Spectrum was a weekly radio documentary series which ran on Radio New Zealand's National station from 1972 to 2016. Alwyn Owen and Jack Perkins produced the series for many years, creating a valuable library of New Zealand oral history.
This episode is a dramatised radio feature produced by Alwyn Owen telling the story of the wreck of the bullion-carrying ship, “The General Grant” and the endurance of a handful of its survivors on the Auckland Islands. Written by Wade Doak with actors Matthew O’Sullivan, Alex Trousdell, Carl Brauer, Ken Blackburn
The story is re-told in a dramatisation from the perspective of two survivors, Irishmen Pat Caughey and Jim Teare from Dublin who met up on the Australian goldfields. After some success they decided to sail back to England from Melbourne in 1866 with their gold, on board the American barque “The General Grant”, along with gold to the value of $6 million from the Bank of New South Wales.
They sailed on 04 May 1866 in poor foggy weather and on the night of 14 May struck the rocky cliffs of Auckland Islands. The ship became wedged in a sea cave and eventually sank. The 83 passengers and crew tried to row to safety in lifeboats, but most were lost in the rough seas.
The 15 survivors rowed for Disappointment Island, and eventually landed days later. They only had six matches – five failed to light. Jim Teare managed to get the final match to light and the subsequent fire was never allowed to go out. He also began to keep a journal writing in charcoal on some sealskin: several extracts are read, describing the hunger and sickness which they suffered.
They found a store hut which was virtually empty and spotted a passing ship which failed to stop.
A description of how they managed to hunt the wild pigs with a hook and rope, and how Jim Teare made and sent out model boats with rescue messages.
A group of men decided to try and sail to New Zealand on a home-made boat but sailed too far to the east and were never seen again.
On 21st November 1867 a whaling ship was seen sailing close to the coast and spotted their beacon.
They were taken back to Bluff after 19 months as castaways, only 10 remaining of the original 83. A subsequent enquiry discovered the Auckland Islands had been charted in the wrong position, which accounted for the many shipwrecks there.
Jim Teare was given a gold watch in recognition of his efforts and led an expedition to try and salvage the gold which sank with The General Grant, but was unsuccessful, as were many subsequent explorations.