The Wreck of the Mataura.

Manawatu Herald, 1 February 1898, Page 2

The Wreck of the Mataura.

. . — . — # — - — iiThe Matnura went ashore at Sealers' Cove. The twelfth boat, containing the captain, doctor, three passengers and 10 of the crew arrived at Sandy Point Cape, a town on the Magellan Strait. It 13 believed that the remaining boats are safe. Assistance has been sent to the scone of the wreck. In reference to the Wreck of the New Zealand Shipping Company's steamer Mataura near the Straits of Magellan, South America, news has been received that all on board have ben paved. The shipwrecked people are now coming homeward in the Pacific Go.'c steamer Oroina.

ThejMataura struck an uncharted rock, and was run a3hore to prevent her sinking. Eight boats, along . with one commanded by the captain, which first landed, started for Sandy Point on the 17th. The Mataura's masts are visible, and it is expected that a portion of her cargo will be saved. THE MAGELLAN STRAITS. The above Straits separates. South America from Terra del Fuego. It is 875 miles long, and its breadtb varies mostly between 12 and 17 miles. The narrower western half is shut in by steep, wooded mountains ; the current rum strong I through it. Patagonia, the land bordering on the Straits is divided by the Andes into two very unequal and dissim'lar territories. The country east of the watershed is recognised as part of the Argentine; Chili haß contented herself with the west. The western portion has a very damp atmosphere, while hardly any rain falls on the eastern portion. Sandy Point (Punta Arenas) the town the boat reached is a Chilian penal settlement and has a population of 1800.