THE HINEMOA EXPEDITION.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 12961, 14 November 1907, Page 7

THE HINEMOA EXPEDITION.

THE SCENE OP ITS LABOUBfI.

EARLY HISTORY OP THEISLANDS. (Bt ths Hos. !R, McNab). (SPECIAIAT WRITTEN FOR "ntS PKESB.") The Scientific Expedition to the Southern Islands is the roost important event which has taken place in the Now Zealand scientific world for a very long time. Constituted almost wholly of New Zealand men, and covering a wide field, and with observers duplicated for the purpose of simultaneous investigation at the Auckland and the Campbell Islands, the first effort of the Dominion in the domain of science should produce results worthy of our new and improved statue. Beyond mentioning tho above as a preface, it is not tho intention of the writer to anticipate the plunder from Nature's laboratory; hia sole object is to give a sketch of tho first discovery of these interesting Islands end of the events which centred around them while man was engaged in destroying the fauna and flora which Nature had reproduced in oenturios of time. Tho list of islands to be vieitpd includes the Snares, tho Auckland IrUuk's, Campbell Islands, the Antipodes and the Bounties. Of these the first to comb to light were the Bounties. The etory of the Mutiny of tho Bounty is known to every school boy, and has been described in every British homo in the world; but few know that this story is linked to the littlo group of Islands to the South of our coast. In 178H, on tho same voyage which, ended in the mutiny, Bligh's vessel sailed past tho south of New Zealand and the little group of Islands which were called after the vessel was discovered. There is woven, therefore, around the first discovery of the Bounties, a romance which include! the atay at Oteheite of the passioneto sailors, their subsequent mutiny, long voyage in an open boat t his Governorship of New South Wales, and the only case of an Australian Crown representative being deposed by his people. After tho discovery of tho Bounties, three years olapsod before our knowledge extended any further. Vancouver with two vessels, the Discovery and the Chatham, had been cent from England to tho North-west .Coast of America to effect a settlement of * dispute with the Spaniards, and had in. 1791 put into Dusky Sound to refresh. Sailing from that port ami making round the south of Stewart Island tho vessels were separated in a storm, to meet which, both adopted the sumo course, and both within- a few hours of one another sighted the same group of islands. Vancouver called them the Snares; Broughton, the Commander of the Chatham, Knight's Islands. It was witlan » few days after this ißroughton . discovered the Chatham Islands. On the arrival of Vancouver and Broughton at Otaheite notes were compared, and the name Snares retained, out of compliment to Vancouver, who had first sighted them. The following year (1792) Captain Raven of the Britannia, after leaving a sealing gang at Dusky —the first sealing gang stationed on tho New Zoaland Ooaet—eailed for the Capo of Good Hope, passed round the south of Now Zealand, sighted the islands and gave them the name, Sunday Islands. On Raven's return to Sydney in 1798 he met some of Vancouver's returned officers and learned of the original discovery. ~ Iα these early days the Southern Ocean was not often disturbed by tit* visit of a vessel, and Wβ haw no re-, cord of any of the Islands being seen again until an old vessel, H.MJ3. Reliance, was ordered to return from Sydney to England in 1800, in ritm of her becoming unfit for service. Waterhouso was her Commander, and on tho Eastern route to England sighted tho Islands now known as £b* Antipodes, but called by him th* Penantipodes, a more correct designation. Tb» name Penantipodes was generally need /hiring the first decade or so of las* century. -■ ■ . Early in the nineteenth oentwry the sealing trade had been established on the Southern New Zealand <xmt line contemporaneous with a slackening off in Bass Strait sealing, »nd shortly, afterwards it extended to »fl tho then known Southern Islands. Strange w> say the Americans, theiigh m> far away, were the first upon the fields A reatol called the Union". *ith her oonicrt the Independence, visited these JatitUdee in 1804' for the purpose of »»MU»eCaptain Pendleton commanded the>*£*■. pedition and left a gang, on the Ant* podes about July 1804, sailing away only to moet his death ftt ToagaUbu. Later on the Union left her bones there. _. While the Union , * gang *« •Rationed on the -another American sealing captain n*»f»ed_ Delano visited the Snares and the Bounties, butbeina disappointed with the Bppearanoofl, sailed on without landing. So far ac I can ««ther, the tost harvest of ekine from the SouthernIslands was gathered b/ Pendjetone American seeling party. Thae harvest consisted of 60,000 ekine, and eiter the death of Pendleton and the wreck of the Union, wee taken from the party on tho Antipodes by upother American vessel, the Favourite, Gaptam Paddock. The Independence, after the skins were handed over to Captain Paddock, sailed away from the Antipodes, never to be heard of tgain, and the proceeds of the ekine, cent for sale to tpe China market, are alleged on American authority to have -been' kept by the Sydney agent, and never to have been received by the American owners. As Pondleton'e jging hod eet out from Sydney, and its baee of operations wae *t that port, news of the rich haul soon spread, and a mild rush took place to the Penautipodes. A 45-ton brig called tho Venus, under the commend of Stewirt, after whom Stewart Island woe subsequently named, braved the eiiormy couth sees and landed a sealing party upon the islands. Stewirt remained there until taken off by Captain of the Star, and landed at Sydney in June, 1806, but what success attended this second venture on the Antipodes cannot be ascertained. The Auckland Islands were the next to bo discovered by Captain Bristow, a whaling captain in tho employ of Messrs Enderby. Tho nemo given to the group woe tbo Lord Auckland Group, after i friend of Bristow's father. Bristow could not then knd on the ' newly-diecovered territory, but returned in the following year in the Sarah, landed on the island, and liberated live stock there. During the four year* following 1806 the eeoling w?e carried on on the mainland of New Zealand, on the Snares, tho Auckland Islands, the Antipodes, and tho Bounties. These, with Stewart Island, were known among Sydney sealing men « "The

Sofllins Jelnnd.i" in recording the destinntioirof the eoeling fleet in New Zealand waters. Among the visits of pealing cratt to tlm islands two stand out with more ti>in ordinary prominence. A vessel called the St.ir sailed in 180(5. calling in «t Whangaroa. and taking a younj; man named ~Gr<up? to the Antipodes. Tliis linn i>u!»eqiiently sailed Irom Svdr.ev in the Boyd, «ud was the cause of the Boyd Massacre, which must forever remain the greatest shipping tragedy on the coaet of New Zealand. The other visit worthy of special mention i« that of the Sinta Anna, which took « sealing party down to the Bounties, and landed a party of fourteen on that exposed spot. Among them «a-. :« Maori chief, Jiuatira, working liv passage to England to see tho Kin™. »So great were the privations «• n<lured on those luiiely islands that lhre<-. of the fourteen porishtrl before relief rarao. From tho Bounties Ru.-i----tira freilfil for England, and on hie return voyage to Sydney en mo iin<!er the notice ot tho Hey. S. Marsden, a who nuix'd him during his illness at s<. a aivl :ift«Twards cared tor him during Ins .stay on shore. A largo nortion oi Mirsden'ts Mu-rrs* in the \«mv Z««l«nd nn.-f.inn tirUl w«i«i due to Kiuitaras fricrdship okuined in this roundabout nifthod. 'lht> healing party on tho lonely liountiefi in ISOG was tho tirst step towards rendering inhibit* thr. introduction of C'nrictianity .imons th« Maori*. These were not tho only viMtors to tho inlands in thoo early swilinj; days, but spaco will only permit ot recoiling events which had a dose connection with tho outside world. At tho beginning of the second decade of tho conturv tho last of our islands was undo known to tho world. Th« scarcity of souls, owina to the continuous war waged upon thee»* inoffenbivo animals, giudn-illy drove the eeal«ni back, and compelled them to look out for fresh fields and pastures neve. In 1810 the Perseverance, owned by It. Campbell and Co.. one of tlie most enterprising of scaling firms et that ■ late in Sydney, and commanded by H«.s9eliboiirgh, was, shortly after the lose of the Boy<l in Whangaroa Harbour, eont in search of fresh sealing country, an<l penetrating into higher southern latitudes than had been betore attempted, found i.slands. one of which the captain named after his employer Campbell Island, and enother Macouarie Island after the then (lovernor ot Now iSuuth Wales. Tho languishing sealing trade received frcuh stimulus by tne return of the Perseverance to Sydney with news of tho discovery. I'jvery effort was made by Campbell and Co. to keep tiie information quiet, but in vain, an<) within a few days of one another no less than six vc&wls set sail for tlie iiru- southern land.;. Amongst this flept was an American vessel, the Aurora, and her captain was tho first to return to Sydney with a description of the wealth-producing capacity of tho isl.ind.4, and unfortunately news nlno that the brave discoverer had lost In* life, at Compl>ell Island during his creond trip on tho 4th of November of that year (1810). The scaling now centred round the Campbell and Macquarie Islands. It had commenced in Bass Strait, where by 1803 it had pretty well destroyed tho seals, when it shifted over to the south of Stew-art Nland and the Sounds. By tho isamo ruthless ■daughter the herds were destroyed on the New Zealand coast, and tho trade shifted to the southern islands, where tho last,stand was made on, the Campbell and Macquarie Islands. We can all be wise after the event, but what makes tho destruction of the eeal all the more to be regretted is that attention was called to the danger of extermination while seals were still plentiful on the Bass Strait Islands, but no steps appear to have been taken after the French scientific expedition called the attention of the authorities to the danger in 1802. From 1810 onwards a continuous stream of vessels visited 'the Campbell and Macquarie Islands, though it must be admitted that the latter, owing to tlie presence- of tho sea elephants, wae the more popular resort, and produced more wealth of oil and skins than perhaps all the other islands added together. Instances might bo quoted without limit of tho terrible priyatione which these early sealers experienced in the pursuit of their hazardous occupation, but two are given hero as illustrative of the surroundings of the men. In 1811 the Mary and Sally, a small trading craft, had left a gang of men on the island. One day the whole gang but one left to visit a distant part of the ishuid, and wero never heard of more. Stewart, who visited tho ■pot two months found the solitary survivor in a terrible plight, and took him off. The same year tho Concord relieving her stations was visited by two boats from tho shore, when a gale eprang up, and boate and everything had to bo taken on board and the vessel make out to eea. After six weeks battling with the storm, and after being- driven same ten degrees to the eastward, the captain succeeded in ngain making tho coast and in landing his imprisoned boats' crews. While on the subject of tragedies and gangs being left without sustenance on tlvreo% islands, it should not lx> overlooked that theso were not all the result of accident; we have authentic cises of the brutality of the captain being responsible for the lonely vigil of tho sealers. An English *jjchconer called the Adventyre was sealing at the Snaree in 1810 when 1/lie captain placed four of his men on tho island, alleging want of provisions on board. On that solitary spot theso poor wretches remained for sen long years, when the three survivors were rescued by an American vessel called tho Enterprise. That a gang could havo remained fhoro bo long would have been impossible n decade earlier or a decade later. Two years' assault upon the rookeries in tlm extreme south f>n exhausted tho seals that tho tratte fell nway to a mere nothing, and a vessel called the Elizabeth and Mary did almost all the scaling work on tho islands, and she traded to Macquarie Island mostly. The islands woro thus left alone to recuperate-, trado tlird and passing vessels wero exceedingly rare. Hones seven years without <\ relieving vo.wl. Then <"»me in 1819 and 1820 tho South Shetland eonliiifr tmde. an<i only after its exhaustion in turn wos anything done to revive tlm New Zealand trade. Thus from about 1813 to well after 1820 wo hive vo.rv little to chronicle. Amongst isolated • events tray bo mentioned the loss of tho Betsy on her road, homo from the Auckland Islands, in lSlvi, when alter some of the mo*t appalling sufferings sailors were ever called -upon to endure, the fciirvivors abandoned the vessel in eight of hnd, only themselves to fall into the hands of the savages in the north of New Zealand. Tho sealing trade ranied in the early twenties, and quite a small fleet of vessels from Sydney wore engnpcd upon it. a regular round trip including tlie mainland of New Zealand an;l a visit ds far Fouth as Campholl Islnnd. The Americans nbont the some time appeared with a i?.w veseeU representing doubtless some cf'the energy liberatod by the breaking down of"th« South ynetlnnd senlinc;. An American ye*- "' «st the Auckland Islands in 1*23 and brought back to Now York •ueh a fine cargo of skir.a that tho folfowing year another vessel was fittrd out by tlie same owners and sailed for tlie same She wns roportod afterwards to have touched at tho south Capo, having lost tlirw men nt the Chatham*. She was never heard of again. Another American vowel the \anW, visited tho Auckland I - irtiHs and procured 2000 skins in IR-Jl. The lαU of the American vcwLs w; lk < tin' schooner Antarctic, nmler Captain

Benjamin Morrell. who has left its. a well-written account of his voyages. He arrived at the Auckland Islanus on the 2Sth December, and from there visited the Snares. HU search was vain. As ho puts it hin:*e : t. "'I he population was extinct, cut off root and branch by the «• *tex& of Van Diemeius Land, Sidney." ctr. The last few year* ot the -twenties saw the trade fall away to such a low ebb us scarcely to iustifj the fitting out of a vessel for the sole purpose ot scaling, and incomplete cargoes or I ?kins were supplemented by trade on I tiie mainland with the natives, who, j having found the power by fire:i rms." were- working hard to secure ! them, and flax as a regular article of I trade came into the market. In addition to the New South Wales and America trade with the islands a small trade was done with Hobart j town. Now and then a vessel^ was fittod up from that piece for stciing but the traue never assumed anything like the magnitude of the Sydney trade.

(PRESI ASSOCIATIOV TCT.lUiaA*f.l INVERCAKGILL, November 13. T>r. Coleridge Farr, secretary of tho scientific expedition at tlie Bluff, received tho following telegram from tho ! Premier to-niffht: —''Please convey to tho members of the expedition my best wishes for tho success of their undertaking. I recognise tho importance ot their work, and I frel sine that the information obtained will be most valuable to the scientific world. May you havo a pleasant voyage and a «nfo return to tho shores of the Dominion."' (SPKCIAI, TO "THE PRESS.') INVERCARGILL, November 13. Tho Hinemoa is timed to sail for the Southern Islands at 8.30 in Uio morning. To-day several members of the scientific party, under Dr. Cockayne, made a botanical survey of Bluff Hill.