A LEGEND OF TIMARU

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22004, 30 January 1937, Page 4 (Supplement)

A LEGEND OF TIMARU

One day in the year 1834, a little failing vessel, the Seamew, struggled into a bay, and dropped anchor. It had been blown up the coast an the preceding night, by a southerly storm. On board there was a great deal of activity. The captain had been struck by a fal-ling-mast. He was very weak, and he was waited on by Jack, his cabin boy. The day was hot, after the storm and when night came on Jack slipped off his shirt and dived overboard into the cool water. After he had swum some distance he thought he would turn back, but just then his feet touched the ground. He realised that he had swum towards the land. Feeling cold.'he crept out of the water and robbed his legs and arms. When he felt capable of swimming back he looked up to find that he could not see the boat’s light. A dense fog had crept up and blotted out everything. Now, Jack was a boy of common sense, and seeing bow futile it would be to try to get back, he gathered some driftwood, and with his flint which he always kept in his trouser-pocket, he made a fire. At daw& the captain sent a boat

party to the shore, and with Jack, explored the surrounding land. They found that the country, although hilly, was a good site for a whaling station. They built huts

and made their permanent homes there, and those huts later became the foundation of Jack became a man of importance and he took a great part in the building of Timaru. The Seamew was wrecked later down the coast by Oamaru, but all hands were saved. —TUI SEXTON, M.G.. L.B.H. (aged 13), 82 Grey road, Timaru.