Betsy
In late December 1814, Captain Phillip Goodenough sailed his ship Betsy out of Port Jackson, bound for Macquarie Island. On board were 33 men, including six lascars, thirteen of which were left on the island for sealing, with enough stores to last them until the ship returned.
Captain Goodenough then sailed Betsy for Auckland Islands where scurvy took hold of his crew and he lost two men. Betsy sailed back to Macquarie Island. Once there, she was blown offshore in a gale and after three weeks of battling raging seas and winds, Captain Goodenough admitted defeat and set course for Sydney. Incredibly the doomed voyage continued as Betsy hit nor’west gales and was driven back towards New Zealand. By now provisions were scant and scurvy rampant. Men disabled with pain lay about unable to gather strength to man the ship, which had been badly damaged in rough seas. Tragically, Betsy drifted in whichever direction the weather or waves saw fit, and one by one, the men began to die.
Eventually she drifted to within site of Cook Strait but the wind deserted them, and Betsy became becalmed. The site of land so near only increased their desperation as the survivors committed another body to the deep. Eventually a wind came up. It carried the stricken vessel out to sea again. Two weeks later Betsy lay off the Bay of Islands and the men mustered their every last ounce of strength to attempt to run her into the Bay. A squall suddenly enveloped the ship, ripping away her sails. The men, beaten by their battles with the sea and the weather, could only wait to see what form their tragic end would take. When the last of their water was gone they launched a jollyboat and whaleboat into which they climbed twenty miles from land, abandoning Betsy to the sea. As men continued to die, their bodies were buried at sea, until only twelve remained.
In the smaller boats the men battled the waves but try as they might, they couldn't shorten the distance to land. Eventually the decision was made to save the stronger men and the weaker four were loaded into the jolly and set adrift. So terribly sick, no one expected them to last more than a couple of hours, but one asked for his jacket to protect him from the cold.
For twelve hours the surviving eight summoned every last bit of energy, to fight their way to land. Eventually they reached the near North Cape. Shortly after coming ashore Captain Philip Goodenough died. As did one lascar, leaving justsix men remaining - four lascars, Thomas Rogers and Thomas Hunt. At last free of Betsy and the sea, a new danger descended upon the wretched men as native New Zealanders surrounded them.
Taken into captivity, the men were lead away at the end of a spear believing that each miserable step they stumbled was one closer to being killed and eaten. For a week the men lived in constant fear of the cannibals who were holding them. Finally there were assured that their lives would be spared and when a sail came into sight the Maori prepared a canoe to take them to the ship. It passed before they were able to reach it. It was not until three months later that the few surviving crew of Betsy were at last rescued from North Cape, by Captain Hansen in his brig Active.
Captain Goodenough then sailed Betsy for Auckland Islands where scurvy took hold of his crew and he lost two men. Betsy sailed back to Macquarie Island. Once there, she was blown offshore in a gale and after three weeks of battling raging seas and winds, Captain Goodenough admitted defeat and set course for Sydney. Incredibly the doomed voyage continued as Betsy hit nor’west gales and was driven back towards New Zealand. By now provisions were scant and scurvy rampant. Men disabled with pain lay about unable to gather strength to man the ship, which had been badly damaged in rough seas. Tragically, Betsy drifted in whichever direction the weather or waves saw fit, and one by one, the men began to die.
Eventually she drifted to within site of Cook Strait but the wind deserted them, and Betsy became becalmed. The site of land so near only increased their desperation as the survivors committed another body to the deep. Eventually a wind came up. It carried the stricken vessel out to sea again. Two weeks later Betsy lay off the Bay of Islands and the men mustered their every last ounce of strength to attempt to run her into the Bay. A squall suddenly enveloped the ship, ripping away her sails. The men, beaten by their battles with the sea and the weather, could only wait to see what form their tragic end would take. When the last of their water was gone they launched a jollyboat and whaleboat into which they climbed twenty miles from land, abandoning Betsy to the sea. As men continued to die, their bodies were buried at sea, until only twelve remained.
In the smaller boats the men battled the waves but try as they might, they couldn't shorten the distance to land. Eventually the decision was made to save the stronger men and the weaker four were loaded into the jolly and set adrift. So terribly sick, no one expected them to last more than a couple of hours, but one asked for his jacket to protect him from the cold.
For twelve hours the surviving eight summoned every last bit of energy, to fight their way to land. Eventually they reached the near North Cape. Shortly after coming ashore Captain Philip Goodenough died. As did one lascar, leaving justsix men remaining - four lascars, Thomas Rogers and Thomas Hunt. At last free of Betsy and the sea, a new danger descended upon the wretched men as native New Zealanders surrounded them.
Taken into captivity, the men were lead away at the end of a spear believing that each miserable step they stumbled was one closer to being killed and eaten. For a week the men lived in constant fear of the cannibals who were holding them. Finally there were assured that their lives would be spared and when a sail came into sight the Maori prepared a canoe to take them to the ship. It passed before they were able to reach it. It was not until three months later that the few surviving crew of Betsy were at last rescued from North Cape, by Captain Hansen in his brig Active.
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