THE ROMANCE OF THE PERTHSHIRE.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXII, Issue XXV, 24 June 1899, Page 865

THE ROMANCE OF THE PERTHSHIRE.

The sea, equally with the land, has its romances, but usually they are the more harrowing, being for the most part heart-rending stories .of shipwreck, of the horrors of fire, or of starvation in open boats under a blistering tropical sun. Occasionally the element of comedy is developed, and now that the Perthshire has turned up alright her remarkable story might with justice be included in a volume of humorous episodes of the ocean. The time which had elapsed between the sighting of the disabled steamer by the Northern Chief on May 25 was suinciently long to again give rise to feats as to her safety, and the announcement that she is at last in port will be received with a sense of relief throughout Australasia. Once assured that no damage has been done, and the irresistibly comic side of the picture must present itself. From

first to last more than a score of vessels must have been in search of the disabled steamer. It has been a great game of hide-and-seek. So unsuccessful were the seekers that the well hidden quarry, apparently out of a spirit of sportiveness, occasionally fell in with a non-participant in the form of a sailing ship, only to disappear from the locality ere the searchers were able to arrive at the top of their speed at the place indicated. Occasionally the weatlur prophets took a hand, and gave forth judgment on the situation of the Perthshire. The meteorologist of Queensland, who has earned an intercolonial reputation, in his latest bulletin gave a position near the Kermadecs as the likely spot, and was only cli.se on a thousand miles out of it; while our New Zealand weather adjuster made what proves to be a somewhat more correct forecast in naming the vicinity of Lord Howe Island. The marked chart of the Perthshire showing her drift day by day from the time ihat she broke

down in about the 38th parallel till she was picked up north of the 30th parallel, will be a more valuable document with its carefully recorded zig-

zag course than was ever bottle message given up by the sea. THE FIFTY DAYS’ DRIFT. Two days after the Perthshire left Sydney, on April 25 last, for the Bluff, her shaft broke, and she was left helplessly drifting on one of the most southern of the regular trade routes between Australia and New Zealand. Anxiety began to be felt when seven or eight days having elapsed there was still no sign of the steamer at the Bluff, and a little later a search was instituted with a view to making sure that the large steamer had not been wrecked on the rock-bound coast of Western Otago, or the equally inhospitable shores of Stewart Is. Anxiety was beginning to be acute, when the schooner Whangaroa arrived ’in Sydney on May 19, and reporled that she had spoken the missing steamer on May 12 in lat. 35.40 S., long. 160.40 E., or 450 miles east of Sydney, and a little over 600 miles off the New Zealand coast. The drift of the steamer during those 14 days had been in a north-easterly direction, and the steamer had crossed the regular Wellington to Sydney route, and was a little south of a direct line between Sydney and Cape Maria. It was felt that with this information the troubles of the steamer and her passengers would soon terminate in being picked up by one of the regular intercolonial traders, and all these steamers were given instructions to keep a more than usually sharp look-out. But for all that was seen of her the great steamer might just as well have been at the bottom of the ocean. As time went on STEAMERS WERE SENT OUT from both New Zealand and Australian ports to Institute a special search, while the regular intercolonial traders

deviated from their usual courses, but met with no reward. Almost three weeks elapsed, and grave fears were again entertained as to the vessel’s safety. Then the timber-laden barque Northern Chief arrived in Sydney on the Ist inst., and reported having sighted the much-sought steamer directly on the track of vessels bound from Auckland to Sydney, or vice versa. The position given was lat. 31.12 S., long. 164.0 E., or slightly north of where sighted by the Whangaroa, and 100 or 200 miles more to the east. The position was one 400 miles almost direct west of Cape Maria Van Dieman. The search was continued with renewed vigour, and among other steamers the N.Z.Governinent s s. Tutanekai was despatched in quest of the Perthshire. In both New Zealand and Australia strong easterly weather had been experienced for a considerable length of time, and as vessels arriving at both sides of the Tasman Sea also reported strong easterly winds and heavy seas, it was concluded that the steamer had drifted more towards the N.S.W. coast. On this assumption the search was continued, and the general concensus of opinion that existed is responsible for the quest not having terminated earlier. Instead of drifting in a nor’westerly direction, the steamer would appear to have made steadily almost due north. The next news was received in Newcastle on Saturday last, when the barque VERAJEAN ARRIVED FROM JAPAN She reported falling in with the Perthshire in lat. 29.38 S., and long. 165.1 E., or almost 300 miles distant from where seen by the Northern Chief, and almost due north of the position reported by her. Five days later the Verajean met with the

French steamer La Perouse, bound from Sydney to Noumea, and reported the Perthshire’s position to her captain, who, is was expected, would at once proceed in search of the steamer. The position where the Verajean sighted the Perthshire is about 160 miles from Norfolk Island, bearing north, 78 E. The distance to Cape Maria Van Dieman is 488 miles, bearing south, 53. east; and to Sydney 754 miles, bearing south, 71. west. The day after the Verajean communuicated with the La Perouse, however (June 13), saw t.ie END OF THE PERTHSHIRE’S DRIFTING, for she was picked up in the vicinity of Norfolk Island by the Talune. The Union steamer Talune is a vessel of close on 2,000 tons, and leaving Wellington on the 9th inst., her instructions were to proceed to Sydney via Norfolk and Lord Howe islands. The steamer was to make the passage direct, and it is an instance of the irony of fate that while other vessels have zig-zagged in special searches over a great portion of the Tasman Sea, a steamer steering a direct course should make the find. At the same time it is pleasing that the salvage should go to the Union Co., as their contribution, even among the unsuccessful searches, must be the largest to the sum total, for all their vessels in the Australian-New Zealand trade hnve not only kept on the alert, but have- departed very largely from their usual courses.