THE WRECK ON THE WEST COAST.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume X, Issue 79, 2 April 1875, Page 2

THE WRECK ON THE WEST COAST.

; Wo are indebted to Mr Davidson, J.P.; who resides near the Sandspit, for the following ?□ formation relative to the wreck or wrecks that have recently occurred in the vicinity of Cape Farewell:— On Wednesday, March 24th, I received notice from Mr Nelson that a dead body had been washed ashore at the end of the Cape Farewell Spity^ I was on the Sandspit at the time, aiarii arranged with Mr Erecson, who brought me the letter, to. go across, to the outside, and. for him to travel back to the lighthouse,,, and that I should come home, so thki we might see if any more bodies or any, other parts of a wreck had been was/ted up. After leaving him about a miie^ and about five miles from the lighthouse, I found the body of a man, lying on his back, the head towards the laud add the feet towards the sea, the shirts apparently swept by the waves over his face and head. I covered him over with a^quantity of kelp to protect him from the birds, and then travelled all the way to Cape Farewell. Close to the man, I picked up blocks and tackle, and, within about two miles, one pair 1 cf trousers, two waistcoats, and one worsted flock. I examined the pockets of all the cld'hCf; but could not find anything butWnd in them. The nearer I came to tha Cape the less there was on the beach to' show that any storm had lately taken place ; all the kelp, pieces of wood, &c, had been' drifted towards the lighthouse. I held an enquiry on the bodies of the two men, notes of which I forward herewith. Owing to the distance all the residents in the district live from the place the bodies were found, it ■ would have been unwise to uumraon a jury, especially as there could not be any suspicioa of foul play. I examined the witnesses on oath, and, after they had described the many things they / had seen on the beach, I could not help ; concluding that a wreck bad taken I place, and that the bodies were those of two of tbe senmen belonging to the vessel. ■ Having heard of the wreck of a vessel at or near Wanganui Heads on the night of, March 19ih or morning of the 20th, r made enquiries of my neighbors about the current on the coast. I find that when the Nelson was wrecked at West WanganuiMieavy

{For continuation see fourth page.)

fltuff in the water (acted on by the tide j mainly) was washed on shore from the i C&pe down the Spit ; also that when the Tararua went ashore near the Causeway Islands, and she threw a good deal of her deck cargo overboard, a number of boxes of fruit were washed ashore from the Capo downwards. I hear nlso that people bathing on that coast find a very strong current carrying them towards the end of the Spit. Seafaring men inform me that the current further out at sea for nine hours out of every twelve runs from south to north. I have made these enquiries in order to ascertain if the bodies and wreckage could have been drifted from Wanganui to where they •were found, and I think it very probable that they were. The absence of kelp, drift-wood, &c, within about six or seven miles of the Cape, shows that for (some reason unknown to me the current has been stronger towards the end of the Spit than it generally is. I hear that part of the bottom of a vessel has come ashore at Wareriki. It was zino fastened, and pieces of zinc which look as if they had been used for a similar purpose have come ashore near the lighthouse. Pieces of coal have also come ashore there. The following is the evidence given at the enquiry I held at the Lighthouse on the 25th: — James Nelson, lighthouse keeper, being sworn, said : On Tuesday, the 23rd I went on the ocean side of the Sandspit in company with John Frederick Erecson, and James Cunningham, first and second assistant keepers, to see if we could find any further signß of a wreck, as we had on the day . previously picked up several articles belonging to a vessel, such as the figure-head, flags, articles of clothing such as are worn by sea?fariDg men, &c. After we Bad gone about half a mile from the lighthouse, towards the end of the Spit, in a south-easterly direction, we saw the dead body of a man which had just been washed ashore. It was lying on the stomach, and partly on its right side; the lower part of the body was unclothed, and very much eaten away. From the appearance of the flesh the man could riot have been dead more than three or four days. The hair on his head and body was light red; his whiskers dark red, but we could see no distinctive mark; the upper part of the body was clothed ,in a blue diagonal coat, blue flannel, spotted black and white Crimean shirt, elastic sided boots, one half-3oled, and heeled, and cotton: socks. We went on further towards the end of the Spit, and found more signs of a wreck having taken place than we had on the day previously. Amongst . the things washed up were pieces of sails, timbers, rails, flags, &c. Owing to the state of the wind I could not expect anything floating high out of. the water to come ashore. All the things picked up floated very heavily in the water. From the size of the Fiddle figure-head I should .suppose the vessel it belonged to was from two to four hundred tons. It was painted black, and the raised carving was painted yellow, and, had not been long in tho water. We also picked up a lower pump box, and a ■windlass chock, painted,* the first coat green,, the last yellow. Weaaw several stanchions made of blue gum, which / ■were carried away from six inches to/ a foot below the deck. We then reZ turned, got the horse and cart, and /a box, into which we put the body and removed it to a safe place to protect jit from the tide and gulls. On the wallowing day I sent information to BVIr Davidson that a body had been fojmd on the Sandspit. After high water/we continued our search and found a large black and white retriever dog,/ an exemption flag, made of light canvas, and several articles of clothing, ,*ope, and other pieces of wreck. On] the 25th, I, with the assistance of th| assistant keepers, and Mr Davißson, buried the body of the man, whiclj has been described above, at the end of the Spit, at a place called Bush End. I On Friday she 19th inst., I saw one barlque, and two other vessels off the |spit. They had a light north-west windjand •were beating towards Cape Fare4rell. During the first part of the night Uhe •wind blew very strong from the noVtb, and north east, and about midnight\it changed to the north-west, and blewVa regular gale. Towards the morning h. drew more to the west still blowing very strong.: The body of the man described above might be sft 9in, very powerfully made, and apparently middle aged.. John Fredrick Erecson, being sworn, said : I have heard the evidence given by the previous witness, James Nelson, which I fully corroborate. On Friday, the 19th March, about 11 a.m., I saw two barques, and two brigantines; one barque and the two brigantines were light, and standing towards the north, from three to five miles north-east of tbe Spit end, the second barque was hull down and standing up Blind Bay, from ten. to twelve miles east of Spit end; tb/ barque standing norlh was painted black, with a wide red Btreak round her.