Question No 1, Mr. R. Fraser of Somerville Victoria wanted to know if there were actual bodies found floating off the coast in the East London area?
The sighting of the bodies emanate from two ships, the "Insizwa" and the "Tottenham." Both reports relate to the same day 11th August 1909.
1, The master of the "Insizwa" said that when about 10 miles off the Bashee River on that date, he sighted four objects in the water floating beneath the surface, and they looked suspiciously like human bodies. The sea was to heavy for a boat to be lowered to investigate. Two of his officers also saw the objects; one of the officers was inclined to agree with the master, the other declined to offer an opinion.
2, Certain officers of the steamship "Tottenham' state that when she was 20 or 25 miles south of East London on the same day, they saw some human bodies in the water. This was reported to the master, who at once put back, and from what he saw he was disposed to consider that what were taken for human remains were nothing more than dead sunfish or whale offal. It was stated by a witness that there is a whaling station at Durban from whence a large amount of such offal is set adrift. The Court is inclined to accept the explanation offered by the master of the "Tottenham". The "Waratah" was last seen by the "Clan Macintyre" at 9.30am on the 27th of July 1909, and was then abreast of the Bashee River. Throughout that day "Waratah" must have made considerable progress to the south; she was not at any rate overhauled by the "Clan Macintyre". She must consequently have passed East London before she met the heavy storm to which she probably succumbed, and if she did so succumb, her loss must have taken place some distance south of the most southerly point where the presence of dead bodies was reported. The whole set of the current in that part of the sea is southward and westward, and, on the above mentioned supposition, any bodies from the "Waratah" would have drifted with it in a direction away from the Bashee River. Even if it be suggested that they at the time of observation not long risen from the submerged ship, the facts that the latter, if she had foundered would be lying much further south, and that the set of the current is southward and westward, are still against the possibility of the bodies being where they were said to have been.
SS INSIZWA LEAVING DURBAN, CAPTAIN MOORE IN COMMAND.
The two yellow crosses in the bottom left hand corner of the map show the positions where the Insizwa and the Tottenham sighted bodies on the 11th of August 1909.
Another ship the Director was reported in newspapers as having also sighted bodies in the same area.
ss DIRECTOR, HARRISON LINE COMMANDED BY CAPTAIN BICKERSTAFF.
The Court made it quite clear if there were bodies they could not have come from the Waratah as she would have been much further south than were the bodies were sighted. The Court further gave the impression that there were no bodies after two search vessels went out to investigate and reported back there were no bodies only whale blubber and dead fish and skate. The captain of the Insizwa and the officers of the Tottenham gave a vivid description of bodies and body parts as sighted by them. So why disbelieve navigating officers and engineers who are all trained observers and what possible reason could they possibly have to make up such a story, these bodies were sighted independently by three different ships. There is no doubt in my mind after reading their observations that the bodies existed but the question remains where or what vessel did they come from?. At first I thought they may have come from a French trading vessel Menarandra that operated between Madagascar and East London. At first it was reported on the 26th of August 1909 that she was 24 days overdue and may be assisting the Waratah. On the 7th of September 1909 another report by cable news reported that, the French steamer Menarandra 1,065 tons which left Madagascar for East London 300 miles south of Durban on the 25th of July last, and was therefore 35 days overdue on a voyage which usually occupies 4 days, has made her appearance at last. The ship has put into Dieago Suarez in the extreme north of Madagascar in a damaged state.
I can only draw one conclusion that the bodies and whale blubber, dead sunfish and skate etc, could have only come from a whaling ship that was either destroyed by fire or in the cyclone that hit the South African Coast at the time the Waratah foundered. Whaling ships left their home ports and stayed away for up to three years or more so if one was lost it would be some great length of time before the ship and crew were missed.
Charles W. Morgan Last wooden whaler in the world was typical of the whalers that found their way into South African waters, they were fully independent and processed the whole whale at sea.
Wives and children of the captain often accompanied him on voyages due to the long separation they would have suffered if not allowed to do so, it also helped keep families together. Perhaps the lady in a nightdress seen floating by and a young girl in red could well have been daughter and wife of a whaling ships captain that perished off South Africa in that period. One thing is for certain and that is the vessel must have foundered or burnt well to the north of East London and the remains drifted down with the current. There was a report of a warship sighting a ship on fire at night somewhere in the vicinity of Cape Hermes near port St John, however it could well have been a whaler boiling blubber down in the try pots to produce oil and mistaken for a ship on fire.
Whaling ships with their try pots blazing away boiling blubber down to produce oil, a single whaler at night from a distance might appear to be a ship on fire.
Another ship the Director was reported in newspapers as having also sighted bodies in the same area.
ss DIRECTOR, HARRISON LINE COMMANDED BY CAPTAIN BICKERSTAFF.
The Court made it quite clear if there were bodies they could not have come from the Waratah as she would have been much further south than were the bodies were sighted. The Court further gave the impression that there were no bodies after two search vessels went out to investigate and reported back there were no bodies only whale blubber and dead fish and skate. The captain of the Insizwa and the officers of the Tottenham gave a vivid description of bodies and body parts as sighted by them. So why disbelieve navigating officers and engineers who are all trained observers and what possible reason could they possibly have to make up such a story, these bodies were sighted independently by three different ships. There is no doubt in my mind after reading their observations that the bodies existed but the question remains where or what vessel did they come from?. At first I thought they may have come from a French trading vessel Menarandra that operated between Madagascar and East London. At first it was reported on the 26th of August 1909 that she was 24 days overdue and may be assisting the Waratah. On the 7th of September 1909 another report by cable news reported that, the French steamer Menarandra 1,065 tons which left Madagascar for East London 300 miles south of Durban on the 25th of July last, and was therefore 35 days overdue on a voyage which usually occupies 4 days, has made her appearance at last. The ship has put into Dieago Suarez in the extreme north of Madagascar in a damaged state.
I can only draw one conclusion that the bodies and whale blubber, dead sunfish and skate etc, could have only come from a whaling ship that was either destroyed by fire or in the cyclone that hit the South African Coast at the time the Waratah foundered. Whaling ships left their home ports and stayed away for up to three years or more so if one was lost it would be some great length of time before the ship and crew were missed.
Wives and children of the captain often accompanied him on voyages due to the long separation they would have suffered if not allowed to do so, it also helped keep families together. Perhaps the lady in a nightdress seen floating by and a young girl in red could well have been daughter and wife of a whaling ships captain that perished off South Africa in that period. One thing is for certain and that is the vessel must have foundered or burnt well to the north of East London and the remains drifted down with the current. There was a report of a warship sighting a ship on fire at night somewhere in the vicinity of Cape Hermes near port St John, however it could well have been a whaler boiling blubber down in the try pots to produce oil and mistaken for a ship on fire.
Whaling ships with their try pots blazing away boiling blubber down to produce oil, a single whaler at night from a distance might appear to be a ship on fire.
Try pot fire place where whale blubber was minced up and fed into giant pots.
Giant try pots in which whale blubber was rendered down.
Mincing the blubber ready for the Try pots.
Whale blubber being hoisted aboard prior to chopping up for the pots.
Whaling ships were covered everywhere in oil or grease so if a fire did break out it would be a raging inferno and soon burn down to the waterline and sink the ship just below the surface. The question is did the ship catch fire and they all took to the boats only to be drowned in the storm. The next question arises where did the blubber, offal, sunfish, and skate come from? At that time of the year they would have been hunting the massive sperm whale on it migration to the warmer waters of Madagascar for breeding. If the crew were in the process if of dismembering the whale its stomach contents would have disgorged various sea creatures. These whales were bottom feeders and ate sharks skate sunfish seals and other large creatures. So if the storm struck when the crew were in the process of cutting up the whale this would account for the floating contents of the whales stomach along with the human remains sighted by the ships. A tug was sent out from East London to search for the bodies and when at Mazeppa bay came across birds feeding on dead skate and pieces of whale but did not see any bodies. The bodies by this time were probably taken by sharks as one of the observers on the ss Tottenham had earlier saw the remains of a torso of a human being, obviously it had been attacked by a shark.
Pictures show the South African black stingray weighing up to 250 kgs and 6 feet across, they are one of the largest stingrays in the world, sperm whales feed on them.
Whale blubber being hoisted aboard prior to chopping up for the pots.
Whaling ships were covered everywhere in oil or grease so if a fire did break out it would be a raging inferno and soon burn down to the waterline and sink the ship just below the surface. The question is did the ship catch fire and they all took to the boats only to be drowned in the storm. The next question arises where did the blubber, offal, sunfish, and skate come from? At that time of the year they would have been hunting the massive sperm whale on it migration to the warmer waters of Madagascar for breeding. If the crew were in the process if of dismembering the whale its stomach contents would have disgorged various sea creatures. These whales were bottom feeders and ate sharks skate sunfish seals and other large creatures. So if the storm struck when the crew were in the process of cutting up the whale this would account for the floating contents of the whales stomach along with the human remains sighted by the ships. A tug was sent out from East London to search for the bodies and when at Mazeppa bay came across birds feeding on dead skate and pieces of whale but did not see any bodies. The bodies by this time were probably taken by sharks as one of the observers on the ss Tottenham had earlier saw the remains of a torso of a human being, obviously it had been attacked by a shark.
