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

"Now We Know."

"Now We Know."

"When it was all over," continued Mr. Aitken, "Captain Cowan, with tears in his eyes, said to me, 'Now we know what happened to the Dunedin.' I did not know the ship he was referring to, but she had left New Zealand in 1890; loaded with frozen meat for the Old Country, and was never heard of again. Naturally her disappearance was much discussed by the skippers in the trade."

After the tangle aloft had been cleared away the Wellington's crew were able to set the foresail, and a course was made for Rio de Janeiro, where the ship refitted. At that time there was one of those frequent South American wars on, the navy fighting the army in this instance, and there were a number of foreign men-o'-wars in the harbour, included among the number being several British. In spite of the knocking about she had received, the Wellington's engineers managed to keep the refrigerators going all right, and a good deal of the meat was sold to the shipping at Rio. Captain Cowan, the master of the Wellington, was a fine seaman and a fine gentleman, says Mr. Aitken.