SCENE OF MANY WRECKS.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 13575, 5 December 1907, Page 7

SCENE OF MANY WRECKS.

' THE AUCKLAND ISLANDS. TALES OF HARDSHIP. The. Auckland Islands have taken a heavy toll from the ships .sailing the southern soas. From the earliest trading days down to the present their record has been one of wreck and tragic loss of life. The ship Invercauld was lost on the Auckland Islands on May 10th, 1864. In about twenty minutes after striking she was in atoms,so heavy, was the sea running. Two boys and four seamen were drowned, but the remainder, nineteen officers and men,were washed ashore. The survivors experienced such great privations that sixteen more deaths took place before relief came. After being a year and ten days on the island the three survivors — Captain Dalgarno, the mate, and a seaman — wero rescued by the Portuguese ship Ju' sin, ftom Macao for Callao. The schooner Grafton (Captain Mnsgrave), from Sydney to the South Sea Islands, was wrecked on January 3r-l 1564, in one of the inlets of the Auckland Islands. The captain and two men landed at Port . Adventure in a boat which the crew had built on the island, and mjtde their way to Invercargill. Two members of th© crew were left on the island, but a return voyage, mado in the Flying $cud, failed to discover them. The General Grant, an American ship of 1200 totos, was lost on May 13th, 1866, on the iron-bound coast of the Auckland Islands, and 68 seals perished. She left -Melbourne on May 4th, with a cargo valued at £10,000, and a number of passengers for London. After the ien survivors had been eighteen months or. the island they were rescued by the ship Amherst, commanded by the late Captain Gilroy, of the Bluff. It was on their recommendation that the New Zealand Government established the depots on the islands, which proved of much value to the survivors of tho Derry Castle. The ship Compadro was also wrecked on the Auckland Islands, but the loss of life was slight. The survivors were rescued by the Janet Ramsay. The Derry Castle (Limerick), a barque of 1317 toii3, was wrecked on Enderby Island', one of the Auckland group, on March 20th, 1887. She left Geelong on March 12th with a cargo of wheat for a port of call in the United Kingdom, under the command of/Captain Goffe. Eight days out -sho struck on Enderby Island while going about twelve knots/ and in a few minutes the ill-fated vessel became a complete wreck. Seven of the crew and one passenger were washed ashore and suryiv.edv.but the captain and fourteen of the officers and crew were drowned. The j3ur,yiyors suffered great privationsOne of the Government depots was'discovered, but it contained nothing but a bottle of salt. For, three -months they lived *on the island and fed on 'seal y fish, rabbits, and grain which had been washed ashore f rpm the -wreck. ■ The castaways were taken off the island on July, 22nd, 1887. Qn May 17th, 1905|. the Hinenioa ar- ] rived at Dunedin with" the officers an,d crew of tn'e French barque A'njpu, whicii left Sydney on January 22nd, and was totally w-ileckecfc^n^tfite^Atacklandsu :Afe j managed to escape by the boais, thoughv they endured great hardships from the inclemency of the weather. In addition to,tlie above, q,.small craft , named the Daphne, which went in search of the gold on board the General Grant, was also lost with six persons on board.