WRECK OF THE EMIGRANT SHIP SURAT.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume IV, Issue 253, 9 January 1874, Page 3

WRECK OF THE EMIGRANT SHIP SURAT.

On Jb'riday morning last it was announced in Dunedin that the emigrant ship Surat/' with 800 passengers on board, and cargo jto the value of £loo,ooo—she herself being .valued at £30,000: more—had gone ashore at Catlins River. The French war-ship Vire at once went to; the scene of disaster, to render what help was pos-* Bible. 'On board:was a reporter-for the 4 Otago Guardian,' .whose account is of such interest that, we gladly reproduce, it :—. .

I donot expectthat I ,need say anything introductory to the departure ot the warship Vire, ot the French Republic, for the scene of the wreck, as the circumstances under which she left must have been made fully public by this' time. It wil be :but fair, however, to . mention now |what-will appear inferentially, and- that frequently, further on, namely, the debt of gratitude which this province, and indeed the colony, owes to Captain Jacquemart, and his officers and men, for the manneivin::which.; they have ; done their duty as sailors of a great nation. Of course what they have done was but theirduty, and perhaps was no more ithan British officers and seamen would have done for a foreign nation under similar circumstances. But there;is a manner and a way of doigg .duty that elevates it into action ,tarid this manner and | that way Captain Jacquemart, and those ] who serve uriderv him, possess. There I was, throughout the whole work of fetch- | ing the immigrants by the Surat, a kind- i ness of disposition, and a desire to be al-j ways doing something kind manifested, i which I can scarcely describe in words .

We left Port Chalmers under steam at 2.30. p.m., and cleared the Heads at 3 15., "shortly afterwards sighting a ship, evidently from home, and coming down on us at a rapid rate. Passing close bv her we found her to life the Agnes Muir, after a passage of' 90 days from London. There was a wind almost dead ahead for us, and as we were under easy steam (there being no use in getting to Catlin's River before daylight) we did not make very great way. In addition to the above we labored under the'infliction of what is nautically known as "a ground sw,ell." Personally ' I can aver, that I'never knew a more appropriate name if by it the idea is meant to be. conveyed of bringing up, as it were, the very" grounds" of one's stomach. , After the delicate allusion to the state, of your correspondent's-health, above merja tioned, I need not mention, that it with peculiar pleasure I learned at break we were there; and, sure as we stood in to a small the land, we could plainly see more on to the beach, broke white and high, a with her foresail and fore sails set, her mainsail main and mizentopgallantloose. But that every now wave bigger than its fellows and spouted in from above' and ran along her rail • sweeping wash to the again burst foam, Appearance of that which we stretching iiorthwa^ cjf a of miles was. beached about thcst, the | Passing above w§

bay, and note at its southern extremity, a point'known as Bloody Jack's, after some notable and excessively sanguinary iieiv of olden and Maori time. We could, in the grey morning, make out the Wanganui at anchor under the point I have named, the name of which to repeat would render myself liable to an accusation ol loving strong language. The s.s. Wallabi which came in from the southward at the same time we arrived from Dunedin, ran ; close in to the stranded ship, and then describing a circle passed over the bar and entered the river. Our party on board the Aire consisted of Captain Thomson, Chief Harbor-master ; .Mr. \\ eldon, Commissi'mer of Police; Mr. Colin Allan, Immigration Officer; and Messrs. Ileid and Elliott, insurance agents Some of us at first could hardly . be persuaded but that we saw people on board the fSurat. Nautical eyes and telescopes, however, soon settled that there were no such things, and accordingly, it being necessary, if we vvould cross the bar at all and go into the river, to do it- quickly,'- or the tide would fail us, one of the Vire quarter boats were lowered, and the party 1 have mentioned, with the addition of your correspondent, after a tough pull, were landed inside the Heads.

And here we quickly came upon evidences of shipwreck. Camped under a few rough sails and rude coverings, near the house of the Catlin's liiver pilot, were some men and women with that peculiar personal appearance of new-chumishness known so will to colonials, and not infrequently described by them as lime-juici-ness. To the usual somewhat dazed appearance of new-chums, these, people added a woebegone and washed-out look which made us feel at once that to be shipwrecked was no matt r for joke. In the foreground, one. man of acclimatised appearance was busy cutting up a pig for breakfast, and before long I learned, that he and his wife were old residents bf Dunedin, who had gone home and taken the trouble of coming out again in order to lose everything but the clothes ori their backs at the end of the voyage. Standing on the bank of the river, a little farther up, was a group of seafaring men, and towards it we made. One of the group was the captain of the Surat, and, in answer to questions from Captain Thomson,} he said that on Wednesday night the sliitf struck a rock off Chasland's Mistake. Qfl Thursday morning he anchored in liloo# Jack's and landed some of the passengers. Finding the vessel was sinking, slipped the cable and ran ashore in Catlin's Bay at 10.30. am., and then larfded the remainder of the < passengers. N&th - ing was saved except some bedding api a few odds and ends. The mate andT two men remained in the vessel till lfiiday morning at their own request, wheri 'they made a signal of distress, and were taken off. The Catlin's River Harbor- master, on the.Captain ot the Jurat's landing proceeded by boat to Bloody Jack's Bay, and brought round six sick people who could not walk. The others, with very great •difficulty came through the bush. At a later period of the day, the captain statedfurther that he sent a boat to the Wangariui 6teamer, which passed the Surat whilst iii distress, and hoisted the ensign union down, but that the steamer did not* wait for them. ,

: As soon as all the passengers'had got together at Catlin's River; the main portion of them were sent off in two parties to the mills, a Utile up the river, whilst a few of those,wliom we now saw remained at and-around-the Pilot Station.

It was decided thpt we should go up the river at once in the Wallabi. and collect these people, as it would be necessary to take them over the.bar in the steamer be-

fore 3 o'clock, if they -were to be put on board the Vire 'ths?t night: With this in view we got on board the Wallabi, and about two miles up came to what is knovyn as the new -mill, where , a large party- of the immigrants were. We had previously detached a couple of boats, under charge of Gaptain Thomson and Mr. Keid, up a branch stream to the old mill for the ochi-r party. On landing at the new mill, we found the immigrants in as comfortable a state as vvas possible under the circumstances, owing to the very kind reception they had met with from the people there, andfrom Captain Thomson and Mr. Keid. I subsequently learned that matters were in a precisely similar condition at the Owake Mill. When the immigrants arrived at these places they were cold, wet, and hungry, and had been without food for over fbur-and-twenty hours, which, considering the number of children and infants among them, made things even more serious than they otherwise might have been. But, in every instance, the mill hands and employes their quarters and ga^^^^^^^^Hßfik|^r-comers

giiiijt- ui! the steamer by means of these bats, as we had to catch the tide at 3 o'clock, in order to go out over the bar. It was decided to leave the poor woman above mentioned, with her husband, sis-ter-in-law, and children, behind, as she wanted nothing but nourishment and rest, which she could get on the spot, and as moving her in a very weak, condition would have been most dangerous With the assistance of a couple of policemen, who had come overland, the immigrants were quickly mustered ry.d put into the boats, and taken to the ste'amer, under the supervision of \tr/Commissioner Weldon. And here I may be permitted perhaps to notice how, even undi'r dangerous aiid distressing circumstances, tinman idiosyucracies always make a certain ludicrous side come uppermost. Few of these po6r people had saved more, of use fromthe Surat than the meie clnthes upmi thrir backs Yet in nearly every instance the I immigrant had some precious tWopenny halfpenny treasure of peculiar value to himself* or , herselfl". The girls had each and all preserved little items of tawdry finery in the shape of feathers, &c., which,, after much manipulation' to the creases out, they disposed in the shockingest. of I shocking bad' hats. Throughout all, male "and female, there was quite a mani-i for umbrellas, though why, in the excitement and clamor of a shipwreck, the human mind should dwell upon, and the human hand should clutch, an umbrella, lain not aware. Still the lacc was so. From fashionable and slim silk down the gradations of alpaca, gingham, and cotton, there , were umbrellas in . great .variety. Onfe old lady,: who had to be helped about, cliing tenaciously to a bundle ot four umbrellas, as if the personal, safety of all present depended upon her preserving thetfl intact. > Afe for the children, they evidently did pot realise the extent of their misfortunes. THdie who had. the pleasures of walking talking yet: in prospect devoted themIfcljfes to intermittent researches after sustttaance. either from Nature's fount, or tne. substitute of glass and indiarubber, Which modern science has supplied. Between the researches they.howled or crowed }in an aimless way. The children who could walk and talk evidently regarded the whole affair as a kind, of life in the woods, or prolonged picnic, got up with a special eye to their enjoyment; and as they had home-made bread and butter in such quantities that they distended themselves to painful tightness with, the former, and grew oleaginous externally from the latter, they were, for the most part in the seventh heaven of /children's paradise. Bottles of milk were of no account, so many were there.

Having got aboard the Wallabi, one crowd of passengers camped around upon the deck, where they were speedily joined by the number of others brought from Owake under Captain Thomson and Mr. Reid; and I noticed amongst these latter the. same umbrella tendei cy as amongst the formei, whilst in addition they had some live stock, in the shape of a. thrush in'a cage, and a smuttyfcued from the Surat. The poodle bore his misfortunes peevishly, declining food except such bits of human flesh as came near ; but the thrush must have got used to bei ig shipwrecked, for he lifted his voice and sang against time all the way down the river. The sailors were mixed up with the passengers, but were easily recognisable. Firstly, because, with the exception of two or three who had hurt themselves, and who, I learned, had worked like bricks, they had all saved their kits, and looked carefully after them; and secondly, for a resolute disposition which they manifested under no circumstances to lend a hand anywhere One of the mates did turn to work like a man and the captain had helped a female or two down the bank from the mill, and into the long boat; but, with these and the foregoing exceptions, 1 cannot say much for the readiness of the crew, who, as Bailie Nicol Jaryie said to Francis Osbaldistpne, seemed to have '• taklcen deeveleesh guid care o' themselves'' The captain had found time in the hurry of the wreck, too, to save a certain quantity of jewellery, which was visible. in the shape of a gold chain and pendant, and I . believe he did not lose his entire wardrobe.

In connection with the above, it may be noted that a jury of wrecked matrons who had assembled in the cabin discussed the captain's merits, amidst such distractions as shedding tears and giving each other brief memoirs of the narrators' lives, and, in his (the captain's.) absence, were unanimous in condemning him to all sorts of torments, here and hereafter. I have said something from which it might be inferred that I thought some of the Surat's seamen were rather selfish. A tew of the immigrants 1 have. jio thought about: of theii I am certain. More 'than one fellow munched breaid-and--milk whilst he let his " fossick around fur Mr. Reid address in the address probable As

altered since the morning, and Iter wale and sides showed no" twist'or I tion, it being quite plain that, barring the. injury to her bottom, she was stiil whole and sound. Her saloon, we learned fromthose who had last left her, - was quitegutted ; but this was not to be wonderedat, considering that every now and then-a great green sea would break and divide oh her stern, and then seethe and hiss along her bulwarks, closing in and washing her decks until it met resistance forward, andaga'n?dashed*. mtfvtlv» air. Thew she lav. tall uud stately, classed AI tor twenty years eleven years ago. a stroug; g<nni ship, worth £3-),000 if she wai worth a penny, with a .cargo worth over ; a. £IOO,OOO more. Money should taxe th» romance out of everything, but, somehow, when I saw a fine craft worth .all thosethousands of. pounds,- as much beyond our present reach-lor jvscue as if sh*i were at. the bottom of the sea, it did seem a sad and pitiable sight. - After making as careful a survey as was possible under the circu nstances, the following documentwas drawn up

Survey held, this: t.hiH• d.av .of Jannnrr, 1874-, at thu ivque-r .of Cupr&m Johnston, on thf ship. Su Mt-, a* she tiovi lies beacji d i'« Catlin'a Bay,' by the uinf<.rsigin}}. and we ruporfc as follows ■:::

That the .reesel is waterlogged, %nd (hqseas brealiiriff.ovfir her. j . That, thi- Oiiptiin reports having struck, upon areef down the coust, unl, fitiding hi«-vei=Bi-l in H T-inkinjj state, beached her to a»ve of passenger* und crew.

.. Ai-tbe vessel iiotv liej- uu an expjied part-off the coast, nndji> liable to brenk up at any moment, we recommend that-sAie resfel w». abandoned, and Hold for the beiSil of whom, it may concern. " .(*. F. &sn>, &Luter-Mllriaer. Tik»Mso>. Harbor--\faster. ■ J vMks TiP.xs. Master *n. Wallobi.'.> ' liOßi.nr Millo, u right.

Aa there was a very heavy ground' swell coming in, to which the Vire wai ; pitching and rolling in a decided but dignified manner, and to which vlie Wanganu'i, anchored abreast of the wreck, was caper* ing quite lively, it was agreed, on getting again abreast ui the Wallabi, that the passengers would have to be transferred to the French man-of-war by boats- after going outside Therefore, the Surat'a life-boats were taken in tow to help, and we passed over the bar and out. into the - ocean with a parting three cheers given ■ by a number of settlers assembled on the beach. All speed. was made to the Vire, to whose stern we were soon fastened by a hawser, and then the work of tranship- - ment commenced, aided by the French ; vesselY boats ; and a work it was seeing that the only way of getting from the' Wallabi to the boat. and, afterwards to the boat to the Vire, was by a sort ot leap * for life, when a wave brought boat and 1 steamer together, as the latter rolled backwards and forwards, Hut witli. Ui*. help . . of Mr. Weldon and one of of Mr. Reid, Captain volunteers, all was only 1 an average amount of ducking." The style! - in which the two lieutenants and til® .-, boats*, crews of the Vire did their wort was quite wonderful \vlteu contrasted with tha-clumsy. ntanner- in; the Suriat\ r . ! life-boats The French *ai!urs'stood-up6n~* ' nothing and nursed ..babies caught in a dexterous manner, whilst; they helped the! m thers iu the boat, and bore v their (the' mothers') weights up'»n their toes and' other portions <j| their figures, and apologised all the time; as if they were tbe in- v jurers and hot the injured. Not one who saw how carefully, quietly, and admirably/ ' they managed but. would have said that" as seamen they - were a credit to anv nation. • - '• -

The Vire, having been employed in the transport oi troops, has a spacious 'tween- rdecks. and here provision had been roost - extensively made with blanket* and bed--ding, so that the women and children were * no sooner on board than they were sent below, and made comfortable ; Cookery on a large scale must have been going 'on. for some time, too, for a good nical, witjii plenty of mtiit and .half-a-pint of vmordinaire, that would have been firstclass claret in a Dunedin hotel, was Berved out to all, with tea.and. medical; for those; who required them; under constant attention of a quick, kind Frenchdoctor- j\pd" "still there were some as the comic ;singer sings, were "ftuiT happy" I saw. one lumbering brute tak» Mp a bit of meat which, ns having been, cooked by a Frenchman he eyed in Art: offensive and hostile manner. Presently ' his appetite over<ame bis patriotism end. British spirit, for,, he took, a . good bit*,.; " when, with an air of the utmost wonder-,.; he turned to a companion and said, " l*avt blowed if 'taint good apeat ** . tte manner in which he went for the joiftt baffler des- - 4 X observe that; ss>me erroneous iteui« ° • have been published: (not by the ' Guardian'), purporting to have, been: • ceived by telegraph -aa to the/ Surat'a. cargo. The plain fact* are these: She has/ oil" board, I believe, a large quantity off railway iron and plant for the railway, workshops, to the amount, so those say ' who ought to know, 0f£75,000. Further; she has a plant tor a woollen factory.'belonging.t<i a salmon passengeiv.Mr. Broth;.'; i whose evidence, I may say, will be intrrv:.estitig; and she has besides a quantity, of fdrapery and miscellaneous goods. The New Zealand Insurance pompany to lose £13,000 by her. As to will become of her. that is a difficulty question for even an experienced to tell. Should' wind and fair she is certain to Souie .timev^andmuchjji^^^^^^^^H ype save?*?;