FIJI-NEW ZEALAND EXPEDITION 173 
up on the front of the cliff and finally succeeded in hauling every 
man in the Wiltshire to safety. The vessel was a total loss but 
they were successful in salvaging a large part of the cargo after 
the sea went down. = 
Another wreck that I afterwards saw in aap ande was one of 
the strangest of the ‘‘stranger than fiction’’ tales of the sea. The 
ship was the ‘‘Rona,’’ a steel cargo vessel loaded mainly with 
sugar. On a perfectly clear evening, with no sea running and 
all the shore lights burning brightly, this ship ran square into a 
small rock on which stands a light-house with a powerful light. 
It seems as if there had been a deliberate attempt to ram the 
light-house itself, for the bows of the ‘‘Rona’’ were pointed 
directly at it and actually reached to within about forty feet of 
the light itself. 
In the Court of Inquiry which afterwards investigated the cause 
of this wreck the first mate, a man with an excellent record and a 
Master’s certificate, testified to the following effect: ‘‘The ship 
was on her true course when the Captain went below to attend to 
some business leaving the vessel in my charge with orders to 
‘steer for the light’—and I did!’’ Surely a most successful piece 
of navigation, for he struck it fairly as to the direction and would 
have run it down had not the intervening rock interfered. The 
first officer claimed that he was merely obeying orders, but fur- 
ther explained that he was deceived as to the distance of the light 
and did not really intend to ram it. 
Although it was a brilliant sunny day we found it quite cold 
on deck and we realized that we had gone through the tropies into 
the winter climate of the South Temperate Zone. Auckland is 
about 37° South and we were consequently within about 5° of 
being as far south of the line as we were north of it when at home 
in Iowa. It was actually mid-winter in New Zealand. 
The run up the Gulf to Auckland was delightful and the scenery 
all that glowing accounts have pictured it. The sea and sky were 
intensely blue, the islands we passed were very rocky but many 
of them green with their non-deciduous trees and shrubs, and the 
mountains loomed on the distant mainland. Sailing boats and 
steamers were numerous and the suburbs of the city looked like 
summer resorts at home. 
As we neared the harbor all passengers were summoned for 
medical inspection which was different from any we had previous- 
ly experienced. We were formed in line on deck with our pass- 
