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White Wings Vol II. Founding Of The Provinces And Old-Time Shipping. Passenger Ships From 1840 To 1885

Gwalior's Long Passage

Gwalior's Long Passage.

Passengers who came out in the barque Gwalior in 1852 had such an awful experience that the hair of one poor lady turned white. Afterwards there was a rumour that the vessel was never intended to reach port, and the circumstances certainly lent colour to the suspicion. She was unseaworthy, had a decided list, and was manned by the scum of the docks—desperate men, ready to take any chance. To add to this unfortunate combination the craft had a drunken captain, and in the latter part of the voyage the food was scarce and unpleasant. Even in the cabin the passengers had only a little salt fish, weevily biscuits, and the water was nearly as thick as oil. A month before reaching Auckland the food was so scarce that in desperation the cargo was broached, and some salt fish and bags of rice were freely used. To crown all, the barque took the unconscionable time of 186 days to make the voyage.

Auckland was her first port of call, and she was so long overdue that the worse fears were entertained. She had sailed from London on December 10, 1851, and it was not until the second week in the following June that she was heard of. Over six months out, she at last made the coast of New Zealand, and was spoken by the Children, a schooner that plied between the Bay of Islands and Auckland. The schooner supplied the barque with some fresh water, and also took off several of the passengers, who could not stand the life on board any longer. Rumours of a strange kind were brought to Auckland by the schooner, and the barque's agents induced the authorities to send out H.M. brigantine Pandora to search for her. However, the two vessels passed each other at night, and did not meet.

When the Gwalior came into port, six months out, a remarkable story was told. It had been a most wearisome, uncomfortable passage, and everybody was heartily sick of the sea and the ship. During the passage the captain had spent seventeen days in irons, as he was suffering from delirium tremens, during which he threatened to stab the mate with a carving knife. He frequently strode about the deck with a drawn sword, terrifying all the passengers. In his sober moments he was a first-class sailor; but when on a drinking bout he was the terror of the ship. Mrs. Thomas Hirst, wife of one of the passengers, very good-naturedly used to nurse the captain when he was convalescing from these bouts. It is said that he was so saturated with liquor that the sponge with which his heated brow was bathed used to smell strongly of rum. No wonder such a hard drinker came to a violent end. Dr. Matthews, the medical officer in charge, met his death shortly after landing at Auckland. Hepage 127 was drowned when sailing over to the North Shore with four others in an open boat; their bodies were never recovered.

After the Auckland cargo was discharged, the Gwalior continued her voyage to New Plymouth, where she arrived on August 18, and landed several passengers, among whom was Mrs. Hammerton, who resided for many years at New Plymouth. She passed away on October 12, 1926, at Inglewood, aged 88. I believe she was the last survivor of the Gwalior.

Apparently the barque was subsequently in the colonial trade, for the next we hear of her is that in April, 1853, she arrived at Lyttelton with cattle from Newcastle, New South Wales. Reporting her arrival, the "Lyttelton Times" said: "We regret to state that Captain Davidson, the commander, threw himself overboard on April 16, being at the time in a state of delirium tremens. He had for some time previously been in that state. On the morning in question he managed to evade those employed to watch him, and he threw himself overboard. The barque was hove-to so suddenly that she was in considerable danger, but all attempts to rescue the captain were unsuccessful. The mate, Mr. Taylor, brought the vessel safely to port."