WRECK OF THE DERRY CASTLE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6047, 1 October 1887, Page 3

WRECK OF THE DERRY CASTLE.

LOSS OF FIFTEEN LIVES.

DEATH IN LIFE ON A BARREN HOCK.

TERRIBLE FKIVATIONS.

The detailed story of the wreck of the ill-fated baique Derry Castle, of the sad loss of life, and of the terrible privations suffered by the survivors during what must have seemed long years en a desolate island, are now available. The Hobart Mercury gives tho following CONDENSED STORY OF THE DERBY CASTLE. The schooner Awarua, which arrived to-day (Sept. -2) from New Zealand, brings seven survivors of tho barque Berry Castle, which was wrecked on Enderby Island, one of the Auckland group, fifteen being drowned. The Derry Castle belonged to ; Spaight aTjd Co., of Limerick, and waa a | barque of 1317 tons. She left Geelong on j March 12 last, with a cargo of wheat for a port of call in the United Kingdom, under command of Captain Goffe, and nothing swas heard of her, and about a month ago serious apprehensions were felt as to her safety. It wss only to-day, however, that news reached Melbourne of her sad fate eight days after her leaving Oeolong. She struck upon Enderby Island whilst, going about twelve knots, and in a very few minutes the ill-fated vessel became a complete wreck. The boats wez*e all smashed and a hole knocked in her bottom, ami all the masts but tho inizenhad gone by the Board. Seven of the crew, with oue passenger named James M'Gee, were washed ashore and survived, but THE CAPTAIX AND FOUKTEEN Of THE OFFICERS AND CREW WEBS ALL BHOVTNJSD. j The survivors were put to great privations, i as they were on a barren island, while there were no means of subsistence. One of the Government depots, which are established on many o£ the islands, was discovered, but it contained nothing but a j bottle of salt, and for ten days they were j without fire, but at last they managed to explode a revolver cartridge and got fire. For three months they remained on this barren rock, feeding on seal, fish, rabbits and grain which had [ been washed ashore from the wreck. At ; length they made a raft of lumber and ' readied the Government depot at Fort ' Pcojs, where they obtained some stores and clothes. They remained there until about a month ago, when the Awarua providentially put in there on a sealing vcyage and took the shipwrecked mariners away. They had suffered terrible privations. The following is a complete LIST OV THOSE "WHO WERE LOST in the disaster : — James Goffe, captain ; Joseph T. Eobins, chief mate; N. W. ItasniuEsn, second mate; J. D.' Crane, steward ; Carlson, carpenter ; W. Oarlson, sailmaker; Charles Williams, boats-sain; A. Quin. A.8. : Antoni Mantz, A.8.; H. M'Gill, A.8. ; W. Scannell, 0.5. ; Petersen, look-out man ; Edward Eeid, seaman ; H. VeithJev, cook. M'Gill, in signing articles, assumed tbo name of Gilbert. DETAILS OF THE SAD STOUT. The Dsrry Castle (the Melbourne Argus relates) made a quick passage to Enderby Island. She had a fair wind, at ! times amounting to a gale, behind her, and she made the most of her canvas. On the night of March 20, only one day more than a week from clearing at Geelong, the catastrophe nceurreA without the slightest warning. Never was a vessel sent more blindly or speedily to destruction. It was about ten minutes to 2 a.m,, and the chief officer's watch, on deck. All sail was set, and thp barque was bowJing along twelve knots an hour before the wind. The chief officer gave the order to haul up the mainsail, and the watch were casting looao the braces. Neither the man at, the wheel nor tho lookout reported land, which the survivors oO the watch say could not be scon. The night was hazy, the sky cloudy — what sailors call a rather dirty night— and tho wind freshening. WITHOUT THE BHGHTEBT ALARM BEING GIVEN, or effort to change the course o? the vessel, j she ran bow on to submerged rocks, and j bumped over them for some distance with i terrific force. Then her bow dropped into j deep water, and the stern rested high on j the reef with the seas rolling over it. The vessel listed heavily to starboard, i and began to break up. She was so j dose in. to the land, about "00 yards ; i ■ that the frowning coast lino now rose clearly into view. Tho captain, M'Gee, and the waich below, ran on deck partly dressed. The smashing collision with the reef left no room for doubt that J a struggle for life had come. The ship's | company ran aft to the port side of the i stern, which was highest out of the water, j and there was a call for lifebuoys, as the. boats were broken up. The captain and ! the mate went to the lazarette and handed ' out the life-buoys, but some of the crevr I choso to trust to swimming, and would not wear them. In a few minutes THE SHIP KA.RTSD AMIDSHIPS, 1 and, as the seas broke over the group on | the poop, one by one they were washed off ov threw themselves into the water. M'Gee was the second last man and the ; last survivor to leave the ship, and strike out as a forlorn hope for the uninhabited shore. Only eight half-dead, storm-beaten men faintly called to each other when the struggle wa3 over. The surf had beaten fifteen others to death ou the rocks or sucked the swimmers back into the open sea, which did not give up its dead. It was a pitiable group that drew together to count the roll. Nearly naked some of them, spent with fighting tho waves, and without food on an uninhabited island — th?.y had still to look death in the face. The missing were fifteen, and the living eight, but THERE WAS btILL ANOTHER SHIPMATE whose life hung on the balance and might be added to their number. Ho was the sailmaker. He had climbed the mizenmast of the doomed ship. In the morning he was seen still clinging to his perch, and then be made a fight for life. He threw himself into the sea, and the castaways on the desolate beach, with nothing but life left them, saw their shipmate bravely strive to swim to land. He breasted the water for a time, and got nearer to the hands outstretched to save him, and then a curling breaker struck him and swept him back into the vortex, and he was seen no more. The eye-wit-nesses state that the poor fellow must have been numbered with the piercing cold of that inclement night and his cramped position on the maat, or his life might not have been quenched co easily. The daylight brought with it new horrors which the night, terrible though it had i been, had veiled. The castaways began to search for shell-fish among the rocks. And then, pointed out by the ravenous seahawks, EOME GHASTLY BIGHTS WERE SEEN. Tliere^ among the seaweed at the foot of the cliffs were three bodies, whose heads wore crashed by the cruel breakers pound- , ing them against the rocks. They ware tho captain, the chief officer, and s.n able L seaman who lay dead— mutilated not only by the surf and and the rocks, but worse than all, by the seacawks, who had thus • early made them their prey. The captain's face was the least recognisable,' and in the holes that the eyes once occupied there . were no longer eyes. The dead were stripped of their clothes for the benefit of the half-naked living ; and then, in graves . dug with a knife, the bodies were interred. The corpses wore borne to the grave by men who were themselves ia a living grave, - with tho dread upon them of perishing with naught to givo their corpses the pro- ' tection of burial against the devouring sea- . hawks. For their plight was at this time truly deplorable. They had , NO FIXE, NO FOOD, except shell-fish, which was very scarce,

and but little covering, while autumn had set in and winter waa approaching in a bleak southern latitude. They -were out of the reach of attracting the attention of any passing vessel, as they could not light a beacon nor even exhibit a flag o£ distress ■without material, flagstaff, or tools. The only palliation of their sufferings was that i they found that they could climb to the | top of the cliff, which was impracticable at I any other part o£ the coast. The island was explored, and the miserable party were much cheered by finding on the other side of the harbour a small gipsy-like hut, which it appears was formerly used as a depot for stores for shipwrecked seamen. The place was opened with the expectation of finding food, and it was A TERRIBLE DISAPPOINTMENT to find thwt all that the hut contained was a pint bottle of salt. The New Zealand Government, it seems, had formerly maintained four depots for the relief of castaways on the Auckland Islands, but latterly dispensed with all but one, on the mainland at Port Koss. To Port Eoss, which was tantalisingly in sight, the survivor 3 used to strain their eyes in hopeless yearning to reach it, but they had no materials to make a boat. The wreckage which came ashore from time to time after the Derry Castle totally disappeared on the morning after she went ashore would have sufficed to make at least a raft, but there were no implements to fashion it. So that, in spite of something being seen on the foreshore of Port Kose, which some thought to be a rock, and others affirmed was more like a building, day after day passed without any prospect of escape. At this time, that is to say, for the first week after getting ashore, the men were undergoing great privation. The only food which floated ashore was two ono pound tins of herrings, a pumpkin, and some wheat, which soon began to grow mouldy, and germinate on being removed from the water, At the end of the first week hunger drove them to kill a seal, of which there were many (but more properly speaking sea lions), but the raw, raok flesh wa3 too disgusting for even starvation to overcome, and some of the inon grew more skeleton-like every day upon the miser- i able diet v/hich a few shell-fish afforded. There were no birds' eggs, but on one occasion >a shag was killed and ea'jen. To | keep themselves warm they had two j blankets which floated ashore, several j bags, and couches, of grass, which were spread on four wiekenvork beehive-shaped huts, which everyone assisted to build. For boots they had pieces of sealskin sewn round the feet by means of a sharpened nail and some ropeyarn. But their sufferings vrere respited by A MO&T OFrOIITUNE " FIND," which shows how ingenious men become in turning everything to the best account when they are in distress. The great desire of the castaways had been to make a fire, which they needed, not only for heat in. their ill-clad state, but also to enable them to cook the grain which was their staple article of food, and which was becoming more spoiled and unwholesome day by day. A box of wooden matches had been found, and had been eagerly prised, albeit they were thoroughly soaked. The matches were carefully dried in the sun, but one after another refused to light until the last one was exhausted in the vain endeavour, when no hope remained. Then M'Qee told his shipmates that he had I ANOTHER RESOUKCE ! but he had been too anxious concerning the doubtful success of thu experiment to make it known before. He had found in his pocket a revolver cartridge, and when he j exhibited it hope rose anew, and there was j much consultation as to how it should be utilised in order to obtain the much wished for fire. At last the device was agreed upon. The bullet was taken out of the cartridge, and in its place was put a frayed piece of cotton handkerchief, which had been worn next to the bosom in order to thoroughly dry it. Then a hole was cut in a piece of wood to hold the bullet vp to its neck, and the cap was detonated by the application of a nail driven against it by a stone. When the powder ignited the Jotton was smouldering, and by careful fanning a blaze was procured, which provided a fire, and this fire was kept alight unremittingly until the party effected their escape. They told off each other as watchmen to sit up all night and feed THE TRECIOUS FLAME, by the aid of which the gratD which floated ashore from the wreck was made a tolerably wholesome article of food. They used to parch the grain like roasted coffee, and then beat it down into powder, mix it with hot water, and drink the decoction. Happily there was plenty of fresh water, which gushed out in many rivulets from the hillside, so that the tortures of thirst were not added, to the semi-starvation and the privations of their lonely banishment. After about a month, of trial, with no prospect of deliverance, the devoted band had further cause for despondency in the finding of TWO MORE BODIES. Only a guess could be made as to the identity of one of the corpses, and the state of the other did not even admit of a conjecture as to whose remains were being interred in the little cemetery made of the knife-dug graves, for nothing but the skeleton was left by the hungry waves and the still hungrier maws of the sea vultures. Once more the mourners, who have themselves been mourned as dead by their friends, performed the last rites, and then to mark the desolate spot as a place of burial some xude monuments were reared. Over the captain's head was placed the piece of the wheel of the lost ship which bore her name, and which had floated ashore, and at the other side of the little square which enclosed the five coflin3 a rude pillar, encJrcled with one of the Derry Castle's lifebuoys, was set up, to tell other shipwrecked mariners on this treacherous coast maybe of the fate which befel some of thoae who were their forerunners into peril. Time passed drearily on, and still day by day and week by week the seamen and their landsman companion, M'Gee, set their eyes covetously towards Port Eoss and the object on its foreshore, which looked like the depot of Government stores, which was believed to be provided there by a beneficent Government for the relief of those who go down to the sea in ships and fail to take them to port. ON THE NINETY-SECOND DAT o£ this servitude and suspense, a prospect of relief suddenly presented itself by the discovery, almost hidden in the sand, of an old axe head, which had been left near the old depot by some whaling party. Here was the tool for making a boat — a very odd one it is true, but still a boat — at last, and the work was immediately entered upon with hopeful zest by everyone. As the boat could not have been launched from the side of the island on which tho barque was wrecked, on account of the surf , the men carried bundles of the wreckage up the cliff and across the island to the old depot, where the boat was in due course constructed. It was nothing more than an oblong box, 6ft by 2a ft, with the end 3 running up a little like a Norwegian prow, so as to do duty as a keel or cutwater. The caulking was done with odds and ends of rope yarn, driven into the scams with a piece of hoop iron, which had also been left, together with the axe and an old pot, by the whaling party, whose gifts, valueleas as they doubtless considered them, were worth as much, as the Midas nugget to the castaways who were bravely struggliug to hold to the lives which had already passed through many perils. THE BOAT WAS LAUNCHED, and with many hopes and fears for their safety and that of their rude vessel, two of the party — Sullivan and Eennie — pushed off from the shore, and essayed to cross the water which divided tho halfstarved, nearly naked mariners from a feast- of plenty, if only the stores at the Port Eoss depot could be brought within their grasp. The dingy gradually passed out of the sight of the six wretched men standing on the uninhabited coast, and one must hear them relate their experiences in order to vividly understand their feelings a3 the frail craffc went away freighted with the hopes of men whose lives depended upon the success of her mission. While she was gone they were subjected to AITOTHEr. CRUEL DISAPPOINTMENT. A sail hove in sight — a sail v. ■;••■*?. x^ to; '

the harbour — while they had the means of making such a smoky beacon as a passing vessel might be fully expected to see ; but the beacon was made in vain ; . the vessel put about and left the harbour behind, and the men to their fate. It seemed to them that she must be a poaching sealer, who mistook the fire for that of people who were on the watch for poachers, and so gave the island a wide berth ; but be that as it may, she came and went, and the survivors were left to rely on their crank punt, upon the trusty sailorß who manned it, and the f olfilment of the belief , that the Government had stocked the [ depot with provisions. Two days passed | ! tvUh-rmfc emy message from the punt, and then on the third day SIIOKE WAS SEEN ON POKT ROSS, which assured the watchers that their gallant emissaries were safe. They soon came back with glad tidings, and provisions and clothe 3, to prove what they had seen in spying out the»country. At last, after four months of harassing anxiety and insufficient food, shelter, and clothing, they would be housed, fed, and clothed in comparative comfort, even though their Robinson Crusoe life should be prolonged indefinitely, or until the Government steamer Stella, should make her next periodical inspection to the Auckland Islands in search of shipwrecked mariners. The transportation of the men and the remainder of their store of roasted corn from Enderby Island to Port Koss was accomplished without accident, although several trips had to be made before the whole could be freighted across. An attempt was made to employ an old boat that was found on Port Rosa, but after binding her round with wire to prevent her going to pieces, she took in water so freely that she was abandoned. The dingey, 100, had to be frequently patched up, but she did the work required of her without mishap, yet in a very slow and toilsome way. In a few days the whole of the band, with such possessions as they had, were ESTABLISHED AT THE PORT ROSS DEPOT, which contained clothing, fat, and biscuits, but these were luxuries to the shipwrecked band, who, however, had still before them the prospect of a long and undesirable detention at the port. This was the more unwelcome to them, inasmuch a3 while the health of the party had been fairly good, several of them were suffering from the exposure they had undergone. The weather during their sojourn at Enderby Island had betn variable, with, not a few fine days, but the time of the year — the middle of winter — had made camping out with little shelter or covering almost unendurable, especially for such a protracted period. The men were still tortured by the uncertainty as to when they would be released. They had been from March 20 to June 18 on Enderby laland — they kept count by notching each day as it passed — and they were destined to ! remain without further succour until July 19, when THE A WAR U A PUT IN to Port Eoss in search of a boat which she had lei'u there some time previously. The men on shore, overjoyed ut hearing the vessel arrive and drop her anchor, it being after dark, hailed her, but as the weather was bad they did not venture to board her ! in their punt. Early next morning Captain • L. F. Drew went ashore from the Awarua, ; and had a great reception from the chipI wrecked party, whom he immediately took I under his protection, and finally brought to Melbourne at considerable lo^s to himself and to his crew.