.B. ; Gabriel Jonson, A.B. ; Inglebert Hognestar, 0.5.; Johannes Knudsou, 0.8. ; Andrew Jakhodson, 0.5.; Hans Tollefaen, boy; Tommes Berensen, boy. In all there were sixteen of a crew from Stavanger, Norway. We left Stavanger and joined the Seladon in London. From there we went to the Baltic to load lumber, with which we proceeded to Algoa Bay. From Algoa Bay we went to Newcastle, New South Wales, sailing from there, as 1 previously stated, for Honolulu. We are now away from Home nearly two years." Captain Callaghan took all the men on board the Clyde at once, and looked after their comfort in every possible way, placing the best in his ship before them. On arriving at the island of Rotuma he purchased olothes, &0., to the value of several pounds for all the shipwrecked mariners, and on calling at Labasa (Fiji) he opened a subscription list, and succeeded in securing some £26 for their relief. The second mate and crew were deeply grateful for the many kindnesses shown them by Captain Callaghan. A few days after their arrival at j Fiji the shipwrecked crew of the barque left Suva for Sydney in the barque Ellen. The vessel was towed to sea by the Clyde, and on casting off the rescued crew gave three hearty cheers for Captain Callaghan. , j The Seladon was a wooden barque of 4102 tons gross register, owned by G. Gunderson, of Stavanger, Norway, built in 1877. i According to the chart the wrecked sailors must have made a voyage of about 2000 miles in the ship's boat before they reached Sophia Island. After leaving Starbuck Island they steered northwards for some distance, as Maiden Island and Christmas Island lie considerably to the nortb. Then they sailed south and west till they made Sophia, which lies in 10.46 south lat. and 179deg 31min east longitude. Sophia Island lies just north of the Fiji group,* and is a small wooded island two to three miles in circuit.

Starbuck Island, where the ill-fated barque was wrecked, has been very vaguely placed on the charts, and it is to this cause probably that so many previous wrecks have taken place there. There was formerly a guano depot there, and several Auckland vessels visited it, but it is now deserted. The island is low, and is not visible over seven miles away. The island lies sdeg 38min south of the Equator, and in in 165deg 56rain west longitude. It ia surrounded by a narrow, steep reef nearly a mile off the shore, and it was evidently on this that the Seladon ran. A notable wreck which occurred on Starbuck some years ago was that of the British steel ship Gareton, laden with Newcastle coal for America. The crew made a terribly Bevere voyage of six weeks in an open boat to Wallis Island, where they were picked up by the Auckland schooner Olive, and came on to Auckland in the Wainui. It was alleged that some of the men in the captain's boat talked of "casting lots" amongst themselves to furnish food when all the provisions were gone.