THE CHATHAM ISLANDS.

Southland Times, Issue 584, 29 October 1866, Page 3

THE CHATHAM ISLANDS.

(From the Correspondent of the " Canterbury . Press.") August 31. It is my painful duty to record the following melancholy occurrence, by which four lives have been lost. Mr James Hay, the proprietor of a sheep station at Teraki, on the western side of this island, having disposed of a lot of wethers, to be delivered at Waitangi, procured the assistance of Bobert "Williams, an old settler at Teraki, and arranged for the use of his whaleboat. Accordingly, the sheep were stowed away iv the boat, and they, together with Robert "Williams's wife, and a Maori named Kariko, sailed for Waitangi, a distance of about twentyfive miles. The sheep were duly delivered, and upon the first favorable breeze the party prepared to return, taking with them two casks of sugar, weighing about five hundred weight, a quantity of old sails, and a passenger named George Thorne. They left Waitangi on Thursday, the 9th of August, at two o'clock a.m., with a gentle breeze from the south-east, which gradually chopped round to the

north-west ; but throughout the day the weather was quite calm, and the sea almost unruffled. The last that was seen of the ill-fated boat and her unfortunate crew was by a Ngapuhi Maori, named Wiremu. He states tates that about twelve o'clock noon on the same day he was riding over the clears in he vicinity of Whangaroa, and distinctly saw the boat sailing offshore ; from the irregularity of the road he was travelling his view was impeded for some minutes, and upon emerging from the obscurity he again turned his eyes towards the spot where the boat should have been, but not a trace of it was perceptible. Utterley bewildered, he lingered near the spot for some time ; alas ! the boat was seen no more. In that brief interval, in Jess time than it takes to tell the mournful tale, the terrible tragedy had been completed, despairing cries had perchance arisen from earth to heaven, strong men had battled fiercely with death, and five immortal souls had passed into the presence of the G-od. There seems no doubt that the catasthrophe is to be attributed to the imprudent and incautious use of a boat utterly unseaworthy. Her timbers were very defective, in fact she was in every way out of repair. Indeed, upon arrival at Waitangi, she had made such an unusual quantity of water that it was the subject of general comment. The owner of the boat was an old seaman of great experience, famed for prudence and foresight ; it seems strange, therefore, that in a matter so vital his good judgment should have forsaken him. At the time of departure the parties were strictly sober, and the general and doubtless the correct opinion is that the boat literally broke down under them. The Chatham Islands have been singularly unfortunate during the last twenty-five years ; not less than sixty lives have been lost on our coast by drowning, some by shipwreck but the majority through boat accidents. A native of Manilla, known by the name of Frank, who has resided on this island for more than twenty years, was on Friday, the 3rd instant, discovered by a Maori in a dying state, extended upon the floor in a blanket which was partially consumed by fire. This poor old man had resided in a little hut without any other inmate, and had been subject to serious and frequent attacks of illness. It is supposed that in a severe and final paroxysm he rolled off the bed in his blanket,- which coming in contact with the fire immediately beside him, became ignited. He was not seriously burnt, but lingered until the Sunday without the slightest consciousness, when he ceased to breathe. The Maoris of Kaingaroa, on the north extremity of the island, are making active preparations for a speedy return to their original settlement at Mokau, near Wciitara, New Zealand. Ou Monday, September 3, the inhabitants of Waitangi were aroused by the cry of " Fire." From snme accidental cause one of the wharries appropriated to the prisoners took fire ; this communicated to the adjacent dwellings, and iv a few minutes nothing remained of five wharries but smoking ruins. The prisoners sustained great loss, and the inhabitants of W"..itangi, both white and Maori, have generously opened a subscription in behalf of the sufferers. Fortunately the prisoners had just completed a long range of comfortable and commodious wharries in a pleasant and desirable situation, therefore the entire community at once took possession of their new abodes. On Thursday, the 6th inst., the prisoners gave a special entertainment to the inhabitants generally, and it went off in prime style. Amongst other good things there was fish and poultry in abundance, and to crown the whole, right royal beef and pudding. A table was set apart exclusively for the whites, and every attention was paid them. There was no end of fraternizing and speechifying, the burden of which inculcated the necessity of forgetting former feuds, and living together in peace and harmony. The weather being exceedingly pleasant added much to the enjoyment of a day unusually interesting. The brigantine Dispatch, from Lyttelton, arrived on the 29th, with sheep and building materials, consigned to Thomas Eitehie.