THE MISSING SEALERS: RETURN OF THE STELLA.

Southland Times, Issue 3709, 12 May 1880, Page 2

THE MISSING SEALERS: RETURN OF THE STELLA.

'■'■ Our Campbelltown ■. correspondent /informs us that the' C.GKS. Stella, Capt. >McK6rsl«!, ! reached BltiJf Havbor ata'p.m.; on Monday frbih' the Auckland Islands, after an ineffectual search for the missing boat's crew lost from the pealing sclroqner Awarua. Capt/McKersiejreportsthat on his. departure frQui : sJufE on the '^7th ult., he visited Tsog Island, and; landed stored and a house. for the lightkeepers, and then proceeded to Centre; .lsland on the,following day, and Handed stores, &c.v( t On the ; 29th, /visited the; lighthouse at Puysegur Point/ 'leaving ' at 5 'pltn. ftfrl the Snares, which was reached" early on the morning* of the 30th. .On landing ' found a. party of men at work, securing a suppiy'of'inuttonbirds, but as tliey 1 yaWfi in no need of assistance, left for, the. Auckland Islands at noop .-oflUhe, sam^,; day. Reached Enderbjj Island at 9 nm. on May Ist ; -landed, and was met by a party of men belonging; to the schooner Friendship. ; .paid a visit to' ;the depots which was found to have been destroyed by fire. Port Ross was -next visited^ wher6 : tne schooner Friendship was boarded and searched for sealskinsfJione being found on board. "The Port Ross depot \v.as inspected jipd found to be in a fear&r'state-—filthy. 'in, the extreme, and all .the stores opened, out and destroyed. Turned everything put, cleansed the place thoroughly, re-stpeked. ,,it with, provisions from, the steamer's stores, and painted the front of the house. ~- On Sunday, the 2nd inst, i^turned to '-Enderby Island and rebuilt'thedepotf 1 placed- a supply of pro visions in it, and iseiit a boat's crew all roiihH Laury Harbor and adjacent ielarids; to. search for trages 6f"the missing" liien ; Jsiaqd l bemg : alsro subjected to a close scrutiny, ' but ho signs of their presence were . discovered, the steamer . ret urned to Port Ross same evening. Theweather on, Monday was so thick that the search could not be, resumed till midday, when a,start was made for Sad/Oe HiJ In--let,, the coast .being carefnliy searched all along. Reached .the Inlet at 3 p.m., and found the third depot :to be a mere box, open to the wejitheiVand containihg no fodfl. ' Buift 1 stocked a new : depot whittle a boat's crew searched the. Inlet iyitliout the'slightest success. On'the 4th steamed sioSvly do\ya the coast experiencing very cold .thick weather;": searching the bays, &c, } with boats; visited Carnley Harbor, an^, ; reached ilusgrave's depot atj2-3Qt.s>jax<- Continued the search %vhile a part}* ;©f jneb : repaired the depot, which was the: only one found.in tolerable order. ■ Replenished stores as in former cases. Kemp Cove was searched on the sth, the whole "day being spent in the boats undeij a, pouring rain-; On returning in the eyeriipg fbiihd the schooner A\varua : ,'a'fc anchor, 'nine days out from Bluff. . rßeached S6u'\ycst .C^apeVonl'the 6tli, wlien a heavy: gale fyQtq.' the Westward -niade4urther prog-Fes&.^impossible r and, tlie vessel returned to Saddle Inlet,"whefe she was moored with 'bqth aqcHorSi tliejgale being very severe, and accompanied with a ; dense fpg. : Reacheti Port Rosa with some difficulty dv thq 7thj the gale- still con-.

tinuing^i went ashore and re-rigged signal staff, reiniaining ia P^tt Boss until the 9th. Left&rS^artflsfond oh ihe 9 th, arriving at 2fp,in. jcwf the Ilth ; left after a short stayy^anjd arrived as above. Letters wtfte leftjjjithe Various dejiots visited by Captak^^;Keß|io, y&<k}. describes jtbV j weatirJp||&^a||d duriug his stay .at^e-; Islands ifs being^iigist unfavorable^olSse'' fogs prevailing dunngpfte greater part of the [time. Large fires were lighted at various points, and everything- that could be done to attract the attention of possible castavyay^ w.«is done. •• There seems to be no room 1 f op doubting that the 1 whole of j the missing men have perished. The s.s. !*S?eU*a ;left^hS~ior j>.mjr [ j f esterday. •:•■■■ .