THE LURE OF FORTUNE

Taranaki Daily News, 16 October 1930, Page 11

THE LURE OF FORTUNE

AUCKLAND ISLAND EXPEDITION.

LONELY GRAVE OF MANY SAILORS

Auckland Islands, where a New Zealand expedition will make an attempt this summer to recover bullion valued at '£10,500, and possibly £1,000,000, has bben the scene of many shipwrecks, accompanied by heavy losses of human lives. The specie lost when the sailing ship General Grant was piled up on the forbidding coast, has itself led to loss of. life on two occasions, when parties attempting to recover the gold were overwhelmed by the treacherous seas.

Although only 190 miles nearer to the Antarctic than pleasant Stewart Island, the group is notorious for the bleak inhospitability of its rugged shores. Auckland, Island measures between 25 and 30 miles in length, and is 15 miles across at the widest part. A considerable part is wooded- and covered, abundantly with vegetation. Peaks rise to a height of' 2000 feet. The.'island has' an area of 330 square miles.-'i The north, south and West coats are steep and. bare, inac-, cessib'le precipices' forming a large part of the coastline. An attempt was made in 1849 to colonise the island with a view of making it a permanent base for whaling and sealing expeditions, but this failed after the party had spent two. uncomfortable winters in which the rainfall and the snowfall were enormous. ’ . J . A German scientific expedition which visited the isla’nd for geological observations found the weather to be “the most wretched imaginable.” , The island, rises steeply from the' sea with deep water close inshore, and consequently the fierce storms which rise with remarkable suddenness in this,wind-swept region give little opportunity • for escape, to ships caught near the many dangerous points of the coastline. A comparatively smooth sea will rise suddenly before a shrieking gale. ' - •' , • ' . „ The list of shipwrecks/on this small island alone is a remarkable one when its position in a desolate sea is considered. From the. time when the group, was discovered on August 18, 1806, by Captain Bristoe on board . the Ocean, there have been at least eight wrecks. Auckland Island had been visited by several expeditions before misfortune overtook the sailing ship Grafton, which was driven on the rocks by a violent storm which arose with only a few minutes’ warning. The complement, three men besides the captain and mate, lived on the island for 20 months in rude shacks made from driftwood and trees. Eventually the'captain, with the mate and one man, left for. New .Zealand in a 17-foot boat which they had made from the wreckage, reaching Port Adventure, on Stewart Island, after five days’ stormy, passage. - ' The other two men were rescued by , the Flying Scud, which also found the body of another seaman on the island'. He was probably, one pf the crew of the Invercauld, *? which was wrecked on the island bn May 10, 1864. In this’mishap, six men were drowned, the remaining 19 escaping to shore. The life'- was so strenuous that only the captain, the chief officer and one seaman were alive,when help came a year later. '• ' !‘ . ■ Next came the ill-fated General Grant, laden with bullion from Melbourne. On May' 13, 1866, she was wrecked on the island, six of the ten survivors, which included one woman, being .rescued by the whaling ship Amherst about 18 ijjonths after the mis- . hap. The chief- officer, with three seamen, had left the island on January 22, 1877, in .the pinnace with the desperate intention of reaching . New Zea land; but they perished at sea. Several attempts have been made to recover the gold, in one of. these a small' craft from the Daphne being overwhelmed by huge wave. An American expedition in 1917 met with similar misfortune and returned after actually having the treasure in sight. On March 20', 1887, the Derry Castle, of Geelong, was lost there, 15 lives beincr forfeit. Eight men were rescued after months of privation. In 1891, on March 18, the Compadre was wrecked, the 15 men of the crew being rescued later in the year. The Anjou went ashore in March, 1905, but all the men reached shore atnd found one of the depots established by the New Zealand Government for castaways. The Island was also used by 15 men from the Dundonald, which w“as wrecked on Disappointment Island, a bleak rock a few miles away. They made a canvas boat to take themselves across the intervening stretch. Some records state that the Minerva, of Leeds, was also Jost in this region. Auckland Island was visited by the Government ship Hinemoa at frequent intervals in order to take off any shipwrecked , seamen, so notorious for dangers had the group become during the last years of the 19th century. The Government established a number of food depots and also liberated sheep, rabbits, goats and cattle, on suitable, spots to serve for food, should the need arise. Captain Bristoe had also liberated a number of pigs for the same purpose. For a while the island was used for sheep-rearing but it was not a profitable venture. In spite of all these attempts to introduce the animals of civilised lands into this new country the undisputed' master of all is still the sea-elephant, a gigantic animal on the lines of a walrus but often weighing upward to two tons. Seals and a few penguins are also found in this region.

Auckland Island was visited in 1904 by the '.three Antarctic exploration vessels, Discovery, Morning and Terra Nova. Studies were made of the flora and fauna, and a New’ Zealand expedition has since made further investigations.

And yet, hidden behind jagged reefs and tremendous cliffs, are spacious harbours. The French commander, D’Urville, described Port Rose, at the northern end of the principal island, as one of the best harbours of refuge in the world. At the southern end, Carnley Harbour, sometimes called Adams Strait, , is a magnificent through passage between the east and the west coasts. Laurie Harbour, Erebus Cove, Camp Cove and Terror Cove provide -ood anchorages, too. .