THE WRECKS ON THE EAST COAST.

Grey River Argus, Volume XIII, Issue 1589, 8 September 1873, Page 2

THE WRECKS ON THE EAST COAST.

The vessels in the Timaru roadstead at th 6 time of the catastrophe were- four in number— the 'brigs Silver Lining and Fairy Queen, the three-masted schooner Duke of Edinburgh,' and the ketch Wanderer. ; The gale commenced durin£f:Tuesday night, and blew steadily till Wednesday. ' The sea continued !to increase in fury till about twenty minutes ' after one, when the gun at the flagstaff, where Captain Miller, the Harbor-master, was keep- : : ing -■ a sharp look-out, i announced that something was wrong. It was then seen 1 that the brig Fairy' Queen had parted Her cable, and was drifting in towards the reefs off Sea View Villa; The brig, however, continued to hold, and attention .. was directed to her till 3.15 p.m., when suddenly, to' ; the v surprise of all,' it was seen that, the three-masted . schooner,, Duke of. Ediubufgh,' , which 'h| ad hitherto been behaving admirably, parted / and drifted towards the shore, passing dangerously close to the ketch; Wanderer.; Thje rocket , apparatus was at once placed, in position but not used, as the vessel was so i close in that a rope was thrown on board from > the shore. • The cradle was then set to work, and five of the seamen were taken off in very short time — only twenty minutes having elapsed from the time of the "vessel breaking loose to her virtual abandonment. She continued to roll heavily : till 'evening, '■ when the- tide 1 left her high and dry. No sooner did the darkness set in than: both wind and sea 1 sprung up stronger than ever. The whereabouts of the vessels could only be ascer- | tamed by their lights,' which could be seen i at intervals as the vessels rose out of the trough of the sea. Very few believed, that the crafts could long.. stand such weather, and in this they were right, for at about seven o'clock the cry was raised that the Fairy Queen had broken loose. " She was thenseen to be' drifting towards the beace in ainortlierlydirectioh,' and a' : blue light was burned on shore indicating a good position to "strike the beach. Uti- y fortuuately she went too far <to/ the northward, and struck on a rocky reef, about four chains^ above where . the Duke ?of Edinburgh was' lying, the sea rushing clean over her. A small fire was immediately lighted, and the apparatus fixed, by which a rope was. -dropped fairly between the vessel's masts. Just after this a barrel of pitch was procured, and lighted on the rocks a little way up the cliffs. No time was lost in getting the cradle again to. work,- and one by one. the seamen , (nine in all) were conveyed to shore amid the cheers of ttie crowd, the mate and captain, coming last. • The journey to, the, shore !!mus^; have been anything but 4 pleasant tripi for no w and then, a heavy sea would ; roll in, momentarily hiding both, man and basket. From the, time

the vessel broke away till the men were rescued very little over half an hour Had elapsed. The crew were only just got off in time, for a few moments after the last had been pulled ashore an enormous roller struck the vessel and caused the mainmast to go by the board, at the same time forging the vessel (which had hitherto been lying head on) broadside on'to the ::;;j v rocks, the deqk .cantingto wards the shore. Shortly after this the galley was observed to be on fire, and 'while. everybody was conjecturing as to yhetHef the if iinam'der^^ of the wreck was going;to:be. /burned, or ■ • whether the water constantly breaking oyer would extinguish the flames, a cry was raised that there was another vessel ashore. Through the pitchy. night could be seen a dark object close id shore, which shortly afterwards proved to be the ketch Wanderer. ' The rocket apparatus ' was ;\ ?■' again got : ready, and shouts were ffaised ■ ? i for those on bokrd to^steer the vessel toa *' ; ; 5 shingly portioh-bf the beach. :: The : vessel 1 •■-' then struck about; midway between the Duke of Edinburgh and the Fairy Queen, but was" immediately .carried^;^ off again and driven heavily 'against" 3 L the brig, her : mainmast ; at 'the same ; time going by the ; 'board; The moment : ' '>.> was one. of,; great .excitement, as; its > was feared that' the ketchw.ould-not. clears,, : i. ;f .- and the men would be washed overboard. Suddenly,- however, a heavy, breaker;-' tumbled' in, and the vessel was carried to; : / the stem of the brig/her* bow Tunning^on ' o:i i to the beach with the stern to seaward. '' :)^ The ; three in -numberj: master,.- 1 mate, and. another, ..were then -observed.:..(.-- ;- clinging to ithe bowsprit ; 'aliheiof Imenon •> ..n shore now joined hands, and as-each man' nVcn jumped off he was conveyed ashore, all being very much exhausted. The vessel shortly after this was again carried away northward by a heavy roller, and deposited '■ ' finally on the beach about a chain: and a half from the Fairy Queen. The ketch . rode out the gale well during the day, but soon after dark the sea rose so high that the waves now and again swept clean over her decks.: ;A little after seven : p. m;, as a./ man was lighting a lamp which had been- , a/ put out, the master saw a very heavy . wave approaching and 1 took ,to therigging.'. f The wave swept the deck fore ; ;and aft, f « washing the poor; fellow overboard. Lujjkily the man was a good swimmer and managed to gethear'ehouTh-tbth'e vessel a to ; catch a rope , thrown to him by the j captain, by whom hewas hauled bn.bbard. ) Byi the time the' 'man— who was'very much exhausted— had changed- his clothes, the cable and.hawseE by.,which l the ketch had been holding the whole time snapped simultaneously,, and the vessel's head was.then. kept; in as straight aline as possible for tlie' !< light on shorp,caiised:bytheiJre:onthe;brig. Atj about half-past eleven it was reported that the Silver .Lining: was coming on shore, the form of the vessel, with allj canvas spread, being just visible. Gradually the vessel became more distinct, and grave -fears 'were 'entertained th^t she would be shortly aground. Fortunately/'jiist' as 'she reached the outer breakers .a land . breeze . sprang : up,and-;;----carried 'heir awayl ' When clear of the land /; f sW signalled with.a.blue. light her, safety. * Thje brig Fairy Queen continued on fire throughout the . night, , buruing a hole in . the! deck, a'ijiiantity of cbal, andappr-; tion of the. rigging. Under similar circum- I stances, the brigs Scotsman' and ; Emille were wrecked at Oamaru./ . . *