MAORIS' ORDEAL.

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 18410, 17 June 1925, Page 8

MAORIS' ORDEAL.

15 HOURS IN WATER. GUARDED COFFIN FROM SEA. (spxoial to "the raEsa.") BLENHEIM, Juno IG. A remarkable story concerning tho experiences of a Maori funeral party comes from tho Marlborough Sounds. One day last week a launch under the charge of Jr Joo Wells, and containing four other Maoris, left French Pass for Nolson to secure tho body of a relative who had died there, the; objoct being to bury their kinsman close to. their home. The launch reached Nelson without mishap, and the coffin was duly taken aboard, and a,atari; mado on' the return '■journey.' The : launch tingiho, however, began to give trouble, and, despite all the efforts of tho party, ,tho frail vessel. was swept on to the rocks a few miles from Nelson, and badly holed. The craft began to sink at once, but tjjc party succeeded before sho foundered, in'placing too coffin on shaped rock, and they all managod to scramble on to this refuge. .'The rock was a very small one, asd was situatod weJJ off shore, so that as the tido began to. rise the party found themselves in a very dangerous position. Their reverence for tho dea/1, however, was so strong that the coffin was given pride of placo, on the highest of their haven, where it rested balanced like a see-saw, tho pa'rty'having to hold it in position. As the tide rose the rock beeamo almost entirely submorged,.and there was just a foothold for the unfortunate men who were up to their waists in water, clinging to the granite and to each other, and taking it in turns to hold the coffin in position. Heavy waves broke right over them from time to time, but the men doggedly stuck it out, spending flfteon hours, including a cold and bittor night, clinging to the rock and holding their coffined kinsman beyond tho reach of the waves. Twice in that period they were all but overwhelmed by the high," tide, and though the position at low wi|;r was not so dangerous, the men wore still a foot deep in the water, and in their saturated garments found the winter's night a frightful ordeal. They had nothing to eat or' drink, and, worst of all, from their point of view, nothing to smoke. Dawn showed nothing in sight which offered a chance of rescue, and tho party woro in the Iqst stages of exhaustion and despair when at 9 o'clock the ketch Comet hove in sight and rescued them and the precious coffin. They had been on tho rock from 6 o'clock tag previous evening. . Captain Nalder, of tho Comet, did all possible *for the starved and frozen party, who were suffering badly from exposure and hardship, and most of them have already practically recovered from the ordeal, although Mr Wells is stated to be very seriously ill.