WRECK OF THE DOUGLAS.

Grey River Argus, Volume VIII, Issue 541, 6 July 1869, Page 2

WRECK OF THE DOUGLAS.

Our Sydney files furnish additional particulars of this disaster, the. announcement of which we have afieady received l»y telegraph. Tt appears that the barque Dqui-las, Captain Sayers, sailed from Newcastle, N.S.W., on the 4th May, coal laden, bound for Yokohama, Japan, and live days aftey. viz., on the 9th May, struck on are; ; f not laid down in the captain's charts, in longitude 1(50 20 E. latitude 29*50 S. The vessel soon became a total wreck. The craw attempted to launch tilt boats, but they were unable to do so successfully, both boats being stove in and rendered useless. With considerable difficulty they nianiged to construct a raft, securing only two gallons of watpr and half a bag of bispuits, which unfortunately got wet. With this scanty provision and frail craft, the master and crew, nine souls in all, set sail. The weather was pitiless, a*id the suffevinss" of the poor fellows great in the extreme. For ten long days were th y buffeted about on the wide ocean ; death stared them in the face, when, on the morning of th<; 19th May, they descried a sail, which proved to be th« schooner Storm Bird, from New Caledonia to Newcastle. They were fortunately obse v.d ; the vessel bore down to them, and they were taken on board in a very exhausted condition, having only had half a glass of water per day and a small portion of biscuit. Their sufferings were very great. Ca t tin Sayers says he dpes uot think either' himself or* crew could have lived a day longer ; the faces of the poor fellows even now wear the expression of the hardships they have undergone. It would seem, after being taken on board the Storm Bird, their misfortunes had not ended, lor the master and crew of the Storm Bird had been on short allowance for three day's previously, and although their hardships were great, they discovered others even in a worse situation, and British sailor : like, ' they divided their little store of provisions with the shipwrecked crew, and eked it out until everything was goue, and for three days did both crews go without any kind of food. Things became alarming, and they were beginning to give themselves up for lost, when qn Saturday, 28th May, a steam r was sighted, which proved to be the Freii h war steamer Mareeau, from Sydney to New Caledonia. All sail was set, and the schooner gave chase, but the steamer seemed only to go the faster ; but in about an hour the signals were made out, and, to their joy, they came up with the steamer. Captjain Revault, of the Maroeau, at once kindly sent 0,11 board five casks wine, and ample provisions aud stores. The captain of the Douglas further states that, on the 10th May, he observed a large vessel on a reef ; she was, apparently, of about 700 tons, and had her masts standing. The reef on which the DouJas struck isiji the shape of a circle, with a circumference of about five miles. All round this reef there was a very heavy surf, but in the centre the water was quite calm. For some time Captain layers was completely at a loss how to get out of this curious harbor into the open sea. On th.p sixth day after leaving the ship the raft drifted to about the centre of the pircle, where a bar was found to exist. It was theu low water, and the bar being nearly dry, the raft could not be got over it. This was on the evening of the 10th of May. On the followiug morning, the tide having risen during the night, another effort was made t,o set the raft «yer the bar, and, fortunately for the men, who were getting very weak, it was attended with success. On gettimr over, Captain Sayers at once looked round for an opening through which to get to sea. In a short time he discovered one, the channel of which Mas between forty and fifty fathoms deep, and some three or. four cables' length in width. They knocked about this second half the circle until the night of the 12th of May, when they managed to get out to sea. Fmin the description given by Captain Sayers of this singular reef, there can be little doubt that it is an extinct volcano. Ou the following day, namely, the 13th of May, Captain Sayers reports having passed another reef, on which was a large ship of fully 700 tons burthen. Her name he was not enabled to make out, nor could he see any signs of the crew anywhere a'wnit. The vessel was rapidly breaking up. From the time the raft left the Douglas until it was discovered by the Storm Bird, it was continually surrounded by sharks, and they appeared, to follow them as though waiting for their prey. Captaiu Sayers speaks in the highest terms of the very kind way in which he and his men were treated both by Captain Hare and the captain of the French man-of-war. He says he is sure that but for filling in with the Maycjeau, the whole of the crew of the Douglas would have diel, and he thinks it very unlikely that tho men on b aid the Storm Bird could have held out sufficiently Ling to make the land. Before leaving the Douglas, Captain Sayers put apocketbook and lead pencil in one of his pockets, intending %o ke^p a diary on the raft, but unfortunately, in coming down the hawser, by which the raft was secured to the ship, the pencil fell out of Ins pocket, and he was uualile to carry out his intention. Tn coming down this hawser, the first mate fell off, and had a narrow escape from being drowned ra the surf. By waiting till the rope slackened he was enabled to get hold of it again, ami with considerable difficulty scrambled on to the raft. -The. only article saved besides those we have mentioned above, was a sextant, which Mr Saunders tied to his back before leaving the vessel. As a matter of course, when Mr Saunders fell into the water, the instrument pot we 1 ., and was of no use afterwards. The nearest land to where the vessel struck is Lord Howe's Island. All the ship's papers, charts, instruments, &c, were lost by the smashing up of the second boat. The Douglas was a fine barque of 3SO tons register, and owned by Messrs Boyd and Curry, of Melbourne.