KINGMAN REEF

Evening Star, Issue 22619, 10 April 1937, Page 2

KINGMAN REEF

EPIC SEA VOYAGE RECALLED rWritten by Ueamao, for the ‘ Evening Star. 1 ] Kingman Reef, the second hop in the Pacific flight of the Pan-American Clipper, commanded by Captain Musick, nearly half a century ago was the scene., of a wreck that was followed by an epic sea voyage in a'lifeboat that has few parallels m the history of sea navigation in -the-Pacific. The reef is situated 1,100 miles from Honolulu and 1,400 _ from Pago Pago, the two other landing places of the plane. AtWaitaki Boys’ High School are preserved the memorials of that adventure. Captain Donald M'Donald, the hero of the exploit, on retiring from the sea settled down to a quiet life in the beautiful countryside of North Otago, known as Totara (a few miles from Oamaru). There he lived for 32 years till his death in 1931, beloved by all who knew the gallant skipper of the windjammer days. Captain M'Donald was mate of the barque Henry James, that set out from Newcastle (Australia) coal-laden for San Francisco in 1888. He was on the watch below on the night of the disaster, but when the vessel crashed on to the Kingman Reef he was quickly on deck. He swung the foremasts round in the hope of getting the barque off, but the swell was so great and the vessel seemed so fixed on the reef that there was nothing else to do but for- • sake her. It was impossible to dislodge the forward lifeboats, but they were enabled to launch _ the two after ones. They delayed their departure from the ship’s side in the hope of' getting food and clothing for the voyage to Palmyra Island, some 50 miles distant. The weather being rough, they were unable to board the Henry James, so set off for the uninhabited Palmyra Island, which they had passed the previous day. The captain commanded the ship’s cutter with 20 of the crew and passengers (including the women and children). Donald M'Donald took charge of the gig with--10 of the seamen aboard. With all sail set, the latter was covering twice the distance of the captain’s craft. M'Donald came in sight of the island, but as the sea was rough he deemed it expedient to await the arrival of the captain before landing. The captain, however, considered that due to the heavy sea a landing should not be at- ' tempted till the morning, as the night was far advanced. M'Donald thought otherwise, disobeyed orders, and made for the shore. Taking two tacks, he made the landing successfully. The captain of the barque followed. A BOLD RECOURSE. There is no record of any measures being taken to mark the skipper’s displeasure at his orders being set at defiance by the mate. Subsequent events showed that he recognised in M'Donald a master mind. The island provided no food beyond the bird life and fish, and as far as. could be ascertained it was destitute of fresh water. A discussion on the steps to be taken to meet the desperate situation of the marooned company resulted in the captain expressing confidence in the ability of the mate to reach Samoa, which the captain indicated by the'chart was 1,630 miles S.S.W. The 'hazardous nature of the enterprise set M'Donald thinking. but he was spurred to the superhuman task by an incident he witnessed. To quote his own words: *“ In the evening I returned to camp, tired, hungry, and miserable. ... As I .sat down one of the little girls was eating a raw bird. It ‘ came against her,’ and as she was exhausted with retching she threw herself in my lap and fell asleep. . . . The sight of the poor little girl gave me an inspiration. I decided then and there to reach Samoa—but according to a plan of my own. I took my ring and gave it to her, saying: ‘Don’t ; cry. I’m going away with the boat to get you plenty of nice things to eat.’ ”■ The captain gave M'Donald a free hand as to his course of action. The larger boao was loaded with cocoanuts; the masts and stays were strengthened, and volunteers called for the perilous

enterprise. ’ Three Irishmen responded and an American. As one of the former was rather young, a German took his place. The five men fared forth on the breast of the waters on a very uncertain voyage indeed; The sea was rough, and they had hardly got clear of the island when the rudder was carried away. The following few days saw the boat travelling well before a favouring breeze, and it crossed the Equator on the fifth day out, covering 152 miles on the day before crossing. Tempestuous weather followed; the rain, wind, and thunderstorms took the heart out of the crew, but the captain heartened them to renewed efforts when the sea abated. As so often in life, they were lifted up only to be dashed down again, for when the cocoanuts were opened up for the food and milk' they. contained it was found that they had : been ruined by the thunderstorm. The refreshing milk had been turned td a loathsome green curd. This left them'in the unenviable plight of being 800 miles from their destination without food of any consequence—truly a terrible predicament. DESPERATE STRAITS. Fortunately, there were a few old cocoanuts that were sufficiently nutritious in the circumstances to eke out a meal a day; but there was nothing to drink. The German and the American seamen proved unequal to the strain and were out of action for the rest of the voyage. To such dire straits were the company reduced that the that the helmsman was found sucking the blood from a finger he had cut in an endeavour to assuage his thirst. Two boots were also eaten by the crew, and some of the leather from a telescope. Happily a fall of rain enabled them to collect sufficient water in the canvas sheets to relieve their sufferings. For some days M'Donald had followed a circuitous course to get the benefit of the trade winds, but matters became so desperate that he decided to pick a straight course from the chart. After 19 days they sighted Samoa. The men were so weak that the mate forebore to tell them that it was yet 54 miles away, but he cheered them and they responded. The skipper addressed them: “Never shall I forget your courage in sharing with me this terrible voyage. Under the provocation of hunger and thirst you did not utter one word of complaint; there is the land of promise now in sight.” A storm broke over them and delayed their arrival. Thunder rolled and lightning flashed, so they stood to till daylight. As they neared the land they signalled a craft and discovered it to be under the command of a Samoan chief. He was shocked at the spectacle he beheld in the condition of the men, and astounded to hear they had covered over 1,600 miles from Palmyra Island—their course was not a direct one as in the case of the Clipper plane that covered the distance recently. RELIEF—AND A SEQUEL. The schooner Vindex was despatched with M'Donald aboard for the island to rescue the marooned company. It took 28 days to make the voyage. In the meantime the United States warship Mohican (which was at Samoa when the news arrived of the wreck) passed on word to the mail steamer Mariposa of the plight of the people at Palmyra Island. She made a detour of 1,500 miles to effect the rescue, 13 days before the Vindex arrived at the island on a similar mission. An interesting sequel to the disaster occurred years dater. M'Donald was mate on the ship Auldgirth in 1896,t when she was at Portland, Oregon, on the Columbia River. One day he was taking a stroll on deck when two ladies came to the gangway and asked for the chief officer. M'Donald informed them that he was that functionary. One of the ladies showed him the ring he had given to a little girl on Palmyra Island before setting out on his perilous enterprise. The two ladies were Laura and Ada Hastings, who were among the shipwrecked passengers of the Henry James, one of the ladies being the little girl whose distress prompted the mats to set out for relief across a tempesttossed ocean. To mark the fine feat of seamanship, Lloyds presented Captain M'Donald with the Life-saving Medal for Seamen (equivalent to the Victoria Cross in war time). They desired to present him also with a gold watch suitably inscribed, but he intimated that he would prefer money so that he might divide it among those who endured the terrible ordeal with him.

Captain M'Donald was a native of Stornoway, off the coast of Scotland, noted for its herring fishing. He was born in 1852, thus being 80 years at the time of his death in 1931. His association with Otago began with the voyage to Port Chalmers of the ship Oam aru, on which were a number of passengers who settled in North Otago. On his retirement from the sea he took up his residence among the friends he met aboard his ship—that was 32 years ago. There he spent his age of ease following a youth of labour and adventure by flood and field.