The Nelson Evening Mail. MONDAY, JANUARY 20, 1868. LOSS OF THE TASMASIAN MAID.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume III, Issue 16, 20 January 1868, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. MONDAY, JANUARY 20, 1868. LOSS OF THE TASM ASIAN MAID.

We regret to s?ate that vhe p.s. Tasman ian Maid was wrecked at Taranaki on Thursday lasr. We are indebted to her master nnd proprietor, Caption Sou ter, who arrived this morning hy the Phosbe, for the following particulars. She left the Ivlauukau on Wednesday, the loth, with 8 cargo of produce i'or the West. Coast, and encountered" a strong head vim I as far -down »s Tar-maki, where .-die put in on Thursday afternoon. Having brought up iv the anchorage, she got smne coals from theStornil..ii'.!,anti the wvaiht".' moderating, started ajjniu tiie same night at 9 o\-lo*k. In et'.-Hmhip out of 'rhe harbor, however, she struck upon v sunken rock on the point of L-»ng Keef, the for-hold unci tore-ca-'in ios'nntiy filled, ami shortly afterward* :h\' v-.--<sel sank, the boats Laving bwa piwiou-dy hnvettd with the ctew and pjiss* u-jers, who all reached the shore in safety. Three guns had heen fired from the steamer as a signal cf distress, and the whistle blown, ami the Stormbird immediately dispatched a boat to tiie steamer, whilst another was sect from the shore, and both came up just as the steamer sank. The course the vessel was steering was shown hy the chart as being 'all clear,' but we understand that a buoy h-.id previously been moored at tho point i-f the reef on which the steamer struck, which had been washed off, and had never heen replaced. Tlie vessel now lies in 15 feet of water at low tide, aud very -slight hopes are entertained of hd*r being raised. We regret to add that both vessel and cargo were uninsured, and Captain Souter estimates his loss at £4000. As the Tasmauian Maid materially assisted iv the development of some of our principal outlying districts, we shall make no apology fbr giving the following outline of her history. She was built in 1556, and in the June of the following year was bought iv Melbourne by Mr Maxwell Berry, for tbe Nelson Coast Steam Association, who obtained a loan, without iuterest, from the Nelson Trust Fun-Is to assist them in the purchase, and at that time was, with the exception of the Wonga Wonga, the only steamer connected with New Zealand. She was employed iv running to Motueko, Collingwood (immediately after the outbreak of the diggings in that district), and the Wairau. having been the first steamer to enter the Wairau River, In this trade she continued to run until the breaking out of the .Native War at the Waitara, when she was despatched to Tarannki, in compliance -with a resolution passed at a public meeting at Nelson, co aid In the removal to a place of safety, if necessary, of the women and .children at Taranaki. As this step

did not at that time appear to be imme- { diately necessary, she was employed hy the j Commissariat at Taranaki to run between that place and tlie Waitara River, in which capacity she proved of eminent service in transporting supplies to the camp at tliat place. Whilst e:npl yed in this manner she receive! great damage in crossing (he bar of the Waitara, which would have resulted in her condemnation and saie, but for the importance of the services she had rendered during the war, and the assistance consequently rendered in her repairs, &c, by the military nnd crew of the man-of-war then on that station. After returning to she was wrecked on the Wairau bar, when, being condemned and sold, she was purchased by Mr. Symons of | Nelson and others, who afterwards sold her to an Auckland firm. By them she was re-s>>ld to the General Government, to be used as a war steamer, under tlie name of the Sandfly, for the conveyance of stores and ammunition during the war in (he Waikato. She was eventually disposed of by the Government, and fell into private hands, and having resumed her former name, was placed on the Corornamiel and Whnr-garei trade, in December 18o(5, she w:iS bjught by Captain Sou ter, and since then, until ihe date of the catastrophe to which we have referred above, was a favorite boat on the West Coast.