The Sun.
London, England, 1865-12-22 00:00:00

A Modern Robinson Crusoe,

The Melbourne Correspondent of the Times sup-
plies a long narrative of a man named Musgrove,
who was a year or two ago shipwrecked on one of
the Auckland Islands, about 400 miles south of
New Zealand, and compelled, with some of his
crew, to stay there for nearly 20 months. He has
published in Melbourne a diary, from which the

narrative is taken. Some brief accounts of the
affair have appeared before, but this full and au-

thentic narrative is still interesting :

Early in January of last year, Musgrove, com-
tnanding a small scaling vessel called the Grafton,

out of the port of Sydney, was driven in a gale of

wind on to one of these islands, and his ship became

a wreck. With difficulty he and his crew contrived
to reach the shore in a boat. The severity of the
weather—gales of wind being the rule rather than
the exception in that boisterous latitude—prevented

them from getting many things from the vessel, and
the only tools they had were a hammer, an axe, and
an adze, and a gimlet, with which they contrived to
make, after long and persevering labour, a thing
they called a house, with a fire-place and chimney
to it. For provisions they were dependent on seals,
widgeons, mussels, and a sort of saccharine root
found on the island, which served for bread and po-
tatoes, and which after some time they learned to
brew into some stuff which, although not beer, the
captain says was better than cold water. " First
catch your seal," was constantly the cardinal prin-
ciple of this island cookery. The seals were in pro-
digious numbers, and Captain Musgrove's diary is
interesting in its notices of these curious creatures.
" They go roaring about the woods," he says, "like
wild cattle. Indeed, we expect they will come and
storm the tent some night." Speaking of another
part of the island, he says :
" At this place we saw hundreds of seals ; both
the shore and the water were literally swarming with
them. In one instance we saw a black seal and a

tiger seal fighting. They were at it when we first
saw them. We watched them about half an hour,
and left them hard at it. They fight as ferociously
as dogs, and do not make the least noise, and with
their large tusks they tear each other almost to pieces.
In other portions of the diary are entries which
show that from the excessively pugnacious charac-
ter of the old seals, especially of the bulls (which
showed fight even when assailed with clubs by seve-
ral of the crew), the young calves were generally
deemed the safer game, and were knocked on the
Lead accordingly. After some months of this wretched
struggle against starvation some of the men grew
insubordinate. On Sunday, Feb. 7, Musgr, ove's log
has a misanthropic tinge about it. He says :
" Up to the present time the men have worked well

and conducted themselves in a very obedient and re-
spectful manner towards me, but I find that there is
somewhat of a spirit of obstinacy and independence
creeping in among them. It is true, Ino longer
hold any command over them, but I share every-
thing that has been saved from the wreck in
common with them, and I have worked as hard as
any of them in trying to make them comfortable,
and I think gratitude ought to prompt them to still
continue willing and obedient ; but you might as
well look for the grace of God in a Highlandman's
log-book as gratitude in a sailor. This is a well-
known fact.

By a subsequent entry of the Ist May, he shows
how he had successfully dealt with this disaffected
spirit :
" I have adopted a measure for keeping the men
in order and subjection, which I find to work ad-
mirably, and it also acts beneficially on my own
mind. This is teaching school in the evening, and

reading prayers, and reading and expounding the
Scriptures on Sunday to the best of my poor ability.
We have done this for some time now, and I am

happy to say with much greater success than I at
first expected. They are all getting particularly
fond of reading and hearing the Bible read. Some
of them cannot read yet, but they are learning very
fast, and I have not heard a profane word spoken
for a long time. So much for moral suasion. I trust
that the result will' be beneficial to all parties."
In another mood, this poor sea captain's entry
shows us a glimpse of his inner suffering :
" My urgent prayer to Heaven is that I may be
permitted to retain my health and reason through
the distressing trial."
And so on the diary proceeds—a little desultory,
of course, as most diaries are—occupying nearly
two pages of the Age newspaper, with the daily war-
fare on the seals ; with an account of the murder of
a fine phlegmatic, ever-present, immoveable old seal
they called Royal Tom, the plagues of sand flies
blow flies, and boils breaking out on the faces of
the sufferers, until at last some of them determine
on attempting an escape from the island. Their
only craft was the little dingy in which they
had escaped from the wreck. The neareft
inhabited land was New Zealand, 400 miles
off. To traverse such a tract of stormy ocean in
such a boat, Captain Musgrove knew was little
other than a form of suicide ; but, grown desperate,
he determined on the attempt. As well perish
quickly at sea as slowly on shore, he said. Prudence
or consideration for others need not restrain him,
for his wife and mother in Sydney must long since
have given him up for lost. He and his men raised
the sides of the boat and otherwise made her fitter
for a sea-way ; and, when ready, a question arose
who should accompany the captain. eSom flatly re-
fused, two consented. They secured as large a store
of seal and other food in the boat as she would carry,
put forth to sea, and arrived at Invercargill in New
Zealand, on the 27th of July. This is the most
wonderful part of the whole narrative ; as probably
such another voyage, in such a boat, was never
before made. The captain and his men were treated
with the greatest kindness at Invercargill, and a
small craft was at once chartered to proceed to the
island for the other men. They were recovered and
brought away ; but as smoke was seen on another
past of the island, it was thought that there were
probably other shipwrecked persons there who were
unable to escape, more especially as several vessels
have been lost, or given up as lost, which have lately
sailed from Australian ports. Captain Musgrove
therefore came on to Melbourne, and applied to the
Victorian Government for further assistance, which
has been granted. The colonial steam sloop Vic-
' toria has been despatched with a numerous crew,
and with Musgrove on board as pilot, and the cap-
tain of the Victoria has particular instructions to
make a careful search over the island, before he re-
' turns to Melbourne, which will probably be about
' six weeks hence. It is needless to say anything of
' Musgrcve's personal qualities, which best appear
from what he has done and suffered.