The Wellesley, first to Fiji
and afterwards to Malacca, where Bruce was left behind. His wife was
taken on to Penang, but on his making a complaint to the commanding
officer at Malacca, that gentleman warmly espoused Bruce's cause and sent
him to Bengal, where the authorities extended him aid, and eventually his
wife was restored to him.)
The Chief's illness may have been an attack of sea-sickness, due to the
roughness of the passage, as the log records that the weather was very
squally.
On March 2nd the Lady Nelson made a great deal of water and had to be
pumped out. The vessel still remained in a leaky state, and this
drawback, in conjunction with the cross currents and heavy gales that she
encountered, greatly retarded her progress.
A succession of gales followed, consequently the land of New Zealand was
not sighted until March 30th, when at noon it was observed for the first
time, trending from east-south-east to north-east.
At eight o'clock in the evening a prominent cape was seen eight miles
distant, which Symons records was North-West Cape (or Cape Maria Van
Diemen). At eleven the ship hauled round to the eastward and hove to.
Native fires were seen burning on land.
