"THERE SHE BLOWS."

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1538, 6 September 1912, Page 4

"THERE SHE BLOWS."

NINETEEN WHALES CAPTURED. After being engaged in whaling in th« vicinity of tho storm-swept and inhospitable Campbell Islands for the past five months, tho midget steamer Hananui II is now lying peacefully moored in tho safe haven of the Auckland Harbour. There is little to indicalo her calling beyond tho harpoon gun perched jauntily at her bow. She is not as large as some of tho small coastal steamers trading to and from Auckland, and it comes as something of a shock when ouo realises thnt she penetrates iuto tho littleknown waste of waters of tho South. In rough weather, of course, she is practically turned into a submarine, for she spends most of her time with tho angry waters sweeping relentlessly over her decks, necessitating a. stranglo-hold on the nearest immovable object by any of tho crew whoso duty takes them from below. • During her sojourn in Southern Seas, nineteen whales were captured. The base of the ship was at Campbell Islands, where also there is another whaling .party, which does its mammal hunting in the open whaling boats, with tho history of which so much tragedy and romance are interwoven. I'or days and days at a stretch tho vessel sometimes steamed slowly about without sighting a whale, and then would bo heard tho welcome cry of "There she blows!" < Captain Hall, who is in ehargo of tho vessel, told a "Star" reporter that the weather had boon moderately rough, and tho "catch" he considered a fair one. Sometimes, he said, there was little troublo in getting closo up to the quarry, but at other times it was a matter of extreme difficulty.