AT SEA WITH SIR GEORGE GREY

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 227, 19 June 1919, Page 5

AT SEA WITH SIR GEORGE GREY

PERILOUS VOYAGE WITH A DRUNKEN

SKIPPER

A LEAF FROM THE PAST

"An Episode in the Life of Sir George Grey" formed the subject of i;n udrtres* delivered ]>y Dr. C. Prendergnst Knight at a meeting , of the historical section of tho Wellington Philosophical Society. The main feature of the nddrcss whs ii letter written by Dr. Knight's trrnndluther—Charles Knight, the first AuditorGeneral of New Zealand—to his stepfather, giving an account of tho latte<end of an eventful voyage to Adelaide with Sir George (then Captain) Grey. The following passages occur in the letter, which is dated Adelaide May 12,

I know that you will ( be delighted to hear that, so far, I- have done well, and that Captain Grey and his lady are most kind to me. I hnvo every reason to believe I am in high favour with him, and that ho will take advantage of the first opportunity to assist me. I have been two days in Adelaide; I am delighted with tho country, and full of hopes, with little, however, to justify them. The climate is so inviirorntin*. that one hopes with only a shilling in onp's pocket, and pleased when we know not why.. But all colonial matters shall be left to a future day. At nresent I will jive you a brief outline of the extraordinary , proceedings on board the Lord Glenelgy with the history of my singular rrtetamomhosis' from surgeon into enptnin of that vessel, and how I navigated her from lunjr George's Sound to this port in perfect safely. My Inst letter informed you of my safe passage of the line and the mutinous state, of the crew. Soon after that our captain became a most shocking drunkard, and-was'at last perfectly incapable of taking charge of the vessel, so thrit the safety of the vessel and-our lives were endangered by his drunkenness and gross misconduct. He frequently made use of violent threats to tiie crew and passengere, and was even suiltv of personal violence towards them. Onft day he declared that "the shin might sink and be damned," and immediately afterwards pushed violently and purposely against His Excellency Captain Grey and myself as we were standing on the ouarter-deck. In his drunken madness he ordered Mr. Whichelo. the chief mate, nff work, and nut Nathan Weir, one of the sailors, in his place, although .this fellow had been most violent and mutinous, and had been put in irons and twice confined on. board during the passage. On March 22 all the' men wer» imprisoned in the forecastle with hatches down. This was done in the night time, when I came on deck I saw only the boys, the .mate, and the captain on deck: tbi) last was quite drunk. I saw him fall down on deck and helped up bv somwne, but I turned aside that I might not annoy Captain Orr by witnessing hie intoxicated state. Hβ kept, the men under hatches two days, whea I wrote him an official note (I remembered Old Crow's story, that the surgeon was the second,officer in the ship), in which I informed him that the health of the men who were imprisoned in the forecastle was likely to be injured by longer confinement. On thie note he was induced to set the men at liberty, and nmuf">d himself day after day bv throwing heavenr iand belaying pins at the crew and officers, and carried on sail in a most frightful manner. He remained {ntoxicated for nearly a. fortnight, alarming lis by his insane conduct, and even in his drunken dreams roaring and bel-' lowing out so as to prevent any. sleeping: near him. ,

On April 5 'Mr. Whichelo, the mate, requested me to ,take the time of the chronometers while he observed the altitude of the sun. While doing this the captain compelled me to desist, and rubbed the observed altitude from the slate, and refused Mr. Whichelo the use of the chronometers.. ' The captain went to.bed without; any. observation.of -the sun, and this at a time when our proximity, to St. Paul's rendered it almost, imperative to know the ship's true position. ; - We w;ere' afraid, too, that lie would neglect to wind' up the chronometers. We now learned that the steward had frequently wound up the awako Ihe captain , was , usually "skylarking" with tho cook and steward. On April 7 (he 'captain' was as drunk as ever. He fell down near the wheel, and was im. mediately fast asleep. Ho was dragged into tho carpenter's berth. His Excellency Captain Grey sent for me to witness the captain's situation, and say whether I thought him in a state of apo' plexy. Hβ was only, exceedingly drunk. I took an observation of, the sun without the captain seeing me, and, according to my observation, we were to sight St. Paul 3 Island at 'half-past three o'clock. We did so, not a little to my gratification! The steward roused up the captain to see the land. The captain, in his drunken jocularity, asked for a heaver to fling at it; on deck ho did not know, where to look for land. Indeed, according to his accounts, we were 900 miles from the island. When opposite the island, the mate and I took observations by my watcli, and we went below to compare my watch with the chronometers, when the captain rushed below and swore ha would take the life/of the person who attempted to pass into his cabin to obf.we Hie chronometers. Aβ' it was absolutely necessary for our future safety to know the time of tho chronometers, and as the mate and Governor Grey wore present to protect me in case of violence, I requested Captain Orr to allow me to pass into his cabin for the purpose of comparing my watcli with the ship's chronometer, which he then permitted. The next day being.'calm he went with the boys in a boat to shoot petrel; he was quite drunk, and fell overboard; he was now almost imbecile; ordered the half-hour glass to bo ilumg overboard, and was so immensely drunk a.s to fall helpless on deck. Ho invited one of the sailors to take champagne with him en deck. His drunkenness became so outrageous that the mate declared the shjri in danger; he was 6ure we were neai , land, but how near it was impossible to say without he could get command of the chronometers. The mate accordingly applied to me for a certificate as to his (the captain's) competency to 'tnio chargo of the vessel. I declared him wholly incompetent. In consequence of my certificate all the men were called aft and the mate took command of the ship and declared his intention of running to the nearest port. Captain Orr was ordered .to hold no communication with tho men, and if he obeyed this order ho was not to bo placed under porsonal restraint. In the evening he would persist in talking- with the men at tho wheel, and when requested to walk forward of the round house and keep himself quiet he defied Jlr. Whichelo nnd avowed his intention of calling on the, men to protect nnd ns3ist him. He was then forced below after great resistance on his part and frequent appeals to the A pndlock was placed on his cabin, leaving hie cabin door open about two or throe inches for tho freo admission of air.

On April 23, the day after Air. Whichelo took command, w? wore nil suddenly rounded out of our beds Ijy tho cry of "Land!" The ship was quickly put about, and whon wo had timo to look about us we found we had linrrowly es6aped shipwreck on Point D'Entrecastenux, a few lejiguos to tho eastward of tho Lewin. On the 25th wo came to anchor in King George's Sound, Western Australia.