A MYSTERY OF THE SEA

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1714, 17 November 1887, Page 3

A MYSTERY OF THE SEA

Captain Ohlst, of the three-masted schooner Waitemata, which has arrived m Hobson's Hay from Kaloara, reports that m 36l7deg S. and 162 11deg E, on October 10, he fell iv with the abandoned barque Nancy Holt. At 11 30 am, on that day a water-logged vessel was ssen at some distance m the offing, and the Waltemata made a tack and passed close under the atern of the vessel, whioh proved to be the barque, or three-masted schooner Nancy Holt, of Belfast. The fora and maintopmaata were gone, and only about 10ft of the m'zmn wan remaining above the decks. The bulwarks and staunohlons amidships were destroyed, the main hold was uncovered, and the poop all torn up. The port aide light was m position and seemed ail right, JMo spars or wreckage of any de soriptlon were to be seen. The fore topmast staysail and the main ekysail were folded ou the deck. All the boats were gone, the crew Apparently having, when they abandoned the vessel, taken refuge m them The bow and stern were dry, and the jib-boom was on her, and evidently m good order. It was evident, from the barnaoles which hung In huge j clusters on her stern, that she had been iv the water for a considerable period. No one from the Waitemata boarded her, but it could be plainly seen that thero was no I life ou board. She did not seem very deep iv the water and it is considered that sho could be successfully fl >atod to port if it wore possible to find her again. Tbo Nancy Holt was a barque of 319 tons register, and was bound from Eu'ekß (West Ooaßt of America) with a cargo of hardwood for Melbourne. She left Eureka sb far back as May 12 last, and is therefore 169 days out. To have becDme dismasted and to have suffered such an amount of damage to her hull, decks, and fittings generally shows that exceptionally boisterous weather must have been encountered. The crew deserted her probably m a gale of «iad, thinking ihe would founder, and th&t the only hope rested m the boats. V xposed to the hot, glaring sun during the day, or oold at eight, with nothing to shelter them and but little to eat or drink, and fighting bard against the etortu, their tortures must have been of a terrible nature. How they have fared it is impossible to tell, for Bfnce the time the Nancy Holt left Eureka nothing has beea heard of her unfortunate crew.