THE LOSS OF THE OTAGO.

Evening Star, Issue 4303, 11 December 1876, Page 4

THE LOSS OF THE OTAGO.

CAPTAIN CALDER’s ACCOUNT. We left Port Chalmers at 4 p.m. on the 3rd inst., cleared the Heads at 4.40 p.m., and were abreast of the Nuggets at midnight; weather cloudy, wind light and variable; could see a distance of from five miles to six miles. At 2.35 a.m. on the 4th •the ship went ashore at Chasland’s Mistake. It was thick at the time, and the second mate’s watch on deck, jl went below at 1.40 a.m,, after giving orders to the second mate to keep her S.W. by W., nothing to westward, by standard compass. At 2.30 a.m. I heard the second mate run aft ordering the helm to be put hard over. I then rah on deck, and the first thing I saw was high rocks close to the starboard bow, and immediately the ship struck with an awful crash. I sprung on the bridge and put the telegraph full speed astern, and ordered the pumps to be sounded. We then got the boats out and provisioned them. The weather..was very thick. The vessel continued to bump heavily and to make water. Got all the ladies and children into the boats; then the gentlemen. There was a heavy swell at the time, and by the time all were safely in the boats the fires were drowned out and the water over the saloon deck. I saw there was no hope of saving the ship, and when everyone was out of her I left her at 6 a.m. The passengers and crew were all landed safely through a heavy surf on to a beach about a mile from the ship. I then despatched a boat, with Mr Donaldson, chief officer, in charge, and five men and two of the saloon passengers who had volunteered, to Waikava to report loss of ship and obtain assistance. We then rigged tents and made all as comfortable as our means would permit. At noon the ketch Palmerston, Captain Brebner, bore down to us. I boarded her and requested the Captain to report the loss of the steamer ®n his arrival at Dunedin. He very kindly offered assistance, for which I thanked him. At 3 p.m, we launched the boat again, and sent her for the wreck in charge of the second mate, with five men and the second engineer, chief steward, butcher, and pantryman, and Mr Brook (a salloon passenger), in order to save luggage; but when the boat reached the middle of the surf, she capsized. Launched another boat to the rescue, whilst Mr Birch, the purser, swam through the surf and saved the second engineer who was drowning. Others were picked up by the boat, and two or three swam ashore. AH had a narrow escape. The following day, at 6 p.m., the steamer Express, with the relief boat in tow, came down and anchored off the beach, and embarked all the passengers and the men belong ing to the engineer’s department. The embarkation was accomplished without accident. I wish to thank Captain Christian, of the Express, for his help and kindness. He was most kind and obliging. Myself, officers, and seamen remained by the ship! Next day, myself, the chief officer, and six of the men endeavored at great risk to get at the gold on board. The gold room was right aft under the saloon deck, built in the run of the ship, and at low water the gold was 12ft under water, and the door of the gold-room sft under water. We succeeded in breaking open the door, and then secured an auger to a long wooden batten, and, boring through the gold-boxes, fished them up, and secured the three by 6 p.m. We landed them safely on the beach, and also a quantity of luggage which we managed to save. I consider this a special service, apart from my duty to my owners, and I expect that the owners of the gold and the underwriters will recognise the claim myself and my chief officer has upon them, for we have lost nearly all our clothing and valuables. At 9 a.m. on the Btb, a steamer (the Maori) hove in sight, but it being dark and the surf heavy, we did not attempt to board her. On Saturday, at 11 a.m,, the steamf r Comevang arrived and embarked the gold and passengers’luggage, and lastly the ship’s company, and left at 7 p.m. One of the Otago’s petty officers and a constable from the Bluff were left behind in

charge of the wreck. The Otago is lying with her starboard bilge on a rock of hard granite. There is a large hole through her bilge, the after boiler and cylinder are lifttcl about two feet, and the smoke stack lifted abotft two feet. Her forefoot is gone, her stern twisted, and about ten feet of the garboard plates and keel gone forwards, She has a heavy list, her masts and smoke .stack are standing, and she is in peril of being broke up by the first heavy easterly sea that comes in. Captain (.'aider contradicts emphatically the report about the ill-behaviour of s<me<-l the crew, which he says was a gross exaggeration. Some two or three of the men did ait down in front of the tent in which the ladies were, and commenced sine king. The ladies complained of this to the captain, and when he ordered the men to remove, they unhesitatingly did so.