CASTAWAY MISSIONARIES

Hokitika Guardian, 11 March 1921, Page 3

CASTAWAY MISSIONARIES

ADVENTURES IN NORTH-WEST (l A FSTR ALIA. 0 SYDNEY, March 1. s The experiences of a small party of ' missionaries who late last year set out on a cruise from Wyndhnm to Broome, ’ alone the north-west coast of Australia, in the lugger Henry, afford an insight 1 into the risks and privations which ap--1 pear to he inseparable from the work ’. among the semi-civilised blacks of this ’ | unknown part of Australia. j Late in October last, when the lugger "• was sailing from the Rrysdnlo mission station to the Port George mission, she I became a total wreck upon the reef at Cape Voltaire. All hands got ashore 1 safely, and succeeded in landing some of their stores. Stranded on one of i the wildest spots of the Australian coast, and surrounded by tribes of disj tinetly dangerous natives, the eastj aways’ outlook was depressing. After ; considering the situation for three days, ! the master of the lugger, Captain Scott, . with one of the party, set out iu a small dinghy to seek assistance. They rowed in this small boat no less a distance than 320 miles, in 18 days, and finally reached Cape Levique. They suffered a good deal, but were able to get rest and fresh water by landing on the various islands and promontories. At Cape Levique they borrowed a 22-foot whaler, and sailed back to the scene of the wreck, their return taking place exactly four weeks after they left. Of the four whom they had left, only two remained. The other two, n week earlier, had decided that the captain and his mate had perished, and so they set out on the almost impossible feat of walking overland to Fort George. The two who remained were in sorry plight. The stores had been exhausted long since, and the two had lived on - such oysters and fish as they could obtain by improvised methods. They set | sail at daylight one morning, bound for Fort George—and a few hours later - a steamer belonging to the West Australian Government, called to rescue them! The castaways made a slow j and painful trip in the whaler to Port George, where they rested and recovered. They reached Broome sixty days alter they had left, and arrived in the midst of the Japanese riots. They promptly enrolled as special constables. The two men who set. off overland for - Port George have completely disappeared. Search parties have made one or two expeditions into the wilderness, but ( without finding a trace of them. £