Historical.] SUBANTARCTIC ISLANDS OF NEW ZEALAND. 



XXVll 



who might have been shipwrecked upon them. Captain Musgrave accompanied 

 the vessel in order to give the advantage of his local knowledge. No traces of cast- 

 aways were found, but stores were left at suitable places for any who might be after- 

 wards wrecked on these islands. 



The " Invercauld," a vessel of 888 tons, with a crew of twenty-five persons 

 (Captain George Dalgarno), left Melbourne on the 28th April, 1864, in ballast for 

 Callao, and was totally wrecked on the north coast of Auckland Island on the 10th 

 May, 1864. Six of the crew were drowned, but the remaining nineteen, includ- 

 ing the captain, succeeded in reaching the shore, and the captain, the chief officer, 

 and one seaman were rescued after being on the island for more than twelve months. 

 The other members had died on the island, some of them after having separated 

 from the captain's party and having proceeded to other parts of the island.* 



Another wreck on Auckland Island was that of the ship " General Grant," 

 which sailed from Melbourne for London in May, 1866, and was wrecked on the 

 13th May. The ten survivors, one of them a woman, were rescued by the whaling- 

 ship " Amherst " about eighteen months afterwards, and were brought to the Bluff 

 on the 13th January, 1868. The chief officer, with three seamen, had left the island 

 on the 22nd January, 1867, in the pinnace, with the desperate intention of reach- 

 ing the shores of New Zealand, but they must have perished in the attempt. The 

 " General Grant " carried a very valuable cargo, and several attempts to recover 

 the gold that formed part of it were afterwards made. In one of these a small craft, 

 the " Daphne," was lost with six persons on board. 



In consequence of the wreck of the " General Grant," the Provincial Govern- 

 ment of Southland despatched the " Amherst," with Mr. H. Armstrong, J.P., as 

 their representative, to make a thorough search of the islands for castaways. The 

 vessel visited the Snares, Auckland Islands, Campbell Island, Antipodes Islands, 

 and also the Chathams, and managed to sight the Bounties after battling with 

 the winds for eighteen days. Depots were established at several places on the 

 Aucklands, and at Perseverance Harbour, on Campbell Island. Two woodhens 

 (Ocydromus) were liberated on Enderby Island, and some pigs on Campbell Island. 

 Mr. Armstrong's official report to the Southland Government contains interesting 

 details on the physiography, vegetation, and animal-life of the islands, and it is 

 deserving of note that he visited several parts of Campbell Island, and says, 

 "There is no rata" (see Laing, p. 486, Vol. II). Mr. Baker, the Chief Surveyor, 

 had previously made a report to the Superintendent of Southland in 1865 on the 

 physical geography, geology, and resources of the islands, and this was published 

 in the Government Gazette, Province of Southland (1865). 



The duty of erecting depots, with stores, boats, &c., for castaways was after- 

 wards taken over by the New Zealand Government, and one of the Government 

 vessels now makes periodic trips to replenish the stores and establish new depots 

 where they may appear to be required. In several instances, as will be seen from 

 what is narrated below, these depots have been of great service to castaways. 



* In newspaper accounts, published at the time of the rescue of the sailors from the " Dundonald " 

 wreck it is stated that the "Minerva," of Leith, was wrecked on the Auckland Islands in 1864, and 

 that four persons were saved from the wreck, and rescued on the 25th March, 1865." I have, 

 however, been unable to verify this statement, and Dr. T. M. Hocken, who has kindly made many 

 enquiries, has been equally unsuccessful. 



