A SEAMAN'S EXPERIENCES RECITED.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 1352, 15 June 1907, Page 5

A SEAMAN'S EXPERIENCES RECITED.

A.B. Morris had a thrilling tale to tell of the wreck. "We did not feel any shock," he said, "but an unusually heavy,. rolling. We guessed what had happened, and passengers and crew rushed up, on. deck -n.one, jf ully olothed. The Captain, direct©^ iheTbollir ip be j lowered, but when one of them, was being lowered it was broken to, pieces. Most of the passengers, including the women and children, had been got. safely into the other boat,' and it left the wreck in charge of the mate with " a complement of about ten souls. The SKIPPER NEVER LEFT HIS POST, and the second officer and myself were thrown into the sea together, but managed to grasp the raft which was drifting near, and before daylight we had picked up nine others, sk> that when we j made the beach there was in all eleven of us. The other boat picked up six others, several being guided -to her by means of tne flare which was"' set up by the mate, and when we. mustered on the beach we totalled twenty-seven, including passengers and crew. Had the other lifeboat not gone to pieces I think everybody would have been saved.; Whel* the Kia Ora finally sank we heard the Captain shouting for assistance, and yelled out to the mate's boat to rescue him. The boat left us, and went in the direction the voice came from.. We on the raft were drifting forwards the shore anil when w,e agajn saw tne -boat, which had been making about untij daylight, our first thoughts were of the, Skipper, and when we knew they had not got him I can tell you our hearts sank." According to this survivor the . , DISASTER IS FAR MQRE SERIOUS than was at first believed, fbr he asserts they had thirty-five souls oh' board, and only twenty-seven can be accounted for, so that instead of three, eight have been dcpwned, as the result of the sad disaster. "We had to get ashore through a heavy surf," Morris went on, "and it Wast, really marvellous how some of us got- ashore. During the whole time, however, there was practically no sign of panic ; even the children hardly cried. On investigation' Gf-tfifeuv surroundings, they found no sign of cultivation or habitation. Fortunately a quantity of dry matches was found, and scanty shelter was provided by means of the* raft and the boat, and a large fire soon lighted. The mate and the engineer soon afterwards set out for assistance, and after a great deal of hard toil through the bush and deep chad'-tltey came across signs of habit^-f tion and 9 man I®^* *he settlement on a horse for Marakopo to convey the news, arid bring someone to help us. 'NONE OF '*US WERE PROPERLY CLAD, .. , arid we were wet, cold, and hungry. It was a terrible experience for us, lying out there on the beach, with only one blanket between twenty-seven of us,

and the rain beating down pitilessly. We continued like this until . three o'clock on Friday morning, when packhorses with provisions reached the top of the cliff above us. The distance they had to cover, they said, was not more than a dozen miles, but the going had been awfully heavy, and at times they really thought they would be unable to reach us. The descent of the cliff was too steep and treacherous for them to bring the horses down, and so these settlers, who had lost no time in organ* ising relief, unpacked their horses and brought us ton their backs provisions and blankets^ and we all ate . . A HEARTY BREAKFAST and obtained warmth from the blankets these kind people had brought for. us; During breakfast it was decided we should set out for a place known i,aa, Shearer's, and the injured people wer^ ; carried up the steep slopes and the man with the broken leg strapped to one horse, an old lady who had received, J»' nasty wound over the eye. on another;, and the other lady passenger^ stewardess, and the children rode €hhe^ c remaining animal alternately. : ' *" ' The" last two seamen to leave the beach aY this point told us they saw smoke on the horizon, but we had gone too far ahead to be "coofeed t " apd so^fchey followed on also. We had .covered » distance of about four miles, and suddenly on coming out of some bush THE RARAWA W!AS SIGHTED close in, searching the coast, and it was a great relief to all of-us-}tyorxSpfipyr)Ojjte whereabouts had been discovered. " We | descended the cliffs once .more, and it J was decided that tKe injureof anawßel women and children should be cared for at a comfortable whare at Nukuariki, and the able-bodied members of the crew taken on board the Rarawa. We left our friends all very cozhfdrtable under the circumstances, and their wants are being looked after in the most hospitable manner by the people her©. "1 only wish," concluded Morris, "our Skipper was with us." The man was, deeply touched, and as he referred to Captain Blacklock tears rolled down his face, "for he was the best Skipper any man could sail under" — and this opinion was borne out by several other members of the crew. *