ON THE CROZETS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2913, 12 January 1910, Page 93

ON THE CROZETS.

A SHIPWRECKED COMPANY

STORY OF THE STRATHMORE

Last week the Melbourne Herald published a most interesting narrative of the wreck of the Strathmore, supplied by one of the survivors, in the cource of an interview. The survivor is Mr John Pine, now a shipwright employed by the Melbourne Harbour Trust. He sailed from London on the Strathmore on April 17, 1875, being on the books as ship's carpenter, was wrecked, went thraugh all the trying experiences of life on an inhospitable island, and to-day looks' as hearty and robust as if he had never known hardship. "The ship," says Mr Pirie, "was a good one, of 1492 tons. There was a crew of 38 men and boys, and there were also 51 passengers. The wreck was a sheer misadventure, for which no one really was to blame; It was a quarter to 4 in the morning when the Strathmore struck on a rock not far from Apostle Island, one of the Crozets. The mate acted in every way that a seaman should. He was a good officer, and he gave his life to the work of saving the passengers. When the Strathmore struck I ascended the mainmast and slid down the forestay jnd reached the forecastle. I went as far astern as I could, and found the mate on his knees trying to free the ' gripes' of the starboard lifeboat, in which 19 people were seated. A wave came up very suddenly and lifted the boat off the chocks. It must have struck the mate before he had time to rise, for he was carried overboard and never seen

again. "What become of the lifeboat? Avery strange thing; after being lifted off the chocks she fell back and damaged her bottom, but rose and floated over the poop, and then got clear of the ship without capsizing. To explain that, I must tell you that the vessel, after she struck, lay with the poop submerged, but the forecastle, well out of the water.

IN THE FOG.

" How had the accident happened ? Well, we had got into those high latitudes to find a wind to take us to New Zealand. Then it is my belief that the ironstone in the rocks may have deflected the compass, and, what is more, the fog was so thick that a look-out was of no use.

"Fog? I should think so. After we struck we could not see the rock which we had actually struck, though it was towering up before the ship. Fogs! Why, all the while we were on Apostle Island—six months and 22 days—we saw Hog Island about twice," though there is only a channel a few miles wide between. Hog Island appeared on those occasions to be fairly green and fertile; but Apostle Island is a barren rock, with just a little rank grass growing on guano-filled crevices

CASTAWAYS. ,

"'When all landed and collected, we found that there were 40 of us, 39 lives having been lost.. The members (10) of an entire family;- .were drowned. Five persons died on the island befoTe we were rescued.

" I don't wish to boast, but I cannot say that I ever felt really despondent about our ultimate rescue, except once, and that was when the White Eagle passed thi'ough the channel between us and Hog Island. . We saw the man at the wheel, and tried .io attract his attention, but without success. Passengers on the White Eagle saw us, and told the' captain, but he said, 'the Crozets are uninhabited,' and did not stop. " The ship went to pieces before we coukh get anything much of the cargo. ■ e had to live. OH albatross, which made us all ill. at "first; A few mutton birds were taken, but these were reserved as a> delicacy' for Mrs Wordsworth, the only woman who had been rescued. A spring of beautiful mineral water rose at the top of the rock, and trickled down.the side. It" did more ,than anything else to keep' us in health. We clothed ourselves in penguin skins, and we built a wall of turf under a shelving rock in a way to form a hut.

TERRIBLE TIMES

" We had some terrible tim.es. Early in our experiences all were ladcl up except five or six of us, who had to feed, keep wafm, "arid tend all the rest. Then sometimes we were surrounded by a field of ice. Once an iceberg came and fastened itself on some jagged*■ rocks of our island, and with the wind blowing across nearly froze us. Many suffered from frost-bite. We had no soap, but the yolks of eggs had to serve. " Soon after landing a number of lawless fellows among the crew gave trouble, and we had no one with firmness enough to keep them in check. Finally, to pre-

serve order, the whole ' community was broken up into six squads. "It was rather a mercy that we had to keep at work to find sufficient food. IV relieved the tedium of the life, and kept us from despair. By the time we had been four or five months on the island we had become acclimatised, and were in better health. Our worst trouble was that our cooking utensils were nearly all worn out, and we had to depend on 'hollow stones, which we used as frying pans. Against that we had stored some hundreds of gallons of bird oil for our lamps, which we kept burning all night. " Early in January, 1876, we built on an eminence a high square tower of turf to attract the notice of passing ships, and to shelter the man on the look-out. We had to cut the turf as best we could, with a piece of hoop iron. On January 14 a vessel passed us, but took no notice.

"SAIL HO!"

" A week later, on January 21, the man on the look-out shouted, " Sail-ho !" We rushed two flags up on the flagstaff — a piece of canvas and a blanket. We lit two fires. The vessel at first seemed to take no notice, and our hearts fell. Then she headed' towards us, and our people could not contain their delight. Some cut strange antics. She came within a mile and then lowered two boats, but could not find no landing. Our sailmaker jumped into the water and was pulled aboard and showed them where the landing was. The ship was the Young Phcenix, of New Bedford, an American whaler. Captain Giffaxd was in one of the boats. He gave us some bread, and promised to take us off next morning. However, when he was fold there was a lady ashore, he brought his boat close in and took off Mrs Wordsworth, hex son, two invalids, and the second mate.

"The last thing I did was to make five crosses of wood which were placed to mark the graves of those who had died on the island. Then we went off without a single regret except for those who were dead.

" Captain Giffard received us with the utmost kindness, fed us, clothed us, and treated us well. We met the Sierra Morena, which took 20 of us to Ceylon. Captain Giffard then, giving up the object of his cruise, steered for Mauritius, but, on falling in with the Childers, bound for Ragoon, transferred the rest of the survivors to that vessel. At Point de Galle we were hospitably received by the ship's agent, the Church of England' minister, and others. We were treated more like friends than castaways.

THE WARATAH

"Do I think the people of the Waratah are likely to be on the Crozets? Who can say? There is a chance, and the islands ought to be searched. What they must have felt if through a break in the fog they caught a glimpse of the Sabine standing off I can .guess, but I don't suppose that anyone else in Melbourne can."