Skip to main content

Story: Castaways

Sealskin clothes

Image
Sealskin clothes

During their year and a half as castaways on Auckland Island, the 15 survivors of the General Grant improvised cleverly. They made needles out of albatross bones and made clothes, such as these, out of sealskin. On the right is the only woman in the party, Mary Ann Jewell, a stewardess on the ship.

Using this item

Southland Museum and Art Gallery

This item has been provided for private study purposes (such as school projects, family and local history research) and any published reproduction (print or electronic) may infringe copyright law. It is the responsibility of the user of any material to obtain clearance from the copyright holder.

All images & media in this story

How to cite this page

Ken Scadden, Castaways – Survival, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/7571/sealskin-clothes (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Ken Scadden, published 2 March 2009.