LIFE SPENT AT SEA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20364, 19 September 1929, Page 12

LIFE SPENT AT SEA.

DEATH OF CAPTAIN BOLLONS.

MARINER OF WIDE EXPERIENCE.

LIGHTHOUSE-KEEPERS* FRIEND

The death of Captain John Bollons, master of the Government steamer Tutanekai, who was credited with knowing more than any other man about the New Zealand coastline, has occurred in Wellington at the ago of 67. His death will be mourned from one end of the country to the other, for no man was held in greater respect or had more numerous friends. The honour of Companion of the Imperial Service Order was conferred on him by the King last year.

There was an aura of romance about the life of Captain Bollons. He spent 63 years at sea, mostly frequenting the loneliest and least inhabited portions of the New Zealand coast and the remotest islands of the South Pacific. An amiable disposition, a fund of good-humoured conversation and an unrivalled knowledge of the lives and habits of seabirds and marine animals made him a boon companion and a delightful host to those who had the good fortune to accompany him on his interesting voyages. His guests included Governors of the Dominion, Royal visitors, Cabinet Ministers and scientists of world repute, all of whom paid' tribute to his hospitality'. One of his most recent guests was Lady Alice Fergusson.

Shipwrecked in Fouveaux Strait.

Born in London in 1862, Captain Bollons went to eea when 14 years of age and spent five years before the mast. His lifelong association with New Zealand came about by accident. He was serving on the barque England's Glory in 1881, when the vessel was wrecked in Fouveaux Strait. The crew were rescued and young Bollons was given employment in the coastal steamer service under the Union Steam Ship Company's flag and in the Bluff pilot service. He was for some time acting-second mate of the revenue schooner Kokeno, which was engaged in protecting the scaling grounds off the coast of the South Island. In 1£193 he joined the Government service, being appointed master of the Stella, formerly the Governor-Gen-eral's yacht. Then hs was given command of the Government Bteamer Hinemoa, which was engaged in paying periodical visits to the lighthouses round the coast of New Zealand and the outlying islands, and he served in this vessel for 28 years. Few New Zealand mariners have played a more humanitarian part in the rescuu of shipwrecked crews than Captain Bollons. Ho was in the Hinemoa when that vessel rescued the crew of the British barque Spirit of Dawn, which went ashore on the Antipodes Islands. Of the crew of 18 there were 12 survivors, who had liv(?d_on the flesh of penguins and raw penguins' eggs for three months. In 1905 the Hinemoa rescued the 22 men of the French ship Atijou after they had been marooned on the Auckland Islands for 90 days. In ISO 7 she found the 25 survivors of the four-masted barque Dundonald, which was wrecked on Disappointment Island with the loss of 13 lives. The shipwrecked men had lived for seven months on the fleslr of the mollyhawk.

A Great Nature-Lover.

During his eventful life at sea Captain Bollons compiled a wonderful collection of seabirds, shells ait, ; < seabird eggs, which Mr. Elsdon Best, of the Dominion Museum, Wellington, hopes may become the property of the nation. Captain Bollons was a born naturalist and he spoke and wrote with authority on the marine life of the South Seas. He always carried a small dredging plant during his voyages in order to enable him to pursue his hobby. His intense interest iu the Maori race, for whom he had a great affection, encouraged him to acquire a valuable collection of native curios. His collections are at present housed at his late residence in Wellington and also at the Bluff.

Captain Bollons' friendship with the lighthouse-keepers was well known. While under his command the Hinemoa and later tho Tutanekai visited every lighthouse in Now Zealand and called at the Auckland, Bounty, Campbell, Antipodes and Kermadec groups for the purpose of replenishing the food supplies placed there for the use of castaways. Captain Bollons was married in 1896 to Miss Lillian Hunter, third daughter of the late Captain J. C. Hunter, of Bluff. He had a family of four sons and four daughters. The eldest son was killed in a motor accident in Canada in 1925. The second son, Mr. T. T. Bollons, is second engineer of the motcr-ship Maui Pomare. The interment will be at the Bluff.