Castaway depot
A castaway depot is a store or hut placed on an isolated island to provide emergency supplies and relief for castaways and victims of shipwrecks.
A string of depots were built by the New Zealand government on their subantarctic islands in the late-19th and early-20th centuries that were kept supplied and patrolled until modern technologies and alteration in trade routes rendered them unnecessary.
Shipping in the subantarctic
The standard trade clipper route from Australia and New Zealand to Europe took a line-of-latitude route in the Southern Ocean. Ships dropped below the Roaring Forties to make use of the prevailing westerlies that carried them around Cape Horn. These winds could be strong and the waters treacherous; moreover, the smattering of islands was often poorly charted. For example, in 1868, Henry Armstrong of the Amherst notified the New Zealand government that the commonly used chart prepared by James Imray in 1851 placed the Auckland Islands south of their true position.Regardless of the charts' accuracy, the cloudy weather predominant in the area made navigation by sextant difficult. The uninhabited Auckland Islands lay directly within the standard route. In the event of a shipwreck on any of these islands, due to their subantarctic climate they offered little natural sustenance or provisions to castaways. Thomas Musgrave, captain of the that was wrecked on the Auckland Islands in 1864, described the "incessant gales, constant hail, snow and pelting rain" that plagued the survivors.
The Grafton, a schooner out of Sydney in search of tin deposits, ran aground in Carnley Harbour during a storm in January 1864; the five survivors lived in huts made from salvaged materials for 19 months before three members of the crew made the journey successfully to Stewart Island in five days in the repaired ship's boat; Captain Musgrave then arranged a rescue of the remaining two castaways. The same year, the three-masted clipper, en route to Chile, was wrecked on the northwestern end of the island. Of the 25 crew members, 19 made it ashore, but only three survived the winter. The others succumbed to exposure; they were unaware of the presence of the Grafton crew castaways to the south.
In 1866, the was wrecked on the western coast of Auckland Islands. Fifteen of the 83 on board survived the wreck, but only ten endured on the island until rescued by the Amherst 18 months later. These experiences prompted a concerted programme to manage the risk of castaways in the area, and depots were established.
Establishment of patrols and depots
Following the discovery of the shipwreck survivors on Auckland Island in 1867, New Zealand's Southland provincial government, and some Australian states, established a number of emergency depots on Auckland, Campbell, Antipodes and Bounty Islands. The initial expedition to create the depots was led by Henry Armstrong of the Amherst in 1868. The first wooden depot was built and provisioned at Sandy Bay, Enderby Island. In 1877, the central New Zealand government took over responsibility for managing the network of supply huts and cabins on their territorial islands to provide sustenance and emergency supplies.From 1877 to 1927, government steamers such as, patrolled the depots to check for survivors and maintain the facilities. The steamers visited each island every six months, doing maintenance and repairs of the facilities, cutting firewood for the huts, and dropping off stocks of live animals. The steamers also transported a number of scientific expeditions that enabled collections and observations on the islands to be made.
After about 1927, patrols and depot maintenance were discontinued due to improved radio technology and the falling out of use of the 40°S route for trade.
Depots and island provisions
Government work crews built the supply depots out of various materials and to various sizes and designs. They were equipped with a range of emergency rations, clothing, blankets, fishing equipment, medicine, matches and tools, and weapons and ammunition. Clothing was specially made out of durable, warm fabrics, and stored in metal drums. "Finger posts" were set up on the island to direct castaways to the huts.Various animals were released onto the islands to breed and provide food for castaways. Pigs were released on the Auckland Islands from the early 19th century, followed later by goats on Auckland, Enderby, Ewing, and Ocean Island in the Auckland Group as well as on The Snares, the Antipodes and Campbell groups. Sheep were also widespread, and rabbits were released at Enderby and Auckland Island in 1840, and Rose Island in 1850. Cattle were temporarily farmed on Enderby Island, but had been released there earlier as castaway stock. Many of these animals died, but some survived into the 20th century.
These small populations remained isolated from other breeds, and consequently many, such as the Auckland Island pig, Enderby Island cattle and the Enderby Island rabbit, retain rare characteristics. The Department of Conservation has transported some of these previously introduced animal populations off the islands and onto the New Zealand mainland, where they are monitored by the Rare Breeds Conservation Society of New Zealand, in an effort to return the subantarctic islands to their natural state. The goats, however, became extinct before these efforts began.
Some islands were provided with boatsheds to enable survivors to reach other land or close castaway depots, such as the depot on Enderby Island that was replaced by a boat shed for survivors to reach the nearby Auckland Island. The survivors of the, in 1887, built a punt to carry them from Enderby Island to Auckland Island. Following their rescue, a government steamer moved the punt to a new boatshed on Rose Island, for the use of any marooned there. After the collapse of the historic Rose Island boatshed in 1973, the punt was transferred to Enderby Island. It is now on display at the Southland Museum.
Some depots were targeted by thieves, whalers and other seamen who saw the depots as a source of free food and provisions. To discourage raiding, clothing left at the depots was often distinctively marked, so it could be identified, and warnings were painted on the huts.
Depot locations
On the Auckland Islands, depots were established on the main island at the inner reaches of Norman Inlet, and at Erebus Cove, Port Ross. The boatshed and ruined depot are the only historical buildings left at Erebus Cove.Also present in Erebus Cove is a southern rātā tree with a carved inscription commemorating the routine castaway survey visit of the Australian government ship Victoria in 1865.
Camp Cove, on Carnley Harbour, had a depot, shelter and boatshed. On Enderby Island, the Stella Hut was located inland from the later boat shed at Sandy Bay. Rose Island and Ewing Island had boatsheds. Signposts were located throughout the islands.
On the Campbell Islands, depots were located at Hut Cove, Anchorage Bay. A depot was established on the rocky Bounty Islands. In 1891, while on a cruise in search of the missing ships Kakanui and Assaye, Captain Fairchild of the Hinemoa noted that the Bounty Island depot had been destroyed by waves, even though located 100 ft above sea level. Attempts were made to land wood for rebuilding, but bad weather prevented the completion of the task.
A number of these depots are still in situ and are managed by the Department of Conservation ; these include the 1908 hut on Antipodes Island, the 1880 Stella Hut on Enderby Island, and the boatshed on Enderby. The 1890s castaway depot at Camp Cove, Carnley Harbour, on Auckland Island was identified in a 2003 DOC survey as "worthy of inclusion on the 'actively managed' list." DOC also maintain other historical sites on the islands, including shipwreck relics.
Notable shipwrecks
There were a total of nine shipwrecks leaving marooned castaways in the New Zealand subantarctic between 1833 and 1908. Some survivors' lives were saved by the existence of the castaway depots. The Auckland Islands alone had eight known shipwrecksincluding those with no survivorsbetween 1864 and 1907, at the cost of 121 lives; a number of these are buried at the historic Enderby cemetery.''Derry Castle''
The first castaways to make use of one of these depots were members of the crew of the, an iron barque that was wrecked on Enderby Island on 20 March 1887. Eight of the 23 crew made it ashore. A depot was in place at Sandy Bay, but looters had removed all supplies but a bottle of salt, so the castaways subsisted on shellfish and a small quantity of wheat recovered from the wreck. After 92 days they discovered an axe head in the sand and were able to use it to build a boat from the wreckage.Two of the men navigated the boat to nearby Erebus Cove, Port Ross, on Auckland Island, where they obtained supplies from the government depot that had been established there. They then returned to collect the remaining men, and the group lived at Port Ross until they were rescued by the sealer Awarua on 19 July, that took them to Melbourne.
''Compadre''
Four years later, on 19 March 1891, the barque was overwhelmed by fire on board. With seas too rough to launch boats, the barque was driven onto the rocks off the North Cape of Auckland Island. All of the 17 crew members made it ashore, although one of them later died.They obtained relief and sustenance from two nearby depots, supplemented by livestock that had been released onto the island, and survived in comparatively good health until rescued 122 days later by the sealing schooner Janet Ramsay on 30 June, and carried to Bluff.