The Victoria Tree

Produced by New Zealand Geographic

After the Grafton wrecked on Auckland Island, three men built and sailed a vessel to Stewart Island. Two men left on the island were subsequently rescued, which rallied state governments in Australia to search for more shipwreck victims, deploying the HMCS Victoria. In Erebus Cove the trunk of a rātā tree was chiselled flat and an inscription was carved into the wood: ‘H.M.C.S. VICTORIA NORMAN IN SEARCH OF SHIPWRECKED PEOPLE OCT 13TH 1865’. The crew also released goats and rabbits on Enderby Island to provide food for castaways, but no further survivors were found.

Related Episodes

Primeval New Zealand

45 minutes / 2011

Predator or Prey

48 minutes / 2019

Islands of Life

48 minutes / 2019

Summer’s End

48 minutes / 2019

Malaria Storm

48 minutes / 2019

×

Subscribe to our free newsletter for news and prizes

3 FREE ARTICLES LEFT

Subscribe for $1  | 

3 FREE ARTICLES LEFT THIS MONTH


Keep reading for just $1

$1 trial for two weeks, thereafter $8.50 every two months, cancel any time

Signed in as . Sign out