WRECK OF THE LASTINGHAM.

Kumara Times, Issue 2563, 9 September 1884, Page 2

WRECK OF THE LASTINGHAM.

THE THREE MISSING MEN.

[united press association.] Wellington, September 6, The Picton launch has returned with the three lost survivors of the ship Laslingham, They were picked up by the schooner Maud Graham yesterday morning, and afterwards landed at Mr Jones's station, where the launch brought them from. The beach near the scene of the wreck is strewn with wreckage, and the masts of the ship are visible.

Subscription lists in aid of the survivors from the ship Lastinghara have been started.

The steamer Napier, chartered by the underwriters, left for the scene of the wreck this morning to ascertain if anything can be saved.

September 7. The steamer Koranui, which passed Jackson Head this morning, sighted a quantity of wreckage floating about, but none of it of very large dimensions. Tbe Napier has not yet returned. September 8. The steamer Napier not being able to go round Jackson’s Head, steamed through Queen Charlotte Sound, and held communication with Kemp Bay, where it was ascertained that a party had taken up their quarters in huts on the beach, and the following information re the missing men was supplied by Mr Jones, at whose residence the missing men were found : Mr Jones says he did not get the names of the men ; one was an Englishman, another a German, and the third a darky. Tbe report given of the darky leads to the supposition that he rather a remarkable man. He was first to leave the main party in search of relief, and being barefooted his feet were sorely lacerated by jagged rocks and brushwood. Being hungry, he made a temporary meal off bits of candle picked up from the wreck. After searching some time, he found the deserted huts, where he picked up a lead pencil and some scraps of paper. After resting for the night he resumed his journey, and found a well defined sledge track. Although his hardships must have been great, he was not unmindful of his companions, and in order to guide them as well as he could every here and there along the track wrote his name on a scrap of paper, fixing it to a stick in the ground. He then discovered the disused huts in Kemp Bay, where he found matches. He gathered a lot of shell fish and kelp, with which he made for himself the first hearty meal he had for some days. The Englishman and German in the meantime also broke off from the party, and after a toilsome journey found the darky by the directions be had left on the track. After they had refreshed themselves, the Englishman volunteered to return with the news of their success to the main body, and after great fatigue arrived at the spot only to find them gone; and by certain trifling articles left by them he made sure they had been rescued. He retraced his steps, reaching Kemp Bay in the afternoon, and was rather disconcerted to find bis two companions likewise disappeared without leaving any trace. A small craft then hove in sight, and in response to a signal a boat was sent, and he was taken off. In the meantime the darky and his companion were taken on by a passing vessel and landed at Farmers Bay. By this time it was late at night, and no use attempting to do anything until daybreak. Jones's household busied themselves in making preparations for a large number of persons, who were expected. The steam launch belonging to the station was despatched in the morning, and on the way fell in with the craft having the last of the three men on board, so that it was useless to proceed further. Blenheim, September 6. The three shipwrecked sailors will leave Picton for Wellington in the next boat. Their names are Thomas Chalmers (native of the West Indies), C. Alvarez (native St. Michael’s Island), and George Henry Ward (negro, born in United States).

Chalmers has often traded in the Sounds, and been shipwrecked before in various parts of the world. Alvarez was once shipwrecked off the Mauritius from a cattle ship, and got ashore on the back of a cow. The three sailors were interviewed yesterda\ r , giving long accounts of the wreck and their subsequent adventures and privations till taken off by the schooner and brought in the steam launch to Picton. Ward appears to have subsisted two or three days on tallow candles washed ashore from the vessel. All three men speak well of the ship and officers, but Ward says the captain drank hard, and he has seen him unable to stand, though he cannot say how the captain was on night of the wreck. Grog was served out to the men occasionally. The three men are no worse for the shipwreck, and speak highly of the kindness of the captains of schooners, Mr Jones (settler), who sheltered them on Friday night, and the authorities at Picton. Ward’s opinion is that the officers could handle the ship better than the captain, and that had the former had charge of the ship she would now be at Welling, ton wharf. Ward was look-out man at the forecastle head. The men -say that one of the passing steamers was so close they could distinguish the man at the wheel and the officers on the bridge.