THE OLD WRECK IN DUSKY BAY.

Kumara Times, Issue 1568, 6 October 1881, Page 2

THE OLD WRECK IN DUSKY BAY.

+ A correspondent of an Australian paper revives the following paragraph, which appeared in the " Australian Shipping News," about the old wreck iu Dusky Bay : —" In Dusky Bay (West Coast, New Zealand) close to the shore, beneath the clear, calm water, may be plainly seen the form of a large ship of a foreign build. There she lies, at the bottom of the sea, under the shade of the towering forest-clad mountains. No one knows how she came there, but she is of no English or modern make, and some one who was adventurous enough to dive down and examine her says she is made of teak, a wood ranch used by the Chinese and Japanese; and this must be the case, or she would have decayed long for teak will last for centuries, and the old ship still looks firm and sound iu

her ocean grave. The Maoris have a legend about her. They say that their grandfathers told them that, in their childhood, one morning a large ship sailed into Dusky Bay, and that, when close to the shore, sh«» sudd-nly sank and disappeared ; that the crew swam off, and lived for some time on a small island, and there one by one they died; but who they were, and where they came from, none can say. JTrom this story it is plain that there have been visitors to New Zealand of whom we know nothing, and who have left no other record of their visit than the ship which brought them to these shores."