The Wreck of the Wild DEER.

Manawatu Standard, Volume 3, Issue 36, 17 March 1883, Page 2

The Wreck of the Wild DEER.

STATEMENT OF AN EYEWITNESS.

The Rev. Alexander Whitley has furnished the following account of the thrilling scenes which were witnessed by him at the wreck of t.he Wild Deer, some details of which- were recently published m this journal : The situation, indeed, was most serious. Eight Ion*?, dreary, and apparently never-ending hours on an utterly wrecked vessel, many miles from the mainland — the nigh dark as pitch, an icy gale of wind whistling through the rigging, a temp stuous sea washing over the deck and making the poor broken hull tremble like an aspen, and a desperate uncertainty as to whether our distress signal had been made out and understood. I thought the light of d *y woul i never come.' Said the mother of a family to me. 'The first hours were the- worst, expected each moment to be our last, and when the mainmast fell and went over the side with an awful scrunching noise, I gathered the little ones m my arms, and saying to my husband (who held me tightly vith one hand and some of the children with tlu other), 'Tis all over, Tom, good-bye,' closed my eyes. But it was very lav troin taing all over then. A dreary interminable time had to follow, during which we listened anxiously for every sound, hoping against hope, even when the little Coastguard boat appeared and lay tossing under our stern amidst foaming breakers m tbe dim light of dawn. Very thankful I felt as the men pulled ashore. The boat was dangerously . crowded, water constantly washed into her, and the wind cut through our thin, wet clothing ( like a knife ' (as the saying is), but somehow I felt there was no longer cause for fear; and when the good, kind liish folk met us on the beach with genial words of welcome and general offers of hospitality, I cried for pare happiness."