THE LOSS OF THE CREOLE.

Otago Witness, Issue 620, 16 October 1863, Page 2

THE LOSS OF THE CREOLE.

The Tasmanian papers to hanl by the barque Isabella contain numerous reference to tho fate of the schooner Creole. The latest is contained in a telegraphic despatch of the 2nd inst. from Lannceston, ia which, it is stated that letters had been received fiom Clyne and others, who wont to Waterhonae Point. 1 hey had examined the bench for 20 miles, and found portions of h»r cargo, &c, but nothuv The weather had hitherto prevented their going to Waterhouse IslanJ. From a letter rectived irom Messrs Cummings, Raymond and Co, of the itivev Don, it was also learnt that Captain Begent, ofthe brig Mary Grant, which arrived recently from Dunedin, reported having been in the Bay of Fire? for several days, an- 5 stated that he h?d been informed that a quantity of turnips, onions, mangold wiutzd, and women's and children's apparel, were strewn about the beach near Cape Portland, but that there waa . nO . vestige of a wreck. Pending the receipt of additional information, Mr Henry Turner had arranged to start on the 3rd, in Lang's cutter, lor the purpose of examining the norfcheasUoasfc and tiie Strait 3 Islands. In the absence or'iufonnaUoafrom Utago, there still continued to bo some hope at Launceston that the worst ftte had not overtaken the vessel. In referring to the subject, the Hobart Toton Advertiser says -.—'•Three diff-rent aud exceedingly conflicting opinions appear to prevail ia reference to her probable fate. The first is that she foundered in the open sea ; the second i» tuat she has i?one ashore on one ofthe islands ; and the third is thnt it is by no means unlikely that, notwii hstaivling the damage j she has sustained, she may bs even vow endeavoring, m a crippled state, to make for some port in the Southern sea=-. E*ch one of these conjectures has its own separate class of supporters. Ihe first rely tor the truth of their suppo^tions, principally oa tbe iact that being a ca'tle ship aha would necessarily have to keep her hatches open, nnd. that a heavy sea might at any moment swamp h«r. If she went down, moreover, in deep water, it is urged there would be Little chance of any dead bodies being washed on shore. We confess that, ia the face ofthe carcases of cattle and theep having been cast upon the bea-jh of these islands we scarcely reeognisa the force of this object on. For if these could flo3t for a sufticient length of time to allow them ti lie brought ashore surely the same rule would apply to the bodies of the passengers and the crew. There is, of course, the difference so <ar as number is concerned. In the oae oass there would he several hundreds, iv the other only thirty corpus. But we own that whilst we are by no means sanguine, we are not inclined altogether to relinquish taa hope that the circumstance of not a single dead body being discovered would seem toafiord fhe , same arguments 1 would apply equally to the second suggestion. In fact they would cwiy with them onnn fl S g I eat6r fL Tl-, HI " c ves^ bin wrecked improbable that some of lhe bodjes should not havj been washed oa shore The man )}cod£ who is up to the present time, our chief informant, s'atfd in iißdeclar,ition before the Magistrate at George Towu: we »w whit I took to be the deck of a poop. £ thought so bee-rose the planka were not so wide, or stout as those of a deck. I think they were plain! 1 here were plenty of pieces of timber like the fittuiM up ct vessels; one had on it one pieoa. of copper

sheathing^or Muulz moral. I did not se. ;■ 3 i'W, or any part of the frnniework of a ship." It is <3^»«' ous from thes,e statement, that it is just possible that the poop-deck might have been carried away ; tha vessel become temporarily disabled ; andtLat we may Ftill hear tidings of the sfj'.; aniv&l in ;om>s port in the Southern seas, ol her crew anil her passengers. The Police MagNtrata hiving thought it desirable tliat the stitement of tho man Brooks should be taken in a formnl manner, the latter was required to attend at the police omeo, when the following particulars were elicited from him, in the foi in of a declaration :—: — "A man named Jamss Lawton, who lives on Green Is'and, a^ked me to go to Water!-ouse Island with him to fetch some sheep. Vs atoi house is about 40 mHes fVom the Ta.-war Heals On the Sunday before leaving-, a younp man named Cadoil reported to u a - that h; had seai on lhe western side of tho island several tru^ of hay, a bmkea oar or two, broken chturs, boards, and poitu.iw of children*,' dresses, fragments ot which he brought with him. Birratt's house i 3 on the east*™ si<!e cf tue island. I had the same moruiug been ..lon^ the ea^t r:i shore and I saw no portions of wreck on it. Owin, to what Cor !e)i state 1, Mr Kan-el t, aeoJuipaued "" by bis nephew, Jim Lawtra, Cordell, a.ni me went to the west beach of the Hand ; I there saw 00 old sheep, I a>l dead; a dark by horse; a heifer in milk, «>r rather n cow ; a boat split in two, and with some of her p anks knocked out; it wr.s a longboat squarestcniHi, and would carry about two tons ; there was no name on it. I saw liothiua more on thit d^y. but 0:1 tho day following I s.\«- another hoive— a black one -on the boacU. Aft rwav-Js I picked up piecs ot quaiteui.g branded Crj !e, an-i which had appcrenciy breu uus j a- cattle £tda*ia. |_a~U« fc«.,^ «u-U- - tiii^ -<rf cau-nts, a tew cabbies, r.nl pieces of blanket. The bdich was a rocky one. We did n t go to the mainlan.!, the &<.a being too hi*h for a boat to live. On fhe TucaJiiy I saw oth.r" portions if children's clotbiug, having no muis. On the following dny, Harry Cordell, Ja'ncs JLiwtj.i acd ', started iv the b at lor Waterhonse Point on the mainland, to sac if anything Lai b-^u c.i-<t i.p there. The point is a'o.ut tw.nty mi'e-. from Swan Island. Tho beach was so rough so tint Lawion had to remaiu in the boat to keep hsr off. The be eh is rough, not sandy, except in some place?. At high water mark I noticed a qn drant and scxtiut bot ; then an Amt-ricau flock with the glass broken, aad full of seaweed ; sever J trusses of hny ; a quantity of carrots and mangold -wurtzeil ; a numbsc of pii,e boaivls, apparently portions of cibia fktit.gs they were puinteJ, an.i ar-paire i to hava besii varnished ; sever d cabin dooiy wilh brass lo.k-j and hinges- 0110 had a whire glass k-.ob. and I noticed sviotisc-r with a (.'e!f liable \arnisheu-some h-ul appiruntly had glass ia them, which was broken out; a ten' gallon kf£ lashed to a buoy, and nearly full cf saad. I fchmk the next thing pulled up wai a mist -.oat, tl'en a^ black dress coat much torn, airf a crimem shirt. Neither my companions nor I examiiia-l the pockets, nor w.\s the coit removed by us. I then found a box with the bottom knocked ou 1 , and bearing on a label the name " Cook ;" also a small broken trunk labelled Miss ; I fargefc the nanv. I put it up at hisjh water mark, and expect it is there now, I aiao saw a beer cask and a lot of cilt mouldings, some of which, -were curved at each end. There were a number cf fta»ments of broken boxes scattered about, and a parcel ot sealed kttera. Tha Llt'.is we took to Waterhouse Island, aad I forgot to ; bring them to town. I cannot rtal, bu& Wflliain B irretb re id some of ihe addresses on these letter. 3 . He ie?d Launceston aud Plymouth. There might have beea a dozen of these letter*, and they were tied together with rid tape. I picked up a number of shee's of paper having writing on them, also the barrel of a musical box*. The barrel wns on a boy, oir which there was an a-|dre cB,c 8, but what it was I forget I placed the box in a bush so that it might not be pickcl up by any stroller passing by. I also found two broken o-irs branded "Creole," a ship lender, and a b:ok wnicn the young man with me said was a lawbook. This book was left in Lawtoas boat. We found a piilow marked " Gleadow," and the case of which had written on it the name " Fleurty," or some wor 1 like it. We also got a bolster, but it had no uanie on it. Further on we saw what I took to be the deck of a poop. I thought' so because the planks where not so wide or stout as those of a deck. I think t^ey were plaio. There were plenty of pieces of timber like the fittings up of a vessel; one had on it a piece of coppsr sheathing or Muutz metal. I did not see any ribs or any p:irt of the framework of a ship. I saw travellers, but they were spare ones, for they were tied together with the exception of one. I did not fee the trace of any dead human body, nor were there any carcasses of cattle or sheep on the main land. We took with ua in the boat, the pillow, pillow-case, life-buoy, book, and letters. The buoy has " Creole" on it. I saw oae spar, broken at both ends, on the main land; ako broken camp stools, three broken ship's bbeks, and the shell of a large block without sheath. I saw eig-Jit or nine hatches, chiefly on tha main land. I bdieve one or two were on the island, and tliat all are branded " Creole "

Steamßactno Extraordinary.— One of the most extraordinary contests for the palm of speed which, among hundreds that we have participated in on the London Thames, Mersey, the Cljde, and the Forth, took place yesterday on the >wat?r9 of the Waifcemata and the Thames, between the New Zealand srrew ste-imera Raugatira of Auckland, and Lady Bird of Wellington. To begin at the beginning: tin Uangatira is a vessel just arrived, having been purchased at Dundee by an Auckland co-part-nery that have decided ou placing her on the East Coast line of trade, between Auckland, Napier, aud Dunedin. Prior to setting out on her first interprovinc'al voyage, her owners determined that she should make a trial trip ; and to do honor to the ocfasion, a numerous piirty of their friends and fellow»ci<iz?iis were invited to take part in the pleasures of the day. As it chanced, one of the New Zetlai.d Steam Navigation Company's boats, the Lady Bird, was on the point uf departure for Napier and the South ; and as b >th have acquii ed a merit9d reputation fur speed, it was determined that a frieudly trial between the vessels should take place. Let ua describe the pair of competitors. The La ly Bird isauiron vessel, barque rigged, built by Messrs Danny, of Dumbarton, as a swift pas--engor Irat. in 1851. Her lines an'! general outline are bsnutifully symmetrical; in fact, she is a perfect model. As an English Channel packet-boat, and subsequently as a packet betwten Lauoceston, Melbourne, an<i Adelaid?, and other ports on the coast of Austra'ia, her speed and her performances ware of the highest order. The Rangadra is a boat of a diff-reat order, smaller tonnage, and more limited power. She wa<, launched at Dundee in 1863, being constructed not as a swift packet bea f , but as a fair carrying coasting trailer. She was built by Messrs Gourlivy, is 145 fcec 18 inches lonjr, 20 foot 6 inches beam, 9 feet 7 inches deep, 50 horse power, and 218 toi.s register* engine icom included. The lady Bird measures some 70 to.is move, with 20 norso power in addition. By eleven o'clock, tho hour for starting, the visitors ware clustered on Loard the Itangitira, amonx whom were hia Honor the Superintendent, the Resident Slogistiate, the Collector of Customs, Captain Johnson, inspector of steam machinery, Captain Machin (Claud Hamilton), Gaptnin A. Kennedy (Airedale), Mr Duncan (New Z altnd Steam Navigation Company), and some thirty or forty more of our lending citizens. At ton minutes past eleven, tho warps being cast adrift, tha Rangatira dropped down harbor, and, after describing a short and graceful circle round B.M.S.S. Miranda, she bicked up harbor again to await the leisure of the Lady Bird, which was speedily discovered to ba moving from off the Queen-street wharf.Waiting until they came broadside to broadside, both boat observed the cominanl tn " turn ahead slow." Both then '' firsd up," nnd did their utmost to exhibit the pa^e that kills. The picture was one that never has, and probably never again will be equalled. The superior stamina of tha Rangatira's new boilers being taken as a set oil against the superior powrr of the Lndy Bird , their strength of propulsion may be looked upon aa equalisedT at all events, never did we enc muter such an extraordinary pair of competitors, Sido by side, at an equal pace of from ten to tea knots and a half an hour, they toiled on within a few yards ot eaoh other, ncithsr vessel being abe to achieve a single foot in advance of the other. The race was neck and neok, or stsm and stem throughout, from off Fort Britoniarfc to Man-of-war Channel into the e,n\t of tho Thames, a ! distance of perhaps of four or Svo and twenty miles, | when the undefeated racevs separated. thcL^dy Bird to prosecute hoi-Smthem voyage, anl the Kangatirato return to the Queen street wharf. On parting, the cheers were loud and cheery on both- sides - for each ship was in exLvies with the noble performance of the o'Jier— Lady Bird moulting no feather~and Rangatira pluming her, or himself, on holding her own with one of the most i edoubted clippurs of the & usfcralian waters. In returning, the Kangatira made the vound turn of Pqnui island, chap : n«f an upw ird courc* through tha Sandspit channel, au4 catching a glirop.36 of the steam gunboat Sunday, anchored dose in with the Wairaa shore. The day, was mild, the water placid, and everything; cintributed to the pleasure of the trip. From the Brothers, or Mauganese Kooks, distant above twenty miles from the Queen street Wharf, the run was made in less than <i couple of hours. The ye sel carried move thm a full head of • steam throughout ; the average pressure was about 19^bs, the vacuum clear and good; the reVohttons about an average of 100 p r minute, and the consumption of fuol only 3J tons from the time tbe fires were made up. The hospitality of the owners must not be overlooked. As may be imagined, the saloon of the ltnngatim was unequal .to the r simultaneous ~~ : accommodation of soJa M gea|party.\,T:lie ample and recherche vinnds were therefore submitted to three or four successive onslaughts,, at each tind fuVof which bumpers to the health and 'prp3perltyofßh.jp, master, and owners wer.i quafy4. utijil tftjhMJisorid agaUu It oaly remains -to. say && tye Ejugitu'a'fla? fqHV - realised all the expectations that wVaibl'mel of her; that silo is a swift, substantial, "sightly, and capacious ship ; and that we heartily hopo, when ahe starts on hermajden Bouthem.voyage,oa Saturday next, she will prove bat the forerunner of a loin? and prosperous line qf Auckland steam blippers.— few Zealant 4er, 24th Sept. " -- .- * .