Bad Weather.

the Timaru fared better than the Oamaru in avoiding heavy gales; but on one occasion, in 1880, when outward bound under command of Captain Taylor, she encountered a furious hurricane in latitude 14 N., longitude 27deg. 30min. West. This commenced on September 1, and blew with great force. The vessel was hove to on the starboard tack and shipped immense quantities of water. The gale lasted for twenty hours, and was followed by terrific seas which broke on board and stove in the booby hatch, besides doing other serious damage on deck. Afterpage 123 passing the Cape the Timaru, on October 12, struck another furious gale from the S.E., accompanied by a fearful sea. It lasted for three days. On October 26, still another gale was encountered with a dangerous sea. Heavy seas broke on board, smashing the passengers' latrines, ship's gig, and topgallant bulwarks, besides doing other serious damage. The ship passed Tasmania on November 3, and met with strong southerly gales all the way to the Snares, which was sighted on November 9.

When Patrick Henderson amalgamated with the Shaw, Savill Company the Timaru and Oamaru came out with painted ports and flying the Shaw, Savill flag.

When at anchor in Auckland on the 21st September, 1892, a fire broke out on the Timaru. The ship had fortunately discharged her inward cargo, and with the exception of 1000 casks of cement she was in ballast. The fire originated in the frozen meat chamber, starting in the charcoal insulator, thence spreading to the casks of cement. A bucket brigade was formed, and water poured down into the hold through a hole cut in the decking of the oil room. Steam was got up from the donkey engine, and, assisted by the ship's portable fire engine, a good head of water was soon playing on the fire. For over three hours all hands were working as if their lives depended on getting the fire under. The pig-iron ballast prevented the deck underneath the burning casks from catching fire, but one-half of the cement was rendered useless by fire and water. All hands worked vigorously for eight hours, when the fire was extinguished. The damage was considerable.

Captain Fullerton's theory regarding the outbreak was that the fire owed its origin to spontaneous combustion of oil and charcoal. The oil, it was believed, had found its way down through un-caulked seams or penetrated the wood of the decking into the charcoal insulator, which is a chamber of charcoal about 12in in thickness, immediately under the deck surrounding the whole of the space where frozen meat had been stored. It was stated that oil rags had been known to ignite charcoal before.

the Timaru, some years after being sold to Norway, was wrecked on a voyage from Flushing to Christiania. She stranded at Fjaltring on February 22, 1907. The masts went over the side immediately after she struck the ground, and the vessel then drifted along the coast, and soon broke up. A crew of about twenty were drowned, and a valuable cargo was lost.

Here follow the records of the Timaru's outward passages:—

^{* †}

There was another ship of the same name, a vessel of 883 tons, trading to New Zealand from 1864 until 1870. She made one voyage to Auckland, arriving on December 8, 1870. The same ship, under Captain Langlands and Captain Buchan, made five visits to Port Chalmers, arriving on October 1, 1865; November 25,1866; December 1, 1867; November 15, 1868; and November 18, 1869. With one exception all the passages occupied over 100 days.