THE WRECK OF THE PLEOINE. THE VESSEL DOOMED.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 248, 21 March 1888, Page 3

THE WRECK OF THE PL E OI NE. THE VESSEL DOOMED.

Wellington' Match 16. The English ship Ploionc, which left London on 23rd December last for .Wellington, has gone ashore on the Waikanae Beach, between Wellington and Foxton. All the crew havo been got safely ashore. There was great excitement here this morning when news was received of the wreck of the Pleoine, and considerable uneasiness until it was known that all hands had been saved. Very few particulars are to hand. The vessel is supposed to have gone ashore during the night, which was very dark. Assistance will bo sent immediately. The first news of the disaster was received in Foxton and sent on to Wellington. The Pleione had made a splendid passage of 8-4 days, having left London on December 21st. The local Insurance offices will bo heavy losers if none of the cargo is saved. The spot at which the Pleione has gone ashore is very close to the place where the City of Auckland was wrecked on October 22nd, 1878. ,

The Pleione is an iron ship belonging to the Shaw, Savill and Albion Company, of 1,092 tons burden, and is commanded by Captain A. Calbert. She was built in 1876 at Glasgow by \. Stephens and Sons. She is a first-class clipper vessel, and is registered as Al at Lloyd's. She •sailed with a large general cargo for Wellington, from London, on December 21st, 1887. " Brett's New Zealand Pilot " gives the following description of the coast : — " The coast northward of Porirua Harbour for nearly three miles is high and cliffy, with straggling rocks extending off shore fully half-a-mile— Gibraltar, a high square rock standing close to the shore with a reef outside it, being northernmost — hence the coast bends with aslightcurve.and sandy beach northward for 1 1 miles to Waikanai, a ■native settlement on the bank of a small river, navigable for large boats high water. There are from 10 to j 14 fathoms one and a-half miles off this -part of the coast. Kapiti Island, a ] prominent object entering Cook's •Strait from the westward is five miles long nearly parallel with the shore and 1£ miles wide. Long Point, its northeast extreme, bears N.W. h N. three •miles from Waikanae River, and is a low rouuding flat shingle point extending nearly half-a-mile to the foot of the hills. Close under this point there is shelter for -a few small vessels from north-west winds, but they should not lie here -with auy sign of a south-easter. Several coasters 'have been thrown on the beach and wrecked by doing so. From Waikanai River the coast winds N. f E., with an almost straight sandy beach for 27 miles to the Manavratu river, the Otaki and Oahau rivers, navigable for large boats at high water lying between. Captain Fairchild at the time of the wrecks in 1878 said that at least a dozen vessels every year mistake Kapiti for Stephen's Island and only perceive the mistake in time to avoid shipwreck. In 186G when the rush was on to Hokitika many coasters were lost at this place as a strong wind blows on the coast for thegreater part of every month, and there is also a stroug ocean current to the southward. He advised at the time that lights should be erected on Kapoti and Stephens's Islands. The Roblna Dunlop was the first big vessel lost at this place in 1877, and during three months in 1878 three large vessels were lost in the neighbourhood, viz., the Hyderaboi, Felixstone, and City of Auckland, besides a ketch called the Elizabeth. On these three large vessels the insurance was £110,000.