THE AUCKLAND ISLANDS.

Otago Witness, Issue 978, 27 August 1870, Page 8

THE AUCKLAND ISLANDS.

A writer in the Australasian, who appears to be well informed in the matter, states that the visit of the Gr»fton to the Auckland Islands in 1863 was not, as was generally supposed, to obtain seals, but for another object altogether. The following extracts from his communication, narrating the circumstances which led to the Grafton'a disastrous visit to the Islands, and explaining what the real object of th&t visit was, will therefore be of interest :— -" Shortly after the [Enderbys 1 ] settlement was abandoned the late Mr Joseph Underwood, shipowner of London and Sydney, acting upon certain statements he had heard from a member of the Euderby Company, despatched a vessel to the group, ostensibly for seal oil, but really with some other unrevealed object in view. Tha vessel, with the late Mr Thomas Underwood, the eldest son of the ownar, on board, reached the islands, and remained among them for a considerable time, but it does not appear that the voyagers found what they went to seek. Still, Mr Thomas Underwood, who had had quite enough experience to form a judgment in the matter, left the group fully satisfied that the statements of the Enderby man were true. However, until the date when the I Graftou came upon the scene, no further I attempts were made to solve the mystery. Then, of course, many years had passed since Mr Under wood's voyage, his father was dead, and he himself was an old man with a grown-up family. His eldest daughter having been married to Mr Sarpy, of the firm of Sarpy and Musgrave of Sydney, he was often brought into association with those gentlemen ; and it appears that he divulged to them the secret which had led to his visit to the Aucklands. At first they had an impression that he had been on a wild-goose chase, but knowing the matter-of-fact charaoter of the old man, aad observing how confident he was aa to the tale told by the member of the Esderby company, they determined to put the latter to the teat. Accordingly, about the beginning of the year 1863, the Graf ton, a small schooner of about 40 tons burden, was made ready for sea, and plaoed in command of Mr Musgrave's brother." Then follows a succinct narrative of the wreck of the Grafton, and the subsequent adventures of her crew, which are well known. The writer then goes on to say :—: — " At this stage, it will be as well to state the object the owners of the Grafton had in view when they sent her on her danger, ous expedition. The story originating with the member of the Enderby Company, and so firmly believed in by the Messrs Underwood in consequence of what the younger Underwood had himself seen, was, that the main island of the Auckland Group contained on its surface so much copper ore that the presence of the metal in vast quantities was clearly indicated. This, then, was the incentive to the voyages undertaken by Underwood and Musgrave respectively. The cause of the former's failure I could never ascertain ; that of the latter's is only too apparent. At all events, so far as I know, the copper mystery is yet unsolved." Whether the Auckland Islands contain copper or not, we are unable to say, but we may state that the writer of the narrative from which we have quoted, appears to have derived most of his information from M. Raynal, a Frenchman, who was mate of the Grafton on the voyage in question. This M. Raynal, the writer in th© Australasian states, was of a good family, and reported to be an excellent Bcholar, and " the reason of hia joining the Grafton in a humble capaoitv is to be found in the faofc that he was made aware of the secret leading to her voyage." M. Raynal, who subsequently practised mesmerism in Sydney, has recently published a narrative of the wreck of the Grafton, which has been much praised by the English papers for its style, but the accuracy of which has been freely called in question, and judging from Captain Musgrave's narrative, with apparent reason. It is possible, therefore, that he has been drawing on his imagination in the matter of the aecret purpose of the visit of the Grafton to the Auckland Islands.

The following is from a Wellington contemporary :— During the discussion in the House of Representatives on Mr Gillies's motion relative to the disability of Colonial Officers to hold seats in the House, Mr Carleton, in the course of his remarka on the motion, took occasion to aay that the Provincial Councils and Seoretariea were subordinate to the Superintendents, to which the Superintendent of Otago, Mr Mac&ndrew, replied sotto vpee, " I wish they were," causing some little amusement. No doubt this was a sinoere and hearty aspiration on the part of the how. member.