Other formats

    TEI XML file   ePub eBook file  

Connect

    mail icontwitter iconBlogspot iconrss icon

White Wings Vol I. Fifty Years Of Sail In The New Zealand Trade, 1850 TO 1900

The Columbus

The Columbus.

Trading to New Zealand from London there were at least three vessels named after the great sailor. The earliest was a small barque of about 460 tons which, in the early 50's, visited Nelson and Lyttelton. The next was a 1077 ton ship which arrived in Auckland on October 10, 1864, after a passage of 116 days. The best known bearer of the famous name was a barque of 744 tons which was a frequent visitor during the 70's, first under the command of Captain Atkin and then of Captain Esson. She was twice in Auckland; arriving on September 20, 1875, after a passage of 104 days, and on August 15, 1877, on which occasion she did the voyage in one day less than the year before.

On both trips she had her share of bad weather. In '75, after she was round the Cape of Good Hope, she struck a remarkable series of revolving storms, having the wind nine times round the compass in sixteen days. During the disturbances two boats were stove in and her deck houses damaged. In 1877, after she sighted the Tasmanian coast she struck a series of gales that sorely tried the mettle of the crew. A good deal of damage was done by seas that broke aboard. On one occasion there was so much water on the deck that the bulwarks had to be stove in to allow it to escape. The saloon was filled with water, and a lot of damage was done about the decks.

the Columbus made three trips to Dunedin, arriving there on August 29, 1874, after a passage of 88 days; on August 28, 1876, 113 days; and on May 28, 1879, 109 days. On July 15, 1878, she arrived at Lyttelton from London, which she had left on March 21, and on this occasion she seems to have fared no better than usual in the matter of weather. On June 16th, while she was running before a gale, a heavy sea broke aboard, smashed doors, flooded the decks and cabin, and washed away everything movable on deck. The ship Columbus was under charter to the Shaw, Savill Co., while the barque Columbus flew the flag of the N.Z. Shipping Co.