LOSS OF THE S.S. TAEANAKI.

Wellington Independent, Volume XXIII, Issue 2723, 25 August 1868, Page 4

LOSS OF THE S.S. TAEANAKI.

THE NARRATIVE OF A PASSENGER. DEPOSITIONS MADE AT PICTON. The return of the s.s. Lady Bird on Saturday ha enabled us to obtain a fuller and more complet* narrative than has yet been published of the wreck of the ill-fated Taranaki. We can add very littli to the accouut so graphically given by Mr Wm Allen, one of tho passengers, which we subjoin As an actor in tho scene, he has described it both naturally and truthfully. The s.s. Lady Bird under Captain Ecnner, which left Wellington on Thursday, to visit the scene of the wreck returned to port on Saturday, and we learn that when she left, tho Taranaki was lying nearly upright in 134 fathoms of water, in Bowden's Bay. Owing to the configuration of the bay which takes a sudden bend inwards where the vessel is lying, it is not considered likely that she will be sucked further out by the tide, as she is to a great extent out of its influence. The Directors of the N.Z.S.N. Company have, we understand, resolved on making an effort to raise the steamer. Practical men assure us that the thing can be done if tho necessary outlay be made. The affair is simply a question of money, and we suppose the expenditure would be considerable, as two large vessels would require to be employed. The vessel cost, we believe, a sum of £13,000 ; and the cargo on board has been estimated at £40,000 more. Tho latter however is only an estimate and may be very wide of the mark. The depositions taken at Picton, which we publish below will fully explain the circumstances connected with the loss of this vessel, but as the official enquiry under tho act will take place to-day in the Resident Magistrate's Court at 11 o'clock before J. Coutts Crawford, R.M. and Captain Johnson, of the Marine Board, sitting as Nautical Assessor, we refrain in the meantime from any premature comments on tho Bubject.