Anchorage Islet

[?]gh Captain Defended His [ ?] to Suwarrow

Moke-Out Ended The Siege Of

By J.P.S.

WARROW atoll a sprinkling of insignificant islets around 20 square miles of reef-studded on, and no indigenous popula , Yet surely no comparable id anywhere has had such an aordinarily interesting history, probably no year of that history more eventful than 1876. lis is brought to mind by a ; just published in New Zealand H. and A. W. Reed, a publish firm which specialises in irical journals of New Zealand the Pacific Islands. Entitled, Mair Family, and written by Andersen and G. C. Petersen, luches on the Pacific wander of Henry Abbot Mair, one ber of this interesting family, was on the scene when a part iwarrow’s colourful history was ted in September, 1876.

December, 1874, the Auckland of Henderson and Macfarlane a Captain H. B. Sterndale as mger in their 84-ton brigantine • (Captain Bower) to look over i trading possibilities in the s. Prospects seemed good and ain Sterndale, with his wife, a

foreman named Peter Petersen, H. A. Mair and possibly others, re mained at Suwarrow to set up head quarters there bn Anchorage Islet.

From a perusal of Auckland newspapers of the day it is evident that a difference of opinion quickly developed between Captain Stern dale and the firm, which looked on him merely as a manager. Captain Sterndale, as soon as he saw the possibilities, claimed that Suwarrow —which was not placed under British sovereignty until April, 1889 —was his and not Henderson and Macfarlane’s. The legal status of the island being what it was, the firm looked on the matter as a domestic affair and dealt with it in the manner of the day. More of that in a moment.

After landing at Suwarrow, Cap tain Sterndale and his party lost no time in erecting a substantial dwelling and a store. They soon had gardens and fruit trees of vari ous kinds, also horses, sheep, goats, and pigs, established and thriving.

Late in 1875, the brand-new 36ton Auckland schooner Kriemhilda was chartered by Henderson and

Macfarlane to recruit labour for Suwarrow at Manihiki, and seems to have remained in the area, based on Suwarrow, to at least September, 1876.

First excitement came on June 21 that year when the 223-ton Ameri can barque Onward, Captain J. S.

Black, with nine crew and a cargo of 257,000 ft of lumber, struck the reef—about 8.30 p.m. The vessel had been bound from Puget Sound to Noumea, the cargo being consigned to Higginson, Morgan and Co. there. The vessel, which was owned by Renton Holmes and Co., of San Francisco, soon began to break up.

Fortunately, the crew were able to remain with the ship until daylight, when they made a perilous land ing on the reef in heavy surf with floating baulks of timber everywhere. They were greatly sur prised to see a boat coming across from Anchorage Islet to pick them up, for they imagined that Suwarrow was uninhabited. The Ryno arrived the following day from Rakahanga, bound Auckland, and took the castaways off the scene. But the wreck gave Sterndale much valuable timber.

Two months later, on August 2, the Auckland schooner Peerless, recently purchased by Henderson and Macfarlane, also went on the atoll and became a total loss. This vessel had an interesting earlier history, having been seized from Colonel Steinberger, of Samoa, virtual ruler there for a while, by

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HMS Barracouta —b ut that is another story. The wreck, which contained little cargo, was sold on the reef to foreman Peter Petersen for £2O. She had been despatched from Auckland via Palmerston and Tongatabu and was on her maiden voyage for her new owners, under command of a Captain Metcalfe.

Reports in the Auckland papers suggested that these and possibly other wrecks were due in part to the atoll being wrongly charted.

Returning to the disputed owner ship of Suwarrow. We find from the Auckland papers that Mr. H. W.

Henderson left Auckland in the Ryno on October 10, 1875, but it is not clear just when he arrived at Suwarrow —he may have transferred to the Kriemhilda in the Cook Islands, or he may have spent some time at another of the islands visited by the Ryno. But he was evidently there in September, 1876, with the object of ejecting Captain Sterndale and replacing him by a Captain Fernandez. This incident is related in the book, The Mair Family.

Henry Abbot Mair, a close friend of Sterndale, and by now super cargo in Ryno, arrived back at the Island to find Sterndale and his wife under siege in the house. They had retired there armed with a

rifle and were holding off Mr.

Henderson, Captain Fernandez and others who, having no access to the house, were based aboard Kriem hiLda anchored in the lagoon. The siege continued into October and Mair, known to be sympathetic towards Sterndale, was forbidden to

land from the Ryno. But he sw 7 ashore one night with the ideaj reinforcing Sterndale.

While crawling up the beach j the dark he heard a clinking sout investigated and found a tuu scooping a hole in which to lay eg In the hole were some Spanish ccc

low to be seen in the Auckland ar Memorial Museum). Further vestigation revealed a rusting etal chest. This incident has been eviously told in Annals of a New »aland Family, by Mrs. Howard ,ckson, a relative of Mair.

The chest evidently contained ins and jewellery, but this was an opportune time to take possession id Mr. Mair reburied it nearby. * intended to return at a later te but never managed to do so., hr does not seem to have given e Sterndales any useful aid, linly because the only sources of Inking water were picketed by ; Henderson team, Mter 16 days of siege, Captain jrndale was forced to make a bid • water. He promptly bumped 0 Fernandez and two other men. rnandez, who was wearing only pareu, reached into its folds as >ugh to draw a pistol. Sterndale ;d into the ground close to him i, according to Sterndale’s nunt, Fernandez dropped as lugh hit but made off at high ed in a series of crouching, frog -1 leaps. Sterndale retired again the house, minus water. text came an ultimatum from nandez that the house would be on fire and that Sterndale was come out minus his rifle— erwise the beseigers would open on him. The Sterndales held on a while longer but eventually e forced out by dense clouds of king smoke from a fire built to dward of the house. The game ! up. he New Zealand Herald, of ober 30, 1876, reports the arrival the Ryno from Suwarrow with Sterndales, Mair, Fernandez, castaway crew of the Peerless, others of the Henderson and 3farlane team aboard. It said tain Fernandez intended to bring action against Captain Sterndale intent to kill. A couple of days r the Herald reported the court found that, because of the us of Suwarrow, it had no juris ;ion in the case, which pra lably was dropped. Mr. Hender evidently was left in possession ihe island which, however, was i abandoned.

Ithough the Henderson and :farlane firm still thrives to-day is Auckland agent for Matson other shipping lines), the flag the once well-known Circular Line has long since disappeared [i the seas. A full history of this pany’s shipping associations i the Pacific Islands will )ably never be written, for noth appears to be known to-day of fate of its old records covering interesting period and only ments can be gleaned from the ping columns of the early ckl a n d newspapers. So the France of this recent book will welcomed by all interested in Pacific, and especially Cook

nds history.