Sailors and Ships, Ports and Havens of Days Gone By

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21647, 13 November 1933, Page 33 (Supplement)

Sailors and Ships, Ports and Havens of Days Gone By

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111 'X nno tries to remember what Auckland was like seventy years am) tilings appear a bit hazy* J5,,t, j remember that the Waikato War, which was 011 at that time, dominated a flairs generally. The harbour was abnormally crowded with ships of all kinds, some with troops, others with stores and war material and intending settlers. Many <>t these men afterwards became experienced hush lighters. One i; 1<• t few would fail to notice, and that u:i? , the la civ of wharf accommodation. This was patent thi> day the Himalaya landed the Queen's Dun. the 20th Regiment. Up to that t'nne iahout November, ]B(>."{) the Himalaya was said I" l "' 'l"' largest ship that so far had ;,ni li' Wed 111 Auckland. A 3500-ton sliip was called a " leviathan," a "floating city," etc., j„ 1 hose days. Probably few of the old-timers e\ er dreamed a ship of the size of the Hood would reach the berth that was beyond the 111 in.day a. Alter ihe troops were landed they were mareheil to the barracks, the site of which is n»v. Albert Park. But- ships were then more in m> mind than land affairs, and consequently bet tor remembered. The first, steam trader between Auckland and the 15ay of islands was a small lore -and-aft-rigged craft called the AVonga W'.iiuia. but that route was not then ri]H> for steam, and Auckland's i>ionccr coaster sought clm'U here for profit. Eventually she was purchafed by the Government and used as a despatch boat during the native wars. Another ft was the IMuenose, Onehunga's first loeallv built steam vessel, and, like the Great I.astern, then the world's largest ship, the liluenose uas launched broadside on. .shipbuilding in early days had much to do with the progress of Auckland. Ships were built on sites which are now busy streets and

*~7~7/£ international code of signals, lor ase -* between ships of all nations, is perhaps the hest universal dictionary in existence. By it mariners can talk with great ease without knowing a word of one another's language. By means of a few flags any question can he asked and answered. There are 27 flags and pendants in the international code, comprising a complete alphabet, and a special pendant characteristic of the code. .4 system lor signalling between ships was in existence three centuries before Christ.

| ( »l to all remembrance. The Novelty, or the I'ride of the Waitemata, as ship lovers called her, was launched where railway trains and tramcars now carry the townfolk. Probably the descendants of pioneer settlers in the Bombay district will remember a ship of that name. Tins unlucky craft, oil Hearing the etui of the voyage that brought their people, was struck by an exceptionally heavy squall, and she lost her l-owsprit, fore-topmast and some of her \ards, besides having most of her sails blown to ribbons. 1 he next day, while labouring in the heavy sea that the gale brought up, the mainmast went over the side. This last blow lei t the ship helpless. However, the crew managed a jury rig, which gave the ship steerage way, and a while later one of the intercolonial traders came up, and, although she was but a sailing ship, her skipper offered a tow, which was accepted. Fortunately the wind was fair, ami tin- tug made fair progress. Presently Curacoa came up, relieved the tug. and brought the Bombay on to port, where Nicol ami Sons resparred her, and a .Mr. Williams, one of the local sailmakers, supplied the sail. Altogether the old ship spent four months in harbour. The barque Blnndell was another vessel that became familiar to frequenters of the waterfront. This vessel was so long in making port that, when she did arrive, her cargo was in such a damaged condition that it brought on a lawsuit which resulted in the skipi>er's going to gaol; but, being of the Bully Hayes type, lit? collected a gang immediately lie was released and resumed his former command. Then, under cover of the night, he rebent the ship's sail.-., and the Blundeil slipi>ed quietly away. The Queen of Beauty is another name that has a familiar ring. This ship was Americanbuilt, and on one of her voyages to Auckland she was intercepted by the Confederate cruiser Alabama. Evidently the Alabama's commander having recogmsod the build had expected a prize. Quite often this occurrence was retold by old-timers who were passengers on the Queen of Beauty seventy years ago. The Confederate flag was a white ground with a red square, a blue cross and thirteen stars. This may have faded from some memories, but the whalers will remember it. I had a letter recently from an American friend who was chased by the cruiser riot .far from where the Queen of Beauty was held up, and ho at least will remember the Alabama. In early days quite a number of whaleships made Auckland a port of call. There were no harbour dues for tho whalers to pay, and every

inducement was given for tlie ships to fall, but it was too easy for the men to desert their ships. 1 "at, was the chief reason for the whalers' recruit m S in the smaller ports. When the skippers <l"l lose their men in Auckland, it was not unusual for deserters lioni the armv to fill their |V iU y s : '"stance of this was revealed when Uptain Nichols, of the Rainbow, was charged IV "arbounnjr and concealing deserters from tie anny 1 hose men soon realised that they had p°Jie from had to worse when thev changed o whale-hunting. and they took the first chance <>f K'V'"K hen,solves „p rather than have Auhols drill tliein on the whaler. Another feature of early Auckland was the many small craft that were owned and sailed |'.v natives, not only trading on the coast, but in some instances going as far as the Cook (■roup. | |,e late chief Paul Tuhaere was one "ho visited Rarotonga in his own vessel. ]n those days it was customary with the natives <>l that island, when members of the Polynesian

rare from outside places made a visit, (o allot them a portion (if land which they might cultivate if so inclined. The New Zealand chief was allowed a considerable area, but lie abandoned it after a while, and eventually the same allotment, or part of it, was given to my father, and he used it until we left the island late in 1868. There was at that time little steam traflic in the Pacific, and our return to New Zealand was made in the cutter Aqttilla, Captain Judd. I remember it was not a great while afterwards that the Duke of Edinburgh arrived in the Galatea. It was on this visit that the Duke opened the Auckland Grammar School in a big building in Newton, which I believe was intended for a depot for new arrivals from over the seas. There are not many of the old boys left now who attended the opening of the old school. 1 remember that on the Freeman's Bay side of the school there was a brickyard, and tlie machine for mixing the clay was turned by a horse at the end of a spar. This kind of a rig 1 believe is called n " whim," and most of the old boys will remember the clay puddler. About that time a terrible disaster occurred on the North Auckland coast. This was when the ketch Enterprise, coal-laden from the Bay of Islands, came into collision with the steamer Tauranga, soon after the ketch had passed Sail Rock. According to the version given by the crow of the Enterprise, the Tauranga was

RECOLLECTIONS OF "LONEHANDER"

struck on the port quarter and sank immediately, and the crew of the ketch had barely ti 1110 to got their boat afloat before the Enterprise also sank, and her skipper, mate and two other men made their way into Little Omaha, where the Ruby cutter happened to be, and her skipper (.linimy Catchpole) brought them up to Auckland. Not. a soul escaped trom the Tauranga, and as all the lost people were intimately known and had connections in the neighbourhood this disaster was deeply felt There had been nothing like it since the Orpheus was wrecked on the Manukau Har some lew years before. The only life that was saved was that of a largo retriever dog belonging to Captain K. V. Holder, of the Tauranga The dog was picked up the day after the collision, near where the steamer sank, by Captain McKenzie, of the schooner Kenilworth, and sent on t:) town by the .Jessie cutter. Captain Bolger was a young man and popular with everybody. 1 believe the present writer was

the last person to shout good-live to the skippej of the 'lauranga about six or seven liours Liefore the disaster took place. The wreck of the Orpheus has been described many times, and the story is familiar to general readers. The wreck of this fine ship was at the time the worst disaster in New Zealand history. The warship's crew numbered 2.>6, and out of this number 18-5 perished. Since then there have been many lamentable happenings on the New Zealand coast, but as there were more to share the trouble in more recent ones, the old ones loom the largest. Perhaps there are some who will remember the loss of the J'apid, a fine new schooner, on her first trip. She left .Mercury Bay with a full load of sawn timber, bound for Auckland. There were nine persons on board when she capsized, between the Barrier and Tiri Tiri Island. One man was drowned iti the cabin, two others secured themselves to the rigging, when the vessel partially righted herself, and the other six men were washed away and not seen again. That happened on a Sunday night, and from then on till Wednesday morning the Rapid drifted slowly toward the land. Finally sho came near enough for the two famished men to scramble on shore. Captain Meiklejohn was one, but the name of his companion is not known.

Perhaps there are still some old people who can remember what was called the Parnell whirlwind, because most of the damage on

land occurred in that neighbourhood, hut tho hiirhour also luid its share. Tlio barque Derweut Hunter, afterwards a whaler out of Hobart, was struck while broadside on to tho blast of wind, and narrowly escaped being capsized. luirtimately the cable brought her head to wind and .sue righted in time, 'i lie cutter Petrel had just dropped anchor, and all her sails were blown away. One of the crew was struck by the liooin and knocked overboard, hut his shipmates rescued him. The Dusty Miller, one of the old-time cargo carriers, was sunk when the whirlwind first struck the liarhour near Shoal Hay, and everything else in its course between that point and Nicol's shipyard in Mechanics' Hay had experience in wind at its maximum force Auckland has many reminders of the old days, and probably the most interesting and best known is the old mill, which sailorfolk, it is said, used as a guide when making the harbour. Anvwav, it must have endeared itself to th'! public, for when, somo years after its erection it was rumoured that the owner contemplated removing his property, the following paragraph appeared in the iNiow Zkai.and Hkisai.d:—" We know not whether the woodman spared the tree as ho was entreated to do, hut if Partington will spare the mill we promise to pass his namo down to posterity through the eternal columns of this journal." Old-timers regret that the flagstaff on Mount Victoria was not allowed to do the same, l'lie signal station was established soon after settlement, began, and served well until it was pushed aside by more modern methods of conveying intelligence, yet its passing is mourned hy those who remember the old sailing days. Another reminder of early Auckland and its fleet of sailing ships is the lighthouse on Tiri Tiri Island. The light first flashed across tho

THE ease with which fast, luxurious liners || traverse the Tasman Sea in less than three i§ Jays is in marked contrast with the first days of steam travelling between Hew Zealand and Australia. The pioneer of the inter-colonial steam trade was the Ann, of 154 tons, which arrived at Wellington from Australia on Sep- j| tember 3, 1853, the voyage taking fourteen days. In the same year, a regular inter-colonial steamer service was inaugurated by the William Denny, 395 tons, which ran between Auckland and Sydney for lour years until she was wrecked on the North Cape. ;

soil on Now Year's night, 186"), and was seen and appreciated It.v t.lio crow of one of tlio coasters when more than twenty milos away. 1 roinoinhor that about fifty years ago a. hig steamer called the Triumph ran on to Tiri Tiri when the light was said to ho burning brightly. This was ono of tlio strange tilings that sometimes happen lo slups. However, tlio Triumph was j;ot off and brought into port and repaired in the graving dock, which had to he temporarily extended to accommodate the big ship. Now the dock is among the things that have passed.

Another local event which created much interest was the coming of the Nevada, tlio first 'Frisco mail boat. She arrived early in May, 1871, and there was a big crowd on Queen Street Wharf to weh ome the bearer of the Stars and Stripes. But everybody was disappointed when the Nevada anchored in tlio stream, instead of coming to the wharf, as tlio public expected. Atterwards the authorities explained that there was risk of so hijz.li a ship leaning dangerously over on to the wharf during the ebb of the tide should a northerly breeze come up. This probably was correct. Anyway, as far as I can recollect, the 'Frisco boats usually anchored in the stream, and were attended to by small craft. In the early days of Auckland small cargo boats were used to discharge the larger vessels. This was not through any fault of the barhour, which probably ranks with the world 3 best, but the wharf accommodation was seldom up to the demand for space by the big ships. The Persia was one of the early arrivals that is remembered, not from actual experience, but through acquaintance with a family that came by that well-furnished ship, which lrrivod about 7-i years ago. The new arrivals, 1 believe, found their way to the Hay of islands in the cutter Annie Laurie, then under the command of Captain (J. Norris, who was not so well acquainted with Russell as ho afterwards became. Consequently he engaged my father to pilot the newcomers to their new home at Manavvaroa.

Perhaps 1 have not got the story exactly right, hut it was the first trip 1 can remember making on one of Auckland's coastal craft. However., I remember little or nothing of the trip itself. Every Auckland yachtsman who goes north knows where Manawaroa Bay is situated, and all readers of New Zealand history will recognise the name as near to whers Marion and his men were done to death by the Maoris.