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had swum after Mr. Barker had left the vessel. Cunningham informed the Messrs. Rhodes that Captain Ellis and Mr. Belcher were still alive and aboard the craft, and several attempts were made by the Messrs. Rhodes to rescue them, but they were totally unavailing, as the wreck had drifted into a cave, over a considerable distance of kelp-covered shallow reefs, upon which even in the calmest weather the sea broke fearfully. Cunningham stated that Ellis could have escaped as he did, by swimming, but refused to leave Belcher, who could not swim.

As can be imagined, this news created a great deal of excitement in Akaroa, and boats manned by volunteers were at once despatched to the scene of the wreck, in the hope of saving the unfortunate castaways. The weather remained moderate, and for three days every plan that could be thought of was tried to rescue the unfortunates, but without avail. The vessel in the meantime had broken up, and Ellis and Belcher had got upon a ledge of rock within the cave. It was thought that Ellis had received some injury, and was incapable of swimming in consequence, but of course nothing certain on this point can ever be known. Those who proceeded to the locality in the hope of rescuing the unfortunate sufferers cannnot reproach themselves with leaving any means untried. Ropes were drifted over the kelp into the cave, and Ellis upon one occasion managed to get a hold, but the strands parted, and the temporary communication was destroyed. A colored man named Dominique, a celebrated swimmer, spared no pains in his endeavors, but he tried his utmost unavailingly.

Captain Schenkel, of the Prince Alfred, was unremitting in his attempts, and devised many schemes to save the castaways, but they were all frustrated by the unrelenting ocean, which appeared determined to prevent either the entrance of the