Abeam of the Snares, on passage from England to NZ, the ‘Mataura’ is rounding the Snares, 87 days after departing Gravesend, London, with another cargo of hopeful immigrants. She’s a full-rigged ship of 853 tons,the first NZ Shipping Co ship to be fitted with Harkin’s dry-air refrigeratior. The ‘Mataura’ will arrive in Port Chalmers on the 22nd September 1879. She is running before a strong South Westerly wind and shaping a course up the east coast of the South Island to Port Chalmers.