THE WRECK OF THE LASTINGHAM.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1238, 11 September 1884, Page 3

THE WRECK OF THE LASTINGHAM.

W ELLINGTON, Sept. 8. The steamer Napier not being able f< go round Jackson’s Head steamed through Queen Charlotte’s Sound, and held coincommunication with Kemp Bay, where il was ascertained that a party who had been on a visit to the wreck had taken up their quarters in huts on the beach, and supplied the following re the imping men : Un Thursday the men made their way to the above-mentioned huts, and from thence were taken by a passing vessel the same night to Turner’s Bay, where the steam launch found them. The party at the huts had been all over the scene of the wreck during the day, the weather at the time being most favorable for explorations. Although it is not supposed that the vessel has broken up, a vast amount of wreckage is floating about, and was described as covering acres in extent. So dense was the mass that the steam launch had the greatest difficulty in using her propeller, as much of the wreckage is of a character calculated to foul the screw. Having a considerable party on board the launch they were only able to secure a few of the articles, comprising nine cases of liquor and kerosene oil, rolls of matting, etc., the value of which is not estimated to exceed £l5O or so. They also stated that had proper appliances been at hand at least £2OOO of stuff could easily have been secured. On arrival at Picton the salvage goods were taken charge of by the customs authorities. Efforts were made both by the launch and Napier to reach the spot and save any further wreckage, but the boisterous weather prevented them getting round the head. A couple of boat loads of passengers were landed on the rocks. The landing was attended with great difficulty and danger. The party had to climb up the face of all but perpendicular cliffs. At the top of the highest point of the range was found a signal pole upon which distress signals hung, in the vicinity was a cluster of bushes where the men had sheltered themselves at night. A more barren, bleak, and desolate spot could not be imagined. Witli a look-out to sea on every side, it is not at all astonishing that the survivors thought they were on a desolate island. A disused track brought the visitors to a cliff' overhanging the rocks where the ill-fated ship was lying. The masts with some of her yards are visible above water, but it is supposed they are floating, being kept in position by the rigging. Very little of the wreckage reported to have been floating about the previous day was to be seen, and it is surmised that the bad weather carried it to sea. Mr Jones, at whose residence the missing men were found, gives the following account : He did not get the names of them. One was an Englishman, the other a German, and the third a darkey. The report given of the darkey leads to the supposition that he was a rather remarkable man. He was the first to leave the main party in search of relief, and being barefooted his feet were sorely hurt by the jagged rocks and brushwood. Being hungry he made a temporary meal off hits of candle picked up from the wreck. After searching some time he found some deserted huts, where he picked up a lead pencil and some scraps of paper. After resting for the night he resumed his journey and found a well-defined sledge track. Although his hardships must have been great he was not unmindful of his companions, and in order to guide them as well as he could every here and there along the track wrote his name on scraps of paper, fixing it to sticks in the ground. He then discovered the disused huts in Kemp Bay, where he found matches. He gathered a lot of shell fish and kelp, with which he made for himself the first hearty meal he had had for some days. The Englishman and the German, in the meantime also broke off from the main party, and, after a toilsome journey, found the darkey by the directions he had left on thr track. After they had refreshed themselves the Englishman volunteered to return with the news of their success to the main body, and after great fatigue arrived at the spot only to find them gone, and by certain trifling articles left by them made sure they had been rescued. He retraced his steps, reaching Kemp’s Bay in the afternoon, and was rather disconcerted to find his two companions likewise disappeared without leaving any trace. A small craft then hove in sight, and in response to his signal a boat was sent, and he was taken off. In the meantime the darkey and his companion were taken on by a passing vessel, and landed at Turner’s Bay.

Captain Moore (says the Christchurch Prsss), of the schooner Croydon Lass, that picked up two of the shipwrecked crew of the Lastingham last Thursday, mentions the fact that one of the two men men was a negro with a history. It appears that some few years ago he was sailing out of Auckland harbor, and finally got promoted to the position of cook on board the Borealis. This vessel got attacked by the natives from an island at which the vessel called, and it may be remembered that Captain McKenzie’s son, who was occupying the position of mate of the brigantine, was killed, and several of the crew massacred. The cook (this shipwrecked negro) was stabbed and hacked about, and left for dead, but when the course was clear he managed to secrete himself unobserved and finally effected his escape.