STORY OF THE LANDING.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLIII, Issue XLIII, 21 September 1909, Page 1

STORY OF THE LANDING.

Anxiety as to the fate of the captain's j boat, one of the two which left the ■ French steamer Gael as she was founderj ing, has been ye' at rest by the receipt j of a message from Karridale, a town 193 ) miles from Perth, and the site of the timber mills of Millar's Karri and Jarrah Company, Limited, says the "Argus." The message, which was received by the deputy-Posttaaslf-T-General from the postmaster at Karridale, was as follows : — "Boat containing 12 wrecked seamen, including the captain, mate, and 10 sailors from the ship Gael, landed on coast opposite Jarrahdene, eight '• miles north Karridale. Millar's Com--1 i pany have, them in charge. Owing to I j isolated spot where crew landed pos- ! sibly no further news will be received ' until late to-night." 1 It was subsequently learned at Karri- » dale that the crew of the boat had '• j made the coast, and walked five miles i j inland to Jarrahdene. It was somewhat difficult to obtain an intelligible narrative from the captain or any other members of the party, owing to them being able to speak only a few words of English. The story, as told by captain W. Meteye, is that the Gael left Nantes on April 20, loaded with cement, and bound to Hobart. "We were 82 days out," Fait) Captain Meteye, "when we ran into very heavy weather. It was soon discovered that the ship was leaking. The ship's crew, although working at the pumps for six days and nights, were forced . to give in, as the water in the holds was gaining fast, and there was no hope of being able to save the ship from foundering. Arrangements were at once made to place the crew in two of the ship's boats, myself, the second mate, and 10 of the crew taking one boat, and the first mate and 12 of the crew taking the other. On Sunday, August 22, at 3 o'clock, the two boats left the ship's side. They were then about 265 miles from the West Australian coast. The two boats stood by the sinking ship until Monday night, when she sank, at about half-past eleven o'clock. During the night the two boats made for the coast, steering for Vape Leeuwin. They were, however, not long in company of one another, for when morning broke the first mate's boat could not be seen. After three days' sailing against adverse winds we sighted land, and as the sea appeared calm we decided to take the beach at 3 o'clock on W*o<3»»«»«3siy In^t. In doing so tK<s boat capsized, and the occupants were thrown into the surf. After struggling for some time we managed to wado ashore." The point at which the boat's crew landed was just south of Point Freycinet. It was then discovered that they had lost all the ship's papers and everything else they had broughth away in tho boat. During the night they camped on the beach as best they conld, and during the following day explored the coast in the hope of discovering some ?i'abi'tation. After a fruitless search they returned to the place where they had camped the previous night. On coming back to the beach they discovered a case of preserved milk and a small barrel of biscuits, which had been lost when the bdat sapsized, but were washed up on the beach. This was all the men had to live on during Thursday \'Ad Thursday night. On Friday they again made a further attempt at exploring the inland, when they came across some cows and calves, which they <le- . termined to follow. In doing so they were met by an opossum-traper named W. Pickersgill, who conducted them to '■ Jarrahdene Mill, then about five miles i distant. They were hungary, weary, " and footsore, some of the crew having • no boots on. Their arrival was reported ( to Millar's manager at Karridale, and arrangements were at once made for their ; \yant& Ito be atendiedV after which a train was sent up, and they were brought < down to Karridale, where they were ta- ■ ken care of. ■ By the time they reached Karridale , a telegram was waiting for the captain from the French Consul at Fremantle, al- ' so a telegram from Millar's, at Bunbury, : giving the good news that the missing boat, containing the other portion of the i crew, had safely reached Bunbury. Arj ranements have been made for tho crew j I to proceed to Fremantle, where they will ( be taken care of at the Sailors' Rest.