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Arrival of the First English Ship.
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veered round to an exactly opposite quarter, and speedily drifted us away from the land into comparative safety. Then arose sincere and hearty thanks-givings for deliverance in the hour of peril to Him who rules not only the winds and waves, but also the destiny of His creatures.

“With the appearance of day, the only spar we had on board was fixed so as to steer the vessel, and under sail we set out for the nearest, or any, port that could be found. On the 27th day of March, 1850, we made the heads of Akaroa Harbor, into which the owners had determined to enter, but the wind proved unfavorable for so unmanageable a rudder, and, in an almost starving condition, we were compelled to lie to for almost a week, before a fair wind arose for taking us in. On the 2nd day of April we entered the heads at about 7 a.m., and to our great delight saw a boat coming down the harbor towards us. The occupants soon boarded us, and amongst them was an old sea captain, who, knowing the harbor, had come to pilot us up to the anchorage, not forgetting to bring with him some eatables, consisting of new bread, butter, and watercress, which were portioned out, and devoured with voracious eagerness. It should have been stated that, on the day previous to our entering the heads, a boat with one of the officers and a crew of volunteers from amongst the passengers had proceeded down the harbor, and reported our arrival and condition, which was no doubt the cause of the boat with supplies coming to meet us.

“We let go anchor at one o’clock the same day, and in an hour afterwards many of us landed, thankful enough to be on terra firma again after our long and perilous voyage. Here and there might then have been seen small groups of the new arrivals wending their way to seek new friends amongst the strangers, astonished to find, instead of the tradi-