LOSS OF THE SCHOONER RAVEN AND TWO LIVES.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 4, Issue 195, 15 June 1861, Page 5

LOSS OF THE SCHOONER RAVEN AND TWO LIVES.

. To the ' Commercial Editor, of the New Zealander. Mission House, Kawhia, May 14th, 1861; Sir,-— Henare Takerei, a native of this place, and halfowner.of the above vessel, has just given me the following melancholy information : — r . On Sunday morning last, the 12th inst., the Haven left Waitara with a crew of four men, viz., Mr. Hopkins the master, another European called Ho, Henare Takerei, and his cousin Hira. when but a short distance from land it was found that the vessel was leaky. She: had been injured in the Waitara by a large tree, during the flood a week previously. The anchor was dropped for an hour, and the leak stopped with oakum, after which she proceeded on her way to Manukau. The weather was very fine, the wind fair, and. nothing particular occurred, until seven p.m., when Hif a, who was in.bed, heard the rushing in of the water. The vessel's course was then altered, her head turned towards the land, and three men hastened to the bow below, where the water came in. Hira having burnt his hand that morning did not assist. They endeavoured to stop the breach with a blanket, but it being in a decayed board, the hole became laTger, and the water rushed in more and more. After working an hour and a half they returned to the deck which was then only one foot above the sea. All procured some clothing, then pushed the boat into the sea and left the vessel— Hopkins steered with a paddle, Ho and Henare pulled with oars, and Hira baled Che water with a saucepan, the boat being leaky and small. When they had rowed about 200 yards they saw the Raven go ■down. It was then 9 p.m., and they were some five miles from the land, about half way between Mokau and Kawhia. >. The high hill Wareorino was in sight. They pulled towards the land, but a strong land breeze from Marokopa ruffled the sea, which filled the boat and upset.her. Three clung to the boat but the sailor Ho was carried away. Henare swam after him and brought him back with the oar still in his hand. The boat was now righted, the water got out, and three men got in again, but the* fourth upset it. Both Europeans were now washed away, Henare swam after them and brought Hopkins to the boat again, but the poor man Ho was seen no more 1 He was a good swimmer and might have been saved, if he had not worn long and heavy boots. Hopkins had his taken off while in the water clinging to the boat. He was carried away and brought back by Henare four times, but about four (judging from the stars) yesterday morning he was drowned! His last word was a languid call " Henare," whose strength was also nearly exhausted, so that he could help the sinking man no longer. Hira who was very weak, and now looks very ill, had tied himself to the boat with a rope, which enabled him to draw himself up again when he was gashed away, otherwise he must have been lost too. His clothes were torn off him by his cousin. With part of his shirt they baled the water out of the boat, the. saucepan being lost, and getting in they embraced each other to " taugi" (weep) in their distressing state. After that Henare sculled the boat with the oar they had left, and Hira continued baling the water out until quite exhausted he was compelled to lie down. JBut at length the sun rose, the wind from the land gradually ceased, there was a calm, then a gentle Seabreeze set iv, which enabled Henare to scull the boat to a sandy beach at Harihari, some ten miles south west of Kawnia, where he landed about noon. He carried Hira ashore and laid him in the warm sand, got fire by rubbing wood together, rubbed and rolled Hira until he revived, aud procured some mussels from the rocks, which they roasted and eat. In tae evening they came to Taiiaroa, wiiere they found people and food. To-day they came here to give me the foregoing account. The poor sailor it "seems was drowned soon after the ' sinking of the schooner, but the other three appear to have been some six or seven hours alternately in the sea and boat. Those who have seen the terrible rocks of the coast, and know also what it is to be exposed (though but a short time) toa winter night's landbreeze in the mouth of the river Morohopa, caii well judge what these poor men must have suffered irom fear and cold, and fatigue. - - . C. H. SCHNACKEITBERG. The transport ship Minden, Captain Marshall, signalled on Friday afternoon, reached her anchorage on Saturday morning between 10 and 11, after a long but most agreeable passage of seventy-nme .days. Sailed from Calcutta on the sth, and from the Sand Heads on the. 7th March, haying embarked the following officers, ladies, and soldiers of the 70th regiment : — Colonel and Mi*3. Galloway, Captains O. J. Travers, and W. H. Ualston, laeuranant A. B. Wright-, Ensign J. McPherson, Mrs. McPherson and -i children, Dr. Alston, 227 noncommissioned officers and soldiers, 19 women and 25 children; of these nine men and one woman died of cholera, all before leaving the Hoogly ; there was one birth. From the Sand Heads to.Bass' Straits which the ship entered on the 4th and cleared on the sth instant, she had a good run of fifty-eight days; from thence her passage has been a tedious one of twenty-one days during which she encountered a succession of the late prevalent gales and calms. Her first land fall was Cape Brett which she made on Thursday morning, and was baffled between the Hen and Chickens and the. Little Barrier, by light airs and calms. The Minden is a fine ship of the old school, and the first of Messrs. Dunbar's fleet that has visited this port since the Lan ashire "Witch. Colonel Galloway and the officers of the 70th speak in high terms of the attention of Captain Marshall, and we may add that few ships have come into port in more clean or creditable order than the Minden. She did not haul to the Wharf as was at first intended, probably because of .the browning Beauty occupying the outer berth. The troops, however, were landed on Monday, in- admirable order, by the boats of H.M. Ship Pelorns ;' and, at 2 p.m., played up Queen Street by the band of the 65th Regiment, they marched for the camp at Otahuhu under command of Colonel Galloway. — New Zealander, May 29. ■ The Prince Arthur, steamship, Captain Walker, of H. M. Indian Navy, from Bombay, fetched her anchorage here yesterday evening about 7 o'clock.. She has on board a detachment of the 57th Regiment, under the command of Brevet-Major Hassard. The detachment consists -,of 147 non-commissioned officers and men, 42 soldiers' wives, and 69 children. The officers are—Bre-vet-Major Hassard, Captain Sir Robert Douglass, Bart., Captain C. J. Clark, Lieutenants Acheson M'Clintock and A. C. Manners. The ladies are-^Mrs. Hassard, and Mrs. Martindale (wife of Quarter-master Martindale), and 4 children. Two men, two women, and one child died on board of dysentery ; there were seven, births at sea. This detachment of the 57th embarked onboard the hired tra^port-ship -Victory, at. Bombay, on the sth March; but, in .consequence of small-pox appearing in the crew, the. troops, were transferred, on the 18th of March, to the Prince, Arthur, which sailed on the same -day. The' troops enjoyed excellent health throughout, every precaution being taken by Captain Walker and his ofheers to render their condition : comfortable. The Prince Arthur is a noble vessel, and does credit to the Indian Navy. She was purchased by Her' Majesty's Government during the Indian mutiny, and used then and since as a troop-ship. She is 1200 tons register, •with auxiliary screw, driven/1»y engines of. 120 horsepower; enabling her to steam at the rate of seven miles an. hour. She is 245 feet over-all. Her 'tween decks are spacious and roomy, and everything about her is neat and trim to an unusual degree. The voyage from Bombay was excellent, when the time spent at the various ports of call is" deducted, and also when it is stated that Captain' Walker had orders to sail all the voyage and not to .steam. The Prince Arthur left Bombay on the 18th March, and experienced light and battling winds for the most part' of the voyage. She touched at Point de Galle, where she remained for three days ; and came to anchor for a day at Quilon. 'On the 9th May the ship anchored at George Town; some distance from Launceston, where she remained for seven days. Major Hassard and the -officers of the..s7th, and Captain Walker and the officers of the Prince Arthur, were partakers of the hospitalities of HerlSajesty's lieges, while off Launeeston. A- grand entertainment and ball was given by the inhabitants of Launceston in : honour of the newly arrived Governor, Sir-Henry, Young, Bart.,.and they invited all the officersc»"ro«jte:for New-Zealand; military and naval, with those of the garrison; to meet His Excellency. The gentlemen , onboard the'Prince^Arthur.speakin thehignest terms olthttgate : y of the jaatty.-^he; beauty pf. the ladies, and - i^eriaore^than'-ordinary-hospitaK^of ,which they- were^ the^jteoifiieiit^lvJt^afewi^reSTe^ .ttierefiire.'thati the , jra<Usntrpfficera bn;^ their departure from tnehospitoble'shorer of Tasmania. "A .? Btrong south-easterly-^le wae "encountered .*■ when theH

ship cleared Bass's Straits, New Zealand was sighted on the 57th.day after leaving Bombay. The Three Kings were sighted and passed between 2 and 3 o'clock, a.m., last Saturday morning, the ship taking the passage between the islands and the main land. She lay off in the gulf for a day, becalmed ; and wind still failing, at half-' past 2 a.m. yesterday, Captain Walker ordered; steam to begot up, and steanaed into harbour in the evening. The Prince Arthur is pierced for six guns, but has only two guns on board, as she is not- intended for warlike -q^OTa-: tions. The troops were under the medical supervision of Dr. Fettis, surgeon in charge of the Prince Ar%hur; ; who deserves great praise for his care and attention.) The other officers of the ship are— First Lieut. Templar, and Messrs. Fleming, Ash, and Tolput." The ship'scomSany consists of 193. The stay of the Prince Arthur will c snort. After refitting a little she is under orders to return to Bombay. This is the second ship of the Indian Navy that the Imperial Government has placed at the service of New Zealand. The Elphinstone, of 18 guns, , did good service during the first New Zealand war : and the recollection of that fact should increase the warmth of Captain Walker's reception among us. One fact is patent — the solicitude, not only of the Home Government, but also that of India, in the affairs of N. Zealand, This detachment of the 57th is to proceed to Taranaki, with the women and children, to join the head-quarters of the regiment stationed there. It is seldom we see such a specimen -of naval architecture as the Prince Arthur in the Waitemata. We must not omit mentioning that through the courtesy of Capt. Walker and the officers of the 57th we have been able to publish a summary of the English mail per Jeddo, in anticipation of our regular files. The latest date by the Prince Arthur, from Sydney, is to the 16th inst. — Southern Cross, May 28.