A PERILOUS VOYAGE

Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2077, 11 May 1907, Page 1

A PERILOUS VOYAGE

A remarkable story ol a vessel ill peril, unequipped with tho most necessary navigating appliances, short of provisions, and with tho master stricken down by illness, readied Sydney on February 28. It seems that after a very perilous experience the cutter Lily, of Id tons, bound from Auckland to Samoa, with a cargo of timber and.sundries, arrived in Suva Harbor on tho previous Wednesday. Tiie little vessel, with Captain Sopwitli in command and a crew of two seamen, left the New Zealand port on January 27, and alter awhile her captain fell ill. There wore no adequate appliances for navigating on board, and for many days the vessel drifted in strange waters, often very close to dangerous reefs, and, to make matters worse, provisions ran short". A binding was attempted several times on what to tho weary seamen was ail unknown shore, but they failed owing to tho reefs. On February- 10 a cutter was sighted, and tho Lily lowered Her boat, but was not able to get within speaking distance. Narrowly missing Flying Fish Shoal on February..ll, she approached the mainland, and spoko the cutter Tui Nai na, bound up the Fijian coast to Suva. The first query of the distressed mariners was “What land is this?” and they were surprised to learn that it was Fiji. Captain Callaghan, who was a passenger on tho Tui Navua, gave the Lily’s people the distance and course to Suva. There being no coasting chart on board, and the crew fearing the loss of their vessel, Captain Callaghan went aboard to bring her to Suva. Alter bead winds and squally voatlior, necessitating anchoring at Soma Soma and Serna, Suva was 'cached. During tho voyage the chronometer ran down, and tho vessel is authoritatively stated to have had no barometer, flags, night signals, or boatswain’s stores—not oven a mar-lin-spike—and provisions were short.. The only cooking appliance was a nail can.