Grafton was hired by a business consortium of
Francois Edouard Raynal, Captain
Thomas Musgrave, Charles Sarpy and Musgrave's uncle for a voyage to
Campbell Island and the
Auckland Islands to investigate mining and sealing opportunities. Raynal had spent six years at sea and eleven years in the Australian goldfields before a mine collapse had necessitated his move to Sydney for recuperation. He had decided to return to France when he was approached by a friend who had good grounds for believing that a mine of argentiferous tin existed in Campbell Island. The friend, a draper known as Charles Sarpy, and his business partner suggested that Raynal could survey this island and discover the mine. Even if no mine was discovered it was suggested that Raynal could take advantage of the large number of seals and hunt them for skins and oil. Raynal agreed to the proposition but on the understanding that he would not undertake the command of the vessel. Sarpy's partner suggested his nephew for the command and Thomas Musgrave was offered the command of the ship. The ship left Sydney for the Campbell Islands on 12 November 1863, with a crew of five. After reaching Campbell Island, Raynal fell very ill and was unable to complete his survey for the tin. Musgrave carried on with the search but was unable to find any trace of tin. With limited numbers of seals and an unsuccessful search for tin at Campbell Island the crew headed to Auckland Islands to hunt seals.
Shipwreck Grafton entered one of the sounds of the Auckland Islands on 31 December. A heavy gale came on New Year's Day of 1864, which continued into midnight of 2 January when the anchor chains parted, and the vessel struck a rocky beach and foundered. The crew were able to get ashore and managed to salvage food, tools, navigation equipment, Raynal's gun, powder and shot and canvas as well as other material from the wreck. Despite only being provisioned for two months they survived for a year and a half on
seal meat, birds, fish and water. They originally made a tent from portions of the spars and sails of the wreck before building a permanent cabin from wreck timber and stone. Raynal had experience in building huts from his time in the goldfields and guided the crew in building a solid cabin with a stone chimney, furnished with stretchers, a dining table and writing desk. However it took some time to build as the only available tools were an axe, an
adze, a hammer and a
gimlet. The men named the cabin "Epigwaitt", an American Indian word meaning "a dwelling by the water" suggested by Musgrave. The men manufactured clothes from sealskin and hunted and fished for food. For entertainment Captain Musgrave started reading classes and Raynal manufactured a chess set, dominoes and a pack of cards. However he found Musgrave to be such a bad loser that he judged it best to destroy the cards. To help ward off
scurvy as well as to provide some variety to their diet, Raynal was even able to brew "a passable beer" from the
Stilbocarpa rhizomes which were abundant on the island, boiling and then fermenting them in their own sugar. Captain Musgrave and Raynal had both been hopeful that a ship would be sent by their business partners to investigate what had happened to
Grafton, but after 12 months without sighting a single ship, the decision was taken to use the timbers from the wreck to "make something that will carry us to New Zealand". The crew used the tools they had salvaged from the wreck and Raynal created a pair of blacksmith's bellows from metal from the wreck, wood and sealskin. He used the bellows to forge more tools from metal from the wreck. The castaways had made progress on sections of the proposed vessel but were unable to complete it as Raynal found it impossible to manufacture an
auger despite a number of attempts. The seals were less numerous than the previous year and the castaways were facing another winter with a greater threat of starvation. The decision was taken to work on the ship's
clinker dinghy. They enlarged the
dinghy by raising the
gunwales, adding a
false keel and decking it over. Captain Musgrave made sails from the
Graftons sails which had previously been on the roof of the cabin. When they tested the boat they found that it was too unsteady with five men so Musgrave was forced to leave Harris and Forgés behind. Musgrave, Raynal, and McLaren then set sail on 19 July 1865, arriving at Port Adventure,
Stewart Island on 24 July, after five days of bad weather. Captain Cross of
Flying Scud took them into his house for a meal, a warm bath and a good night's sleep and then sailed them to Invercargill the next day. Public fundraising in Invercargill raised enough funds for Captain Musgrave to pay Captain Cross of
Flying Scud to return him to the Auckland Islands to rescue his two remaining crew members. After successfully retrieving Harris and Forgés, Musgrave returned to Invercargill and reunited all the crew. Musgrave also fetched Raynal's bellows back for him. McLaren, Raynal and Forgés returned to Melbourne on the schooner
Swordfish; Musgrave returned on a steamer captained by a friend of his; Harris remained in New Zealand and headed for the gold fields. Captain Musgrave had kept a diary while being on the island. When he ran out of ink, he continued writing with seal's blood. Both Musgrave and Raynal wrote books about their experience. Raynal's pair of blacksmith's bellows, a pair of boots made of tanned sealskin, and a needle made of bone from the wing of an albatross are said to be in the collection of Melbourne Museum. ==
Invercauld ==