THE MACQUARRIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2058, 3 August 1893, Page 41

THE MACQUARRIES.

Whether the name represented a Scottish clan originally or not is beyond my knowledge. That point, however, does not affect my story, aB my subject is not of a particular branch of a national family of Scotland, but of the islands bearing the name lying away down south close to the polar regions. The name was probably bestowed on them in hononr of a Governor of New South Wales, who was .thus immortalised and his name kept in wider remembrance than it could be by the river and harbour bearing the same • title in that colony. fj+M V* f ***'&2s!*t The precise latitude and longitude of the Islands need not be given, as no one has any near relations living there with whom they would like to correspond, nor are they often visited, except for one particular purposeslaughter. To maintain their wumat \ dignity, however, it may be recorded that | they are close attended and guarded on one j hand by a Judge and Jury and on another by a Bishop and Clerk, so that the civic and religious element is ever present with them, yet to such a degree as to make them attractive enough for human habitation. A. little to the south of the Maoquarries is. another island which will be found on the maps, and which calls up a host of memories, sweet and bitter as well as mixed. And why should the " Emerald Isle"— for such is its appellation— not do so 1 The story is circulated that this sweet isle, this ocean gem, has disappeared from view— sunk beneath the rolling tides, so that its place cannot bow be discovered. A cure of this nature was.it will be remembered* once suggested by an eminent politician for Old Ireland and her wrongs, the proposition being to sink her for a time below the Atlantis Ocean, m order to enable her to commence life again with a clean sheet. There will be no dispute during the submergence as to the ownership of the Emerald, as there was a few years ago regarding the more substantial Macquames. The two great colonies of Tasmania and New Zealand disputed as to the right of sovereignty over these valuable dependencies. The battle waged hot and farloue.and preparations were made on both sides for open hostilities, when fortunately better counsels prevailed, and the important question of territory was referred to the friendly intervention of the Secretary of State for the colonies. His lordship's geographical education regarding the position of the islands was Bomewhat hazy, so he balled his undersecretary with the query, "Where are those blessed MacquaTrie Islands? I never heard of them before."—" I'm not sure, my lord, but will inquire and report, " was the reply. Shortly afterwards he returned with the Information that they lay at the mouth of the river of the same name, which discharged itself into the Indian Ocean on the west side of New South Wales. " Ah, then the islands must belong to that colony, so the question is more easily settled than. I expected. Write the despatch forthwith and I will sign it." Fortunately for the reputation of the department his lordship met a colleague in the evening, and told him how easily and satisfactorily the question had been settled. His colleague, who was an old salt, laughed heartily at the idea, congratulating his friend on the profound knowledge displayed by his officials, and after a little pointed out the absurdity of the whole affair, whereupon the decision was quashed and another not very much more sensible was given, placing the unfortunate islands under the control of Tasmania, all the other uninhabited but widely scattered isletß being in the possession of New Zealand. The only value attached to the group is in connection with sealing, as they are almost unfit for occupation. The value .of seal fishing, if it may be called fishing, is considerable, and has been brought prominently into notice by the account of the Dundee whaling expedition, one of the vessels of the fleet having reached the Tay with the report that the search for the right sort of whale was a failure, but that attention was turned to sealing, and in a short time several thousands were killed, and a full cargo made up. The question naturally arises, on what islands were these seals obtained, as if any of them were captured on any of the islands lyiDg within New Zealand or Tasmanian waters a clear case of poaching could bo made out againßt the captain, seeing that seal fishing is prohibited from January to May 1893, that being proclaimed a close season.^ I wonder "if the Government of our colony, will cauEe inquiry to be made, and possibly'get a good haul in the shape of fines ! Td, my story, however, and as it discloses no breach of any act or Gazette notice, and is", moreover, venerable with a ga, there is little danger of any action ensuing. \ It was on October 11, 1877, that the good schooner Friendship sailed from Port Chalmers, bound for the Macquarrie Islands, with a full crew under command of Captain Sinclair. T,he objaot in view was the capturing of seals, which were known to be very plentiful at the islands, and the vessel being well found in every respect, and^ery man on board having the fullest confidence in the ability of the skipper to navigate the vessel and also to direct the hunting operations, and the still further and more potent prospect of a successful cruise from which handsome results might be expected; every man on board was in the best of spirits, thinking himself lucky in getting the cbaace of making a good haul out of a speculation which, although hazardous and entailing considerable hardship and deprivatian, carried with it a probability of excitement as well as novelty. Among the live stock on board were several donkeys and goats,' both after their kind being known to exist on the scantiest and* coarsest fare, and knowing enough to find out for themselves where a bite could be had. The donkeys, would be of service in dragging the captives to the trying pans, and would move ajoDg tracks where other animals would not venture, and the goats would provide the party with an occasional meal of fresh meat. Oar voyage was a favorable one considering the rough seas over which we crossed, and we arrived safely at our destination on December 1, eeyen weeks after leaving. Having all been safely landed, we at once set-to erecting huts and making other provision for the reception of additional hands

who were to follow by the schooner Jessie Nicol, and which also arrived safely on January 26, 1878. Our complement was by this addition made up to 19 all told, but five out of the lot not liking the prospects returned by the Nicol, thuß leaving our full strength at 14. Our experiences from the first proved the reverse of that we had anticipated. The donkeys were the first of the expedition to prove a failure, as owing to the boggy nature of the soil they were not able to crosß the dividing range from one side to the other, and in a short time four of the poor brutes died, leaving us only one, which we had named Mr Strode, in compliment to that gentleman, from whom he had been purohased, and which along with a goat and a pig survived through all our misfortunes, and which we left on our departure, as the sole representatives of our ill-fated expedition. Our location was at the north-east harbour, or rather that was one of our headquarters, although the nature of our business and its success necessitated moving from one place to another. To render this more easy we formed a traok to the west beach.

All went well for a while. Hunting was vigorously carried on, and a quantity of oil was obtained. On April 18 we had fully 15 tuns of oil, in addition to three or four tuns of blubber not tried out. This quantity was obtained from the stations on the north-east and south-east harbours. Oa Aprils, while engaged launching the whale boat, Captain Sinclair , placed his rifle in the stern sheets when it suddenly exploded. The ball passed through his left hand, thence through one of the knee thwarts of the boa*, lin in thickness, going through an outside plank iin thick,' then passing through George Alson's overall trousers, striking William Merry on the right thigh and then on the left, but although bis trousers on both sides were cut, the skin was uninjured. This was the beginning of our misfortunes. Our medicine chest was not overwell stocked, and no provision had been made with any appliances for staunching a wound, as such a mishap had never been contemplated. The captain was conveyed to the nearest hut, and everything was done that circumstances would permit to bind up the wound and stop the How of blood. None of us were experts at the business, however, ambulance classes having not then been thought of, and we had no lint or other soft bandages to make use of, so for the next 12 days the captain lay in the hut suffering intense agony, the only relief he could obtain being Ijjf keeping a constant stream of cold water trickling over his band. On May 10 the captain was conveyed to his own hut at the north-east harbour, and as he was faint and weak from loss of blood, want of sleep, and lack of nourishment, this was no easy matter. It was, however, safely accomplished, and feeling more comfortable, we were in great hopes that he would soon be himself again, and that under his directions operations would be successfully carried on. It was not to be, however. Two days later a heavy south-east gale set in, attended by a very high sea, which threatened to sweep away our oil, which was lying in the casks on the beach as far above high water mark as was considered necessary. Things looked dangerous, however, so we set to and rolled the casks up as far on the beach as we could, and we secured it as thoroughly as it was possible to do. At 8 p.m., however, the' sea continued to increase, and a terrific wave ewept up to the base of the high land at the south-east harbour, where our hut was erected, wasbiDg it com- ! pletely away, compelling us to seek safety among the rocks. In its recoil the wave swept away all the casks of oil, the result of months of arduous labour, and the whole of I our stores, which were in the hut, were also taken, leaving only two casks of bread and a little oatmeal.

The surf continued to sweep violently in, compelling us to seek shelter still higher up on the face of the hill, and to add to our discomfort a bitter fall of snow came on. Towards midnight the gale moderated, shifting round a bit, but the sea rolled in as heavy as ever, and Captain Sinclair, whose hut was at the north-east harbour, began to feel its effects. A heavy ,wave beat in the front of bis hut and washed him out of his bunk, carrying away all the sfceres which he had with him, leaving only a small barrel of bread and another of oatmeal. He managed to pick himself up, and made for another of the men's huts a little higher up, but found it also f nil of debris, the man who was sleeping in it having been also washed out of bis bunk.

The sky had by thia time cleared, and the moon, which was at her fail, shone down bright and clear, revealing the damage which bad been done. The captain found the cook house much damaged, but the men's hut it was found possible to save and turn to some account, so with some boards which had fortunately been put high up out of reach of tbe sea, a temporary protection was effected. Poor though it was, yet it was something. The huts having been built round the baße with sods, several inches of water covered the floor, but the captain was helped in to one of the upper bunks, and everything in our power was done to alleviate his sufferings, which were greatly increased through the rough usage be had received disarranging the bandages and the salt water getting into the wound, rendering it still more painful, if possible. We were now in a sad plight. Our captain disabled, the result of our labour washed away, and, worst of all, provisions almost gone, and ourselves the lone inhabitants of a desolate isle far removed from succour, and with no possibility of communication. . The Jessie Nicol 'was to return for us at the end of the season', but as Captain Sinclair did not expect her appearance until the following month (June), we were placed on a very limited dietary scale to make our scant remnant sustain us until help arrived. The food consisted of a little oatmeal, sea elephant flesh (of which we could get plenty), and a few biscuits, together with a little weak coffee at intervals. We were fortunately all in excellent health and spirits, living in hopes of a good time coming.

Time rolled wearily on, and the Jessie Nicol not putting in an appearance so soon as was expected, our dietary scale was reduced gradually until it came down to three biscuits a day. This scanty food, however, was eked out by a supply of sea birds canght by a retriever dog owned by Mr C. de

Longueville Graham, which he had kindly sent with us, thinking it might be of service, which it certainly proved to be. We had been for weeks deprived of what are called the comforts of life, such as tea, BUgar, &o.| but on the whole we fared as well as could be expected. On the Jessie Nicol coming into sight we were heartily glad.and were all williDg and ready to embark for Port Chalmers. It was with very little regret that we left behind us three or four tuns of oil— all that was left of the salvage; and there was little likelihood that the poor animals also remaining would put in ■ any claim supposing at some future time more prosperous sealers might take possession. We reached Port Chalmers safely after a quick run, and so ended this disastrous expedition— disastrous to the men who had left so full of hope, disastrous also to the enterprising firm of Messrs Oormack, Elder, and Co., of Port Chalmers, who organised it, and who were very sanguine of its.pecaniary success both tothemenand themselves — a venture in which they had risked a considerable amount of capital. The result of this enterprise was so discouraging that no further attempt was made to establish the industry in connection with Port Chalmers, the headquarters being removed to Invercargill, where Mr Hatch prosecutes the industry with considerable perseverance and success. It will be remembered that the sad loss of the s.s. Eakanui a short time ago was iv connection with the rescue of sealers on the Aucklands, occasioned by a rumour which got into circulation, but proved to be groundless. The wholesale system of tbe Dundee traders with their powerful steamers and all appliances on board, if allowed to go on unrestricted, will soon clear the Southern Ocean of seals of every description. Supposing the other three steamers of tbe fleet are as successful as the Balaena, and there is no reason to doubt that they will be, then the number of seals captured during our close season will amount to 24,000 or 25,000, and possibly 5000 more will be lost though killed. At this rate it would Dot take three similar years to rid us of them altogether.