page 352

The Don.

When steam ousted sail in the British merchant marine the beautiful vessels that had been the pride of thousands were "sold foreign," and many of them had various and unconventional adventures under their new owners. Such a vessel was the 1000-ton barque Don, which in 1902 visited Wellington, under command of Captain Chamberlain; and in 1908 was in Nelson, her commander then being Captain Hicks. Mr. W. Webb, of Onewa Street, Northeote, has been good enough to give me some particulars about this craft, which he believes at one time sailed under the house flag of the White Star Line. In 1912, when Mr. Webb shipped aboard her, she was flying the Norwegian flag. The barque came out to New Zealand on that occasion from Gefle, Sweden, with timber, having taken six months on the voyage. She was compelled to call in at Hobart, as she was short of provisions and water, and 'police assistance had to be called in before the crew would heave up the anchor to continue the voyage. When the barque got to New Zealand the men deserted, leaving only the master, the mate, and one seaman. Mr. Webb joined her at Lyttelton, which port she left in ballast, and then went to New Caledonia, where she loaded nickel ore for Hamburg. The ship was shorthanded from the start, five able seaman and a boy for'ard, and master and two mates aft, comprising the crew, "so it can be gathered that the voyage was not a picnic," adds Mr. Webb. The barque was crossing the Bay of Biscay on Christmas Eve, 1912, and ran into the same storm that wrought such havoc with the P. and O. liner Narrung. the Don lost everything movable on deck, and the cargo shifted, but fortunately she lived through it all, and eventually the crew were paid off in Hamburg on New Year's Eve.