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Wilson decided that the only option open to them for survival lay in a group taking one of the Norna's boats and attempting to reach civilization. A rescue party could then be arranged to retrieve the others.
Wilson himself led the party, taking with him his family, four Europeans, and two lascars. On the 17th April they set out in one of the Norna's open boats for Guam and arrived there seven days later. A small rescue party was organised but was driven back after encountering a severe storm and running short of supplies.
Wilson and his party then left Guam for Manila in a Spanish Trader and from there sailed to Hong Kong. When they arrived in Hong Kong in July, Captain Wilson reported the loss of his ship to Dent & Co. who in turn relayed the situation to the naval authorities.
On the 18th August 1861, Admiral Hope despatched the auxiliary paddle steamer HMS Pioneer from the colony to bring back the remainder of the Norna's crew. The Pioneer arrived at St Augustine on the 22nd September only to find the island deserted, save for a message left behind in a glass bottle attached to a tree. Nailed to the tree above the bottle was the Norna's wooden nameboard.
The letter stated that the crew had left the island on 19th August in one of the Norna's patched-up long boats because their provisions were long exhausted, there was little water and there were now no coconuts, turtle or wild fowl left on the island. They went on to say that they intended to make for Palau in their frail craft, 1,200 miles to the west.
HMS Pioneer arrived back in Hong Kong on the 19th October and reported her findings to Admiral Hope. He promptly ordered another paddle steamer, HMS Sphinx, to be prepared and sail back into the Western Pacific, with explicit instructions to make a thorough search of the Caroline Islands,
Hope's written orders to Sphinx's captain, Cmdr Brown, included the route he was to follow, the contacts from whom he might get assistance in the Philippines and the charts he should take with him. On the 4th December 1861, HMS Sphinx sailed through Lei Yue Mun and headed for Manila. From there the Sphinx passed through