THE CURSE OF THE ALBATROSS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27266, 17 December 1949, Page 8

THE CURSE OF THE ALBATROSS

DURBAN. Men of the French Polar ship, Commandant Charcot, which recently arrived at Hobart on her way to the Antarctic, ‘‘purified!’ the ship as she lay in Durban Harbour to try to rid her of the evil spell of a dead albatross. The expedition had hoped to catch an albatross alive for scientific purposes, and constructed a trap, but the albatross was drowned. Shortly afterwards, one of the expedition, Mr A. P. Martin, meteorologist, died after developing meningitis. A little later the ship left Cape Town for Australia, but off Durban started drifting with engine trouble and had to be towed into the Harbour for repairs. While there, the quartermaster was seriously injured when he fell from the upper to the lower deck, and was taken to hospital with a crushed chest. A member of the crew was robbed of his money at the docks and another seaman on board received bad news from France. The crew was now convinced that the death of the albatross was the cause and special prayers were offered to.“cleanse” the ship of ill-luck. The same ship accidentally killed an albatross on its first attempt to reach Adelie Land, in the Antarctic, last year—Reuter.