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The Louisa Campbell.

Two voyages to New Zealand were made by the Louisa Campbell, a barque of 350 tons, in command of Captain Darby. Her first appearance was in 1845. She sailed from Plymouth on March 21, and during a severe gale in the Bay of Biscay was damaged to such an extent that she had to put into St. Jago for repairs, which took five days, but the rest of the voyage was uneventful, and she arrived at Nelson on July 9th, the passage having taken 110 days port to port. After landing some passengers and part cargo, she sailed for Wellington and Auckland, reaching the latter port on August 18th, and landing the rest of her passengers.

The barque again sailed for New Zealand the following year, leaving the Downs on December 4th, and arriving at Auckland on April 1st, 1847. She then proceeded to New Plymouth, for which port she also had passengers and cargo, and sailed again on May 9th for Nelson. On the evening of the 11th she made Cape Farewell, which Captain Darby mistook for Separation Point, and a few hours later she struck on the sandy peninsula. Within half an hour the water was level with the cabin tables. Passengers and crew succeeded in getting ashore safely, but next tide a furious gale sprang up and the vessel went to pieces. The passengers lost all their belongings, and the shore was strewn with cargo. Captain Darby's explanation of the disaster was that Cape Farewell was at least thirty miles from the position laid down on the chart.