Under the Sands of Time

Cue (NZERS), Issue 15, 15 January 1945, Page 27

Under the Sands of Time

(By

THE place is lonely and isolated. No human habitation is * visible from the beach where the wind sweeps in from the Tasman Sea, piling the loose sand in dunes at the base of the hills that rise steeply behind. Did this unfrequented spot see enacted an event which history has left unrecorded: The arrival of a ship from some eastern land, perhaps before the Endeavour dropped anchor in Poverty Bay, or.Tasman’s fleeting sails passed in the west? Or even, for all anyone can tell, before the Tainui canoe first entered Aotea Harbour a few miles to the south, nearly six hundred years ago?

The beach is at Ruapuke, about halfway between Raglan and Kawhia, on the west coast of the North Island, and it is crossed by a shallow creek known as the Torepara Stream. The first evidence in the case appeared in 1877 when the creek, flooded by heavy rain, scoured out masses of debris from a swamp through which it passes and carried this down to the beach. The rain coinciding with a south westerly gale, the material formed a bar where the creek met the breakers, and this gradually forced the outlet of the stream further to- the north. As a result, the dunes > behind the beach were washed away, revealing part of a ship’s decking about twenty feet square, the remainder /of the vessel, or such of it as was present,'beings till under the sand and the waters of the creek. >

It was investigated by a local farmer and another man who found that the decking was of three thicknesses of• twoinch teak planking, laid diagonally and fastened together with wooden screws.

This singular feature, which seems not to have received the attention it deserves, appears to mark the wreckage as something decidedly out of the ordinary. The finders removed a metal plate inscribed with characters in what they took to be some Oriental language, intending to forward it to the Museum at Auckland, but, unfortunately, it seems never, to have arrived, and all trace of it was lost. A possible clue turned up, however, in the form of a ship’s bell which had been obtained from the Maoris early in the nineteenth century. It was clearly from South India or Ceylon, as it was inscribed in Tamil characters, which the finders of the wreck considered were similar to those on the lost plate. This would suggest an Indian origin for the Ruapuke wreck, but, perhaps, not conclusive evidence, as several years seem to have elapsed between the examination of the two objects.

On the return of normal weather conditions, the creek resumed its usual course, and the wreckage shortly disappeared under the sand which drifted off the beach. There it remained until a similar set of circumstances caused .its uncovering again in 1893 an( i 1 9 1 4Besides the wooden screws, there were removed on these occasions or the first discovery, pieces of timber and several metal bolts, 22| inches long and 1 1/4 inches in diameter, evidently used , in fastening the hull to the ribs or other large timbers.

There is some uncertainty as to the extent of the wreckage, one suggestion being that only the decking is present, but some of those who saw the remains maintain that appreciable portions of

the sides of quite a large vessel were visible. The presence of the metal bolts appears to support this story.

One of the bolts was acquired by the Dominion Museum, Wellington, and what seems fairly definitely to have been a portion of another was obtained by the writer from a resident of Ruapuke. The metal, which was tarnished but not corroded, on analysis proved to be a 60-40 copper-zinc alloy, now known as Muntz metal and much used in ship construction. Impurities in the metal were only traces, and gave no indication of the country of origin. ?■ /,

The inscription on the Tamil bell, which is now in the Dominion Museum, has been translated as "Mohoyeddin Buks, His Ship’s Bell,” but the theory that it came from the Ruapuke wreck is somewhat discounted by an authority of ancient and modem Oriental shipbuilding methods. He considered that construction with three thicknesses of planking showed that the ship came from neither India nor Arabia, where this method, has never been practised. Even more conclusive was the presence of the wooden screws, indicating a degree of skill and craftsmanship not to be "found in the shipbuilders of either country. The Chinese, however, being more painstaking workmen, he thought, might possibly have employed such fine detail; so he suggested China as a more likely country of origin.

Concerning the inscription on the plate removed by the first investigators, he considered it would be possible to mistake Chinese characters for Tamil, especially for one unfamiliar with either and after a lapse of years. ;

The possibility that the wreck may have come ashore a very long time ago is supported by the fact that local Maori legends contain no definite account of such a happening.. Several vague references may apply to it. One mentioned a wreck from which came people foreign in appearance to the Maoris, but whether they were white, black or yellow, the story unfortunately does not record. A piece of china or porcelain plate, likewise mentioned in old tales, may have

some connection with the mysterious strangers. 7 4 The wreck has been suggested also as the possible source of a carving in greenish serpentine of a species of whale-bird not of Maori workmanship and apparently carved with metal tools. It was for a very long time in the possession of Maoris of the . Aotea district, to whom it was known as Korotangi, and is clearly of great age, but its origin cannot be definitely established. A theory that the wreck at Ruapuke might be that of a Spanish vessel probably „resulted from the finding of a Spanish helmet in Wellington harbour, and seems unsupported by other evidence, nor does it seem likely that a Spanish ship would be built of teak. Strangely enough, it seems to have occurred to no one who - saw the wreck to mark its exact position, either by a long pole driven into the sand, or by taking a crossbearing. This regrettable failure to realise its possible historical importance has resulted in the precise location being no longer known. And so the mystery remains: Whence came the ship, and when, and what impulse of adventure or curiosity or greed of gain induced her company, to leave the accustomed sea lanes and venture out into the unknown? Were at least some of her crew alive when the vessel grounded, as the local legends seem to suggest, and were the first arrivals in New Zealand after the Maoris not Cook and his Englishmen, but Cantonese, or swarthy mariners from the coast of Burma, Ceylon or Indo-China? These and a score of other questions await an answer they may never receive. Perhaps the questions could be answered only by the men whose story time has buried more deeply than the drifting sands of that lonely beac have covered their ship. , * * * Any reader with additional informa tion on the subject of the above artic ® is invited to communicate with ♦ writer, C/o "CUE." < .