AN EMIGRANT SHIP DISMASTED

CARDIFF, Wednesday. —The ship Oxford, Captain Braddick, of and from London, with 400 emigrants for New Zealand, was towed up to Penarth Roads this morning in a disabled condition.  A Cardiff steam-tug fell in with the vessel off Lundy Island on Tuesday, with a screw-steamer lying near her.  The Oxford appeared to be a complete wreck above deck, having only her three lower masts standing.  Ths captain stated that he had 403 passengers on board, and that on the 7th and 8th inst., when in the Bay of Biscay, fearful weather was experienced, the ship finally becoming unmanageable.  Captain Braddick and several of the crew were injured, but the captain reports that, under most trying circumstances, the emigrants behaved nobly.  As soon the wreckage was cleared away, Captain Braddick bore up for the nearest port, and when off Land's End his signals of distress were observed and responded to by the screw-steamer Troutbeck (Captain Adie of Newcastle), which tried to get lines on board to tow the disabled vessel.  Owing to the fearful sea running, this was, however, found to be impracticable, and it was only when off Lundy Island that a hawser was got on board, they having to lower a hoat to do so.  The Oxford anchored to the eastward of tho Flat Holms about seven miles from Cardiff.  She is an iron ship of 1282 tons net register, built in 1869 and owned by Messrs Temperley, Carter, & Co., London.  She will go into dock on Thursday for repairs.

[LLOYD'S TELEGRAM]

CARDIFF, February 14, 10.14 am. —The Oxford (ship), of and from London for New Zealand, with 400 emigrants, whilst in the Bay of Biscay, had her three topmasts carried away, and was driven into Penarth Roads last night.  This vessel sailed from Plymouth on the 31st January.

AN EMIGRANT SHIP DISMASTED

400 LIVES IN DANGER

It is now confirmed that the ship which put back to the Bristol Channel is the Oxford.  She was bound from London to New Zealand with 400 emigrants.  She encountered fearful weather in the Bay of Biscay.  Her decks were swept clean, and the vessel became a comparative wreck.  Her upper masts have gone and many of the crew were injured by falling spars.  The steamship Troutbeck, of Newcastle, from Sunderland, towed her to Penarth Roads.

AN EMIGRANT SHIP DISMASTED.

The ship Oxford, Captain Braddick, of and from London, with 400 emigrants for New Zealand, was towed up to Penarth Roads on Wednesday morning in a disabled condition.  A Cardiff steam tug fell in with the vessel off Lundy Island on Tuesday, with a screw steamer lying near her.  The Oxford appeared to be a complete wreck above deck, having only her three lower masts standing.  The captain stated that he had 400 passengers on board, and that on the 7th and 8th inst., when in the Bay of Biscay, fearful weather was experienced, the ship finally becoming unmanageable.  Captain Braddick and several of the crew were injured, but the captain reports that, under most trying circumstances, the emigrants behaved nobly.  As soon as the wreckage was cleared away, Captain Braddick bore up for the nearest port, and when off Land's End his signals of distress were observed and responded to by the screw steamer Trentbeek (Captain Adie of Newcastle), which tried to get lines on board to tow the disabled vessel.  Owing to the fearful sea running, this was, however, found to be impracticable, and it was only when off Lundy Island that a hawser was got on board, they having to lower a boat to do so.  The ship anchored to the eastward of the Flat Holms, about seven miles from Cardiff.  She is an iron ship of 1282 tons net register, built in 1869 and owned by Messrs Temperley, Carter, & Co., London.

THE DISMASTED EMIGRANT SHIP.

[From our London correspondent.]

London, February 22.— During the recent severe gales the New Zealand emigrant ship Oxford, 1282 tons register, owned by Messrs. Temperley, Carter, and Co., of London, was nearly wrecked in the Bay of Biscay.  She left Plymouth nearly three weeks ago with 400 emigrants on board, men, women, and ohildren, and on the 7th and 8th instant, when in the Bay, she encountered fearful weather, whioh reduced her to the condition of a complete wreck above the deck, only her three lower masts being left standing.  Captain Braddick and several of the crew were injured, but the passengers escaped though they suffered much discomfort and were necessarily greatly alarmed.  The captain reports that under most trying circumstances they behaved nobly.  There was no panic.  After the wreckage had been cleared away, the captain bore up for the nearest port.  The distressed vessel was noticed by Captain Adie, of the screw steamer Troutbeck, bound from Ardrossan to St. Nazaire.  This was shortly after one o'clock, on the afternoon of the 12th instant.  Captain Adie acknowledged tho signals of distress, and went after the Oxford, which was running before the wind with what canvas she could set.  How he rendered assistance may be told in Captain Adie's own words:—

"At half-past three o'clock we got as near as possible, and told Captain Braddick to get a tow-line ready, but he said that he had not one.  I then bent two life-buoys to two lines, but they were carried away.  As it was getting dark, I told him I would stand by until daylight.  I burned bluelights and flare-up lights, the ship doing the same throughout the night, to show the relative position of each vessel.  It rained heavily throughout the night, the sea ran mountains high, and the ships seemed at times to be engulphed in the trough of the sea.  Next morning, at half-past seven o'clock, launched the port life-boat to carry a line on board the ship.  The mate and four men succeeded, at the peril of their lives, in bending it on to the ship's line and hauled on board the steamer; but as soon as everything was completed, and the steamer began towing, the rope broke.  Nothing daunted, the brave men went again, and succeeded in getting another new hawser fast.  The steamer again attempted to tow the ship, the terrible strain was too much, as the ship was labouring heavily, and the rope parted a second time.  Signals were then made to go on as far as Lundy Island.  At half-past eleven o'olock proceeded, the ship requesting the steamer to go ahead and pilot the way, and he would follow.  At two o'clock in the afternoon, got under Lundy, and took a Bristol Channel pilot on board the steamer.  At half-past three o'clock launched the lifeboat again, and got the third tow rope on board the ship and towed her to a safe anchorage under the Flat Holms, anchoring her there at half-past five o'clock on Wednesday morning, the 14th inst., communication between the two ships having been carried out by signals and lights from a quarter past one o'clock on Monday afternoon until the anchor was dropped."

Subsequently the Troutbeck brought up in Penarth Roads, and on the 15th inst. was safely docked in the Roath Basin at Cardiff.  Thousands of spectators assembled to see her come in, and the pilots of the port performed a kindly act of welcome.  They purchased two boxes, containing 800 oranges, and distributed the fruit amongst the children of the emigrants.  The surgeon of the vessel warmly thanked them, and it is needless to say that the children were delighted with the gift.  The emigrants have been transferred to Plymouth, and will sail for Wellington in another of the company's ships.  Captain Braddick is still suffering from the injuries he received during the storm.

TELEGRAMS.

[Per Press Association.]
WELLINGTON.  This Day.

Government have received a despatch from the Agent-General, Sir F. Dillon Bell, in reference to the disaster to the emigrant ship Oxford.  Sir Dillon Bell says that none of the immigrants appear to have been injured, and during the whole of the time they behaved extremely well, and showed much courage and quiet endurance under the very trying and anxious circumstances in which they were placed.  Mr. Smith, the despatching officer, has inspected them since their arrival at Plymouth, and reported favourably as to their health.  A few are anxious not to proceed on the voyage, but probably only a few of these, Sir Dillon adds, will persist in declining to re-embark.  The Agent-General is unable to give the exact date at which the ship owners will be ready to embark again the emigrants, either by the Oxford or some other ship.  He understands, however, that the damage to the ship is so extensive as to require possibly a month or six weeks to repair.  The Agent-General concludes by expressing his intention of urging upon the Shaw, Savill and Albion Company the necessity of providing another suitable vessel, rather than keep the passengers waiting for so long a time as six weeks, as allowed by the Passengers' Act.

SHIP DISMASTED

EMIGRANTS’ EXCITING EXPERIENCES.

THE OXFORD’S NARROW, ESCAPE.

Reference recently to the death of Mr Philip Tarrant, of Kihikihi, and mention that he was one of the passengers on the ship Oxford, occupying nine months on the voyage to New Zealand from England, has brought a clipping from the Weekly Mail, Cardiff, dated 17th February, 1883 — almost exactly fifty years ago.  The story of the ship’s exciting experiences in the early stages of the voyage makes interesting reading, for it will doubtless recall memories of other voyages in the days when sailing vessels were the principal means of sea travel.

We quote:-

The emigrant ship Oxford left her anchorage under the Flat Holms on Thursday, and was towed into Cardiff with the tide for the purpose of going into dock.  She arrived in the gutway soon after noon, and when she reached the entrance to the Roath Basin, with her crew at work and her passengers thronging the bulwarks, she became an object of interest and curiosity to a large crowd of spectators.  She lay to here for a couple of hours, and then she entered the Roath Basin, and passed through the junction into the East Bute Dock, where she was moored off the buoys.  Her movements were watched by hundreds of spectators, and great commiseration was expressed for the unfortunate emigrants, whose appearance showed some of the effects of tthe rough and trying experiences through which they have passed.  They all seemed glad to be once more safe in harbour; and the children played together on the deck apparently forgetful of the incidents of storm and danger in which they had, thus young in life, been made participators.  The sailors said that these children were "the best men" during the storms by which the vessel had been overtaken, and they certainly looked remarkably well in health, considering all that had happened to them.  The Oxford now is a complete wreck above deck.  Her foretopmast, maintopmast, and mizzenhead are gone with all attached, and all that remain are the lower masts, with the foreyard, the mainyard, and the mizzenyard.  In the iron plates of the bulwark, on the port side, there are several holes and cracks caused by the falling of the spars as the ship laboured in the trough of the sea; but otherwise the hull appears to be perfectly intact.

Upon the arrival of the vessel our reporter boarded her, and obtained from some of the passengers and crew a narrative of all that occurred since the vessel left Plymouth Head.  The Oxford had on board between 300 and 400 persons.  In addition to a double crew, she had about 310 passengers, of whom 175 were single women, 60 single men, and 75 married couples and children.  The passengers were emigrants to New Zealand, many of them being taken out at the expense of the Government of that country, and the vessel was bound to Wellington, whence she was carrying a cargo of iron rails for the construction of railways.  The following are the names of the officers: Master, Captain Braddick; first mate, Mr John Hogg; second mate, Mr John King; third mate, Mr W. Penny; and boatswain, Mr J. O’Neil.  The passengers, a large number of whom were from Ireland, joined the ship at Plymouth on or about 25th January, but owing to the heavy weather which prevailed she did not leave the Sound until Thursday, 1st February.  Storm signals had been hoisted just before she started; and the log states that everything was got ready for bad weather.  She was towed to sea by a tug, and she had not proceeded far before one of her sails was blown away.  Early in the afternoon the tug was let go, and the vessel proceeded on her voyage in rough weather, but without any incident worthy of note until she entered the Bay of Biscay.  The entries in the log up to this time are a record of continued heavy gales, with - rain, and occasional lightning; but on 5th February, when the vessel entered the bay, we read that she had the cap of her foretopmast carried away, and that all hands were employed securing it.

On the next day the excitement really began.  The gale increased very much in violence, and in the heavy seas the ship rolled in such a manner as to intensify the fears of the passengers.  The single women were the most terrified.  Huddled together in their own cabins, without anyone of the sterner sex to give them comfort, with the exception of the officers, who had no opportunity of communicating to them assurances of their safety, they sometimes gave way to their feelings of terror and screamed again and again, while the tears ran down their faces.  The married couples and the single men were more easily pacified, whilst the poor children, though disturbed by the heavy roll of the vessel, did not seem to have the intelligence to realise their danger.  On the whole the behaviour of the passengers, both at this time and throughout the voyage, was excellent; and although at moments of greatest perli the doors of their cabins were kept locked they did not, despite their natural fear, give way to anything like panic.  On Tuesday the foretopmast was carried away with the exception of the upper and lower yards, and two of the boats were smashed by the falling spars, which came down with a great crash.  About the same time the main topgallantmast was lost, and all hands had to be employed to clear away the wreckage.  The weather did not abate, and at midnight the maintopmast gave way at the cap at the violence of the gale, and fell, as one of the passengers said, "with a thundering crash, smashing the bulwarks and two more boats" — the port boat and the skids.  The sight was one which those on board the vessel will never forget.  The passengers were expecting every moment to be engulfed in the troubled waters, but at the urgent request of the officers they remained quiet, and made no attempt to crowd on to the deck.

The crew were employed cutting away, and the passengers speak of their gallantry in terms of the highest praise.  Wednesday brought no improvement, and on the morning of that day the mizzen topmast and the topgallant mast were carried away, taking with them the port lifeboats and the davits.  There was a heavy gale blowing from the southwest, and a tremendous sea running, and it was with the greatest difficulty that the crew succeeded in cutting away the wreckage and getting it clear of the ship.  The vessel was now left without any topmasts, and with only three serviceable boats, but one of the passengers, in noting this fact in his diary, added as a set-off: "We have as good a crew as ever sailed; a braver and better lot could not be found." The passengers appear to have had full confidence in the officers and crew, and although the vessel was an almost total wreck they did not give up hope of being saved from a watery grave.  The captain had decided to put back to the nearest port, and the lower yards were secured, and the sails given to the wind in the best manner possible.  Under these circumstances the ship laboured very heavily; but on the following day (Thursday) the weather moderated, and soon after breakfast the hearts of all were gladdened by the appearance of another vessel within signalling distance.  This was the Norgensgold, a Norwegian barque bound for London, and she promised to send assistance to the disabled ship.  Late on the same day the steamship Jamaican, of Liverpool, hove in sight, and was spoken to.  Her captain asked Captain Braddick where he wished to go, and the latter replied that he would like to be towed to the nearest port.  The captain of the Jamaican promised to do this, and said he would lie by till morning; but when morning dawned, to the consternation of those on board the Oxford she was nowhere to be seen.

The weather had again become rough, and it is supposed that the Jamaican had all her work cut out to take care of herself in the storm.  The outlook on Friday was very ominous.  Another heavy gale had set in, and there was every indication of continued bad weather.  Early in the morning the hatchways were fastened down lest the ship should fill with water, and during the day the experiences of the crew and the passengers were very rough and trying.  On Saturday the morning broke fine, with the sun shining and a favourable wind, and the sail was held up and an attempt made to get back across the Bay of Biscay.  But the abatement did not continue long, and on Sunday another gale set in, which at length developed into a more terrific storm than had previously overtaken the vessel.  There were heavy squalls with lightning, and the foresail being split the vessel was left, as the log states, to the mercy of the wind and the sea.  At this time the captain did not know the position of his vessel, and the night is described by the passengers as one of a most fearful character, their hopes of rescue being now almost abandoned.  The crew remained on deck all night, and several of them, including the captain, were injured, while, to intensify the excitement, the vessel had a narrow escape of being run down by another large ship, which appeared, like the Oxford, to be perfectly helpless.

The Seven Stones Light vessel and the Wolf Lighthouse were now sighted, and the captain bore up for the Bristol Channel, the Longships being eventually passed about two miles distant, at midday on Monday.  Then it was that the steamship Troutbeck noticed the distressed vessel, and gave her that assistance which enabled her to come to anchor in a place of safety.  The remainder of the story is more mild, but the oldest mariners on the ship affirm that they never before experienced such a long stress of weather of so terrific a character.  The conduct of the crew was most excellent.  Their gallantry and their kindness won for them not only the respect but the affection of the passengers, and on Thursday they gave expression to their feelings in a manner which marks their warmest sincerity.  They made a subscription amongst themselves, and collected £l3 10s for distribution to the crew, and also prepared and presented an address of sincere appreciation.  The Cardiff pilots, in anticipation of the ship docking, purchased 800 oranges for the children of the passengers.  The emigrants will probably leave Cardiff on Friday by train for Plymouth, where they will be transferred to another of the company’s ships for their destination.  It is understood that the repairs to the ship will be done in Cardiff.

THRILLING VOYAGE

ANNIVERSARY RECALLED

SAILING SHIP RANGITIKI

HAZARDOUS RESCUES AT SEA

The series of thrilling events which marked the voyage of the sailing ship Rangitiki, which arrived at Auckland from Plymouth 50 years ago this month, is recalled by a Masterton correspondent, "G.W.R," in a letter to the Herald.

Half a century ago, in January, 1883, he writes, three ships lay in Plymouth Sound, sheltering from high winds and stormy seas.  Two of them were bailing ships of the clipper type, both carrying emigrants for New Zealand.  One, the Rangitiki, was bound for Auckland, the other, the Oxford, for Wellington.  The third ship, a steamer, the Kenmure Castle, bound for a Continental port, completed the trio.

After waiting several days for the storm to abate, the Kenmure Castle seized on the first sign of calmer weather to steam out.  The sailing ships, not to be outdone by steam, also put to sea, the Oxford leading.  It is with the last ship, the Rangitiki, that we have most interest.  She was commanded by Captain Milman, a capable and cautious mariner, to whose care was entrusted the safety of 300 passengers for a Promised Land.

Afloat on a Hencoop

The ship had barely lost sight of Eddystone Lighthouse when a fresh storm burst on the scene, developing into one of the worst on record.  Hatches were battened down, and for days the living freight saw nothing but the interior of its heaving, pitching home.  With no chance of getting their sea legs, these adventurous spirits were introduced with a vengeance to the dismal side of a life on the ocean wave.  When at last they were allowed on deck, they were greeted by a wild and angry sea, strewn with wreckage from some ship less fortunate than their own.

Soon afterwards, a ship's officer, with the aid of glasses, sighted on the skyline a raft with distress signals flying.  Volunteers from the crew were called for, and there was a ready response.  Under the first mate, Mr. Scruby, four selected seamen, equipped with lifebelts, manned a lifeboat and set off on a hard and hazardous pull over mountainous seas to the raft.

It proved to be a hencoop, to which clung two Chinese in a state of exhaustion, having been there for two days and nights.  There had been five of them originally, but three had succumbed to exposure.

Rescued from Sinking Ship

They belonged to the crew of the Kenmure Castle, which had been overwhelmed by wind and waves.  She had shipped great seas which flooded the engine-room and put out the fires.  Then the steering-gear carried away, and she commenced to founder.  Boats were quickly launched, and as quickly capsized — with the exception of one containing mostly women.  They suffered great hardships and privations before being picked up by a French steamer.  The rest of the ship's company, some 90 souls, were lost.  The Oxford fared better, but was dismasted and had to be towed back to Cardiff to refit.

Four days later the Rangitiki overhauled a dismasted schooner, the Maria Agatha.  She was in a sinking condition, and once again the clipper's lifeboat, manned by volunteers, went to the rescue, over a stormy sea, bringing back the ill-fated schooner's crew of seven.  The master, Captain Robert Owens, lives in Herne Bay, Auckland, to-day.

A month later the Rangitiki sighted and overhauled a fine full-rigged American ship, which signalled that she was bound from Grimsby to San Francisco, and had been badly buffeted in a terrific storm in the Bay of Biscay.  Two seamen were washed overboard, and another fell from aloft, landing on the deck with an arm broken in three places.  Medical attention was urgently needed, so Dr. Erson, of the Rangitiki, was requisitioned and taken aboard the American ship, where he amputated the injured limb and gave suitable advice.

Four Months Away from Land

At midnight on May 16, nearly four months after sailing out of Plymouth Sound, the Rangitiki quietly dropped anchor in Rangitoto Channel, and the long voyage was at an end.  In truth, an ocean journey, without a break, between the Old Land and the New.  The only scenery in four months had been the ever-changing sea and sky.

It was a fortunate trip; there had been no deaths, two births, nine rescued seamen, and a mended one.  No wonder the passengers had a soft spot in their hearts for the good old Rangitiki.  Not a few of them had grown to like their floating home so well that they were loath to leave it, on that seventeenth of May.

One and all of them were pioneers, and they soon scattered far and wide.  Most of them made good, and some of their names will be long remembered.  Several of the younger members saw service in Africa in later years, and at least one fought under Admiral Dewey's Stars and Stripes at Santiago.  Later still, many of their sons journeyed back to the Homeland to fight for the freedom of the seas, which made possible such long unprotected trips as that of the Rangitiki in 1883.

And the old ship? It is pitiable to think that this craft of graceful strength and beauty lies ending her days as a coal hulk in Noumea, New Caledonia.

A FATEFUL VOYAGE

THE BARQUE OXFORD

TYPHOID AND DISMASTING

MEMORIES OF 1883

Fifty years ago last Sunday a barque was sighted off the Wellington Heads.  It was the 1281-ton vessel Oxford, from Plymouth, bringing with her 325 immigrants, of which 225 were for Wellington.  Behind this ordinary occurrence of an overseas vessel arriving at Wellington there are memories, many of them bitter and nearly all of them never to be forgotten.  It was a journey which has perhaps rarely been paralleled in the history of emigrant travel.

On January 20, 1883, the barque left London with 302 immigrants on board.  She was owned by Temperley, Carter, and Co., and was under charter to the Shaw, Savill Co.  Seven days after leaving London she cleared Plymouth on her long voyage to Wellington.

TERRIFIC WINDS — DISASTER.

The voyage, however, was fated to be broken before long, for in the Bay of Biscay the Oxford met strong winds.  On February 6 conditions became worse, and on the following two days mountainous waves rose, accompanied by driving rain and sleet.  Then came bitter and wild squalls of hail and terrific winds which reached their height on the night of February 8.  The barque's three masts were snapped off at midnight that night, and for the next four days she drifted helpless, being carried far out into the Atlantic.  In the same storm the vessel Kenmure Castle foundered with the loss of 32 lives.  Totally disabled and with over 400 passengers and crew on board, the Oxford continued to drift westward.  Then, on the afternoon of February 12 the British paddle-steamer Troutbeck was sighted.  The gale, however, still raged, and the Troutbeck stood by through the night, flares being lighted on both ships.  Frequent attempts during the next day to get a tow-line aboard tho Oxford failed until, in a gallant effort, a boat from the Troutbeck eventually carried a hawser to the barque.  It parted, but a new line was run aboard by the same means.

During the gale several of the crew were injured, though none fatally.  None of the passengers were lost.  Ten days after the mishap the Oxford was towed into Cardiff, semi-wrecked and dismasted, with passengers and crew suffering from their experiences.  So much for the first attempt to reach New Zealand.

A special train took the immigrants from Cardiff to Plymouth, where they were to await the refitting of the Oxford — "a three weeks task." But at Plymouth further disaster was to befall the travellers — this time an outbreak of typhoid.  In a short time 55 emigrants had contracted the fever.  Nine of them died.

THE FEVER AGAIN.

The remaining passengers, however, were not discouraged, and on April 26, 1883, over three months after leaving London, the Oxford sailed from Plymouth with 325 immigrants on board.  Further distress was in store, for another outbreak of typhoid occurred — three passengers dying and others being infected.  Eighty-eight days, after leaving Plymouth she reached Wellington.  Her passengers were quarantined on Somes Island, and the vessel was fumigated and cleaned before she was allowed to berth.  Such are the bare facts of the experiences that befell the Oxford.  But there is far more than that behind them.

"RUSTY TANK WATER."

The case of the immigrants is, perhaps, best couched in a letter from, one of them to a friend in Wellington, a portion of which was published in "The Post" of May 30, 1883.  The accommodation on the vessel was dreadful, at the rate of three to one bunk," he wrote.  "The meat was literally alive and rotten; potatoes unfit for pigs to eat.  The water condenser broke down as soon as we started.  After that we drank old rusty tank water.  The masts were loose, and all three went overboard in the Bay of Biscay.  The depot (at Plymouth) is a mass of corruption, and the Agent-General (Sir Dillon Bell) is unable to deal with it, even if told.  .  .  .  She is a filthy ship, having been used last voyage (the previous year) apparently to convey hides, etc.  Her decks had an inch or more of blood, hair, and filth on them, which the immigrants scraped off."

The master of the barque on the first phase of the voyage to New Zealand was Captain Braddick, but when the vessel was refitted Captain Seymour was appointed to the command.

An inquiry into tho outbreak of fever at Plymouth was held, and it was clearly proved that the cause was the bad condition of the water.

CAPTAIN PRAISED.

On April 2, 1883, "The Post" published the following statement from London, dated February 22: "The Oxford was under the command of Captain Braddick, who is well known in New Zealand.  To his unflinching pluck, cheery encouragement, and excellent spirits, the safety of over 400 souls aboard is mainly attributed." On April 3, the following appeared in "The Post" from, the same source:— ".  .  .  the numerous colonial friends of this gentleman (Braddick) will regret to learn that he has been seriously, though it is to be hoped only temporarily, injured by the long exposure to the driving sleet and rain during the recent storms.  The captain also suffers in other ways (sic) from the same cause." In the same letter the correspondent added: "Captain Braddick still suffers from the injuries received during the fearful storm."

On April 19, the correspondent wrote to "The Post" as follows:— "It appears that the steamer (Troutbeck) which towed the disabled ship up the British (Bristol?) Channel has claimed £6000 salvage, and as the Shaw, Savill Company considers the same excessive, there will be an action, to be witness of which Captain Braddick is detained."

During the whole of their unpleasant experiences on the unlucky barque, which, incidentally, is reported to have been afterwards burnt at sea, the passengers "behaved splendidly." "The Post's" London representative reported that "they were received most cordially at Cardiff," which report was scarcely borne out by the immigrants, who stated that the very mention that they were connected with the Oxford sufficed to turn away sympathy.  A large number of these passengers were Irish.

THE PASSENGER LIST.

The following is a list of those immigrants for Wellington who died from typhoid at Plymouth:— Walter Taylor, 17; Phoebe Austwick, 20; Patrick MeAlteer, 26; Mary O'Sullivan, 17; Minnie Stewart, 23; and Sarah Stewart, 16.  Three others, Catherine McMahon, 20, Ellen Nolan, 18, and Jane Spence, 17, also died at Plymouth.  The three passengers who died of the fever en route from Plymouth were James Silva, 26, Mary Port, 20, and Marion Naylor, 16.

The publication of the list of passengers on the Oxford will probably recall many memories to those immigrants who are still alive.  The following dispatch, received by the Government on July 4, 1883, gives the full list of passengers for Wellington as follows:— Joseph, Mary, Thomas, John, and Elizabeth Barnes; Joseph, Henrietta, Annie, Ellen, Willie, and Kate Brewer; Robert, Anna, Lillie, Florence, Beatrice, Violet, and Daisy Brewer; William, Matilda, Walter, and John Brown; Archibald, Mary, Elizabeth, and William Coulter; Samuel, Jane, Charles, Margaret, and Samuel Harding; Timothy and Julia Korin; Charles, Annie, John, and Rosanna McColl; David, Sarah, David, and Jemima McGuire; Thomas, Frances, Evelyn, Gertrude, and Minnie Manning; James, Rosina, Rosetta, and Midred Marshall; Alfred, Martha, and Mary Richardson; Philip, Annie, Fred, Arthur, and George Tarrant; John and Carolin Taylor; Thomas, Catherine, Emily Wils(?); James, Maggie (2), and Alexander Wilson; James Adams; Jessie Blewett; Benjamin, Thomas, and Henry Brown; James, John, and Gibson Coulter; John Cowie; John, Buchanan, and William Drysdale; James Fletcher; Patrick Flood; John and James Grogan; Albert Higgins; John Hopnell; John and William Hudson; Patrick Kerin; Edwin Lang; Edmond McSweeney; Alexander Neely; Thomas O'Malley; Denis and Patrick O'Meara; Robert Patton; Robert Port; John Roberts; Joseph Shepherd; Patrick Spilman; William Stewart; Denis Sullivan; John Walsh; Robert Wilkie; Thomas Wilson; Thomas Woodward; Johann Windberg; Elizabeth Bannister; Mary Anderson; Maria, Maria, Alice, Nellie, Frederick, and Florence Andrews; Susannah, Alice, and Mary Barnes; Margaret Barrett; Annie Blanchett; Susannah Blaner; Nancy Bolton; Anne Bowens; Elizabeth Boyton; Emily, Lucy, Lydia, and Mary Brewer; Elizabeth Burn; Mary Bulter; Mary Cadigan; Letitia Coulter; Mary Crighton; Ann and Mary Darey; Margaret Douglas; Margaret, Euphemia, and Lilas Drysdale; Emma Dustin; Sarah Edgeler; Ellen Entwistle; Frances Featherstone; Mary Fitzgerald; Margaret Fletcher; Marion Flint; Alice Fowlestone; Mary Gullivan; Henrietta Gover; Susannah Green; Emma Halpin; Rosabella Hamilton; Charlotte Harrod; Julia Hartigan; Mary Henderson; Johanna Higgins; Mary and Sarah Hopwell; Jane Howell; Ada Hudson; Susan Hunswick; Elizabeth Ide; Annie Jones; Mary and Lizzie Lambert; Gertrude Langton; Jane, Mary, and Elizabeth Lang; Bessie and Alice Brewer; Mary McDonald; Jane and Martha McDowell; Margaret and Susan McGaughey; Mary Mahoney; Emily Mansell; Emma Maunder; Margaret Moore; Miriam Meylor; Sarah Neville; Louisa Niblett; Mary and Annie O'Brien; Mary and Annie O'Connor; Ellen and Hannah O'Leary; Mary O'Malley; Johannah O'Meara; Bridget and Mary O'Sullivan; Annie and Kate Paton; Kate Perrin; Louisa Pitt; Mary, Port; Elizabeth Ryland; Annie Smith; Jemima Spence; Sarah Stepney; Kate (2) Sullivan; Mary Taufe; Margaret Tawse; Sarah and Emma Taylor; Mary Thurle; Mary Tonkin; Albertina and Auguste Tulke; Alice and Sarah Turner; Mary Walsh; Mary Wickens; Elizabeth and Susan Wilkie; Ellen, Rachel, and Emily Wilson; Elizabeth York; Alice Ide; Nora McCarthy; Mary Thomas; Emma Wilcher.  In addition, the barque brought forty-six immigrants for Nelson, eleven for Marlborough, eighteen for Taranaki, fifteen for Westland, nine for Hawke's Bay, and one for Canterbury.

THE BARQUE OXFORD

EVENTFUL VOYAGE

PASSENGER'S MEMORIES

Recently an article on the misfortunes that befell the barque Oxford on her voyage from England to New Zealand in 1883 was published in "The Post." Further details of the voyage have been supplied by Mr. T. Wilson, of Wellington, who was one of the passengers by tho Oxford.  After leaving Plymouth the Oxford, then a fullrigged ship, was dismasted in the Bay of Biscay and drifted for several days in a semi-wrecked condition before being picked up, by the paddle-steamer Troutbeck.  She was towed back to Cardiff where she was repaired, this time being rigged as a barque.

Of the mishap in the Bay of Biscay, Mr. Wilson tells a moving tale.  One by one the masts were snapped off.  In the heavy driving seas, and with her upper works broken and tangled, the Oxford wallowed helplessly.  It was by the greatest good fortune that she was picked up by the Troutbeck, for nothing could be done to get her under way.

TEBRIBLE CONDITIONS.

When the emigrants were taken back to Cardiff they were put into a depot at Plymouth, where the conditions were terrible, Mr. Wilson told a "Post" reporter.  Food was bad, and, in addition to the passengers on the Oxford, those of another vessel were quartered with them.  No one was allowed to go out of the depot gates, supposedly because of the fear that they might refuse to return and come out to New Zealand.  It was here that typhoid fever spread rapidly — owing to tho rusty water which tho passengers had been, obliged to drink while on the Oxford — and nine people died.  Fever broke out again after the Oxford had set out a second time, and several passengers were buried at sea.  On arrival at Wellington the passengers were quarantined on Somes Island for three weeks from July 25, 1883 until August 14.

Mr. Wilson denied the statement reported to have been made by one of the passengers to the effect that the decks of the Oxford were covered with blood and hairs and general filth.  It was true that she had carried hides on the previous trip, but there was no question of having to scrape the decks.

While, the passengers were at Cardiff, after the Oxford had been brought back dismasted, a subscription was taken up for the crew, which, exclusive of officers, numbered 28.  In all, a sum of £14 10s 6d was raised, and it is interesting to note that the single women's department (the sexes were most exclusive on these early immigrant vessels) contributed £9 lOs 6d, while the married people and single men raised the remaining £5.  In a printed form giving the names of the crew, the passengers wrote: "We trust you will accept this small token of our esteem, for the unflinching manner you faced the terrible danger you have been exposed to during the past week, assuring you that you will always have a very important place in our hearts and our earnest prayers to Almighty God that your lives may be spared for many years.  ..."

THE "CONTRACT TICKET."

Mr. Wilson, who was 21 when he left Plymouth, still retains the "Passengers' Contract Ticket" for the voyage on which his parents and family came out, and a photograph of this form is published today.  In the "scale-of dietary" for each passenger are found preserved meats, biscuit, peas, sugar, raisins, pickles, potatoes (fresh, or "ditto preserved"), lime juice (for the tropical regions), carrots, onions, and preserved milk.  Flour, of which each statute adult passenger was allowed 5¾ lb per week, was used largely for making bread.  "With the exception of eleven ounces on Sundays and eleven ounces on Thursdays," runs the statement on the ticket, "the flour will be issued to the baker to be made into soft bread daily and issued as bread to the passengers."

Each adult was required by law to have issued to him three quarts of water daily and an additional quart of water daily while the vessel was within the tropics.  This water was "exclusive of what is necessary for cooking the articles required by the Passenger Act to be issued in a cooked state." Children over twelve years of age were reckoned as statute adults, who were allowed not less than fifteen cubic feet of luggage each.