Sinking of the Mataura

Your About the South columnist, Lloyd Esler, is on a slippery slope in his history lesson on the sinking of the Mataura, (August 30).

He begins by declaring, apropos of nothing in particular, ‘‘there is a Mataura Cove and (a) Mataura Peak in Chile’’ before plunging into an account of the ship’s demise in the Strait of Magellan on January 12, 1898.

What’s the connection? He neglects to offer any explanation.

Had Mr Esler chosen to fill this obvious void he would have been able to tell his readers that, in addition to the cove and the peak, there’s another geographic feature, a point, boasting the same name, Cabo Mataura, (elevation 23m).

Furthermore, he could have told his readers if they were of a mind to venture to Santiago, Chile, they could stay at three hostelries named Mataura – the Celeta Mataura, the Pico Mataura and the Cabo Mataura.

Mr Esler saves his worst for last when he speculates ‘‘the ship itself was probably named after the Mataura Freezing Works’’.

The Wikipedia post on the New Zealand Shipping Company, owner of the Mataura, says the company, which operated from 1873 to 1973, conferred Ma¯ ori place names on most of its many ships.

Ten of those names were reused on other ships.

Those names were Kaikoura, Otaki, Piaki, Rangitane, Reumera, Rimutake, Rotorua, Ruahine, Turakina and Mataura.

The first Mataura was a barque, launched in 1868, sold in 1894 and wrecked in 1900 as the Alida. The second and ultimately doomed Mataura was launched in 1896.

That means, as Mr Esler could easily have established, Mataura was in active use as a ship’s name long before the Mataura Freezing Works opened in 1893.

Brent Procter