THE OSPREY.

Inangahua Times, Volume IX, Issue 1478, 3 December 1884, Page 2

THE OSPREY.

0 (Timaru Herald.) Apropos of the Osprpy, tlit* vpkspl which formed tiv subject of i Not* ypstord iy, in connection with the Tich borne trial, we have recived with nvich pleasure som 3 further pa'tionlar^ from O-ipt. Oain, w'towaso'ie of the ea-liest settlers in the North Inland, and who his 'a singularly distinct recollection of incidents thatnscurred at that interesting period which p -or^eded the regular colonisation of Now Zea'arul. Cain tells us thaf he remembers theOsprey well, and has frequently been on board of her. She was one of 12 brigs of war of a u«w patten which wore 'milt as an experiment to the ordor of the Admiralty by 12 of thp leading shipbuilding firms in the United Kingdom. The Ospivy was built l>y the well known firm of White Brothers, of Cowes, in the Isle of Wight, and was considered a magnificent vessel of her class at that time. She came to N«w ' Zealand in 1844, under the command ! of Cantain Patt«n, Sir Evorard Hottif '■ heimr Conmorlorp. of the station. In 1817 or 1848. when th« Oaprpy was , imkinjj Hokianira, then a favotvite rendezvous of the ships of war, the sail in« master raiatonk a deceptive ; inlet on the coast, called Falsi; Hokianga for the. harbour of destination, and ran the brig ashore., where she became a total wreck. The catasrophe, which was accompanied by the i loss of a midshipman and a whole boat's j crew, who were drowned by the ! swampinsf of the boat in the sn,f , on the beach was said to have been caused by a trival incident. The pilot at Hokianga was in the habit of displaying a red fl i«j as a signal to any ' approaching shin that the entrance was safe and Captain Patten de.clared that he was induced to run I ashore at False Hokianga by seeing what he took for this signal, but what I turned ont to be a Maori waving a red i blanket. This story save.d him at the I court-martial, but there were a good \ many people who thought it was more fit. to be told to tli° marines than to : anybody else. However that may ■ have been, this is a strictly authentic I account of the loss of the Osprey, which Captain Cain is quite sure took place not later than 1848. As to her having come out to Sydney or Melbourne, she may quite, possibly have done so, because Sydney was the headquarters of the fleet, and there were a considerable number of troops both at Sydney and at Melbourne. His im pression, nevertheless, is that she came I first to New Zealand, and was constantly employed in the operations against the Natives, or in visiting the scattered settlements along the coast until she was wrecked in the manner we have described.