Historical.] SUBANTARCTIC ISLANDS OF NEW ZEALAND. 



A gang appears also to have been marooned on the Snares for some years between 

 1810 and 1817 from tlie sliip " Adventure," the reason given being that the vessel 

 was running short of provisions, and that the captain gave these men the choice 

 of going on shore or of starving afloat. They were rescued by an American ship, 

 the " Enterprise," which reached Philadelphia on the 11th May, 1818. If the story 

 told is correct, and a party was actually on the Snares from early in 1810 to early 

 in 1817 without being relieved, it is clear that the islands were not visited by other 

 sealers during that period. 



Up to about the year 1820 the sealing trade with New Zealand and these out- 

 lying islands was carried on with great vigour, most of it being conducted from 

 Sydney, though other vessels came from Hobart Town, and American and EngUsh 

 vessels were also engaged in the trade. One of the best-known of the sealing- vessels 

 was the " CTOvernor Bligh," which made many trips to the islands ; in three of 

 these--from 1816 to 1819 — this vessel obtained no less than 34,857 skins. 



About that time, however, fresh sealing-grounds had been discovered in the South 

 Shetlands, and there was a corresponding lull in the New Zealand trade, though in 

 1820 the " Governor Bligh " again returned with 5,500 seal-skins. These, however, 

 were obtained from various sources, partly from the mainland of New Zealand, and 

 the rest from the southern islands, though the Campbell and Macquarie Islands 

 are the only two specially mentioned. From about that time the seal trade appears 

 to have almost ceased for a considerable time, so far as the mainland of New Zealand 

 was concerned, though some sea-elephant oil was still imported into Sydney from 

 Macquarie Island. With a view of reviving the New Zealand trade, the New South 

 Wales (lovernment, in 1822, despatched the Government cutter "Snapper," under 

 Captain Edwardson, to report on the prospects of trade. This vessel returned in 

 March. 1823, with favourable reports as to the flax trade ; but information as to her 

 visit to the islands, if she did visit them, is not available. 



^leanwhile Macquarie Island had been visited in November, 1820, by the 

 Russian explorer Bellingshausen. The account of his voyage was published in 

 Russian, and was thus not available to the ordinary reader, and his researches have 

 therefore not attracted the attention that they deserved.* A translation of the part 

 of his narrative which deals with Macquarie Island is given by Mr. McNab in " Muri- 

 hiku " (1907, p. 190, and 1909, p. 236), and contains references to the seals, the 

 penguins, and to some of the more conspicuous plants, among the latter being the 

 Stilbocarpa polaris, which he speaks of as the Macquarie Island " cabbage " and 

 which was used both by the sealers and by himself and crew as a vegetable. The 

 naturalists in St. Petersburg who first examined the leaves of tliis plant referred it 

 to Gunnera. 



The sealing at Macquarie Island continued to be fairly successful until in 1834 

 the ship " Caroline," after three previous trips, was driven ashore and became 

 a total wreck in a pai't still known as Caroline Cove. Remains of a vessel were 

 still to be seen in this bay when Professor J. H. Scott visited the island in 1880, and 

 there were also graves of shipwrecked sailors and signs of other wrecks. In 1826 

 there had been a certain revival of trade, no less than eight visits being made by six 



* An abridged translation into German, by Professor H. Gravelius, was published in 1902: see 

 Bibliograpliy. 



