Ten Days On Wild

Sea

Tongon Judge Has Unpleasant Experience

From Our Own Correspondent

Nukualofa, Dec. 14.

A MOST unpleasant experience befell the Chief Justice of Tonga, Hon.

W H. Stuart, .when he was travelling from Niuafoou (“Tin Can Island”) to Vavau in the cutter “Fetu’uaho”. He was accompanied by the Vavau medical officer, Dr. J. C. Lopdell; the registrar of the Supreme Court, Jione Taliauli; in spector of police, Manase Toga; and a number of Tongan lawyers and pas sengers.

The cutter was struck by a heavy easterly storm at daybreak on November 16, when about a couple of miles from the entrance to Vavau harbour. She left Niuafoou on November 13.

Great dark clouds, which descended in torrential rain when the wind was freshing up, rendered visibility so poor that Vavau was completely hidden. Then the gale blew with such force that it tore great gashes in the mainsail, which had to be hauled in for repair, while the vessel lay to.

Unfortunately, the supply of twine was exhausted. So the vessel was headed to run before the storm, to Fiji, on her jibs.

By the time she reached the high vol canic island of Late, some enterprising member of the crew managed to im provise fairly strong twine from hibiscus bark fibre. So it was decided to ride the storm out and mend the sail with the improvised twine, and then make for Vavau when the storm had abated.

The vessel was then hove to and a storm anchor was rigged and thrown overboard. But the stout rope used as anchor chain snapped under the heavy strain. A few moments later a huge wave, which was shipped on the stern, carried the compass overboard, and might have swept the steersman into the sea, also, if his loincloth had not been caught in the tiller.

For two days and nights, during which she drifted about 50 miles, the little vessel lay helpless before the fury of the elements. In relating their experiences, both passengers and crew said it was a miracle that the vessel did not break up under the relentless onslaught of the tempestuous wind and sea.

On November 18, when the storm had slightly abated and the sail had been mended, the “Fetu’uaho” fought her way, against a strong head wind and current, in the supposed direction of Vavau —for navigation, since the loss of her com pass, was just guesswork.

They managed to reach the volcanic island of Fonualei (which is about 60 miles to the north of Vavau) late in the afternoon of November 18.

The vessel sheltered there for the night. But, in the absence of any good landing-place on the island, and be cause the crater was active, no landing was made. On the following morning, November 19, she left Fonualei for the low coral island of Toku, several miles to the south, where she arrived in the afternoon.

There, the weary voyagers landed and soon made themselves comfortable by erecting a hut, thatched with coconut leaves, for shelter. But there was anxiety regarding provisions, which had dwindled down to only a quarter-bag of taro when they landed. The situation became seri ous when the wind continued to blow for

the next two days, for their only hope had been to send the “Fetu’uaho” to Vavau for provisions.

Fortunately, on November 22, the weather conditions had somewhat mod erated, and the ‘‘Fetu’uaho”, with her patched sail, left for Vavau that morn ing, with the captain and crew.

However, the poor cutter’s trials were not yet over. Ordinarily, she ought to have made Vavau that afternoon, but at noon the wind freshened and the sail was again torn badly. Somehow, it was mended; and, after battling against wind and sea that afternoon and all that night, she reached Vavau with consider able difficulty on the morning of Novem ber 23—ten days after she left Niuafoou.

Immediately after her arrival, two cutters with provisions were despatched

to bring the passengers to Vavau, from Toku. Arriving at Toku in the after noon, they left in the evening with the passengers, and reached Vavau the fol lowing morning, November 24.

The experience of the “Fetu’uaho” re calls the fate of the cutter “Janet”. With Willie Mann (one of the old Mann family, of Vavau) as skipper, and with six Euro peans and a large number of Tongan passengers on board, the “Janet” com pletely disappeared, while making this same passage from Niuafoou to Vavau, in the same month (November, of 1918).

It was surmised that she had been struck by a storm when within sight of Vavau.

Mr. C. Schrader, of the Lands Depart ment, Port Moresby, left recently for Australia on leave.