SEVENTY YEARS AGO.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 280, 7 August 1909, Page 6

SEVENTY YEARS AGO.

I ) HOW THE WHALERS LIYED. 1 i „ , ____ I " ;COUD LIGHT ON TE RAUPARAHA. I COLONEL WAKEFIELD'S IMPRESSIONS. I In the original journal of Colonel Wilf liam Wakefield, of whicli a manuscript copy [ has been obtained'from, the Colomal Office, I thore is given, under datf> Septembor 6, 1839, I an entertaining description of the history t and appearance of the whaling village of i Teawaiti, on the south side of Cook Strait, i "The'first white man who established hirat self on the beach hero," Wakefield writes, "is | Mr. Guard, who in 1872 was sailing-master of t a small vessel, and ran m at the south-eastern i entrance of the channel m a gale of wind. He buijt a house, and, with his companions, i carried on sealing and whaling with great annoyance and risk from the Natives, and ' but little profit to themselves At one time the Natives wore so ill-provided with potatoes and other provision that the white adventurers subsisted on whale's fleeh and ' , s wild turnip tops, and during many seasons p such was the want of -workmen and lmple- ,• . ments that the blubber iof the whales , caught was thrown away for want of I ' casks to hold 'the oil, and the bone only was turned to account, when v atiy n market could be found for it. ' At different penods ; Natives froin Otago and , the 1 neighbourhood invaded the Sound in hosL tility to'the Ngatiawa tribe, and lndiscrimm- [ ately burned and destroyed the houses and £ boats of all the residents One Englishman, f now hero, who has lived occasionally apart [' from 1 his countrymen, has had no less than t four nouses burnt at various times Smeo \ 1831, however, ' Cloudy Bay was first { made, use of as 0 a port for whalo ships, both " that,place and the Sound have been worked I by the agents of Sydney capitalists, and. tho I shofe parties, notwithstanding the scarcity f of whales m the Strait, procure annually f ' 500 tons of oil No seals-- aro now found f hereabouts, and but very few to tho 'south, i ward, where they weio formerly Mn abundt / ance. ( - l ) 'i «, ', ' Wages and Profits.- t '' Z 1 '' ( '"The Sydney merchants supply casks and [ freight for the oil' and bone, and nominally j pay-the per ton for, tho for£60 pur" ton for tho gutter , The ' wages of the working men are paid in slops, 1 ' provisions, and spuits, which aro valued at t an 4 exorbitant rato A pound of tobacco, t worth jls in Engalnd, br Is 3d in Port \ Jackson, is served out here at as /• and * sometimes at 7s. 6d , and everything else t same propoition , Tho Sydney i merchants embark', but little capital in tins ' trade, and as oil from the black whale sells !> in' England for''£Bo, and the bono lor £150 per ton, r 'their profits' cannot bo thought int # adequate to tho risk It is estimated that > % about 1200 tons i of oil are procured annually ! in Cook's Strait, and tho stations on j- Banks's Peninsular; and further tn tho south i ward, and that the numbei of British in t these parts is not less than 500 In tho whole there cannot bo less than 1000 British settlers in New Zealand. Dunng the summer these men'are'emploved in on ' tho coast with tho Natives for pigs and. potatoes,' and those who who have small vessels procure which yield them largo by ,sale to,the different Prcnch, American, and British whaling ships frequenting the harbours in" the Strait for provisions before their]voyage Home The less ~ / thnfty pass thejr summers in small cutti- ' ration of, spots they have taken possession of • wrKh the tacit consent of the Natives, , , and the improvident boatmen await^the,re : i newal of their dangerous and exciting "occu- ] pation, depending' on tho families of '-The < Native women who'live'with them for 1 fish ' and potatoes, | and consuming a frightful i quantity of gin so long as their credit is i good with tho agents " • ' i

t%n ;' 'i donSJtheir;;' ;reiMrk^l6V f ; ft;'• : ; •;':';■ WakefieldVdescribesAah-'old .toiiuiiga-who- was with;* whose;pwsohVwas.-.of suoli' great' &>&;.; sanctity' : that'.'he\:could';not' be''tfliipHetf,' br.fc- '''&?! made': useVof :-;byAj»::i:';X.:;? '(Seeing-"a.;painted .burial<' : >p;lacß':4h-' a 1 corner' •:*{. vfflio; beacb/^p%cegds' ! i^e',dia'risi;i' ;, : 'of : con-' fe had been; :interred:'therey i andv,thati therefore: sacred; "but,on;'ii£' Sp: ■ F- $;: ;*r/'V f^'!, ni shbrt.time.agbiVaa WV-:l: : ".*??- : «=cks were,ithusjentbmbed;..and had. con-':' Beorated the adjoining ground "■' ■ "••■■' ! i '"' I J2O Wakefield:; enters'-Port! Nicholson, and is i impressed; with" its': ad van- •■ tages as'a harbour 1 , TheMls/he says',' "are-' ' , V 1 * **«» of a brighter foliage'tihia-' we had left in the morning.-.and■ nrosent-:ho- : I obstacles to their beauty : - of their-appearance they/'rominded'me of t tne woods of Mount Edgecumbe,; the last 'we 1 eaw ui England " > Tlie. reseinblaiice:. J has departed since Colonel Wakefield's ; account: of lis conferences with the? 'Natives';- who were ' ) i j*-! L mos , fc P* l *' quite;filling to, sell their, (land, though they had b>'en/.w'Mei'not to j do so by the missiouanes,;is;%llowed Jairly' closely,by fcho youngeiA-.Waliefioldvi.n: his f Adventure in New Wand,":but^ewiiicy. 1 touches have .not been'; ; transferred\\to' the , published* volume::,:;. "In' discussing * ' the merits of the Missionary: labours as-dp-'' posed-to* the former practices Vof"'the Natives, viz , thosb- of wat^ari'd",'"'cannibalism' , (writes' Colonel WakeficH)*they ..(the' Native 1 chiefs) deprecated the constant occupation of' praying and singing, whichVteok'/pwpie'vpff , from their potato the" younger, one declaring -tha't^the: ■,'ihcessai't worship had neaily dnven him mad. The old man asked what the" missionaries meant I when they said that all .who.'.were.nbt.'misj sionanes were devils, and ■•said"'that they had told him that his father';.would come and see him again, 'when 'evoTybodyAknew thafehis father had been dead and eaten'these thirty years'" ■ ' [,-v .;;■:: ■ ■i.-jft v Wellington's Lost Tress;-K : '<}'j;->: V;';<: '9'> l '' i ' AValefield's party he refers to tho fine forests of "trees' wh'icli then filled tho Hurt Valley.'.''A tree called' by the, English here, thelhoneyTSu'ckle, •• furnishes excellent wood fof/boat-bnildihg. . Tho only white man living inVcPort ..Nichblsbn: . (ie. ;i J.pe Robinson) shmyed-me-aboat .of-' eight ( tons, which ho ( had constructed of this ' wood, tho planks of which ! he bad heiit h'ini-' self, in ,tho sun ' He had isdwed .the whole of it with a hand-fair and'made .'thenails for. it put of old hoops " ''^y-,:'-■■ .Til; *l':w '■':'. 'After'tho goods supplied in ';for! ■'', tho [land of Wellington ,had.been;'.'distributed. ■ ■a npngst the Natives, "Waripori.,and,-Epuni : -■ (the two principal chiefs) tdressed themselves' ' in their nenly-acquircd suits of clothes "and ' v onade a very respectable appearance at, table.' v retired early;and-came,; to-iny, cabji»to beg leave to.undress,'as■',he-".found. : and shoes vory .uneasy on himj /in : [ comparison with his ..pri; the blanket which he usually wears, or the state of nature in which he ivorks-at-his-canoes. ',';.'- Tc Rauparaha at Home. %.'^ ■•,;^/:;-,- '•' A very unfavourable iimpression'-'of: ; -'To' " RaUparaha is given in an'earlyi chapter •", of : ! i the'tfournal "Ilnsited' to-day Hhe'small-is- : land on which Raupero lives. It ' partly" ; be^ ; • \ kings to Captain Mayhow,; an American, .who jKts'a store on ft ' The?'habits'of tEe ; 015 ( ?hief are conspicuous in this'placei Amiser-' - 1 Sble house, tabooed for himself"!arid' ; vvifey : : Mth'one end parted ofi.,fbr'.:his , ''sbn',' s .offe'fs' '• , Ho temptation to his crieniies iibr wlls for; ' , tho enyy of his nyal allieV.V-«; Near: it'are ; , 1 piled'up cases of, tobacco,'of, cb)ton''goods, .- [ and of the various objects' which'"he ' "has' ' , bogged or extorted from:' 'of '■ . vessels arriving hero ■:;These ;; • f wed 'with dead '. brushwood,;";,'.' and : " aire ' ; ' italousiy watched by bis slaves.' ; He seldom' j K jtjjs long in any place, but'goes from .settle-' '• settlement, often'!-m the night, : tb : ' danger against his h'fe'.from'his.' ■; , ' .oes on tho main He camebri.bo'ard'in'tho '• iftornoon on one of, his pillaging visits';'"7-nd ', f artor talking largely dropped ') 1 tone. . Notwithstanding r the ,iiany : ; Dad qualities of tbis'/old ,; , oieanness, and unscrupulous; treachery.' '.;'he 'I •• piofosses some points of character worthy l of. i n cliief amongst savages."He is full of resources in emergencies, hardy in his enter- t prises,'and indefatigable in. the'execution of' ( tiem. Ho has tried to boas Nayti.'to -give i \- " ' ;''-'v';^" ; T : ':;:' ; ' ,r

•him everything he brought from England, and;even_soized a gun I hod given tho former, and would have carried it off, had J :not'accidentally' met Tiim on the deck and shamed him into restoring it. :When our .boat/was .'upset/it, was supposed that Nayti /was.in it,.upon which he, .with momentary readiness,-claimed his chest and all belonging j/6 him,'/and was, I, feel'sufe, ohagrined at Rearing that his. kinsman was safe.- Making, every allowance for his condition, and knowing how\ his intercourse with the refuse of ■European society has ' affected'' him, it is impossible- for the .'most charitable.' to have any'feelings "towards this.'old fellow but those of ayersipn;; It will bea most fortunate .formed ..hereabout' whenjhe.'dies, -for 'witih.-'his life only .will'end. his mischievous \] scheming : and ''insatiable //, ' 'j