AN OLD ANCHOR.

Press, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20493, 11 March 1932, Page 6

AN OLD ANCHOR.

DISCOVERY AT CHATHAM ISLANDS. TE KOOTI'S ESCAPE RECALLED. Apart from an occasional rough passage, the log book of the small steamer Tees, which runs to the Chatham Islands, rarely records anything unusual. However, on her last voyage, bhe was instrumental in reviving one of the most interesting periods of ancient Maori history. The Tees arrived at Waitangi from Wellington after a good passage of 46 hours, and after discharging general cargo, left for Pitt Island to load. She leturned to Waitangi Bay on Sunday night, and on the following morning moved to an inshore anchorage and commenced loading. A freshening wind from the eastward caused her to drag her anchor, and Captain A. Anderson considered it advisable to shift further out in the bay. To the crew's astonishment two anchors came up on the cable, and the second, on a closer examination on the Waitangi wharf, appeared to be a relic of the Te Kooti days of 1868. Ancient History. j Te Kooti, Mr J. Gregory Hunt, a Chatham Islands run-holder, explained, was a Maori chief of Gisborne, who with many of his followers was sent to the Chatham Islands, as a prisoner. The schooner. Rifleman, was sent to I the Islands with provisions by the New Zealand Government, and Te Kooti, who was seeking a chance to escape, took his followers, bound the guards (Shand, Chudleigh, and Hood), and robbed them of their money. Te Kooti captured the Rifleman, and demanded to be taken with his followers, numbering about 200, to New Zealand. There was another schooner in the bay at the time, and as Te Kooti was afraid that the guard would man this vessel and pursue him he slipped her anchor, declared tier tapu, and sho became a total wreck on the beach. Her remains can still be seen at low water. Some .of the settlers now at the Island, consider that the anchor picked up by the Tees, is that slipped by Te Kooti and his men. One of the most peculiar features of the whole incident, says Captain Anderson, is the fact that as the tapu anchor, which had been under the sea for so many years, was being lowered into the surf boat to be cleared of the ship's cable, the first man to touch it, Mr V. Duff, second engineer, was struck by the rusty stock, which fell off. He received a glancing blow on the head, which made a nasty wound. The vessel arrived at Lyttelton yesterday morning, leaving the anchor at the Chathams.