CLARK KIWI CLAN

CLARK KIWI CLAN tells the true story of Captain Hugh Clark, who left Scotland as a cabin boy in 1829, and became a Master Mariner sailing the Pacific Ocean between Australia, America and New Zealand; transporting gold miners, militia, and Aborigines. His skill outran hurricanes, his stamina survived shipwrecks, and four brave Maori women saved him from drowning. Told using historical documents, family photos and contemporary illustrations, the reader is immersed into the real world of the early pioneers. The Sea is a harsh mistress, and although Captain Hugh sailed many sunny days, he finally felt the full fury of her tempest. His tragic death left three young orphans struggling to build early New Zealand, and fighting in the savage Maori Wars, where you might become the enemy's lunch. Arriving from Scotland, Elizabeth Clark found herself in the middle of a battle. Her mother sat on their suitcase in the middle of the beach and wept, lamenting that the ferocious tattooed Maori warriors leaping nearby made "this place much worse than America and the Red Indians!" The family dug for Kauri gum, risked all in the gold mines, and speculated on the future of fledging settlements. Their documented court cases include bankruptcy, fraud, horse theft, and drunks fighting with the bailiff over the repossession of their sleeping blankets. The genealogical tables index all of Captain Clark's descendants, including those brave soldiers who gave lives in war. The book finishes with a comic pictorial History of Scotland, Clan Cameron, and the Highland Feuds that give an entertaining background to the Sept of Clark, which became the Clark Kiwi Clan. This is not a novel; this is the Clark family history! (406 PAGES. 326 MAPS, PHOTOS & ILLUSTRATIONS.)