Other formats

    TEI XML file   ePub eBook file  

Connect

    mail icontwitter iconBlogspot iconrss icon

White Wings Vol II. Founding Of The Provinces And Old-Time Shipping. Passenger Ships From 1840 To 1885

Olympus And Lord William Bentinck

page 27

Olympus And Lord William Bentinck.

The Olympus, a ship of 500 tons, commanded by Captain John Whyte, and voyaging under the aegis of the New Zealand Company, sailed from Gravesend on December 8th, 1840, and arrived at Port Nicholson on April 20th, 1841, with 159 emigrants for the Cook Strait settlements. Owing to a heavy gale Captain Whyte had some difficulty in bringing his ship into port, until a young Maori chief named Te Whare, son of Te Puni, of Petone, set off with a native crew, and, boarding the Olympus, was able to safely pilot her to the anchorage. For this service Colonel William Wakefield, the resident agent of the New Zealand Company, rewarded Te Whare with the sum of £5. The ship's surgeon was Dr. Isaac Earl Featherston, afterwards first Superintendent of Wellington and first Agent-General for New Zealand in London. The bad weather which prevailed at the time the Olympus made port prevented her passengers landing until the third day after she dropped anchor.

The emigrant ship Lord William Bentinck, 444 tons, Captain James Crow, left Gravesend on January 7th, 1841, and arrived in Port Nicholson on May 22nd with 242 passengers.