The fourth installment of Annie’s diary…

The first day we were there Mr Porter, (our agent), took us for a long drive round Mount Eden which was once volcanic, and you can still see the remains of the crater. What struck me most was to see the Arum lilies growing in large clumps wild by the wayside, and the rocks covered with nasturtiums.

We went to a nursery where he procured me a bunch of flowers as large as I could hold with my two hands, in fact I never saw such a place for flowers, the roses were perfection. We went for a long walk one day and came to a bridge over a valley similar to Nightingale Valley, where there were palms and ferns from 6 feet high. We were at Auckland for five days from October 22nd to 26th. Harold and I explored the shops and he was soon well known in the place with his chattering. He was most delighted when he found some cannons in the Government grounds, one from Waterloo, another from Sebastapol.

Harry and I went one evening to the Biograph, the first entertainment we have been together for several years. It was very good and I need not say we enjoyed our young selves. We received our orders at Auckland to go to Port Moué (Noumea?) in New Caledonia to load nickel ore for New York so by the time we reach the latter place we shall have journeyed right round the globe. From Auckland we took more mails and two passengers, a French man and his son, a boy of 11 years who was great company for Harold although they could not understand each others talk. In fact, the only way we made each other understand was mostly by motions.

The island of New Caledonia belongs to the French and is used mostly by a settlement for convicts. It is surrounded by a coral reef which extends from 1 to 8 miles from the mainland. This makes the navigation very dangerous and as there are scarcely any lights round the coast it is rather difficult to find the way. We however reached Port Moué safely on the 31st October being 4½ days going from Auckland.

It is the queerest little place I ever came across consisting of about six houses. The labour is done by the convicts who are let out on hire by the Government, each gang of men having a gendarme with loaded revolver in case of any trying to escape. There was only one female in the place and she was a negress, there being no other females within 10 miles. The land was mostly iron ore and of course very barren. There were no stores of any kind to be had with the exception of a little beef and we found that as hard and as tasteless as leather. The weather was broiling and we were swarmed with mosquitoes, so much so that we could not sit with comfort on the deck after dusk and we had to cover every port hole with netting to try to keep them out but without much success. The weather was very trying and it took every bit of energy out of us.

The village of Nepoui was 10 miles away consisting of about 20 houses (no more), with a school house and post office, all built by our agent (Mr Bernheim). It was connected with Moué by a railway (such small little engines and trucks) which, by the by, is the only railway in the islands. We went so far to Mr Bernheims house one day, but it was such a long hot ride, and I did not care about coming back in the dark with so many natives and convicts about so Harold and I did not venture again although Harry went two or three times.

We were in this delightful place for 16 days with nothing to do and less to see, the only excitement was the arrival of the mail boat which calls for about two hours once a week. Mrs Bernheim and her two boys with an English lady and her daughter (Mrs and Miss Carter) came down on board one day to dinner but it poured with rain the whole of the day and I am afraid it was not very enjoyable for them. We got here some very nice shells which the convicts had engraved in their spare time. The Pilot went out to the reef to get us some coral. He also brought us some very fine lobsters. One of the convicts from whom we bought the shells gave me a tobacco jar which is carved from a piece of nickel ore. We had quite a number of shells of different sorts and a couple of carved cocoa nuts.

At last our cargo was all on board and as we were getting ready for sea the ship was stopped to be searched, as one of the convicts had managed to escape and the Authorities had their suspicions he was on board this ship. The gendarmes were coming at 6am and at midnight we were awakened by the watchman who said one of the boats was missing.

A search was made to see if all our men were on board and it was found the Engineer’s steward was absent. Harry had another boat launched at once. Mr Price with three men went to look for him. About half an hour afterwards he was seen coming back as he could not manage the boat. It appears the young rascal had tried to get away by himself and when he found he could not manage the boat he got frightened. If the wind had been blowing seaward the boat would have been lost. Harry had him put into irons and locked up until we had started.

The next morning the search began for the convict, two gendarmes and three native men with hatchets which they would not fail to use if necessary. They searched high and low but could not find him and after giving us a certificate to the effect that they had thoroughly searched the ship and he was not on board we were allowed to proceed to sea.

At 3pm November 17th the Pilot left us and we were at last homeward bound. The next day, Sunday, just as we were going to dinner, a most miserable looking man, covered in coal dust, no doubt the escaped convict, came up on deck and crouched down at Harry’s feet – no doubt begging him for mercy, but as he could not speak English we could not understand a word he was saying; Harry was in a fix. We were about 80 miles from land and although at first he decided to take the man back and went back about 15 miles, he finally decided to take him to Coronel.

It was pitiful to see the poor fellow, he was crying like a baby and I think we all felt sorry for him although he had brought all this suffering upon himself by his own sin.

One of the warders had told Mr Price his sentence was transportation for life for ill treating a woman with whom he had been living, who had squandered his money and after coming to blows she had eventually died from his treatment. This was his story.

At any rate, as soon as the Captain decided to take him on we looked him up some clothes and he soon got into the routine of ships work. Whether he will escape when we get to port remains to be seen.

The weather being beautifully fine we are able to be out on deck a great deal, and at night the sea is sometimes so full of phosphorescence that it seems on fire, it is a pretty sight, sometimes it is all like sparks of electric light. We have had a little diversion in the hatching and bringing up of a little canary, and it helps to pass away the time. We added to our farmyard at Auckland – two sheep – they throve very well on board and became quite tame. They would cry after Harold for biscuit whenever he came near them. When all their forage was gone we were obliged to kill them and fresh mutton goes well I can tell you after a month without any…