Reading for Everybody.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2354, 21 November 1908, Page 2 (Supplement)

Reading for Everybody.

PELORUS JACQUES. A STORY OF THE FRENCH PASS

(By J. Henry Cock, in tlie “Weekly Press.”)

Approached on either side by landlocked inlets of delusive calm, and Hanked by wooded hills, where the aiikau and tree-fern flourish, and where the breeze dips the graceful tassel of the Koromiko into the spray of the waterfall; here, between jagged reefs of unexpected horror, swirl the giant sluices of the French Pass, turbulent currents, at rest only for a few minutes in each six hours on the turn of the tide. Here gallant D’Urville’s expedition ship, the Astrolabe, on a stormy day in 1827, venturing unwittingly too near the reef, was seized by the current and swept, whither they knew not, through the Pass; but, by marvellous good fortune, the vessel pirouetted, with such Gallic grace as she still possessed, into the safe and calm waters of Admiralty Bay, in memory of which incident her commander named the spot, “Passe desFrancais.” Itomance still clings to this enchanting locality, for to-day, that mysterious visitant of passing ships, whale or shark, or whatever lie may be, known as Pelorous Jack, makes the eastern approach to the Pass one (limit of his eternal sentry-go. The idle days of a summer holiday spent in this neighborhood some five years ago come vividly back to me as I write. AVo wore camped under canvas, a party of friends, on D’Urville’s Island, at the western ( entrance to the Pass, and bavin#; for neighbors two or three merry Maori families, remnants of the numerous tribe that formerly owned and inhabited the island. To me, mere visitor and almost interloper as I sometimes felt myself to be, our friendship with these natives was a constant charm. They sailed with us to the best fish-ing-grounds, went as our willing "aides to places of Interest in the locality, and at night entertained us with halca and waiata till sleep rounded off the day’s pleasure. One family in uarticular interested me greatly. They had French blood m their veins, commonly supposed to be derived from some stray whaler; but thev themselves maintained that- their progenitor had. been Jeft behind, by D’Urville’s survey vessel. Ivor met a, one of the daughters, a o-raceful girl of sixteen, at home from her English school for the holidays, often accompanied us on our expeditions, and proved to us what a luscious tongue our rough English can become when spoken with the soft ■Maori intonation. On one occasion we had crossed to tlic lighthouse in the Pass, and had walked to tlie promontory beyond (marked oil the chart as Co!motto Point) to see an approaching steamer go through the Pass- Then, having ■lunched, we lay and chatted or dozed under the trees. Kormeta and 1 talked of many things, among thorn , her pretty Maori name. She snine-u at this, and said: “\cs,_ my mothei, who is dead, was called Ivor in eta, and that, too, is tlic name of her mother, who lives at the Croixelles. He always have-a Kormeta m the family; hut it is not real Maori, tor it is the same name as this point bears where ■we now are, G'olinetto, wlncli we Maoris have further softened to Korineta.” . , , . , She then drew shyly from her blouse, with -as much pride as it it had been the finest greenstone heitiki, a little silver medallion, attached to a much worn silver chain, and bearing on one side the figure of a saint, or perhaps of tlie Blessed Virgin, and on the other >a heart and the name Colinette, now barely legible. ‘ This, said she, “is the only souvenir maining of my French ancestor. My curiosity'-was naturally much aroused at the sight of this pathetic little relic, and still further excited by an incident that followed a tew days later. . . . , Korineta and I had again visited Colinette Point, and were taking our siesta under the trees- Aftev a uew minutes’ sleep, Korineta up, murmuring while half-awake, ‘ Ah . there’s the hig fish 1” ~ , Slie seemed distressed, and said she had had a bad dream. Soon sho fell asleep again, only, however, to awaken shortly after with the same exclamation and similar distress- y e decided to return to camp, and walked back to the spot where our boat was moored. On the way. I gathered from Korineta that she had on both occasions seen in her dreams a ship ■hurled through the dangerous channel in the Pass, known as 1 lsherman’s Passage, and then had seen two men struggling m the tide, who ultimately disappeared, then, aitei what seemed in her sleep a long -interval. a large hsli appeared ori the spot, moving slowly and curiously On .reaching the pa and relating the occurrence, the Maoris laughed heartily, and said Korineta had been dreaming .about Pelorus Jack, whom we had not infrequently seen when on our fishing excursions. . . This led to a discussion about this mysterious fish, -and Namuka the oldest of the Maoris present, said that Pelorus Jack had been known to the natives for generations by the name Atuaiviwi. This statement was me with derision by the younger "folk; but Namuka maintained his ground, adding: “Old Korineta at the Crmxelles can tell you more about it. - These incidents determined me to make such further enquiry as mignc ■prove practicable abo'ut [Pelorus J a cic, for I was becoming subtly convinced that his history involved more than some ordinary riddle of Nature. Choosing a fine morning some clays later, I proposed that we should visit the Maori pa at Wliangarei, in the Croixelles. As our native friends had many relatives there, and were sure of ;a warm welcome, my proposal was eagerlv taken up, and wo were soon sailing out of our bay with abavoring -l?" breeze, which took us to Mhangarel •* tinder two hours. The ceremonies of welcome and the hospitable preparation of a good meal took a considerable time,. but at length the opportunity arrived for .a conversation with the .aged Korineta, .a dignified and sliglitly-tattoocd wow man of fully seventy, years. At the mention of Atuawiwi she brightened up, land said she remembered him auite well; then, after reflecting some time, .added: “.But my father always Called him Jacques.” , Here, then, I had .apparently lighted upon; a- strange and double clue,

for it is well-known that the,Maoris, who became acquainted with D’Urville’s men while the survey of Tasman . Bay was onward, hat) l named them Wi Wi, from the frequent exclamation of Oui O'UL by the lively Frenchmen. Hence the name Atuuwiwi would mean Frenchmen’s spirit, and it was not difficult to perceive that old ‘Korineta’s Jacques was the immediate source of our Anglicised Jack o'f to-day. (Stimulated by the discovery of these interesting facts, I searched eagerly for more information, but without success, and had to bo content for tho time with what I had already gained. A further suggestive circumstance, however, occurred -before my holiday ended. With difficulty I persuaded Korineta. once more to accompany me to Point Colinette, and when the time arrived for our afternoon rest, she said: “I cannot sleep quietly unless you take this,” handing me the little medallion and chain. She slept peacefully, but when I fell into a doze 'it w«s only to bo startled bv the same vivid dream, followed by the appearance of the fish, precisely as had occurred to Korineta.

It will be. held that this happened because my. mind was already impressed by her story, but I am personally convinced that there was some deeper and occult cause for the strange recurrence of the dream. Here we must take leave of charming little Korineta, for however much we would have liked to remain in her company to the end of the tale, she is no longer incidental to my investigations into the story of Pelorus JacquesTwo years had passed when the course of events called ine to Europe, and while visiting Paris it occurred to me to- make enquiry as to the fate of any members of D’Urville’s expedition who did not return from their adventurous wanderings.

Through the courtesy of the officials of the Musee de la 'Marine, I was enabled to see a model of the Astrolabe, and also to peruse a copy of her log, in which, not without considerable. excitement, I read the following entry, which 1 freely translate: —“I.6th May, 1827. Left Croisilles Harbor at daybreak with heavy N.W. weather making. Coasted about ten miles in an easterly direction, then stood in to what appeared to be a deep and narrow bay, at the entrance of which barely escaped running on some half-submerged rocks, now charted and names by me Les Pieges. Ten minutes later the ship was swept rapidly eastward by. an irresistible current, and hurled through a narrow channel between reefs not ten feet distant, but as suddenly and unexpectedly" brought up in u calm and safe bay on the other-side, with, however, the unfortunate loss of two men, 'namely, my second officer, Pierre Logassic, and an able seaman, Jacques Tregoulet, natives of Curblaix, in Brittany. Legassic fell overboard as we swirled through the narrow pass in the reef, and Tregoulet instantly sprang to his aid, but both were lost, it being impossible to do anything at that juncture to save them.” , . „ , , Here, then, was the brief record of a tragedy that threw strange light upon the incidents of my holiday in New Zealand two years -ago. The whole matter had now grown too interesting to be lightly dropped, and I determined to visit- Carblaix, m the hope of gaining further information through the families of Tregoulet and Legassic. , c » Of the Tregoidets only a tew female descendants remained, from whom I learnt nothing of moment-; but the Legassics, flourishing as a family of well-to-do yeomen, vc-ro able 'to aid my researches Francois Legassic, one of the elders of the family, directed me to the archives of the local Maine, as he had beard it said that nearly a foundreel years ago a letter liad been reccived from a long-lost member of the Legassic family, and that it had been deemed of sufficient interest to be deposited with the town records. Willingly assisted by the Town Clerk, M. Alphonse- Dunois, we commenced our search, and on the second day were rewarded by coming upon the document in question, a sort of parchment pamphlet formed of five small folios, sewn together with flax, and headed with -a neat drawing of the French flag. Although the writing was faded, it was still easily wsgible, thanks to the care with which the despatch had been preserved. We will let- tins interesting record speak" for itself: “Point- Oolmette near DTTrville’s Island, 1829. 1 grow feeble, .and my desire is of '-ate strong to send news of mysc-f to my country. I, therefore, give this letter to. my wife’s brother, Turi, chargin'’- him to keep it until the opportuTiity comes to send it away by some vessel that the good God will soonei or later cause to call here. “When more than two years ago J fell overboard from tlio Astrolabe, mv brave countryman, Jacques J regoulet, sprang to help me, and held me up until we were both dashed on the rocky shore, he only/to float away senseless into death, and I to be nursed back to life by flic kindly natives who found me. . , “Now a strange thing happened. Each morning there appeared at the rocky point where I was washed ashore a- curious fish, about fifteen feet in' length, pallid in color, and which caused some consternation among the natives from its regular daily visit, and by the fixed way m which it regarded them as they approached the beach. So soon-as I could walk, they entreated me to accompany them to the Point, where, upon seeing me the fish disported itself with manifest joy, and .upon my chancing to make an exclamation or surprise in the -Breton tongue, it projected its head from the water and gazed steadily at me. “My exile lia s perhaps given me strange fancies, hut I feel sure that the spirit of Tregoulet has taken possession of this fish, -which follows our canoes when we, go fishing, and still comes daily to me for food -and recognition. Though I have wile and child, the fish, named by me Jacques, and by the Maoris Atuawiwi (Frenchman’s ghost), comes nearer to my heart than all. “This place, where I was saved trom death, I have named Point Colinette, and mv little daughter, too', I have named Colinette, both m remembrance, of the- dear girl who would have been my wife had I returned to Carblaix. For ink I use the tattoo pigment of my tribe, and for paper

am not badly served by dressed ratskins. Both are durable, and my beloved France may yet learn of my fate. Adieu!

“PIERRE LEGASSIC.”

This document was endorsed as received in New Bedford, U.S.A., in 1835, having been brought from New Zealand by the whaling vessel 'Silas Boone, and subsequently forwarded to Carblaix, so that Turi had to wait several years before lie could discharge the duty laid upon him by Legassic. When the news .reached Carblaix, Colinette (Malouec) was already dead, and Pierre Legassic had been for over live years at rest in his distant grove of nikau palms. Those who preserved his letter little thought that it would serve later to elucidate events still happening in the far-away • scene of the Astrolabe tragedy. ' But who, after reading this .story, can doubt the subtle link 'between bravo Jacques Tregoulet and the mysterious revenanfc known to-day as Pelorus Jack, and gaped at daily by tourists who have no glimmering of the true meaning of his visits. In vain hitherto has he pursued ship after ship in the hope of encountering a priest who shall say the holy words of exorcism and benediction needed to shrive this restless spirit. Doubtless, too, Legassic’s friendly shade hovers near awaiting Tregoulet’s release, when together they will in spirit revisit their beloved Brittany. Perchance the time is not far distant when some -Breton priest may jo limey through the Passe des Francois, and speaking to Pelorus Jacques in his native tongue, shall grant to him the peace of which he is now ever in quest.