THE CONVICT GASPARINI. His Story of the Escape From New Caledonia.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 297, 8 September 1888, Page 4

THE CONVICT GASPARINI.

His Story of the Escape From New Caledonia.

The following letter^ written by Gasparini, during the voyago of the steamer Wakatipu from New Zealand to Sydney, gives some details regarding the manner in which he and Cury managed to effect thbir escape from the penal settlement of Now Caledonia. The letter was addressed to a r gentleman on boaid the Wakatipu :—": — " Sir, i — I wisli to give you an idea of the manner ! in which I escaped from Now Caledonia. I left the island on the 26th February last, at 2 a.m. ; after leaving the island I steeied westward, or west-south-west, and for about seven days the easterly wind rendered our course easy. At about 6 p.m. on the sth March the wind fell, and at 8 p. in. that evening tho vain camo down in torrents, and a westerly wind began to blow furiously ; it came on as suddenly as a bomb shell. So strange and fierce was the wind that I had to take in the remainder of the mainsail (having taken in two reefs when I left New Caledonia) ; I kept up the foresail in order to allow me to s>toer, and to help the cotter to rise before the heavy soa% for the wind was blowing a gale. For live consecutive days and nights I was compelled to run before the wind, and very unwillingly was making back for Now Caledonia. I mutt afro toll you that during those five days J could neither see the sun in the daytime nor tho stars by ni^ht, the rain falling very hea\ ily all the time. On March 10' the wind fell, and the sky cleared. At about 4 p.m. on that day a li^ht btee/e sprang up fioni the south. J then spread all my sail, and sfecied, as near as J could gue-s, to the south, or about 00 degiees west. On the 15th, at about s fa m., I sighted a barque. 1 called my companion (Cury), and told him a ship was in sight. At these woids he jumped up, and having ascertained that such was the case he earnestly begged me to steer towaids the \esscl. A^ for myself, I decided to avoid any vessel, but he begged of me m so earnest a manner that 1 yielded to hiti entreaties. You should know tli.it we left Noumea with very little pi'uisions on boaid, the w hole con«-istinf> ot 5(.1b biscuit, about j-gallon cognac, 21bsugai, and 35 lities ot water. All that icmaincd on the day the barque was sighted waeight hhes of water, and sc\cn or eight kilo-, of biscuits We did not. know if mo weie far tiom the Austialian coast I then "Leered foi the vessel in sight, and at C p m. we wcic on boaitl ot her. We told the captain ot the Wonda that a\c weic fishermen, who li-h1 been canied out to sea by the .-.torm. The captain is a worthy, good man He treated j us better than his o-\\ n men, and took us to j EUcnsvillc, Now Zealand. It was at that | place we left the vessel without warning j and without oven thanking the captain"! but we feaied that he should put us in the j hands of the police. 1 foigot to mention that as soon as I got on boaid the -\c*sel that lescued us J asked the chief officer where wcweie He said in 28' lafc. S. and 153- long. E. of the l\ui^ meiidian, and that we still had to go 164 mile^ bofoie we i cached any land. What happened afterwards )ou know it. It onl> lemains to thank jou and beg to be excused foi adrfiessing you this.-- -I am, G.vsj'wjiM. ' (Jaspanni is Lhc man who is suppo-cd to ha\ c lumped into the din ing the last \oyage ot the Wakatipu fiom Kew Zealand to Sydney.

Gnsinfermi's Fate Detect i\o Walker returned to Auckland \ by Hie s.s. Alanapoiui. He states tint lie has, not the slightest doubt- but that Ua-pai-ini, th( i--iapoe fiom New Caledonia, drowned himself. "Hotays thai he behaxed himself veiy well on the voyage o\ci. On the iii^ht of the 15th, (Uu-paiini went to bed at 11 o cluck. At 12 o'clock Dctccti\e Wa'kei went below and siw hiinisonti untie— rd and in bed. Ab thai tune the\ wcie 130 miles h"m b.\dni*\ Heads The night was unusually . nngh. -o much so that I he eantam -aid .tttei \\ auK that it the man had yone (>\ei l)i..iid he could not have loweied a uo.it. Walker aio»c at 8 o'clock nc\tmoi imig. The \e-<-el A\a? then4omiles tioni Sulney Head". He x\ en t to look for (.'a-panni bnfc could not find him A cattle dea'ei horn Tokomairo, Ota^o, who f-K-pt next the pi i.^onei , «aid that he &ll'.v (ia^paiini vet up and d rests himself t.nd go on deck a'unit 2 o'clock At that time the \e«sel wa< aLoutllSmile^ from the head 1 ?. A thorough was maae by the delective, 'ib^isteci bj the oiliceis of the ve.-sel and the i.irpcnter, .loseph Wilt-on. Wahvet -^cij s that if the man wa« aboaid he must. ha\e nece c sarily been di.sco\cud, a* the wiiole \ e^scl was lan.sickcd li^ht thiough Wlien they readied l)oil two detectives watched the vessel, and aga'ii at No^u castle the boat was ihoiouj»hly seai died by sex en of the water police Eveiy bit of can»o xvas caictully examinccl a,s it was temoved. He considers that there xvas not the slightest possibility of (laopaiini ha\ ing i cached the slioris, and consequently he must be drowned