MUSSUM OF NATURE

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31862, 14 December 1968, Page 23

MUSSUM OF NATURE

of ocean, belong to France and are situated almost 2000 miles south of Madagascar—close to the Antarctic ice pack. These desolate islands, well off the regular shipping lanes, were infrequently visited during the last century by parties of whalers and sealers. “The Bordeaux commercial house of Borles and Son announced that their vessel Tamaris had sailed many months earlier for New Caledonia and was long overdue. She had 13 in her crew and her course might well take her close to the Crozets. This removed any remaining doubts about how genuine the message was. The British Government also decided to take part in the search. The captain of H.M.S. Thalia, then about to leave England for Australia, was ordered to search the Crozets for the shipwrecked mariners. It was the French trans-

thirteen men in the crew went ashore on the Island of Cochous during a heavy fog. Some time after she got clear and floated off, but three hours later she filled and sank. The crew escaped in two small boats to the island, taking with them a large quantity of biscuits. The crew have lived on Cochous Island nine months, and their food being exhausted, they are about to set out for Possession Island—3oth September, 1887.” Castaways Perished What happened following that brief message can only be surmised. Little could they have realised that a bare eight days before setting out on their perilous 80 mile open-boat voyage to Possession Island, their winged messenger delivered their brief message to civilisation. How they caught the alba-

the shipwrecked men. She then went to East Island, another of the group. A party of American whalers camped on the island for some weeks could throw no light on the missing men. The other islands were visited in turn—without result. History records the method used to inform the world of the fate of the crew of the Tamaris—albatross post—as one of the more fantastic. That the bird—unbeknown to its senders—delivered its message in such a short time is even more incredible. -j.h.j. The photographs show two species of albatross which frequent New Zealand. They are the Royal Albatross and chick and the Wandering Albatross, both on display in the Edgar Stead Hall of New Zealand birds at the Canterbury Museum.