On September 1, 1836, Captain James Bruce, of the whaling schooner Sydney Packet, returned to Sydney from the third trip to the Preservation Inlet whaling station. He reported that when in Southern New Zealand waters, he had observed a large number of cedar logs strewn along the coastline, also a 200 gallon water cask, almost new, and marked “Gordon”.At passage Island, the Europeans reported that they had seen a mass of wreckage floating out at sea, and thinking it was the hull of a vessel, they went out in their boats and towed it ashore. The wreckage proved to be the poop and bends of a ship of about 300 tons register, nearly new, and recently destroyed.
A portion of the wreckage was sent to the master of the schooner Gratitude, which was then at Bluff, and he expressed the opinion that the wreckage came from an American-built vessel. The ship had been fastened with iron bolts, several hundredweight of which had been burnt out by those in possession of the wreckage. Captain Bruce saw a large quantity of cedar, some of which was branded “C.F.X.” and marked “No. 9” in white paint. The bulk of the timber was seen near the Toetoes, and pieces were seen at Patersons River, and at Dog Island. Captain Bruce carried to Sydney two of the quarter galley deadlights from the wreck, on which was branded “Wallace Leith”, supposed to have been the makers name. From the general appearance of the wreckage it was thought that it must have been in the water for about two or three months.
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