THE GREAT BARRIER TRAGEDY.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1507, 2 November 1886, Page 3

THE GREAT BARRIER TRAGEDY.

From Caffrey's statements it appears ,-.J.fliat he had no instruments only 8 com--1 .passjo aid.him in his endeavors to reach [the South American coast. He had no idea of taking sights, but he thought that . as America ran north and south he could not help hitting it. n On the second day a fearful gale sprung up, and during its .•« continuance Caffrey was nearly;killed:; 1' - appears frqm his statement that the maii> boom suddenly jibed, and in swinging caught Caffrey and jammed him down to the top of the icbmpariiori way. Just as .: -'the?boom was crushing his breast the .; Kgheet took the strain of'the boom, and so ft I- saved him. .For a long time he suffered from the effects of the accident; This •' burred when the vessel was In the Bay of Plenty. He never before in his ..life. 1 ! K?M& such, a frightful sea as ran during the j gale, but: the cutter, he says, behaved splendidly. Although he still adhered t" < r his determination to reach the American ('(Boasti he'was continually beaten back to the-northward by adverse winds. Then striking the S.E. trades he waß still further , carried northward. The most ' "' strange part of the whole voyage was that; ,: nfjlahd was sighted after leaving New V" Zealand, until three 'months afterwards.* The was picked up in was fear?ut Finding that it was impossible to make for the South American coast, rCaffrey made up his mind to reach Tasmania; but everything appeared to go, against them, and they eventually landed as already knewn. Ciffrey is of opinion r : he 1 would riot have been caught had it nptbeen for the wreckage of the cutter 'drifting northward's before going ashore, for where tbey landed was'& bleak, uninhabited/spot. The cutter did not break up where'she was beached until next da v. Caffrey, after remaining ten days at the ■ Spoi where 'they all got ashore, could • not 'Stand the loneliness of the place, and so -' hestartedaway, leaving Penn and the ;; girl behitfd 1 . l There was a small and ap'patently uninhabited house close to 'where they were, and Caffrey nightly ~sneaked round and round it, but dared not go'in. Caffrey worked north, and V when he >as arrested he had no money or. food. ,: ~v . ... , / : ,'!., ~. - From Lizzie Graham it was ascertained that during the. voyage on board the cutter she epjoyed herself very much. The- only, literature that they,had on the cutteßiwaa a! bible and ,a hymn-book. , /Sb(B ; .was, desirous of writing a history of I jntheir expbits, and would have done so -,. ~in Sydney, she, said, had the authorities: there only allowed her paper, and ink.,- j The murder was constantly b iug referred ! '■to by those on the cutter, and Caffrey i appeared utterly miserable and resigned, v : and deeply regretted the dee<). ; Whileft on board the cutter bo quarrel took place, all living happily together, but when they got on shore then the; bickering between the two meo commenced. She appeared loliavft bo much enjoyed the whole trip, %at she expresses her willingness to go ~^-another similar voyage. The girl knew "J/Penn for some ten months' prior togoing / on the trip, and she was, she says/lyery 6 fond ;of him, although she avowed? " I liked Caffrey as well, and be liked me." Oh the voyage to Auckland, with a view to retaining them in good spirits, and at thoir request, prisoners were permitted to play cards. Surely such a card party never was formed before. Impossible as it seems of belief, there were - two men in irons under arrest for murder . of a peculiarly heinous nature, another on his way to answer to a charge of .forgery, and a fourth an. ex-member Constabulary, all intent on cards, and there •-' they .played till tea time,; finding; bb much interest and excitement in the' - varying chances of the game as did ever' a free and social "party of cafrf- -.' .players under happier auspices. : Caffrey, ; beyoid a slight tendency toforget trumps, . .was affable, and seemed to enjoy the "game greatly, while Penn was most demonstrative, and thumped his cards ..down on the table with that delighted emphasis so characteristic of many ' players who happen to ho'«l good cards. , Forsyth, the forger, played a quiet game, occasionally showing bis band to the spectators and indulging in a wink of much significance when about to surprise his opponent. The ex-constable, of course only " took a hand" to make up a -'side; Surely all who witnessed that .. card party will remember it *hi!e they live. ' There were those two men, animal aUjike, r living only in the present and seeioingly indifferent to the dreadful future, playing euchre as if that future 5 wW an assured and happy one. As game . succeeded game, and their interest never flagged, it became painful in the. extreme to the bystanders to see them immersed .in the petty chances of the cards, and to * think to what an end the ship was surely and rapidly bearing there. By 6 p.m. their hands were again confined in irons. ;'At nine o'clock they both slept soundly. A day before reaching Auckland Caffrey ; seemed much upset, and passed most of bis time with his head burried in his hands on the table, evidently in an agony of remorse and penitence. Penn still continued quite easy and unconcerned in speech and manner, and gave no sign' of softening of heart or awakening of conscience.

; "..., ',,.' >LIEE ,0F JQHN. OAFFRE Y. " v \\ Caffrey was born at Panmure in ' 1850, and ia therefore in his „36tli year. His pawnti, who w«« of Irish birth, are

t poth deud. He stands about five fe • seven inches, has a fresh complexioi i brown r ha"ir, and'blue He is 8 powerfully-built man, and can, it is sail ? ißwing and carry a 2001 b bag of flour «it n the greatest ease. Hia occupation hi f always been that : of a 'sailor. ■ man named Eggerton, who had s.ile % ;with him on several previous trips of th I cutter (Sovereign of the Seas), was fo 8 tnnately detained in Auckland this tim lin order.to give eyidence before th - Court, and Penn took his place as mat< 1 'According to Eggerton'B account Caffre j is entirely ignorant of navigation, an . 'any charts he may have had on boar X would have been quite useless to hin i For some time, however, he ha I Ibeen studying the bearing: of the differeo i (groups of islands in the South Pacific > 'and inquiring also about the course h 'would have to steer in order to make th ; .Australian coast. He is described a , 'being a man of unbridled passions an< I Istubborn determina*'"-i. Somefouryear ago he shipped in a barque for an Austra lian port, and on arrival required thi master to pay him his wages immediately On this being refused he procured revolver and went after the master, whem be.at length encountered in a cal . with bis wife. Seizing the reins, ant Mopping the cab, Caffrey levelled hii [revolver at. the mascer's head, threatening to shoot both him and his wife if hii wages were not at once paid, which they were, without more delay. He has appeared before the Police Magistrates al 'Auckland several times on various charges—the first, on the 21st January, 1885;; when he was sentenced to three months' imprisonment for obscene language and assaults on constables, one, on Constable O'Brien, being of a very savage nature. His last appearance was on the 20th of last March, when he was fined for drunkenness. He has Several times stated that he was anxious to have a brush, withthe (police, andthat; if oyer he again got into trouble he would seize the Customs' cutter Hawk,- killing anyone that might be on board, and make for one of tbeislarids or for Australia,' or that he iwould get off jin the Sovereign of the Seas. People at the Barrier who knew him well statethat his leisure moments for some time past have been occupied in studying the American, Police Gazettes ; that Ned Kelly was' his ideal of a hero ; and that .there also be had frequently announced his intention of seizing a craft someday, and , making for Australia to join or to organise a band of bushrangers. -N.Z. Herald.