Somewhere the 'Snark' lives

By Russ Kingman

When the famous American writer, Jack London, decided to embark on a world cruise, he and his wife, Charmian, borrowed the name Snark for their new boat, from The Hunting of the Snark, a mock heroic poem by Lewis Carroll.

The famous cruise of the Snark (about which London was later to write a book), ended in the Solomon Islands when illness forced London to head for Sydney and hospital. When his doctor advised him that he must abandon his cherished world cruise he decided to sell the Snark.

Justus Scharff Ltd., 18 York Street Sydney, sold the Snark to an English syndicate in 1910. In 1913 while owned by a Captain Briault she was used in the South Pacific as a lighter to take a cargo of maize to a steamer loading off the shore. When the loading was completed she sank at her moorings with only parts of her masts being visible. She was raised. but evidently nothing was done for several months.

As of September 1, 1913 (according to a letter from Justus Scharff kLtd. to Charmian London) nothing

had been done to repair the engines or the vessel. At that time the Snark was tied up at a small island, Aore, off Santo, New Hebrides, and was not in any condition to go to sea.

Charmian had been told that the Snark was seen sealing in the Behring Sea; others said they were aboard her in Kodiak, Alaska, in 1911, but these stories were evidently just rumours, because the Scharff Co, said the Snark was tied up in Sydney Harbour from the time they sold her to the English syndicate in 1910, until she was purchased by Captain Briault sometime before 1913.

Martin Johnson (the famous African explorer) was a crew mem ber of the Snark for the entire voyage with the Londons in 1907-1908. In 1917 Martin and his wife Osa re turned to the New Hebrides and at a port at Santo they caught a glimpse of the Snark. Page 128 of / Married Adventure, by Osa Johnson, records it: “Leaning on the rail we were watching the activity in the harbour when Martin straightened suddenly.

His face was drawn and tense. I

followed the direction of his gaze, but all I saw was a small, dirty recruiting ship, swarming with greasy blacks.

The paint had once been white under all that filth, and her lines were beautiful. Suddenly my breath caught in my throat.

“ ‘Not the SnarkV I said.

“She was a pitiable sight. They could not alter her trim lines; but her metal, her paint, her rigging had been shamefully neglected and ill treated. Frowzy and unbelievably dirty she reminded me somehow of an aristocrat fallen upon evil days.

I looked up at Martin. He shook his head. T’m glad Jack and Charmian never saw her that way’; he said, swallowing hard.”

In response to a letter published in PIM (June, p. 36) appealing for information, Mr. A. G. Hamlyn- Harris, of Undine Bay, New Hebrides, told me: “Apparently some time before my father came to Undine Bay in 1927 the Snark was anchored due to bad weather in the inner part of Undine Bay called Palau Bay. During the hurricane the Snark capsized and

• This is, or was, the "Snark", a fine vessel built for Jack Lon don, in which he cruised the South Seas in 1907. Now a group of Californian merchants believes she might still be in the South Seas somewhere and has asked PIM for help. A member of the group, Russ Kingman, here tells of his own search for the "Snark" and gives us the background of the quest.

Used dynamite

sank. My uncle went to assist and they had to apparently use dynamite to free the mast as the boat was on its side and could not be righted with the mast intact. It was then apparently salvaged and repaired, and left.”

In 1927, Miss Viola Irene Cooper and Miss Jean Schoen, of Oakland, visited Noumea, and reported that the Snark was in the New Hebrides at that time.

Jack and Charmian London had kept track of the Snark up until World War I. Charmian tried to find traces of her after that but heard no more until the late ’2o’s. An article in the Oakland Tribune on August 6, 1930, carried the headline “Widow Mourns Loss of Jack London’s Lost Yacht”. According to this article the Snark went ashore while trading among the islands and waves tore her to pieces.

Mr. Irving Shenard, Jack London’s nephew, tells me that the Snark caught fire and burned to the water line somewhere near the New Hebrides.

In 1941 the Oakland Tribune carried the story that Jack London’s Snark had shown up in the Behring Sea and was known as the Saucy Lass. She supported a new bow.

In June, 1947, Westway’s Magazine printed an article by Robert Clark entitled “My Hunting of the Snark”.

This story was very similar to the Oakland Tribune article of 1941.

Mr. Clark even traced her down to the mudbanks of the West Basin of the Los Angeles Harbour. He seemed so certain, that I was nearly con vinced, but I traced the history of the Saucy Lass, and it was soon clear that the Saucy Lass and the Snark were not the same boat. The Saucy Lass was about 90 ft with a beam of 23 ft while the Snark was 43 ft long and had a 15 ft beam.

Thus stands the quest for the Snark.

Jack London stated that she would be afloat for 500 years. With only the facts so far discovered and a goodly portion of optimism, I believe as he did. Somewhere in this world the Snark is still afloat. But where?

A study of her construction under scores Jack’s belief in her longevity.

Her garboard strake was 3 in. thick, her planking 2i in. and the deck planking was 2 in. and all of solid oak. There were four watertight bulkheads. She was 43 ft at the water line, 57 ft overall and had a beam of 15 ft with a 7 ft 8 in. draft.

Headroom was 6 ft. The deck wasJ

unbroken except for two companion ways and a hatch for’ard. There was no house and no hold.

In memory of Jack, the city of Oakland, California, named its water front complex of restaurants Jack London Square. The saloon in which Jack London met Johnny Heinold, The First and Last Chance, is still operating at the square and recently the cabin in which he lived while prospecting for gold in the Yukon Territory during the Klondike gold rush of 1897-98 was moved next to it.

Now the merchants of Jack London Square want to sponsor a Sea Scout ship and the only logical boat for them to operate is the Snark. If only someone can come up with her whereabouts, they hope to restore her to her former glory and sail her wherever people have an interest in Jack London—and that is world-wide in scope.

If our search proves fruitless, then we hope to build another. Maybe it will be only possible to find a few remains on some lonely beach in the South Pacific. Even this would be well worth the three years search because these could be built into the new boat and give it a Jack London feeling.

We hope PIM readers will join the search and pictures of any construc tion detail will be eagerly forwarded to anvone who thinks they have found the Snark. The merchants might even fly the discoverer to Jack London Square for the maiden voyage of the restored or new Snark.