rocky coasts of the islands have proved disastrous for several ships. The Grafton, captained by Thomas Musgrave, was wrecked in Carnley Harbour in 1864. Madelene Ferguson Allen's narrative about her great-grandfather, Robert Holding,and the wreck of the Scottish sailing ship the Invercauld, wrecked in the Auckland Islands in 1864, counterpoints the Grafton story.
In 1866 one of New Zealand's most famous shipwrecks, that of the General Grant, occurred on the western coast. Several attempts have failed to salvage its cargo, allegedly including bullion. A further maritime tragedy occurred in 1907, with the loss of the Dundonald and 12 crew off Disappointment Island. Because of the probability of wrecks around the islands, calls arose for the establishment of emergency depots for castaways in 1868. The New Zealand authorities established and maintained three such depots, at Port Ross, Norman Inlet and Carnley Harbour from 1887. They also cached additional supplies, including boats (to help reach the depots) and 40 finger-posts (which had smaller amounts of supplies), around the islands.
Scientific research and reserve
The 1907 Sub-Antarctic Islands Scientific Expedition spent ten days on the islands conducting a magnetic survey and taking botanical, zoological and geological specimens.
From 1941 to 1945 the islands hosted a New Zealand meteorological station as part of a coastwatching programme staffed by scientist volunteers and known for security reasons as the "Cape Expedition". The staff included Robert Falla, later an eminent New Zealand scientist. Currently the islands have no inhabitants, although scientists visit regularly and the authorities allow limited tourism on Enderby Island and Auckland Island
