Island of the Lost: Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World

People getting stranded in places they shouldn't be seem to be a recurring theme in the books I'm picking up. Up to this point, it's been disastrous arctic expeditions. This book was an “if you like those, you might like this” recommendation by Goodreads, and I thought it was really interesting! The stakes were a bit lower than what I've read before, but this was still a pretty good read about—not one—but two different shipwrecks on the same island! Two stories for the price of one!

We start out reading about Captain Musgrave's ship the Grafton, marooned on Auckland Island after a series of bad calls and trusting in bad information. Him and his crew of four band together almost immediately and actually get themselves set up rather comfortably (given the circumstances). They built a sturdy structure, had a regular routine they followed, and when they realized the people they left behind didn't lift a finger to see them rescued, took it upon themselves to get themselves rescued. Despite some squabbles about rank and deference and the like, they did as well as could be expected for themselves.

The second wreck happened several months after the first, and things don't go nearly as well. The Invercauld runs aground, and a large number of her crew end up marooned as well. Instead of banding together, they find a derelict ruin of a building and spend all day wallowing in their own misery. One skilled crewmate did his level best to get people motivated, but you can't help people who don't want to help themselves. After the food runs out and nobody seems particularly motivated to even do anything about that, a few of the crew, including the skilled man split from the group—and at a good time too, because talk of cannibalism starts circulating amongst the dispirited crew. The small group isn't without its own set of challenges though, as nobody wants to follow anyone's directions. Nevertheless, they manage to hang on together, until a ship rescues them eighteen months later.

It's an extensively researched event, taken from historical records and journals. There's also quite a bit of what happened after all was said and done, which I appreciated. It was interesting to see how the crew of the Grafton all went their separate ways after the event, when they seemed to work well together during their time on the island. The author does a good job of contrasting the two shipwrecked groups, marooned at the same time, and weaving their stories together in time despite never meeting or realizing the other existed. One group banded together and (sort of) thrived, the other group refused to work together, and failed.

It's a unique survival story read, different than the arctic books I've read, with lower stakes but no less engaging.

It was obvious for me to obtain a copy of this book, having been lucky enough to visit the Auckland Islands at the end of last year. For those unaware, they are remote sub-Antarctic islands around 480km south of New Zealand, in the Southern Ocean. Now they are a nature reserve, and designated a UNESCO world heritage site. Access is tightly restricted, and strict quarantine procedures apply. They are a haven of diversification for subantarctic wildlife.

I have previously read The Castaways of Disappointment Island, which is the story of the wreck of the Dundonald on Disappointment Island - a small island offshore of the main island (it was an excellent read, 5 stars from me).

In this book, author Joan Druett tells the story of two almost simultaneous wrecks on the main Auckland Island. The short version, is that on 3 January 1864, the Grafton wrecked in Carnley Harbour. Then, at he other end of the island on 11 May 1864, the Invercauld wrecked on a reef. The two parties never knew the other was there.

One of the ships was crewed by only 5 men, who made their way to shore and then salvaged what they could from the wreck. These five men worked together, achieved some miraculous things - such a constructing a forge to make tools and nails etc to build a ship. These men after 18 months, had found ways to live, constructed adequate accommodation, found food to eat, and constructed a boat which carried two of them to New Zealand, and thus to rescue.

On the other ship, a crew of 25 were wrecked. They were a disparate group, who divided and did not for the main part work together. They had an excellent skilled man in their midst, but many would not follow his lead. Others became ill and gave up. Some of the men even resorted to cannibalism. In May 1865 the Portuguese ship Julian sailed into the harbour to make minor repairs, and rescued the only three survivors.

Druett's book weaves these two stories, running a common timeline, and concurrent events. It contrasts the two groups, their leadership, their relationships and their achievements. In this it does a good job. It is a fairly slow paced narrative - sharing the highs and lows for these men over an 18 month period. At the end is a chapter on subsequent wrecks (there have been a lot of ships wrecked on the Auckland Islands), the attempts and farming and settlement and the provisions put in place after these two wrecks to provide a means of survival for future castaways.

There is also a chapter at the end which explains some of the narrative decisions taken by the author, as there were a number of conflicting reports (from the castaways), many of which were written later in life, or totally from memory.

I enjoyed this book, but perhaps more due to having visited the scene. For those without a vested interest, the writing is perhaps a bit flat, and may be only 3 stars. I have a couple more of this authors books, and I am not discouraged from reading those in due course, but I will hope for a more spirited narrative.

4 stars.