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

The Marlborough

page 116

The Marlborough.

Lost with all hands—A Remarkable Story.

And she is gone, the ship! his last command!

Whereon remembrance, tantalising, falls

Like shadows from her sails. No use to search

The world's reef-ridges for her rusting ribs;

Her wreckage strewed NO coastline; homeward bound!

She mustered on the roll of missing ships, And bore her famous English soldier's name

To grace the gallery in Neptune's Halls.

And greybeards wagged their heads and talked of ice!

Of berg and floe! of fire! of broaching-to! But my heart whispered, "No, 'twas none of these!

'Twas love of gain that wrought the vessel's doom."

From "Shadows of Sails." by John Anderson, a relative of Capt. Hird.

the Marlborough At Port Chalmers.

the Marlborough At Port Chalmers.

The actual fate of this beautiful ship will never be known. After making fourteen rapid and successful passages to New Zealand she sailed from Lyttelton for London on January 11, 1890, with a cargo, comprised of frozen meat and wool. She had a crew of twenty-nine men, and one passenger. the Marlborough was a handsome ship of 1124 tons, and was built by Robert Duncan, of Glasgow, and launched in June, 1876, for her owner, Mr. J. Leslie, who subsequently sold her to the Shaw, Savill Co. Captain Anderson commanded the ship from 1876 until 1883, making some remarkable runs to Lyttelton and Dunedin. He also made several rapid passages Home, on one occasion, in 1880, being credited with covering the distance from Lyttelton to the Lizard in 71 days.

In 1884 Captain Anderson was succeeded by Captain W. Herd, and he was in the ship when she was missing on her homeward journey in 1890. As already stated, the ship sailed from Lyttelton on January 11. Two days later she was spoken by a passing vessel, and she was never heard of afterwards. One of the cadets on board was young Crombie, a stepson of Captain William Ashby, so well known in Auckland. When no tidings came after long waiting inquiry was made as to her condition when sailing, and it was proved that the cargo was properly stowed and the ship was well found and manned in thorough good trim for the voyage. After many months had passed the ship was posted at Lloyds as "missing," and the general opinion was that the ship had been sunk by icebergs, so frequently met with near Cape Horn.

the Marlborough Mystery.

After the ship had been missing for over twenty years a remarkable story was published in a Glasgow paper inpage 117 1919. According to this report, the Marlborough had been discovered near Gape Horn with the skeletons of her crew on board. This is the story as it appeared:—

"It is stated that the crew of a passing ship in 1891 saw men, whom they believed to be British seamen, signalling off one of the islands near Cape Horn, but it was not possible to get near them owing to the bad weather.

"Further details of the discovery of the missing ship come via London. It appears that some considerable time back the sad truth was learned by a British vessel bound Home from Lytelton after rounding Cape Horn. The story told by the captain is intensely dramatic. He says: 'We were off the rocky coves near Punta Arenas, keeping near the land for shelter. The coves are deep and silent, the sailing is difficult and dangerous. It was a weirdly wild evening, with the red orb of the sun setting on the horizon. The stillness was uncanny. There was a shining green light reflected on the jagged rocks on our right. We rounded a point into a deep cleft rock. Before us, a mile or more across the water, stood a sailing vessel, with the barest shreds of canvas fluttering in the breeze.

We signalled and hoveto. No answer came. We searched the "stranger" with our glasses. Not a soul could we see; not a movement of any sort. Masts and yards were picked out in green—the green of decay. The vessel lay as if in a cradle. It recalled the "Frozen Pirate," a novel that I read years ago. I conjured up the vessel of the novel, with her rakish masts and the outline of her six small cannon traced with snow. At last we came up. There was no sign of life on board. After an interval our first mate, with a number of the crew, boarded her. The sight that met their gaze was thrilling. Below the wheel lay the skeleton of a man. Treading warily on the rotten decks, which cracked and broke in places as they walked, they encountered three skeletons in the hatchway. In the mess-room were the remains of ten bodies, and six others were found, one alone, possibly the captain, on the bridge. There was an uncanny stillness around, and a dank smell of mould which made the flesh creep. A few remnants of books were discovered in the captain's cabin, and a rusty cutlass. Nothing more weird in the history of the sea can ever have been seen. The first mate examined the still faint letters on the bow, and after much trouble read 'Marlborough, Glasgow.'"

Another Story.

A most singular story was told in 1913 by a Seattle pilot, Captain Burley, who, in course of conversation with the skipper of one of the Shaw-Savill liners, gave a description of a wreck that bore the name "Marlborough." This pilot said that in his youth he was wrecked off Staten Island, and he and the only other survivor set off to look for a whaling station, and while searching they came across, in a cove, a large ship with painted ports. The pilot said he distinctly saw the name "Marlborough" on the wreck. Lying near were the skeletons of twenty men, and heaps of shell fish told how they had treid in vain to fight off the starvation that eventually overtook them. This story only came to light many years after the pilot saw the wreck. Why it was not reported at the time seems strange, but it is none the less likely to be true.

The ship Dunedin, another fine vessel, sailed from Oamaru a few weeks after the Marlborough, and was also posted as missing.

Below follow the record of outward passages made by the Marlborough:—

To Wellington.
Sailed. Arrived. Captain. Days.
Aug. 22 Nov. 20, '87 Herd 90
To Lyttelton.
Sep. 27 Dec. 14, '78 Anderson 78
Dec. 12, '8O Mar. 18, '81 Anderson 96
Oct. 5 Dec. 31, '81 Anderson 87
Aug. 5 Nov. 1, '82 Anderson 90
July 3 Oct. 1, '88 Herd 89
July 13 Oct. 12, '89 Herd 91
To Dunedin.
Oct. 27, '76 Jan. 20, '77 Anderson 85
*Aug. 16 Nov. 8, '77 Anderson 84
Oct. 22, '79 Jan. 7, '80 Anderson 77
Land lo land 74
Sep. 12 Dec. 16, '83 Anderson 94
July 19 Oct. 12, '84 Herd 85
Land to land 78
July 24 Oct. 18, '85 Herd 80
July 29 Oct. 22, '86 Herd 84
To Bluff.
Aug. 16 Nov. 4, '77 Anderson 80
*

* Via Bluff.