THE SEAMEN OF THE HERMIONE.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIV, Issue 5616, 29 March 1879, Page 3

THE SEAMEN OF THE HERMIONE.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE MEW ZEALAND TIMES. Sib,—The two seamen belonging, to the Hermiono were removed from" the Hospital this evening in a carriage provided by ; the captain; and their'removal superintended 1 by the ship’s surgeon. The horses proceeded at a .walk to .the wharf,, and the precaution w as taken to provide ' T>nken with a ! pair of crutches for his use on board, although, poor fellow, he'will hardly he able to’use them for ’ some time if. the’ weather is at all rough. His Has been a hard fate. After surviving the hardships of a seven mouths’ sojourn on the Crozet Islands, living on albatross and suffering the greatest hardships, he was at length rescued and reached London, and shipped again for New Zealand ; and being ill, was put on the quarantine island, where, under' the kind care and attention of Dr. Marriner, he once more recovered and was fit to join: the ship, but was kept there, and although in the ship’s: pay was set to work, and again became ill, and was landed on the wharf one Saturday as done with, when the captain had him conveyed to the Hospital.. But the Empire City has no asylum for him. A few weeks’ or months’ quiet-he must not have here. Law, justice, and humanity plead in vain for him. None of the five shilling fees taken from deserters avail for him, but he must be cast out from amongst men to go back to the ocean—perchance to find a grave there. To read his touching letter to the captain when he was first told that he would have to go to his ship again—when he “ could not stand without help, and never might again,” would make the reader feel for him. The other poor fellow, with advanced spinal disease, is exposed to a similar fate. . , These things speak for themselves, and show the need for change of matters in this Britain of the South,- Apologising for troubling you, —I am, &c., ; ■ • S.H.S.