HELD IN CAPTIVITY

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIV, Issue 1074, 22 July 1924, Page 5

HELD IN CAPTIVITY

SURVIVORS FROM A WRECK.

AN ARMED EXPEDITION. MELBOURNE, July 21. The expedition which will search for two women survivors of the wrecked vessel Douglas Mawson, who are stated to have been taken captive by natives, will be commanded by Colonel Storey rind will proceed by sea front Danvin to Boorooioola. It will be fully armed.

as fighting with the natives is anticipated. A Darwin message states that experienced nautical men, disbelieving the Douglas Mawson story, declare that conclusive proof lias been secured that the Doijpglas Mawson was wrecked 400 miles from the point where the natives are reported to have murdered some of the crew. They claim time neither the vessel nor the crew could have reached such a position in the violent cyclonic storm which raged at the time of the wreck. They also point out that three missions and a police station are within a 200 mile radius of the scene of the alleged tragedy, and that the missionaries could not have failed to hear something long before now.—-Press As<* socintiun.

SEA EXPEDITION

Received Jnlv 22, 9.50 a.in. MELBOURNE. July 22. According to further advice from the Administrator of the Northern Territory, il it is found impracticable to send the expeditionary force overland to attempt the rescue of ilie women alleged to be survivors of the Douglas Mawson, a sea expedition will be organised and will sail in the schooner Huddersfield. The territory to be searched is probably the least known part of the whole continent. The aborigines are far from the Roper Island mission and li/yc come little into contact with the whites and arc naturally hostile io strangers. The enmity may lie increased by unfortunate experiences with .Malay Uvpang fishers, who have paid flying visits to their coasts. —Press Association.