THE AUCKLAND ISLANDS. RETURN OP A STEAMER SENT BY THE NEW ZEALAND GOVERNMENT.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXI, Issue 2608, 27 November 1865, Page 5

THE AUCKLAND ISLANDS. RETURN OP A STEAMER SENT BY THE NEW ZEALAND GOVERNMENT.

A. rood deal of interest has lately been ditected to these islands in consequence of the publication of the nariatives of the sufferings oE the crew of the ' Grafton,' which -vya* wiecked on these islands. The colonial steam corvette 'Victoria' was despatched by the Australian Government, on the 4th of October, with Captain Musgrave, of the 'Grafton,' as a passenger, to examine the islands and bring off any seamen who might bo on them. As within the last few years five vessels have sailed from Australian ports whose fate is uncertain, it was thought possible that some traces of thuinmiuht be found on the islands. The 'Victoua' arrived at Otago on the 10th instaut, having failed to find any traces of wreck, and none of auy castaways beyond the body seen by Captain Musgrave. The]) i. 'Southland' was also despatched from Invercargill by the New Zealand Government, and by the last arrival from the South we learn that it had returned to that port The narrative of the expedition, which we give from the Southland Times, is extremely interesting :—: — The Southland, p.s., loft luvercargill jetty at 9.30 a.m., on the 14th of October, in charge of Captain Greig, for the Auckland Islands. In addition to the ordinary complement of officers aud men, Messrs. Baker and Richardson accompanied the expedition ; Dr. Monckton as surgeon. Anchored at Port Adreuture (Stewarts Island) at 5.30 p.m. of the same day, aud did not leave until the evening of the ISth. During our short run across the Straits -sighted the 'Snares,' shortly after daylight on the 19th, and passed them about 9 a.m. After losing sight of them we saw nothing beyond the ordinary accompaniment of sea fowls and porpoises, until 4 pm, of the 20th, when the weather clearing, we sighted the Auckland Island*, distant about 20 miles, nnd at once stood in for them, but were unablo to make port before dark, and so lay-to for the bight, our third at lea. At four o'clock next morning (21st), we commenced steaming in, soon passed Enderby Island, and opened Port Rois, which we entered, and proceeded to the upper end of the inlet (Laurie Cove), in which we anchored. It is about eight miles from the entrance to this cove, which is beautifully sheltered, being entirely landlocked ; tho surrounding hilti rising to a height of 1,000 feet. Approaching from the north the islands hnve a picturesque and basaltic appearance, and are mostly covered with trees of a low aud diminutive growth, with a (hick under-scrub, fiom high-water mark, some distance up the slopes of the hills. The summits of the ranges are grassed, and the whole of the interior of the main island appears to be open country — the scrub in no case extending more than half a mile fiom the shore. We ioou discovered that we had been forestalled in our errand by the * Victoria' steamer. They had only left three days before our arrival, as the following copy of a letter will show. This wa« found by vi in a sealed bottle at the foot of a tree, ou which they had carved a notice of their visit, and ran as follows :—: — "H.M.O s. 'Victoria,' October 17, 1865. "The above ship arrived in this harbour on the 13th October, 1865, having searched every bay from Adam's Island to the Sandy Bay on Enderby'i Island for traces of shipwrecked people. She will leave here to-morrow to continue the search round the western shores of this island to Carnley's Harbour, and from thence proceed to Campbells Island, Antipodes Island, and Bounty Island. "On Enderby'a Island have been landed tome goats nnd rabbits for the purpoie of increasing their number, to relieve shipwrecked people. Some goats have albo been landed here, and vegetables and trees planted near the marked tree for the same servioe. This humane service has been performed by order of the Governments of Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland. "It m requested any visitors to these shores will give every aid in their power to secure this benevolent object, and not allow the animals and plants to be exterminated or destroyed. "(W. H. Nokman, Commander." The knowledge of the 'Victoiia's visit had the effect of considerably damping the enthusiasm caused by the disoovery of recent tracks and fires, of whioh it proved a complete explanation. Their search appear* to have been carried far enough to determine that no one at present exiits in the vicinity of Port Ross ; but from the absence of any traces of them ifc it doubtful whether the ' Victoria's ' party have discovered certain evidences of the whilom presence of castaways, which we met with down the harbour, as for instance, (Iteml.) On the west side of the harbour, about four miles from the entrance, a ship's boat ; no name, well above high-water mark, keel uppermost, as if it had been vied for shelter, but to damaged a« to be otherwise useleis. Alio on the' same side, about half a mile nearer, two oars. - * (Item 2 ) The frame of a boat, made of small sticks woven together, and lashed together with strips of seal skins, found lying' just inside Ocean Point, the east head of the harbour; no trace of the covering being visible.

(Item 2.) A-thatobed hut about uiue feet square, on Ocean Point. Evidently built by men who had no axo, and who *übsi»tbd on liinpots, to which fiiot a large pile of shells bore testimony. From this hut * track led to a oommunding eminence overlooking the sea, on which we stumbled aorois— (Item 4.) A pole (fallen down) with a large bunch of white graf.B attaohed to one end, and which had evidently been intended for use as a signal. The supposition that other* than the crew of the 1 Graf ton 1 have been wrecked here is rendered a certainty^ these trace* j. but they also. point to the wet that at least twelve months* must have elapa^d since their residence on this end of the island. Further, as evidence of a wreck geneially remain for years after the accident, it is extremely probable that something may yet remain to determine the identity of the vessel. Wd exhumed the remains of the man found by Captain Cross, at the old settlement ; placed the bone* (for nothing else was left) in a coffin, and btiiied it in the cemetery, where several graves still aro visible, one with a very good headstone, and bearing the following inscription r-<~ I. Y. Died, 22nd November, 1830, Aged Tlnce Months. It vim Dr. Monokton's opinion that the man j whoie remains were found must have died more than a year ago ; also that the man had never been accustomed to hard labour. His clothes would lead to the conclusion that he was not an ordinary .seaman, his coat being a good brown' cheolc elbth, cut away and braided ; his pilot coat of superior cloth, and his other clothing good. He was probably master or mate of a vessel, the "sou-wester" and oil-skin suit pointing to a seafaring life, and his rank, as assumed from his dress, at once overthrowing the idea that he had been put on shore from a whaler. Captain Musgrave's description is defeotive in many points^ both »s regards the man and the island. His hairy a little of which remained, is of a medium brown, cheok-bonei not high, nor chin pointed. He has the appearance of having been a well-formed man, with a slightly prominent nose. We discovered nothing now about him save a wooden spoon in one of his pockets and an immense pile of limpet shells under a portion of the fallen house, showing that he mutt have existed there for a very long time. Captain Musgrave's assumption that he was a Catholic, from the simple fact of his wealing a small heart, with something " sacred " sewn therein, is pos»ibly erroneous, it being much more probably a love-token than "a mark of Roman Catholic superstition. " Over his grave is placed a board with thia inscription: — "Erected by the crew of the p.s. ' Southland,' over the remains of a man who apparently had died of starvation, and was bmied by the crew of the ' Plying Scud,' September 3, 1865." Ootober 23. Captain Greig also left a notice of our visit and a letter (in a bottle) stating its object, nnd mentioning our having left fowls there. By our explorations we gradually became aware of the extent of the original settlement. For miles around " Laurie Cove " traces of the axe are to be met with, remains of huts, old garden*, old roads, now nearly obliterated by 'a new growth, and other signs of the amount of labour once expended on this now wilderness. Having failed to discover any other traces than those mentioned, in the vicinity of Port Rose, we started down the east coast on the morning of the 26th, and after steaming round a large bay, a shoi t distance to the southward, we continued our course along the shore, and in the afternoon entered a long inlet, at the head of which wo anchored. The day was very unfavourable for an examination of the coast, it beini; a perpetual drizzle, and the next, during which we remained in "Long Inlet" to examine its shores, was little better — in fact, the pleasure of sceiug the Auckland Island* on a fine day hai got to come. We here »aw nothing but the tracks of the ' Victoria's' party and the pig"! on shore, and a few seals in the water. There are some pigs on the hilli round Laurie Cove, but thia appeais to be their head quarters ) the seals also are more numerous as we proceed to the South. We shot a pig here and killed our second seal, but the excitement attendant on the death of the fit st, a spotted one measuring seven feet sit iuches long, was wanting. Their habits are extraordinary, they seem as much at home on shore as at sea, climbii'<r up places iv the bush so steep that it would be impossible to follow save on the hands and knees ; and then their manner of descent when i frightened— tumbling, rolling, wriggliug, with a reckless disregaid of con»equences, over stone 3, logs, cliffs, — anything to reach the water — is m-ich more comical to witness than agreeable to imitate ; and when there, it is difficult to credit their powers of swimming — instantaneously with the disappearance of the tail in one spot, is the appearance of the head in another — yards distant— and as they seem never to tiro of the feat it is a simple matter, by watching one for a minute or two, to come to the conclusion thathe is a host in himself, nsyou can scarcely believe tint the many heads and tills you see constitute the personal property of one seal. On the 28 th we resumed our voyage, and were dodging in and out of innumerable small bays and inlets all clay, and though we steamed close in shore, we did not land, and from the vessel saw nothing. In the evening wo steamed up Carnley Harbour, and the 'Southland' was snugly moored iv the little basin called Camp Cave. We spentsome days in examining the shores of this extensive hatbnur and while doing so slept two nights iv Musgrave'* house, a very comfortable sort of place about 12 feet by IS feet, with a large stone chimn°y. The only objectionable feature was the slightuess of the rafters, which bent so much to a gale we experienced the second night, that some of the nervous ones of the party, before turning in formed a complete network of rope between the wall-plates to c.itch the roof if it fell ; this, together with several oars at different angles, also supporting the roof, gave it rather a strange apneaiance to the inside as revealed by the firelight. We found a quantity of smoked shags and pieces of seal inside the house, and n variety of little aiticles, evincing the expenditure of a consideiable amount of patience and ingenuity in their construction. There is a considerable clearing aiound the house, an old forge, charcoal pits, tannery, &c, and just in front, nearly diy at low water, lies the 'Grafton,' apparently but little injured, despite her long stay among the rocks on a lee shore. At the house we discovered the 'Victoria' had again been before us, found nobody, and left a notice of hsr visit, which is now supplemented by a notice of outs, intimating the landing of the goats we brought on Musgrave's Peninsula, and fowls at Camp Cove? Musgrave's party appear to have had no garden whatever, and to have out very few tracks in the bush ; indeed, Captain Musgrave was never accustomed to New Zealand busb when he called the Auckland Island scrub "impenetrable, 1 " it being far better travelling than anything we have in Southland ; but a considerable allowance has to be made throughout his journal for the state of mind of the writer. There is very little bush at this end of the island, and that little of a much more open character than around Laurie Cove ; but though there i» a large ai ea of open country on Auokland and Adam's Islands, it is of a very different deaciption, being piincipally covered with Alpine flora, cotton plant, mosses, and licheni, and all to the hill tops wet ground. If its position were good some of it might possibly be occupied for pastoral purposes, but on the Auckland Islands never. On Monday, the 6 th, we steamed with the ' Southland' up to the head of the north arm of Carnley'si harbour, aud then up the we»t arm «s far ns the west fiassftgo, which places we had been unable to reach in a boat owing to continual westerly gale*. On the extreme point of Adam'i Island (which forms the sonth sid« of Carnley's Harbour), at the west passage, we found a number of sea lions on shore, and killed soveral of them ; Captain Greig intends taking one to Invercargill They average about 8 feet in length by 54 feet in girth — the old ones having a very, formidable appearance -and there is little doubt they would seriously injure any one, if they got the chance ; but, except down hill, they cannot run a^ fast ah a man, and fortunntely so, since they often give chaso in a determined manner, thus rendering the clubbing of them rather an exciting affair. We 1 found no traces whatever of wreck or wrecked other than the ' Graftou' anywhere round the harbour, which we left for good, early on the 7th, by the east entrance, and steamed round Adam's Island ; passed the we»t entrance of Camley's harbour about 1 p.m. on our way up the we*t coast. With the exception of Disappointment Island and a large bay behind it, the west coast present* an almost unbroken line of precipitous cliffs, rising abruptly to a height of soveral hundred feet. Unfortunately the tops of the mountains were enveloped in clouds the whole day, aud the lower land was often obscured, so that we could not determine the position of those of the east coast inlets, which nearly cross -the i»l»nd,^ by reference to any known hills. Having now seen all that is to be seen of this group, ib ifl obvious that no one at present exitt* thereon, or, with the exception of Musgrave's party, have existed on any of the*e iiiands for some time past, for where the supposed «moke was seen on the east slope of the East Coast range, was just abreast of Mu»grove'» house, and not more thiro five

mile* distant; and if made as a signal by shipwrecked person to the ,'Plyiug Scud,' they, (seeing her making for Cferiiloy's Hkrbonf, would undoubtedly' tiaVe orosted over to meet her," and further, we could find no^tace*' whatever 'of tlieni,> while from, thejuafcurd of the country f- HJeiiig • peculiarly adapted for tracking, we were - enabled to ascertain the limits of <M,usgrave'ii and o£ , the " "Victorian's " explorations. Had it been oonnidered necessary there is little doubt I nit we might have followed up the traces found in the vicinity of Port Rosi, ,and determined what became of, the, uufortunatei who made them, whether they perished on the island, or were taken off by * vessel;, thejatter being moat probable. And now for a short general description of the islands. ' The' group uonsiats of considerable numbers of islands, Auckland- Islnrid being tho'' largest' 'and Adam's Island' the i next in size, the others bein<{ hardly worth > (notice. 'I here are only two good 'harbours— Port Ross at the i extreme north of Auckland Island, , partly fotmed by Encteiby Island, 'Ocean tsbind, and others; and Ca'rnley's Harbour, at the extreme south, formed by A uckland Island on the north *nd Adam's I»land on the south. Theie liarbours are very extensive, ,and are corapoumloil of a number of smaller ones — many of them affording gpod shelter and anchorage — the bottom in all instances being mud and shells. ' ' ! " " Nowhere aroand the islands did we see < sand; the few beaches which exist on the ea»t coast inlets and in the harbour *re composed of gravel and shingle, with, in a very instances, a slight sprinkling of very fine agates. r • < >' ' i' The geological structure of the • group is well deserving attention. Nearly tho whole may be termed of volcanic origin. The old formation of granite, schist, and limestone have, in many instances, been highly metamorphosed by/ trap^ and sienite. On the tops of the hills) in many' places, basaltic columns rise to a height of some hundreds of feet, and along a considerable portion of the hill tides are groups of basaltic rooks ; while, in the ravines below may be seen the usual detritus of such structural formations. On the ea^t side of Carnley's Harbour are to be seen two distinct streams of lava, about twenty yards apart, and a hundred yards wide each, overlying everything, and running down into the deep water of tho bay. We found pumice-stone on the island ; also, agates, imbedded in 1 trap,' and; in another place, in new red sandstone. Small quantities of steel sand are to be seen in a few spots, among the rocks, below high-water mark, We discovered no trace of gold on the island., The soil is principally of a peaty nature, and appears to be admirably adapted to the growth of ferns, which surpass in size any to be found in Southland, excepting of course the tree fern. Some three or four new ones we to be found here, but their presence is balanced by the absence of at least a dozen ot the Southland one 1 ). The prevailing fern, carpeting high and low ground alike to a depth of some 18 inches, is the " Hound's tongue." 7 here are several specimens of the vegetable world but little known elsewhere growing to a great size, two sorts in particular, one a sort of ice plant with a fluted leaf, the other with leaves like a pumpkin, the leaves of both moasuiing from 20 x 22 inches to 24 x 2C inches ; the stalks in length being (about equal to the breadth of the leaves. The presence of many small soits of sea fowl, burrowing in the sides of the banks around the coast-, partly account for this excessive growth, the soil in placet being half guano. Then are scarcely any laud birds at all ; and those the sparrow hawk, the toi, robin, and lark common to Southland —but only to be seen at long distance*, being few and far between. By five o'clock on the evening of the 7th, we had passed Enderby Island, and were fairly off to sea : at 6 p.m. next day we were abreast of the Snares, and at daylight on the $)lh we sighted thejS.W". Cape of Stewarts Island.