The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1907-04-24

on the verge OIL the GTSdI SCuLueEu
Ice Belt, some eve hundred miles
south of New Zealand, and swept by
the furies Of perpetual billiards, lie
the desolate Antipodes - Bounty,
Auckland, Enderby and Campbell ISL
ands, belonging to New Zealand, and
the Macquaries, belonging to Tas-
mania. All these islands are totally
uninhabited, and many a fine vessel
has laid her bones at the foot of
their cruel crags, while the luckless
souls who have escaped a watery
] grave have met a far dreadful
fate-a slow and miserable death
from starvation. Many records are
still to be found on the islands, tell
Ing their own tales of shipwreck, de-
Sspair, starvation and death. So
dreadful are some of these records
THAT the New Zealand Government.
ander the leadership of that grand
old empire builder, the late Prime
Minister, Mr.. R. j. Seldom, P. c.,
have erected depots for castaways on
each island. This humane step has
already been the means of saving
many lives.
The Government relief depots are
galvanized iron sheds about fifteen
feet by twenty, and contain timed
meat, biscuits, cocoa, tea, flour,
matches, candles. lamps, kerosene,
axes, fishing tackle, blankets, cloth
Ing, cloth, needles, cotton, etc., to-
gether with a good, seaworthy,
decked boat fitted with sails, oars,
compass, and a chart giving the
course to the Bluff Lighthouse, the
nearest point of New Zealand.
The islands are visited once a year
by the Government steamer Hinemoa.
She goes to search for castaways who
may have been wrecked since her
last visit, to repair any damages done
to the depots by the frequent storms,
and to overhaul the stocks of provis-
ions. This very wise undertaking,
rs already stated, has been the means
of saving many lives.
My official duties a. an officer of
the New Zealand Government Sur
vey necessitated my accompanying
the vessel to the islands, and this
article is the result Of my trip.
Previous to the erection Of the
depots the Derry Castle was lost on
Enderby Island, and the ships log
slate still hangs in the depot there.
It is the half of a folding
slate, tied together at the corners
with pieces of sinnet. or rope yard.
The wording has been cut on the
slate-probably with a sharp nail
and reads: Sacred t o the memoir
of captain. first and second officers.
and twelve of the crew who lost their
lives by wreck of the Derry Castle
On the north side of Enderby Island,
March 20, 1887. The survivors were
taken from the island by the schooner
Awarana, July 81, 1887. VIM. Rem
ME, A. B.; Dan Sullivan, A. B.; Nick
Wallace, A. B.; F. Fernace, A. B.;
John Husband, A. B.; Alex. Nyberg,
A. B.; Hugh Logan, A. B.; James
McGhie, passenger. Names of the
lost: James COTE, captain; F. F.
Robins, first officer; Rasmussen, Sec
ond officer; C. Reynolds, C. Williams,
p. Olsen, Johnson, Peterson, Karlson.
fGill, Reid; four names not known.
Total, fifteen"
The wording OF the graves is very
much weatherworn. but one slab
contains the following: Sacred
to the memory of C.. H. Ma
hony, master mariner, and the Sec
ond officer of the ship Inverauld,
wrecked on this island 18th May,
1854. Died of starvation" The
asmall grave to the left is that of the
captains little daughter, and the CEN
tire of the tablet is formed by the
ships grindstone. The lettering on
the other h~eadboards is too much OBJ
liberated to be legible, but the terri
BILE words, Died of starvation" are
on each.
OF all the islands, the most DESC
late are the Bounties, lying in forty
teight degrees south, 179 degrees
west. Not a vestige of vegetation or
blade of grass is to be found from one
lend of these barren penguin rookeries
Ito the other, so that, but for the Gov
ernment depots, the lot of any I'M
18ortunates wrecked upon them would
be hapless indeed.
We arrived at the Bounties after
IA stormy passage, but could not make
IA landing owing to the heavy surf
beating on the iron-bound coast. 1t
WAS just about the breeding season
Ror the penguins, but there was no
sign of one to be seen or heard. Be-