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Chapter XIII.
Gratitude!

Our present chapter covers a memorable time in the family history: viz., the five months from September, 1855, to February, 1856, during which time Mr. Hay, accompanied by his two boys, Tom and Willie, respectively thirteen and ten years of age, made a never-to-be-forgotten voyage to Australia. James was left with Mr. John Hay to assist him with the work at home. Mr. Hay chartered the brig "Gratitude" from the owner, Mr. William Sefton Moorhouse, to convey produce to Melbourne. The cargo consisted of 106 tons of potatoes, 700 bushels of oats, two tons of cheese, and half a ton of butter. Before starting, probably to reduce the risk of the venture, he accepted an offer from Mr. Moorhouse to purchase half of the potatoes. They sailed on the 26th of September, and after a passage of three weeks arrived in Melbourne: the old "Gratitude" Was slow, but sure! They were just a month too late to secure the high price of £30 per ton for the potatoes. It was a year of scarcity of that vegetable in Australia, and owing to the gold-diggings there was a great demand: hence the tempting prices. Mr. Hay averaged £14 per ton for the 53 tons he had to sell, Mr. Moorhouse the same; page 166and the two tons of cheese brought Is. 2d. per pound; the butter sold at Is. 6d. per lb. and the oats at 6s. per bushel. Mr. Hay, therefore, felt well satisfied with his speculation, and prepared for the return journey in hopeful spirits.

In a letter written in Melbourne to his brother at Home, of date, 11th November, 1855, he says:—"I am so much more pleased with Pigeon Bay; if God spares me to return I think I will never leave it again, unless compelled to do so." He found the climate of Melbourne, with its hot winds and ever-varying temperature, extremely trying, in contrast to the more equable and delightful one where he had his own dear home.

Mr. Moorhouse left for Sydney a few days before the others to purchase a cargo of horses as a return freight for the brig. Mr. Hay also laid in a supply of provisions at Sydney—two tons of sugar, a quantity of tea, rice, etc. Such goods were very much cheaper, as well as better, in Sydney than in New Zealand at that time. Mr. Hay finished his letter, above quoted, at sea (on the 25th November) on their way to Sydney, where he posted it, and little did he then anticipate the perils they were about to face.

Having shipped their horses and cargo, they left Sydney' about the middle of December, and encountered a succession of head winds all the way across, until at length, after a passage of 37 days, they found themselves one evening off Motanau, about 40 miles north of Lyttelton harbour. Mr. Hay, who was well up in the signs of the weather, and understood the navigation of the New Zealand coast from practical experience, begged the mate, who was in charge, to "stand well in to the shore," so as to catch the fair wind leading right into the harbour next page 167morning. The mate, however, adhered to the Captain's orders (although the Captain was not in a condition to understand their position, or know what his orders implied), and stood out to sea all night, the consequence being that next morning they got the fair wind, but were too far off to "make" the harbour in time. A vessel—the "Surge"—they sighted the day before, six or eight miles further out to sea than they then were, was in the morning able to get in easily, having kept in towards land. The "Gratitude" got so far in that they were within ten miles of Lyttelton Heads, and Mr. Hay had sent the two boys to dress and pack up, in readiness to land, as they fondly hoped, in two hours. Alas for human expectations! A furious south-west gale sprang up, and so suddenly struck them that before they could furl the sails there were none left to handle. As soon as possible they got the vessel "hove to," Mr. Hay meantime urging them to get fresh sails on her and "square away" for Wellington; but they disregarded his advice, and again regretted it when too late. Next morning they would like to have run for Wellington, but the gale being as furious as ever they dared not venture on account of the thick foggy weather. For three days they drifted before the storm, and before they could make sail again, they were abreast of Auckland. For three weeks they were buffeted about by winds and waves, during which time they had seven severe gales. They could but "lie to" till each storm abated, then try again to reach their haven.

It was a terrible time of suspense and suffering for our poor voyagers, who, in addition to the perils of the sea, had starvation staring them in the face. Before they arrived off Port Cooper at first, they were almost at the end of their slender stock of provisions, having had to feed the horses on Mr. Hay's rice and sugar to eke out their page 168provender, which, owing to the tedious passage of 37 days, was then all done. Finding themselves in such straits to provide food for the animals, they tried the experiment of feeding them on boiled rice and sugar: to their surprise the horses ate it greedily. They then foolishly boiled a large quantity of rice, to have it ready, but before the horses could eat more than half, it became sour, and they had to throw it overboard: a vexatious waste in the circumstances. The poor famished horses broke adrift from their fastenings one night, and got in amongst the hags of sugar tearing the hags, and wasting much more than they ate. A large quantity was thus utterly spoiled, and shared the fate of the rice.

When they overhauled their supplies the night the southerly gale drove them northwards, it was found there was only a small supply of tea and sugar and 1¾ lb. of broken bits of biscuit for each soul on board. This, eked out with roast horse-flesh was all they had to live upon for the three weeks they were driven to and fro on the pitiless sea. The poor horses died one after another; out of 27 shipped at Sydney only three survived, and these poor things lived seven days without either food or water. To quote from Mr. Hay's next letter to his mother, of date, March, 1856:—"When a good young horse seemed likely to die we cut its throat for food for ourselves. There were 22 in all of us crew and passengers. The water, too, was very short"—so much so that they could not boil the horse-flesh to make soup, but had to grill at on the live coals as they used it; very dry and unpalatable it was, as may he supposed, seeing the houses themselves were starved. If coal had been an edible substance they would not have been so badly off, for coal there was in abundance. How a few of those potatoes would have been relished that they took over the seas in tons and left behind them in Melbourne!

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Just before leaving Sydney Mr. Moorhouse had a deck-house built for a lady and gentleman desiring passage to New Zealand in the brig. This couple had an ample supply of provisions for their own use, so did not suffer semi-starvation like the rest of the voyagers. There were a few other passengers besides, who, less fortunate, had to subsist on their share of the biscuit crumbs and horse-flesh. To show how self-centred human nature can be the deck-house gentleman (?) actually bribed the steward to supply him daily with fresh water for his ablutions-this when they could not spare it for cooking such food as they had, nor even to assuage their thirst, except in carefully measured quantities. Mr. Hay it was who found out and put an end to this selfish extravagance, but not until it had gone on for some time. Needless to say, Mr. Hay was not regarded with favour by these passengers.

This combination of misfortunes was the result of too much champagne rendering the Captain utterly unfit for his duties. He had been presented in Sydney with a case of champagne, and Mr. Moorhouse, not dreaming the Captain would infringe upon the rules of his strictly teetotal ship, saw no reason why he should not allow him to take it on board. On a cold bleak day the Captain opened his case, and one bottle was used amongst some of the gentlemen who responded to the Captain's invitation to "taste." This was not enough for him, however; he retired to his cabin, and there drank all the remaining eleven bottles in two nights and a day? The mate who was his brother-in-law, would not tell that he was lying as insensate as a log in his berth. He was reported "ill," but no one guessed till too late the nature of his illness, or, in spite of the mate (who had no practical knowledge of navigation), his inane—or, rather, insane—orders would have been disregarded. Mr. Hay it was who discovered page 170the true state of the case, and we can imagine his disgust and indignation, as well as his mystification regarding the disposal of the bottles'. The empty case was found, but not a trace of a bottle; there was no port-hole in the captain's cabin, nor any aperture handy; nor was he ever seen out of his cabin till he recovered, so the mystery was never solved.

We cannot do better than quote Mr. Hay's own words from the letter above referred to (March, 1856), to show his heartfelt gratitude for their providential escape from the dangers that had encompassed them, for such a length of time. He says:—We were 58 days coming from Sydney, a distance of 1,300 miles; such a long passage is not on record in this part of the world. All our friends had given, us up for lost, and I myself never expected to meet those whom I love dearly any more; but, thanks be to God, we were allowed to meet once more on this earth. I must say I never felt before what it was to be truly thankful to the Supreme Being. In these gales of wind it was grand to contemplate the works of God." Again he says:—"I cannot express what my feelings were when I got home to find another infant born the day we reached Lyttelton—mother and children all well, and all the family, as well as friends and neighbours, welcoming us home with tears of joy. I can never forget the lesson I have learned, and feel truly thankful to my God for his mercies to me a sinner. Thomas and William stood the ordeal well, but have no inclination to go another trip." Poor boys, the recollection of that one will last them all their lives!

The ship "Surge," having reported sighting them on the first day of the gale, three weeks before they arrived, of course Mrs. Hay, her family, and friends had lost all hope of ever seeing them again, and were mourning their heavy page 171loss. Their arrival on the evening of the 14th February, 1856, was therefore as a return from another world. "It was meet they should make merry and be glad, for they were dead and are alive again, they were lost and are found." We can imagine the intense, thankfulness that filled each heart on that glad day, a "red-letter" day in the family history. They landed in Lyttelton in the evening of a warm February day, and next morning took the boat across to Purau, walked over the hills via Port Levy, a distance of 14 miles, which, in their weak state, took them a whole day to accomplish, so that it was evening when they reached their longed-for home. McGregor, the ploughman, who was in Lyttelton when they arrived, returned home with them, and walked on to break the news of their coming, but he lost his way and arrived only a few minutes before them.

It had been arranged before they set sail that on the return of the "Gratitude" a flag would be "dipped" as a signal of their identity as the vessel passed Pigeon Bay Heads. James—ever on the watch—distinctly saw this being done as a small Vessel appeared for a short time in sight. So sure was he of its being the "Gratitude," that he would have rushed into his mother's room with the news had it not been for Mr. John Hay, who, owing to his excitement, could not see with the glass what James clearly saw with the naked eye. James was so convinced he was right that he was on the watch all next day for the appearance of the travellers. We can easily imagine his joy when at last he descried them rounding the point of rock near Holmes' Bay, and walking slowly on the rough beach. Mr. Stewart (a farmer in the Bay) went with James and Mr. J. Hay to meet them, having also recognised them. Nothing was said to Mrs. Hay till they were sure the weary-looking travellers were really the long-lost ones, page 172which was not till they had almost reached the house. Now they were safely at home again, we can understand how they rejoiced, and how quickly they recovered the effects of their terrible voyage.

The letter quoted above (of March 22nd, 185G) was sent Home by the first direct wool ship sent from Canterbury to London—the "William and Jane." Mr. Hay reports in the same letter the success of the horse-power threshing mill Mr John Hay had brought out for him, and mentions having threshed a stack of 251 bushels of wheat; it weighed 64¾ lbs. per bushel, and the crop yielded 60 bushels per acre. He adds:—"I expect to get £35 per ton for the flour." They had an unusually wet season in 1856—so that his crop of potatoes was nearly all destroyed. After the 1st of April of- the same year, Government land was reduced from £3 to £2 per acre. Labourers were very few, and wages high, women servants being especially scarce. In every letter Home, Mr. Hay urged his friends to try and induce workers of both sexes to come out to New Zealand, where plenty of work and good wages awaited them.