THE WEST COAST.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume XII, Issue 536, 23 December 1867, Page 1

THE WEST COAST.

DESTITUTION OF THE JACKSON’S BAY MINERS.

THREE MEN DROWNED IN JACKSON’S BAY.

THE RELIEF EXPEDITION SUCCESSFUL.

Tin; West Coast Times of the Cth instant gives the following account of the state ot affairs at Jackson’s Kiver : By th e Okarita mail which arrived in town yesterday, wc have received most distressing intelligence that embodies a talc of suffering, starvation, and death endured by the miners of the Jackson's Bay district. Intimation of a great scarcity of provisions existing at the Southern Goldfields was received in town in October, and led to the steamer Tasmanian Maid being despatched to Okarita, loaded with dl kinds of necessaries, from which port she was to extend her trip to Bruce and Jackson’s Bays. Site, however, got no further than Bruce Bay, where she landed twelve tons of provisions, and as accounts subsequently received from Jackson’s Bav contradicted previous reports of the destitute condition of the miners there, public anxiety, which had been very much excited' in (heir behalf, was allayed. It appear.-, however, they were then in a very sad state, as the miners who started from the bay on the ItUli ult., state that there was only seven pounds of flour left to support ten men, a woman, and two children. Mr Wm. Friend, one of the party, supplied our Okarita correspondent with the fol-| lowing particulars of the drowning of three men in the Arawata or Jackson’s River, and the wretched condition of the bay community. lie says that at the beginning of last November sixteen persons were located there, of whom twelve were living on the beach about one mile north of the above river, and three to the southward of it. One of the latter, named Marsden, kept a small store, which, however, had been long destitute of provisions, in fact during the previous two months the men, women, and ch dren mainly I subsisted on a diet iff fern sprouts flavored j by a little flour; in lieu of tea or coffee, they drank an infusion prepared from a| peculiar weed that abounds there. As! the men were working on payable ground, they clung to the place, expecting that aj istramer would cal! in, Marsden having; informed them that lie had sent a letter to Hokitika, stating their condition, and hei therefore felt certain that the .Alhambra! !would touch at the bay on her way to, .Melbourne. Day after day passed and no, steamer appeared, to the bitter disappoint-1 |meat of the poor creatures, who by that! jtime were reduced to a most lamentable plight, being nearly naked and terribly attenuated. From Xov, G to Jfov. 10 communication with the store had been (suspended, but on the latter date the diggers on the north of the river observed a -ignal fire burning on the south side, and fearful that something dreadful had happened, they all hurried down to the river !side. The rough canoe which served as a ferry-boat lay on the north shore, and although the weather was very rough and the river much swollen by a freshet, two miners, named Thomas Friend and James Welsh, volunteered to paddle across, to ■ ascertain the meaning of the signal. They found Marsden and his companions, iTimothy Barrett and James Buggy, were nearly mad with hunger, and wanted to join the others on the north side ; but. as the canoe would only carry four men, it| was agreed that Barrett should remain, behind until the next morning. Thej others then proceeded to cross the river, but when within fifty yards of the north bank the canoe was caught by an eddy, and heeled over and shipped a little water.' This must have alarmed Marsden, as he suddenly jumped overboard, and by so doing capsized the canoe. Although an

excellent swimmer, he seemed tumble to strike out, and was hurried into the surf and drowned. Of the three other men, "Walsh alone attempted to gain the shore, ami. idler a desperate struggle, arrived within reach of (he onlookers, who joined hands and waded some distance into (ho river- They dragged him nut mors dead tl.au alive, and almost insane from eshaustiou ami excitement. Buggy and Friend, being unable to swim, clung 'o the canoe, and were carried nearly a mile out to sea before those on shore lost sight lof them. They were never seen ulivo | again, but about ton o’clock that night the canoe, containing the body of -Buggy, was washed upon the beach about a mile north of the river, and next morning the remains of poor Friend were cast up at no great distance from the same spot. The same journal of the 10th instant savs :

The return of the Kennedy yesterday morning, wii'ii the pleasing inltlligon>io of ths safety and well-being of the isolated Jackson’s Day community, excited a feeling of intense relief, for it was feared that the unfortunates had been reduced to dire straits of starvation. It is true they had undergone great inconvenience and some suffering, but not to the extent anticipated, small fish and wild fowl being tolerably abundant, whilst fern sprouts and a herb named “Kiddy Biddy” by the diggers, supplied a vegetable diet. For several weeks, however, they were utterly destii ute of flour and other necessaries, but at last obtained a small supply from Mr 1 Clove and his party, who arrived at the Arawata River from Big Bay in a sailing boat, and ascertaining their condition, generously left thou the whole of their scanty stock, and immediately proceeded lo Bruce Bay for more. As we have related elsewhere, the boat w is met by the Kennedv, and towed back to Jackson’s Bay. The proceedings of the relief party have been related to us as follows, by Captain Turnbull: —“The Kennedy got to Jackson’s Bay on Saturday night, and next morning at daylight, Messrs. Saic, M'Farline, and Captains Turnbull and Carey landed and visited the graves of poor Claude Oliver and Mr Boxhill, who perished and were buried there whan exploring the coast some years since. They then returned to the Kennedy, which got underweigh, and steamed five miles north, to a point opposite the digger's settlement, which is situated about two miles north of the Arawata river. A landing was effected without difficulty, the sea being quite smooth. Only Mr and iflrs Howard and their children and a man named Freshwater wore found there, the tire diggers who were mentioned by Mr Friend and his mates having left overland for BrneoBay a few days previously. The meeting was a very joyful one on the part of tha Howards and their companion, Mrs ! Howard especially being quite overpowered bv the kind consideration of the ladies who sent down a much needed supply of clothing for herself a"d children. I She desires to return them her sincereSand grateful thanks. The Howards purchased about£so worth of goods from Mr M’Farline, paying for them in gold-dust. The last resting places of Buggy Friend, who, together with Marsden, were drowned on the ISHi ult., were pointed out to Sale by Howard. The body of Marsden had not been recovered.