INTERESTING LOG

Hokitika Guardian, 3 September 1931, Page 3

INTERESTING LOG

THE MERMAID OF LONDON

One hundred and thirty-six years ago the whaler Mermaid of London, set out from' the London River oil-, an adventurous whaling cruise, All that now remains to commemorate her great adventures is an old log-book containing page after page of almost indecipherable copperplate writing, yellow with;age and stained with the salt water of the deep seas. The Mermaid must surely have been the very first vessel to visit tlie coastline of New Zealand alter the arrival of Captain James Cook in tlie Endeavour, and therefore, the old book has a great amount o, historical interest attached to it. 1 can find no mention made of the Mermaid in our earliest historical records. McNab, in his “Historical Records of . New Zealand,” makes no mention of her visit, noi dioes tlie same author in Ins “liie Old Whaling Days.”;/, That bring so, the extracts 1 am about to give my readers will be all the,.more interesting. Tiie name of the., old-time skipper who penned the log of; the Mermaid is, unfortunately, unrecorded, but her owners, Messrs Thoms and bans, or Billiter Street, London, are mentioned several times. The first entry in the log-book is dated September 14, 1195, and reads as follows: 9 .- “Worked down driver, this a.in., and came to anchor in Greenwich Roads. Completed loading stores and received on board six more seamen vviio signed the lay of sixty-four thousands, dor the three-year voyage. . . ‘•‘September 18.—Made departure this day. F.owing foeeze, afid weatln ered Goodwins-,, and set eduiSe down Channel. Hands variously employed making ship ship-shape. At p.m. joined up with West India, convoy. in me Downs, and eam e to anchor astern o .Merchantman, Cornwallis. . . . Visited convoy flagship and received sailing di- | rections. . . . September 20. —Made departure from Downs in company with convoy oi fifty-four sail. Men-o’-war Lion, Essex and Thunderer lead tin). van down Channel ■ . “September 22.—Lizard.Head bears east-north-east, distance 12 miles. Wind light from east and. north. Convoy has outsailed me owing to light winds. . . . Got up the eight iiinepounders from main hold, and set them Ug” to larboard and starboard. Crew variously employed. , “Frenchmen Refused To Fight.” | i “September 27.—These, 24 hours j strong winds from north and east. A, | 7 a.in. saw strange sail on starboard bow. Wind coming away strong, overhauled her., Proved 'to be >T ltrep^ n( guiiieamaii. Took her and placed piize crew under Rossiter/ third mate, aboard with instructions to take her to Plymouth. Frenchmen re-fused to . Tight' after first broadside. . . .’* j For tlie next few . months the old log records matter-pf-fact happenings. ' Alter cruising lor two months in the Sargossa Sea, the Mermaid gets her ' first whale. It proved to be a large | sperm bull, and the entry must have been pleasant writing for the captain. “December 24. —At daylight sighted spouters to leeward. Ordered three boats away. Mate’s boat, made fast to large bull, bore down and hastened. Tryed out 85 bbls; a splendid Christmas gift. Second mate’s boat was foundered by large cow whale. Had to cut away to save his crew.'No one injured. Day finished with fresh breeze. “December 29.—Saw I sjail .ahead. Made all sail and stuns’ls and overtook him. Proved to be a Portugal feliucca bound for rio janero.. Exchanged one cask tobacco for two casks wine. Hands variously employed mending si., its. Coopers making up casks. . . .” On New Year’s day the Mermaid got three whales and hour blackfish, the hands again being “variously employ-. ed and trying out the oil.” On January 22 they were down on the Equator, the winds, we are told, being “inclinable to be eaime.” She cruised on the line for a month, meeting with moderate luck, and then set off on the long slant southward for the Horn. “An Indian of New Zealand.” ',ll, . . • Nothing untowards happened until in the latitude of Rio de Janeiro, or “rio jaiiero,” as the old-timer so. quaintly spells it. Here the Mermaid fell in with the Bristol brig England’s Pride, and from her information was received that there was good fishing to be had on the coasts of New Holland, as Australia was then known to seamen. Let me quote the entry in full: — “February 26.—At. the a.m. of this , day met tlie Bristol brig England’s Glory, which I boarded. Homeward bound she was, a foil ship with 900 barrels sperm oil, which she had taken ; on the coasts of New Holland. Received from him sailing directions for the coast, and purchased 20 stand oi small arms, giving him bills on my owners, Exchanged John Begg, boatsteefer, for an Indian'of New Zeeland, who has good knowledge of the coast, and.signed Ijim as pilot unci boat-steerer on a lay of 69 of one thousand. The Indian speaks good English, and lie was pilot on the Endeavour with Captain Cook when on the coast. . . . Made sail.at sunset, hands employed this day in securing ship, for the passage of the Horn. . . Marefo 15.—-Made • the Pacific this day: Winds and weather from “Stauten Land” (Staten Island) have been modertae and lair, and nothing like what I have been ,told to expect. Many strange birds accompany the ship by night and day. Many small ones, spotted black and white,; have been caught, and make good messing when stewed. The larger ones called ‘gunnies’ are

rank with fish oil, and are lousy. Sighted two spouters' this day, got on to large bull, which tryed , out 66 barrels. Millions of birds fought round the carcase, but flieti* greed was ver great. Tearing large strips from the carcase they would fill themselves alio would then vomit and come back for more. The larger gunnies, called albatrosses, are bigger much than swans, and can eat pieces of carcase weighing 61b. . . . Cast carcase off at 4 p.m. Weather fine, winfil east and north. Hands variously employed. Set course . for Juan Fernandez Island to wood and water. All well. ...” J “Flogged Jones This Day.” I And so tlie voyage goes on, every entry in the log-book more interesting than; the one before. The voyage was a iledßuri | lj* ,l 'bii. v ,''and u thb -fog l is a record of perpetual effort, relieved at times by naive entries, such as “Sounded' this day and .ound no bottom at 100 fathjoms.” “Killed our last pig this) day, I which weighed out 18 stone.” “Out , out large carbuncle from Mr Jenkin’s ; neck this day, which gave him rebel I front pain.” “Carpenter and coppers | employed making new t’gall’nt masts, 1 old one strained.” “Water getting low and bad tasted, placed crew on halt rations.” “Flogged Jones this day. for stealing water. Gave him su, but ii? deserved five score. Will give him balance if he does it again.” . ' • ■ .'