![Antipodes Castaway Hut](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9a/Antipodes_Castaway_Hut.JPG)
A castaway depot is a store or hut placed on an isolated island to provide emergency supplies and relief for
castaway
A castaway is a person who is cast adrift or ashore. While the situation usually happens after a shipwreck, some people voluntarily stay behind on a deserted island, either to evade captors or the world in general. A person may also be left a ...
s and victims of shipwrecks.
A string of depots were built by the
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
government on
their subantarctic islands in the late-19th and early-20th centuries that were kept supplied and patrolled until modern technologies and alteration in trade routes rendered them unnecessary.
Shipping in the subantarctic
![ClipperRoute](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/ClipperRoute.png)
The standard trade
clipper route
The clipper route was the traditional route derived from the Brouwer Route and sailed by clipper ships between Europe and the Far East, Australia and New Zealand. The route ran from west to east through the Southern Ocean, to make use of the s ...
from Australia and New Zealand to Europe took a line-of-latitude route in the
Southern Ocean
The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean, generally taken to be south of 60° S latitude and encircling Antarctica. With a size of , it is regarded as the second-small ...
. Ships would drop below the
Roaring Forties
The Roaring Forties are strong westerly winds found in the Southern Hemisphere, generally between the latitudes of 40°S and 50°S. The strong west-to-east air currents are caused by the combination of air being displaced from the Equator ...
to make use of the prevailing
westerlies
The westerlies, anti-trades, or prevailing westerlies, are prevailing winds from the west toward the east in the middle latitudes between 30 and 60 degrees latitude. They originate from the high-pressure areas in the horse latitudes and trend to ...
that carried them around
Cape Horn
Cape Horn ( es, Cabo de Hornos, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which are the Diego Ramírez ...
. These winds could be strong and the waters treacherous; moreover, the smattering of islands was often poorly charted. For example, in 1868, Henry Armstrong of the ''Amherst'' notified the New Zealand government that the commonly used chart prepared by James Imray in 1851 placed the
Auckland Islands
The Auckland Islands (Māori: ''Motu Maha'' "Many islands" or ''Maungahuka'' "Snowy mountains") are an archipelago of New Zealand, lying south of the South Island. The main Auckland Island, occupying , is surrounded by smaller Adams Island, ...
south of their true position.
Regardless of the charts' accuracy, the cloudy weather predominant in the area made navigation by
sextant
A sextant is a doubly reflecting navigation instrument that measures the angular distance between two visible objects. The primary use of a sextant is to measure the angle between an astronomical object and the horizon for the purposes of celes ...
difficult. The uninhabited Auckland Islands lay directly within the standard route. In the event of a shipwreck on any of these islands, due to their subantarctic climate they offered little natural sustenance or provisions to castaways.
Thomas Musgrave, captain of the that was wrecked on the Auckland Islands in 1864, described the "incessant gales, constant hail, snow and pelting rain" that plagued the survivors.
The ''Grafton'', a schooner out of
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
in search of tin deposits, ran aground in
Carnley Harbour
Carnley Harbour is a large natural harbour in the south of the Auckland Islands, a subantarctic part of the New Zealand Outlying Islands. Formed from the drowned crater of an extinct volcano, the harbour separates the mainland of Auckland Island ...
during a storm in January 1864; the five survivors lived in huts made from salvaged materials for 19 months before three members of the crew made the journey successfully to
Stewart Island
Stewart Island ( mi, Rakiura, ' glowing skies', officially Stewart Island / Rakiura) is New Zealand's third-largest island, located south of the South Island, across the Foveaux Strait. It is a roughly triangular island with a total land ar ...
in five days in the repaired ship's boat; Captain Musgrave then arranged a rescue of the remaining two castaways. The same year, the three-masted clipper , en route to Chile, was wrecked on the northwestern end of the island. Of the 25 crew members, 19 made it ashore, but only three survived the winter. The others succumbed to exposure; they were unaware of the presence of the ''Grafton'' crew castaways to the south.
In 1866, the was wrecked on the western coast of Auckland Islands. Fifteen of the 83 on board survived the wreck, but only ten endured on the island until rescued by the ''Amherst'' 18 months later. These experiences prompted a concerted programme to manage the risk of castaways in the area, and depots were established.
Establishment of patrols and depots
Following the discovery of the shipwreck survivors on
Auckland Island
Auckland Island ( mi, Mauka Huka) is the main island of the eponymous uninhabited archipelago in the Pacific Ocean. It is part of the New Zealand subantarctic area. It is inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage list together with the other New ...
in 1867, New Zealand's
Southland Southland may refer to:
Places Canada
* Dunbar–Southlands, Vancouver, British Columbia
New Zealand
* Southland Region, a region of New Zealand
* Southland County, a former New Zealand county
* Southland District, part of the wider Southland Re ...
provincial government, and some Australian states, established a number of emergency depots on Auckland,
Campbell Campbell may refer to:
People Surname
* Campbell (surname), includes a list of people with surname Campbell
Given name
* Campbell Brown (footballer), an Australian rules footballer
* Campbell Brown (journalist) (born 1968), American television ne ...
,
Antipodes
In geography, the antipode () of any spot on Earth is the point on Earth's surface diametrically opposite to it. A pair of points ''antipodal'' () to each other are situated such that a straight line connecting the two would pass through Ear ...
and
Bounty Islands. The initial expedition to create the depots was led by Henry Armstrong of the ''Amherst'' in 1868. The first wooden depot was built and provisioned at Sandy Bay,
Enderby Island
Enderby Island is part of New Zealand's uninhabited Auckland Islands archipelago, south of mainland New Zealand. It is situated just off the northern tip of Auckland Island, the largest island in the archipelago.
Geography and geology
Enderby ...
. In 1877, the central New Zealand government took over responsibility for managing the network of supply huts and cabins on their territorial islands to provide sustenance and emergency supplies.
From 1877 to 1927, government
steamers such as , patrolled the depots to check for survivors and maintain the facilities. The steamers visited each island every six months, doing maintenance and repairs of the facilities, cutting firewood for the huts, and dropping off stocks of live animals. The steamers also transported (and supplied) a number of scientific expeditions that enabled collections and observations on the islands to be made.
After about 1927, patrols and depot maintenance were discontinued due to improved radio technology and the falling out of use of the 40°S route for trade.
Depots and island provisions
Government work crews built the supply depots out of various materials and to various sizes and designs. They were equipped with a range of emergency rations (tinned meat and biscuits), clothing, blankets, fishing equipment, medicine, matches and tools, and weapons and ammunition (to hunt food). Clothing was specially made out of durable, warm fabrics, and stored in metal drums. "Finger posts" (signposts) were set up on the island to direct castaways to the huts.
Various animals were released onto the islands to breed and provide food for castaways. Pigs were released on the Auckland Islands from the early 19th century, followed later by goats on Auckland,
Enderby,
Ewing, and
Ocean Island in the Auckland Group as well as on
The Snares
The Snares Islands / Tini Heke, known colloquially as The Snares, is a group of uninhabited islands lying about 200 km south of New Zealand's South Island and to the south-southwest of Stewart Island / Rakiura. The Snares consist of the ma ...
, the Antipodes and Campbell groups. Sheep were also widespread, and rabbits were released at Enderby and Auckland Island in 1840, and
Rose Island in 1850. Cattle were
temporarily farmed on Enderby Island, but had been released there earlier as castaway stock. Many of these animals died, but some survived into the 20th century.
These small populations remained isolated from other breeds, and consequently many, such as the
Auckland Island pig,
Enderby Island cattle and the
Enderby Island rabbit, retain rare characteristics. The Department of Conservation has transported some of these previously introduced animal populations off the islands and onto the New Zealand mainland, where they are monitored by the
Rare Breeds Conservation Society of New Zealand
__NOTOC__
The Rare Breeds Conservation Society of New Zealand (RBCSNZ) was founded in 1988 to conserve, record and promote rare livestock breeds with the aim of maintaining genetic diversity within livestock species. The area of coverage is broad ...
, in an effort to return the subantarctic islands to their natural state. The
goats
The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of Caprinae, goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a membe ...
, however, became extinct before these efforts began.
Some islands were provided with boatsheds to enable survivors to reach other land or close castaway depots, such as the depot on Enderby Island that was replaced by a boat shed for survivors to reach the nearby
Auckland Island
Auckland Island ( mi, Mauka Huka) is the main island of the eponymous uninhabited archipelago in the Pacific Ocean. It is part of the New Zealand subantarctic area. It is inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage list together with the other New ...
. The survivors of the , in 1887, built a
punt to carry them from Enderby Island to Auckland Island. Following their rescue, a government steamer moved the punt to a new boatshed on Rose Island (that lies south west of Enderby Island), for the use of any marooned there. After the collapse of the historic Rose Island boatshed in 1973, the punt was transferred to Enderby Island. It is now on display at the
Southland Museum.
Some depots were targeted by thieves, whalers and other seamen who saw the depots as a source of free food and provisions. To discourage raiding, clothing left at the depots was often distinctively marked, so it could be identified, and warnings were painted on the huts.
Depot locations
On the
Auckland Islands
The Auckland Islands (Māori: ''Motu Maha'' "Many islands" or ''Maungahuka'' "Snowy mountains") are an archipelago of New Zealand, lying south of the South Island. The main Auckland Island, occupying , is surrounded by smaller Adams Island, ...
, depots were established on the main island at the inner reaches of Norman Inlet, and at Erebus Cove,
Port Ross
Port Ross is a natural harbour on Auckland Island in the Auckland Islands Group, a subantarctic chain that forms part of the New Zealand Outlying Islands.
Guarding the mouth of Port Ross are Rose Island, Enderby Island, Ewing Island, and th ...
(where there was also a boatshed). The boatshed and ruined depot are the only historical buildings left at Erebus Cove.
Also present in Erebus Cove is a
southern rata tree (known as the Victoria Tree) with a carved inscription commemorating the routine castaway survey visit of the Australian government ship ''Victoria'' in 1865.
Camp Cove, on
Carnley Harbour
Carnley Harbour is a large natural harbour in the south of the Auckland Islands, a subantarctic part of the New Zealand Outlying Islands. Formed from the drowned crater of an extinct volcano, the harbour separates the mainland of Auckland Island ...
, had a depot, shelter and boatshed. On Enderby Island, the Stella Hut was located inland from the later boat shed at Sandy Bay. Rose Island and
Ewing Island had boatsheds. Signposts were located throughout the islands.
On the
Campbell Islands
The Campbell Islands (or Campbell Island Group) are a group of subantarctic islands, belonging to New Zealand. They lie about 600 km south of Stewart Island. The islands have a total area of , consisting of one big island, Campbell Isl ...
, depots were located at Hut Cove, Anchorage Bay. A depot was established on the rocky
Bounty Islands. In 1891, while on a cruise in search of the missing ships ''Kakanui'' and ''Assaye'', Captain Fairchild of the ''Hinemoa'' noted that the Bounty Island depot had been destroyed by waves, even though located 100 ft above sea level. Attempts were made to land wood for rebuilding, but bad weather prevented the completion of the task.
"Cruise of the Hinemoa"
''The Brisbane Courier'' 7 April 1891, p. 3.
A number of these depots are still ''in situ'' and are managed by the Department of Conservation
An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment ...
(DOC); these include the 1908 hut on Antipodes Island, the 1880 Stella Hut on Enderby Island
Enderby Island is part of New Zealand's uninhabited Auckland Islands archipelago, south of mainland New Zealand. It is situated just off the northern tip of Auckland Island, the largest island in the archipelago.
Geography and geology
Enderby ...
, and the boatshed on Enderby. The 1890s castaway depot at Camp Cove, Carnley Harbour
Carnley Harbour is a large natural harbour in the south of the Auckland Islands, a subantarctic part of the New Zealand Outlying Islands. Formed from the drowned crater of an extinct volcano, the harbour separates the mainland of Auckland Island ...
, on Auckland Island was identified in a 2003 DOC survey as "worthy of inclusion on the 'actively managed' list." DOC also maintain other historical sites on the islands, including shipwreck relics.
Notable shipwrecks
There were a total of nine shipwrecks leaving marooned castaways in the New Zealand subantarctic between 1833 and 1908. Some survivors' lives were saved by the existence of the castaway depots. The Auckland Islands alone had eight known shipwrecks—including those with no survivors—between 1864 and 1907, at the cost of 121 lives; a number of these are buried at the historic Enderby cemetery.
''Derry Castle''
The first castaways to use of one of these depots were members of the crew of the , an iron barque
A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel with three or more mast (sailing), masts having the fore- and mainmasts Square rig, rigged square and only the mizzen (the aftmost mast) Fore-and-aft rig, rigged fore and aft. Som ...
that was wrecked on Enderby Island
Enderby Island is part of New Zealand's uninhabited Auckland Islands archipelago, south of mainland New Zealand. It is situated just off the northern tip of Auckland Island, the largest island in the archipelago.
Geography and geology
Enderby ...
on 20 March 1887. Eight of the 23 crew made it ashore. A depot was in place at Sandy Bay, but looters had removed all supplies but a bottle of salt, so the castaways subsisted on shellfish and a small quantity of wheat recovered from the wreck. After 92 days they discovered an axe head in the sand and were able to use it to build a boat from the wreckage.
Two of the men navigated the boat to nearby Erebus Cove, Port Ross, on Auckland Island
Auckland Island ( mi, Mauka Huka) is the main island of the eponymous uninhabited archipelago in the Pacific Ocean. It is part of the New Zealand subantarctic area. It is inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage list together with the other New ...
, where they obtained supplies from the government depot that had been established there. They then returned to collect the remaining men, and the group lived at Port Ross until they were rescued by the sealer ''Awarua'' on 19 July, that took them to Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
.
''Compadre''
Four years later, on 19 March 1891, the barque was overwhelmed by fire on board. With seas too rough to launch boats, the barque was driven onto the rocks off the North Cape of Auckland Island. All of the 17 crew members made it ashore, although one of them later died.
They obtained relief and sustenance from two nearby depots, supplemented by livestock that had been released onto the island, and survived in comparatively good health until rescued 122 days later by the sealing schooner ''Janet Ramsay'' on 30 June, and carried to Bluff
Bluff or The Bluff may refer to:
Places Australia
* Bluff, Queensland, Australia, a town
* The Bluff, Queensland (Ipswich), a rural locality in the city of Ipswich
* The Bluff, Queensland (Toowoomba Region), a rural locality
* Bluff River (New ...
.
''Spirit of the Dawn''
Less successfully, the 11 survivors of the out of a crew of 16 failed to find the depots after foundering on a reef off the Antipodes Islands in 1893. The island is mountainous and their weakened physical state prevented them searching the island for the depots.
However, they subsisted on raw muttonbirds, mussels and roots, and after 87 days, they sighted a patrolling government steamer and were able to attract its attention by waving a flag made from their sail.
''Anjou''
The steel barque ran ashore on Auckland Island on 5 February 1905. The 22 crew members made it ashore in Carnley Harbour
Carnley Harbour is a large natural harbour in the south of the Auckland Islands, a subantarctic part of the New Zealand Outlying Islands. Formed from the drowned crater of an extinct volcano, the harbour separates the mainland of Auckland Island ...
on three of the ship's boats after rowing against strong currents. Ten days later they reached the depot at Camp Cove, that provided them with ample supplies as well as the shipping schedule of the so they knew how long they would have to wait for rescue.
Captain Le Tellac commended the provisions that the government had left for the castaways, without which they would not have survived. Some of the supplies that should have been there were missing; these were later recovered from the house of a Mr. Fleming, a lessee of the island.
Reaching Norman Inlet on 7 May, Captain John Bollons
John Peter Bollons (10 November 1862 – 18 September 1929) was a New Zealand marine captain, naturalist and ethnographer. For many years he captained New Zealand government steamers, including the NZGSS ''Hinemoa'', which undertook lighthouse ...
of the ''Hinemoa'' noticed signs that there were castaways, located them, and was able to pick them up from the island and carry them to Dunedin
Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...
. Sailors from the ''Compadre'' and the ''Anjou'' engraved their names on the walls of the Camp Cove depot.
''Dundonald''
On 6 March 1907, the steel barque was wrecked on Disappointment Island
Disappointment Island is one of seven uninhabited islands in the Auckland Islands archipelago, in New Zealand. It is south of the country's main South Island and from the northwest end of Auckland Island. It is home to a large colony of white ...
in the Auckland Islands. The island lacked a depot, and the 17 castaways from a crew of 28 subsisted on what water and food they could find, mainly mollymawk
The mollymawks are a group of medium-sized albatrosses that form the genus ''Thalassarche''. The name has sometimes been used for the genus ''Phoebetria'' as well, but these are usually called sooty albatrosses. They are restricted to the Sout ...
s and seals, and dug crude sand shelters. Using wood scavenged on the island and canvas from the ship's sails, they crafted a crude coracle
A coracle is a small, rounded, lightweight boat of the sort traditionally used in Wales, and also in parts of the West Country and in Ireland, particularly the River Boyne, and in Scotland, particularly the River Spey. The word is also used of s ...
to bear four men across the seven-mile strait to Auckland Island in search of depots.
After several attempts and the loss of two boats, they made a successful crossing to the island in October and journeyed across it to the depot. They found a boat at the depot along with the supplies, so after making sails from their clothing, the four men sailed back to Disappointment Island to retrieve their shipmates and return to the depot. With a gun and ammunition, the castaways were able to supplement their diet with wild cattle hunted on Rose and Enderby Islands.
They were picked up by the ''Hinemoa'' on 16 November, and once Captain Bollons had completed his steamship's survey of the Campbell and Antipodes Islands, were taken to Bluff.
''President Félix Faure''
The last crew of castaways to obtain relief from the depots were the 22 crew members from the French barque ''President Félix Faure'' that was wrecked off the North Cape of Antipodes Island on 13 March 1908. Their lifeboat was broken up by the waves and all their stores were lost, but the entire crew made it ashore not far from one of the depots.
After they had used up the depot's supplies, they hunted albatrosses, penguins and a calf - the sole remnant of the cattle that had been set ashore earlier by the . They were rescued by the warship , that was alerted by the smoke from their fires. They reached Lyttelton on 15 May, and then went on to Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
, from where they obtained passage back to France.
In film
In ''The Sea Chase
''The Sea Chase'' is a 1955 World War II drama film starring John Wayne and Lana Turner, and featuring David Farrar, Lyle Bettger, and Tab Hunter. It was directed by John Farrow from a screenplay by James Warner Bellah and John Twist based on ...
'', a 1955 film, a German merchant ship flees from British Australian naval ships at the beginning of World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. The ship stops at Auckland Island (though the film was shot in Hawaii) to take victuals from the rescue station. A pro-Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
officer finds three castaway fishermen there, whom he shoots. Later, a pursuing ship finds the corpses and chases the German ship.
Notes
References
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External links
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{{Authority control
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Maritime history of New Zealand
New Zealand subantarctic islands