CANTERBURY.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume IV, Issue 206, 23 December 1864, Page 1 (Supplement)

CANTERBURY.

THREE MEN DROWNED

With feelings of regret we are called upon to place before our readers the particulars of a most unfortunate occurrence, resulting in the death by drowning of three men while on their journey overland from the recentlydiscovered gold-fields on the West Coast to this city. In the beginning of the present month Police-ConstablePhiliplreland, accompanied by nine other men, toot, his departure from the Greenstone Creek, en route to Christchurch. The party had not been many days on their homeward journey, when one of them, whose name has not yet corns to our knowledge, was exhausted to such a degree that he was obliged to relinquish the idea of keeping up with his companions. For the present we must leave this person and follow up the others, who gave expression to their sorrow at parting with their mate, and proceeded onward. Omthe afternoon of the 7th inst., the nine persons who made up the party reached the bank of the Teremakau. It appears that at the time they reached this place the river had risen considerably above its usual height. Three of them named Thomas Whatton, John Brown, and George Jaickman, at once endeavored to cross the river, but, sad to say, none of them succeeded in reaching the opposite bank. Among those who ramained on the bank was a brother of one of the deceased, but they were forced to look powerless on \yhile their companions were sinking into a watery grave. They followed down the bank of the river for sometime in order to recover the bodies, but to no purpose. John Jaickman, brother of one of the drowned men, and two others, returned to the Greenstone Creek, for the purpose of reporting the circumstance to the police at that place. The other remained in the locality of the river till the following Monday, when they crossed it in safety, and pushed on in the direction of Christchurch. When about 35 miles from this place, three of them remained at a station for the shearing season, the others arriving here on Friday night. To add more to the sadness of the story, nothing has been seen of the man who dropped behind on his way from Greenstone Creek to the Teremakau. The only supposition is, that he has lost his way in the bush, as two men who overtook Mr. Ireland state that they observed no one on the track. He is described as being a native of Scotland, about 35 years of age, sft. in height, with dark brown hair, whiskers, and beard, dark complexion, and deformed in the back. At the time of separating from the others, he had on a monkey jacket and moleskin trousers. Whatton, one of the men drowned in the Teremakau, was a mate of Ireland’s. He was a native of London, and for some time was employed iu a seafaring life. After leaving the ship he proceeded to the Pelorus, where he acted in the capacity of butcher. On the discovery of the existence of gold on the West Coast of Canterbury, he was tempted thither, where he was pretty fortunate in his speculations. He is believed to have had a good deal of money about his person when going into the river, as about three weeks before his death he sold out of a claim on the Pelorus for =£loo. John Brown, being tall in stature, was given all this money, by a party of five to whom he belonged, to keep dry whilst crossing the river, as it was all in notes ; the sum is reported to have been something considerable. Jaickman was some time ago digging at the Molyneux, and went in company with Brown from that locality. —Lyttelton Times, Nov. 15.