THE AIGBURTH WRECK.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 12699, 31 October 1904, Page 3

THE AIGBURTH WRECK.

— REMAINDER OF THE GREW RESCUED. A THRILLING NARRATIVE. EXPERIENCES WITH CANNIBALS. The missing boat's crew of the ship. Aigburth, which was wrecked off Rook Island, •near the coast of New Guinea., on July 10, whilst on a voyage from Newcastle to Java, with a cargo of coal, safely reached Sydney on October 23, being Brought from the islands by the German steamer Prinz Sigisiflund.

Mr. .T. Paterson, the second officer, when seen by a Sydney Morning Herald reporter on his arrival, gave a graphic narrative of the experiences of -his; boat's crew after the striking of the vessel. He said : " When the Aig-burth left Newcastle the captain intended to take a southerly passage to Java, but, owing to the prevalence of head gales and high seas, that course was abandoned, and it was decided to make the northern passage. New Britain was sighted on July 9, and a W.N.W. course was steered, New Guinea being sighted on the same day. At four o'clock next morning I was on Watch, but was unable j to sco any land, owing to the weather being j hazy. Shortly after that I was relieved, butjwas awakened at half-past seven a.m. by j the vessel striking a reef. I went- on deck, j and found that the captain and chief officer were on the poop, and also a seaman, who was on the lookout. There was then a moderate S.E. wind blowing, and the sea was also moderate. On soundings being taken it was found that there was 17ft of water forward, 35 fathoms under mo stern, and 100 fathoms 30, yds from the vessel. " The captain gave orders for the yards to be backed, and kedge anchors were put out; but it was not until six o'clock ,the next morning that any movement was noticeable in the ship's position. The cables attached to the kedge anchors, however, parted, and the vessel swung round, striking the reef on the starboard side. The force of the impact unshipped the rudder and destroyed the steering gear. The ship commenced to leak at the rate* of 6in per hour, and instructions were given to launch the boats. . The wind was blowing fresh fry in the S.E., accompanied with heavy ram squalls. The boat 3 stood by the ill-fated vessel all night, and in the morning it was found that the Aigburth had a b-aw li--t to port, and that the water in the isolci la-) increased. The captain decided to abandon the ship, as nothing further could be done to save her. " It was decided that the boats should keep together if . possible, but, in the event of being separated, to steer for New Guinea. The captain had charge of No. 1 lifeboat, the chief officer the pinnace, and the sailmaker i the gig, while I had charge of No. 2 lifeboat, the crew consisting of 11. Paris, J. -Courtney, C. Baer, J. Anderson, A. Anderson; J. E. .Jausen, and G. M. Donald. During the, night the chief officer instructed me to steer a W.N.W. course: but when I came to examine my compass I found that it was bioLe.i.l and useless. To make matters worse mv lamps would not burn, owing to the wir;d and raiu. I kent company with the other boats, however, until two a.m. on the 14th, , when 1 lost sight of them._ As there was no sign of -the boats at daylight i decided to ; make for the nearest land, which'was Rook Island. . , "We had a perilous experience on the night of July 16, for a heavy southerly gale, accompanied , with a high sea. sprang up, and wo thought every minute tnat the little craft would be swamped. The crew, however, lay at their oars all night, and in the morning the weather moderated. Our boa.was then drifting through the channel between Rook Island and Butter Island. 1 j decided to work back through the channel j to the i.-land of Tuam, and thence to New j Guinea. Owing to the hopelessness of working back against the wind and current, and to the fact that our provisions were running short, I decided to abandon the boat and seek assistance by walking. t " We therefore landed at Rook Island, and started in a southerly direction. After going some time we met a large party of natives. These at first seemed greatly surprised at meeting white men, and ran to the scrub, where they hid' themselves. Our party continued on its journey for a couple of hundred yards, and then halted. I walked ill the direction where I had seen the savages dis-, appear, and as I did so one of the warrior, advanced to meet me. He informed mo that his name was Hamba, and on reaching the spot where I was standing threw a bunch of bananas at my feet as a peace offering, The whole of the tribe then advanced, and treated us in a very friendly manner, supplying us with food, etc. None, of them could speak English, and I was therefore unable to learn if any traders were in the vicinity. We left these natives, and continued our journey southwards. , . . " On July 30 we again had an experience with savtges. Wo were walking through a swamp close to the coast, when a number of natives from an adjoining island came out waving a red flag. They placed us in their canoes, and conveyed us to the island of Aranut. They treated us kindly, but we had much misgivings as to their intentions, for they frequently felt our legs and arms, evidently to see if we had become any fatter. It appeared to us that these men were contemplating a feast, so we decided to leave at the first opportunity. "On August 8 a Chinese trader called at the island, and informed us that a steamer would visit his island in a couple of weeks. We had previously sighted a schooner, but, although we made signals of distress, she passed by, having apparently not seen them. " When we wanted to leave for tlio Chinaman's island the natives strongly objected, and at first it appeared as if they intended to keep us prisoners. They, however, held a council amongst themselves, and after much talking decided to launch one of their large canoes and take us to the spot. We arrived at Mahdok Island tho same day (August 9). "A few days later a daring raid was made by a large body of natives from an adjoining island. ' The tribe on the island on which we were located went out to meet them, and were soon fighting furiously. The trader produced a number of rifles, and these had the effect of dispersing the invading party, who were forced to flee. In the meantime their canoes had been destroyed, and they were compelled t<J swim to their island, which was about six miles distant. The sloop Nubia arrived on September. 7, and we reached Fredneh Wilhehnsi Hafen four days later. " Our party was completely exhausted, ior during the 13 days we spent in the boat we lived on one meal a day, while the provisions secured from the natives were barely sufficient to keep life in our bodies. However, as it was, moss of the party suffered from malarial fever, and on arrival at the Gorman port E. A. Jensen (bosun) and 11. Paris (an ordinary seaman) were suffering severely from blood-poisoning, and were admitted to the hospital. " Shortly before our arrival," continued Mr. Peterson, " a determined attack had been made by the natives on one of the German stations. Three of the ringleaders were captured, and these were executed while we were at Fredrich Wilhelms Ilafen..- The men, with another native who had been condemned to death for murdering his master, were tied to trees, and firing parties, consisting each of five police, discharged two volleys at 10 paces. It was discovered, however, that three of the men had not been killed, and the master of the police afterwards shot them through the brain." Mr. Paterson sneaks in the highest terms of _ the treatment he and his companions received, at the hands of the German Government, the traders, and the captain ana officers of the Prinz Sigismund.