PART IV.—THE NEW ZEALAND TRADE.
John Anderson, in Nautical Magazine.
The “Mayflowers” of New Zealand.
THE Mayflower is a name which every school-child in the United States is taught to reverence. In this part of Colonial Clippers I shall deal with the Mayflowers of New Zealand—the beautiful sailing ships which brought the settlers from the Old Country to the wonderful New Country.
The memory of these ships and their swift passages round the Cape and through the roaring forties is still green in the hearts of many a man and woman who travelled out to an unknown land with a stout heart and nothing much else, and is now a prosperous and happy member of a great nation. Only lately there was a reunion of all those who had travelled out in one of these ships, that the anniversary of their great adventure might be suitably kept. The name of this ship has already been mentioned in these pages. The Chariot of Fame; a name of comfort and good omen it must have been to those who heard the whistle and scream of the mighty westerlies in her rigging on many a dark and sobbing night when the heart of the exile is low and the spirit of the brave pioneer begins to quiver.
Truly running down the easting in a little 1000-ton clipper with a hard driving skipper and big fisted, stony-hearted mates was a fine bracer for the emigrant, who had perhaps never seen salt water up to the date of sailing and who was bound to a country which could only be wooed and won by a clear brain, stout heart and strong arm.
At first the ships in the New Zealand trade were not even 1000 tons in burthen, being mainly little 400 and 500-ton ships and barques, which mostly flew the flag of Shaw, Savill & Co.
The “Edwin Fox.”
Of such was the Edwin Fox, a country-built Indiaman from Calcutta, built as far back as 1853, with teak decks, quarter galleries, coir running gear and all the quaint characteristics of the East. The hull of this “old timer” is still to be seen, being now used as a landing stage for the freezing works at Picton.
“Wild Duck.”
Another favourite passenger ship in the early days was the Wild Duck, commanded by Captain Bishop. She was a main skysail yarder with Cunningham’s patent reef single topsails. Though rather short for her beam she had fine ends and made very regular passages.
Shaw, Savill & Co.
The well-known firm of Shaw, Savill & Co. started sending ships to New Zealand about 65 years ago, making 15 sailings a year. At first the outward passage took four or five months, and it was not until the sixties that there was any marked improvement in the time between England and New Zealand, but by the end of the sixties Shaw, Savill had several fast little iron ships, the best known of which were the Crusader, Helen Denny and Margaret Galbraith.
The following is a rather incomplete list of their earlier ships:—
Space forbids more than a few odd notes on the best known of these ships.
The “Crusader.”
The Crusader was a very handsome little ship, as is well shown in her photograph, and she was considered by many to be the fastest ship in Shaw, Savill’s fleet. She was built by Connell, of Glasgow, and launched in March, 1865, her registered measurements being:—Net tonnage 1058; gross tonnage 1058; length 210.7 ft.; breadth 35.1 ft., depth 21.4 ft.
In 1877, when commanded by Captain Renaut, she ran from Lyttelton, N.Z., to the Lizard in 69 days, and on her next outward passage in 1878 she went from London to Port Chalmers in 65 days, a performance which has never been beaten. She was eventually sold to the Norwegians for £2950 and was still washing about the seas, rigged as a barque, at the outbreak of the Great War.
“Helen Denny” and “Margaret Galbraith.”
The little Helen Denny was the last of the fleet to remain under the British flag. She once ran from the longitude of the Cape to New Zealand in 23 days, a really remarkable feat for a small iron barque. She was built by the great Robert Duncan, of Port Glasgow, and was eventually sold by Shaw, Savill, to Christie, of Lyttelton, N.Z., who resold her to Captain F. Holm, of Wellington, N.Z.; she ran regularly in the inter-colonial trade until the end of 1913, being latterly commanded and owned by Captain S. Holm, a son of Captain F. Holm. She was finally converted into a coal hulk.
Margaret Galbraith was another little Duncan beauty, and for many years a regular passenger ship to Otago. It is surprising to think of these little ships carrying passengers right up to the eighties. Their measurements were:—
Helen Denny, 728 tons; 187.5 feet length; 31.2 feet beam; 19.1 feet depth.
Margaret Galbraith, 841 tons; 198.5 feet length; 32.2 feet beam; 19.9 feet depth.
The Margaret Galbraith was sold to the Manica Trading Co., of London. She left Colonia on 26th March, 1905, for Buenos Ayres with a cargo of grain and crew of 13 all told; and whilst in charge of a pilot grounded on Farollon reef, and as she was badly holed her captain abandoned her.
End of Some of Shaw, Savill’s Earlier Ships.
Zealandia was a Connell built ship. After being sold to the Swedes, she was resold to the Russians, and her name changed to Kaleva. She was stranded in March, 1911, but refloated and again sold to Charles Brister & Son, of Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Pleiades was built by McMillan, of Dumbarton. As late as 1893 she made a good run from New Zealand to the Lizard. She was wrecked at Akiteo, when bound round in ballast from Napier to Dunedin to load wool home.
The Halcione was specially built for the New Zealand trade with ⅞ iron plates backed with 3 feet of cement, her saloon was insulated with charcoal, and she had 200 tons of cement stiffening. She was built by Steele, of Greenock, and was lost in 1895 in Fitzroy Bay near Pincarrow Heads, outside Wellington.
The Euterpe was sold to the Chileans, and for some years was to be seen in the South Pacific rigged as a barque. Then the Alaska Packers bought her and renamed her Star of India. I believe she is still afloat.
The Himalaya was also sold to the Alaska Packers Co., and renamed Star of Peru.
The Soukar was sold to the Spaniards and registered at Barcelona under the name of Humberto. She has been broken up.
The Glenlora went to the Scandinavians and was still afloat at the outbreak of the Great War. The Hudson is also a Scandinavian barque at the present time.
The Merope was burnt whilst homeward bound, being off the Plate at the time. Another well-known early Shaw, Savill emigrant ship to be burnt at sea was the Caribou, of 1160 tons; she was a wood ship and her cargo of coal caught fire in the year 1869. The Shaw, Savill ships were rather unlucky with fires and collisions, their worst disaster being, of course, the loss of the Cospatrick, Dunbar’s old frigate-built ship, which they bought in 1873 for £10,000. The tragedy happened on her second voyage under Shaw, Savill’s house-flag.
The Loss of the “Cospatrick.”
The Cospatrick sailed from London for Auckland on the 11th September, 1874, with general cargo, 429 passengers and a crew of 44 men under Captain Elmslie.
Tuesday, 17th November, found the ship to the south’ard of the Cape, the wind being very light from the nor’west. And here is the tragedy as it was given by Henry Macdonald, the second mate, one of the three survivors. He stated that after keeping the first watch, he had not been long below when he was aroused by the cry of “Fire!” Without stopping to dress, he rushed on deck and found that dense clouds of smoke were pouring up from the fore peak, a fire having broken out in the bosun’s locker, which was full of oakum, rope, varnish and paint.
The first thing to do was to get the ship’s head before the wind, at the same time the fire engine was rigged, and soon the fore part of the ship was being deluged with water. But somehow or other the ship was allowed to come head to wind, which drove the smoke aft in suffocating clouds. From this moment all discipline seems to have been lost; flames began to burst forth in the ’tween decks and out through every scuttle and air vent, and they were soon roaring up the tarred shrouds, so that within an hour and a half of the discovery of the fire the flames had got such a hold that the ship was doomed.
The emigrants now took panic, and, shouting and screaming, made a rush for the boats. The starboard quarter boat was lowered down, but immediately she touched the water such a crowd of demented emigrants swarmed down the ship’s side into her that she was capsized. Whilst the longboat was being swung out of her chocks, her bow caught fire, and in the end only the port and starboard lifeboats got safely away from the ship’s side, the one with 42 and the other with 39 people.