THE VOYAGE OF THE COMUS.

Samoa Times and South Sea Gazette, Volume 3, Issue 164, 18 September 1880, Page 3

THE VOYAGE OF THE COMUS.

[From the Eilroptmi Miiil. ■Tunr 1 s.] Captain Kutr but sent hume to the Admiralty an account of the voyage of the Comus, which will relievo some appreheusious and disappoint many hopes. He hat found no traces of the shipwrecked crews supposed to have hecu cast upon the < Wets, and has thrown no light whatever on the fate of the unfortunate passengers of the Kuowsley Hall. It will be remembered that the Com its was despatched some time since in response t> a very wide spread apprehension that a group of people might he starving on th«se desolate rooks in the Southern < tatan, watchiuglike Robinson Cuisoefora passing sail. The Crozots just lie out of the truck of the Australian trade. There are Hvo Islands, one of thorn named the Twelve Apostles, consisting of two large locks front a mile to a mile and a half long, and some nine hundred feet high, with detached pinnacles from fifty to four hundred feet, and only ono or two points where a landing could he effocted even in smooth water. Penguin Island is a mass of volcanic matter some IVllOft. high, thrown up, Captain Kast says, in every imaginable form and shape, with deep water elase to itbase, and no appearance of beach anywhere round it. Possession Island, which is the largest of the group, rises to ■jOOtlft, and in that antartic region is covered will] perpetual snow. It is a beautiful object as seen from the sea. The melting snow keeps the lowland always wet; and"tLev Are consequently covered by a brilliant vegetation, which hides under an emerald ■covering of moss and ferns treacherous hogs Kast Island is also a mountain, •iOO'Oft. in height, covered with perpetual Snow, with 6teep cliffs, oyer which waterfalls are to be seen in all directions. The Scenery of this island is described as very grand; and there are numerous bays where •a safe tending may be effected, Hog Island, the most Westerly of the group next "he Twelve Apostles, consists of a number of small peaks, precipitous on the west, out sloping down on the other sides, ami vm the east offering at least a possible landing, and. apparently, ample food to any who might be driven to take refuge on it. Captain East's earliest discovery ha; added something to the possible danger of this rocky group. Only vessels much blown out of their course are likely j to come near them: but sflch vessels, tl'l (here are s irh, ought at least to Ire exactly j informal as'otheirwhera bouts. I huComus j lelt the Cape under steam on February ',' l. j and on March •"> sighted Hog Island.' At j noon out ml day observations made them twi»ty-.'uiir miles from it. but appearance-, j contradicted the chart; and it was actually found that Hog Ishind is some thirteen miles nearer the t 'ape than the Admiralty chart places it.. This island was found to oiler good anchorage on the east side, and a landing was effected. An old hu( was found, in which the pilot tha Cumus had taken from the ('ape had lived ;en years before, but there were no signs that human beings had been on the spot siiwe that time. The island swarmed with game, sen elephant-, teal, rabbits, duel:-, and other large bird*, with the penguin and the albatross. There would he plenty of food for wrecked sailors, and the skins o" the animals would afford clothing, while for fuel there would be the oil of tie penguin, of which every one of these -strange birds yields a gallon. A shelter hut was erected ou this island, tw i cutters full of provisions were landed, and a board was put up containing the notice that they had been landed from the Coinus and were only for shipwreched people. On the Twelve Apostles no landing could be but a beautiful day enabled them to examine th" Wand closely, and though guns were lived, and the cairn erected liy the Si rath in ore's people could bo seen, no liuces of human bcingi were found. Penguin Island was equally inaccessible. Its shores were carefully examined but (here was no landirg-phue and no trace of any person havingset foot on it could be discovered. In Possession Island a good anchorage was found, and a depot of provision* with shelter huts was formed. There w.-rv traces of whalers, but the rWierief lice been abandoned for years, an I it is clear that no one has landed .since their ahan Iruneiit. There were some graves of fishermen who had been killed in their adventurous calling, the head-buards still standing, find the names still legible upon them, but no signs of any living being, ami no response U the guns which ivoke the unaccustomed echoes. It was a vast solitude, peopled only by sea elephants, with a few duck and guinea fowl. East Island was examined in the same way. Huns were fired al intervals, but no signs of any human beings appeared, and the Coinus left the Cmzets for Kerguelen Island with tho certainty that no shipwrecked persons have been cast on them for sonic years past. As a.search Tor possible castaways tho voyage of the Counts has therefore had only negative results. Hut those results are important, inasmuch as they not only remove apprehensions which land been feit as to I he possible imprisonment of shipwrecked people on these islands ; but show that had any snob I'.'isons landed they need not have licen been starved to death or perished if cold. There would at least have been food and sonic shelter: and there is every possibility that had any of the crew or passengers of the Itnoweley Hull boen thrown on thoso islands the Coinus inimt have found truces id' them. At IvorRlltlon Island there was a similar absence of uuy traces of late visitors. The rabbits hiiided there have multiplied indefinitely. Al St. Paul's hhind some Froiicll lisher»J«ii were found, but no news of any! shipwrn/'ked crews. The boilers, spurs, I »»d apijie other l>n|ts of the ill-b'iled:

I M egaira were still lying on the rocks. | Rabbits were landed here in tho hope I that they would increase the scanty • resources of the island in the way of luod for occasional fishermen or castaways. The whole of the desolate rocks m these dreary seas seem to oHer bctt-r refuge for such unfortunate pers ••. !:. :! :. '■ has baen In r.:" J .n I , ■•■ i '] , ; .■ j everywhere. Captain East.howe-.e; n iiu_, j out that iu case of \ elv.v being eomin '.:■ ■'. to abandon their ship near the Croze!--, I they should make for the east si le ot Hog or Possession Island or the north of East Island where they will find landing and food. The Kerguelen cabbage is abundant on Possession Island. and a red root i'oiiud there makes very wholesome food. A small pigeon, which is easily caught, is described as very good eating. Happily, the chance of vessels being lost on thc.-e islands is exceedingly small. i The pilot, who knew them we'll, never i heard of any vessel but the .Strathmnr-. and during frequent visits to the islands I never saw more than one vessel pass. j Hut in these sous, as in the Atlantic.there is ono danger which can never he wholly , .I avoided. The striking of an iceberg by I tin Arizona some lime ago was a forcible jreininderofwdi.it the real sun-of mvs-jstei-ious disappearance*, such a- that of" ! the City of Huston may have been. In | the Southern 0.-ean there is the same j danger. It is no unusual thing to shdit I I ice begs on the way to the Australian ! colonies, and whenever these exquisitely I beautiful objects with their blue pinnacles ; are seen, or the fogs are experienced which sometimes hang around them, the ship is in faco of one id' the most insiduous perils of the deep, and nothing but the most watchful seamanship can cosine her safety.