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LINES.
H. M. SLOOP "OSPREY" AT ANCHOR IN WANGAROA, NEW ZEALAND, SYMBOLICAL OF THE PURE STATE OF INFANCY.
How calm and tranquil is the deep upon its bosom blue,
That fairy form of man's device seems calmly sleeping too;
The gentle breeze scarce curls the tide which glides in silence by;
Its mimic billows round her bow just break the apathy
With which all nature seems entranc'd: how beautiful the scene,
Awakening thoughts of Him whose will has made the day serene.
That gallant bark resembles now the stage of infancy,
Reposing after sportive toil--no care comes chilling by;
But smiling lips and placid brow proclaim its happy dreams;
The sun doth gild its morn of life with brightest, purest beams:
Thus, swan-like, does she rest upon her home, the deep blue sea;
Safe from the war of elements, she rides like infancy.
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AN
ACCOUNT OF THE WRECK
OF
H. M. Sloop "Osprey."
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[Notice of sale of book]
725 MOON (Henry) An Account of the wreck of H. M. Sloop "Osprey," with the encampment of her crew, and their march across the Island of New Zealand. 12mo (some pages stained), Landport, 1858 5/-
[Handwritten note]
Presented to Auckland Public Library by Earle Vaile, March 1944.
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AN
ACCOUNT OF THE WRECK
OF
H. M. SLOOP "OSPREY;"
WITH THE
ENCAMPMENT OF HER CREW,
AND THEIR
MARCH ACROSS THE ISLAND OF NEW ZEALAND
BLENDED WITH
HENRY MOON, Author of this Work, served as Steward in H. M. S. Osprey, at the time of her wreck in 1846, under Captain Patten; in the same capacity in the Kestrel, at the Brazil Station, under Commander Baker, till 1850; in the Alecto, stationed at Sierra Leone, under Captain Lavie, till 1851; in the Tribune, stationed in the Black Sea, under Captain the Hon. S. T. Carnegie, till 1854; and in the Retribution, stationed in the Baltic, under Admiral Baynes, C. B. till 1856.
Landport:
PUBLISHED BY ANNETT AND ROBINSON
1858.
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AN
ACCOUNT OF THE WRECK
OF
H. M. SLOOP "OSPREY;"
WITH THE
ENCAMPMENT OF HER CREW,
AND THEIR
MARCH ACROSS THE ISLAND OF NEW ZEALAND:
BLENDED WITH
Moral and Scriptural Illustrations.
BY
ONE OF HER CREW.
"For this shall every one that is godly pray unto Thee in a time when Thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto Him."--Psalm xxxii. 6.
Landport:
PUBLISHED BY ANNETT AND ROBINSON.
1858.
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[PREFACE]
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EDITOR'S PREFACE.
THE preparation for publication of this "Memoir of the Loss of the Osprey," has been undertaken, at the request of the friends of the Compiler, for the benefit of his Widow, who is left in indigent circumstances.
Care has been taken, where correction was necessary, not to alter the style of the language generally used by the writer, who, though one of the humbler classes, and probably self-taught, exhibits, in his mode of expression, not only a cultivated mind, but a mind deeply imbued with, and responsive to, the poetry of religious truth; and a piety, which, being the sure work of the Holy Spirit, only shone brighter in the hour of trial and in the days of adversity.
His observations on, and description of the manners and customs of the New Zealanders, and of the scenery of that beautiful Island, are very remarkable; and a phenomenon in its natural history, but little known, yet
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verified by Professor Owen, relative to the transformation of a caterpillar into a plant, has not escaped his observant eye and enquiring mind.
God's mercies and blessings, because they came day by day, and were "new every morning," were not lost upon him, but were always most thankfully acknowledged.
In the hope that his bright example may be made influential on the hearts of those for whose spiritual good he yearned, and for whom, to the day of his death, it may be said, his language was, "Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Seamen is, that they might be saved," this Memoir is published. In death, as in life, his voice may be heard by them, exclaiming, "Be careful for nothing, but in every thing, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God; and the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds, through Christ Jesus."--Phil. iv. 5, 6.
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PREFACE.
IN the publication of this work I may be treading on dangerous ground, but it was the wish of my shipmates that it should he published. In detailing the various circumstances relative to the loss of this beautiful and most efficient vessel, the truth has been strictly adhered to. The catastrophe and subsequent occurrences shew the goodness of God's all-seeing wisdom, which has been exercised in countless instances. I have endeavoured to blend such repeated mercies, which must have been evident to the most thoughtless of its objects, with our daily employment on a barren sand; how far I have succeeded I leave to the indulgent reader. And now I launch this my literary first-born on the sea of existence, leaving it to battle the waves of opinions as may best please its various readers; and I can only hope, that, unlike the Osprey, the bar of censure may not thwart its humble course.
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LINES ON H. M. SLOOP "OSPREY."
Oh! mark the gallant
Osprey careering o'er the sea,
She cleaves the waters swiftly with her bow of symmetry;
And far to leeward flies the spray, beyond her curls the foam,
She sails majestic o'er the deep, the ocean is her home.
On deck, a hundred gallant souls her triumph seem to share,
As, onward to her destin'd port, she speeds like frighted hare
Old Albion's shores are dimly seen; the Lizard lights, afar,
Beam on her wake, and quickly fade, like morning's brilliant star.
But mark, alas! the mournful change, that gallant vessel view,
That late in conscious pride had borne her brave and hardy crew;
False Hokianga's treacherous bar has wreck'd her sylph-like form,
On which the surf loud roaring beats, discordant howls the storm,
And, shrieking wild around her wreck, their course the sea-mews wend,
As if in triumph at her fate, exulting in her end:
No more she'll brave the raging gale, or mount the crested billow,
Her course is run, her trial's
1o'er, the beach her last sad pillow!
And so with thee, poor BENTALL
2 from England's shore you came,
Thy heart beat high with joyous hope, for honour and for fame;
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That earthly honour yours--but short the time you bore it here,
For ocean was thy couch of death, the sands thy funeral bier.
Alas! too many shared thy fate, you died not thus alone,
The widow and the fatherless their sorrowing loss bemoan;
No more that parent dear they'll meet round that once happy hearth,
That breast that fondly cherish'd them has ceas'd to beat on earth.
Oh man! if e'er you ponder o'er the Almighty's word divine,
You'll see how near the Osprey's fate, too near, resembles thine;
Like her, you're launch'd to brave the storm upon life's changing sea,
Like her, if God be not your guide, a wreck you too will be;
For on the chequer'd sea of life there's many a treacherous bar
To wreck your hopes, tho' scarce you think your reckless course 'twill mar:
Then cast the vain delusive dream of sensual pleasure by,
Prepare thyself to meet thy God in blest eternity.
