It is September 1865. Captain Thomas Musgrave and his men walk on Auckland Island. They come on a small ship, the Flying Scud. Next to an old broken house, they find a dead man. Next to him is a stone with marks on it. Musgrave can read only one name: James.
Musgrave knows this island well. He lived here for more than eighteen months.
In 1863, Musgrave was the captain of a ship, the Grafton. In January 1864, a big storm came. The ship hit the rocks. All five men got to the beach. They built a house with a stone chimney. They ate seals, birds and fish. In the evenings, Musgrave taught the men to read.
Musgrave wrote a diary. He was very sad. He thought about his wife and children in Sydney. After one year, he wrote that his hair was grey.
No ship came. The men made their small boat bigger. It was not big enough for five men. Two men stayed on the island. Musgrave and two other men sailed in July 1865. A storm came. For five days and nights, Musgrave took water out of the boat. They got to Stewart Island. Then Musgrave went back on the Flying Scud for the two men. The two men were alive. On the way home, Musgrave found the dead man. He died of hunger. The men put him in the ground.
Musgrave did not know this: another ship broke on the island in May 1864. It was the Invercauld. Its men lived at the other end of the island. Many of them died of cold and hunger. Only three lived. The dead man was James Mahoney. He was an officer on the Invercauld.
Musgrave went home to his family. He did not sail far again. He worked at lighthouses. A lighthouse is a tall tower with a big light for ships.