EXCITING ADVENTURE OF THE WAIMATE.

Thames Star, Volume XI, Issue 3679, 9 October 1880, Page 3

EXCITING ADVENTURE OF THE WAIMATE.

: A passenger who went home by the ib.it> Waimate gives an account, m a letter to a friend at Cbristchurch, of a mishap to that ressel, w became nearnumbering her with the Knowsley Ha I. It appears that the vessel made a-splendid Sassaee of eighteen days to the Horn, when the crew suddenly and unexpectedly found themselves in. a narrow channel with reefs on. every side. They were running before a 14 knot breeze at the time md a dense fog was prevailing, This happened on Tuesday at dinner time, and a most anxious time was passed until Wednesday morning at^4 o clock, ♦Yip naiseneers not knowing but what any -£y23Ebt..b,. their last. The oreiw wore ship about thirty times m eight hours, and only the most splenduLseaman. "hip on the part of the captaio%eems_to hare sated them from going on the the end," says the writer, >we came into a small bay, where we found we had iust room enough to wear. &be Eradually ran off before the wind, the Jocks right ahead of us and Terynear, but not so near as they seemed to be. Just as we were coming round a large reef opened out, the waves mountains high dLhing over it. On «he went nearer ,nd nearer to it. All this while the captain stood calmly giving orders, as thoHgh he were out in the open sea. His orde? was now to set the foresail. .B-oh man ran to his post, hauled down the tack, hauled aft the sheet, and then stood by to watch. Her head came slowly to the wind, and as her stern went towards the reef there seemed no hope. Some of the men were crying (Dutchmen). 1 tie man at the wheel lost his P™en, ce. .°f mind and left it. Mr Canese^ took the helm. Everybody said ' Good-bye. It waTan .awful moment, but she came round, her stern not more than six yards off the rocks, right t™?**^***^ We hove the lead and found 35 fathoms of water, with a rocky bottom. We et go the anchor, but it would not hold, and 5n she dragged again towards the rocks. Our last anchor was our only hope; we let that go, it caught, and we were saved. We waited for five days for a fair wind, •nd then got out to sea again, wry thankful to see the back of Cape_ Horn^ That the ship could have got so far out of her course as to have entered the Straits of Magellan (where she undoubtedly was) when she was^supposed to be rounding Cape Horn, is I imagine, only explainable on the suppositionthat her compasses were at fault. Had she been wrecked there, not a soul could have lived to tell the tale."