WHALES IN WELLINGTON HARBOUR.

Manawatu Standard, Volume IV, Issue 38, 12 January 1884, Page 2

WHALES IN WELLINGTON HARBOUR.

Exciting Capture of Three Monsters.

(Thursday's Post.)

An event of rare occurrence was witnessed m, the; harbour, yesterday afternoon. Three whales found their way through the heads, and, owing, it is supposed, to the arrival of the s.s. Takapunaj were frightened into com-" paratively shallow water, their presence -being observed too quickly to allow of their escaping. The monsters were ' first seen about 3 o'clock by some of the "employes" of the Wellington Gas Works, Te Aro. They were then within a hundred yards of the trestlerailway which has been constructed for the purpose of carrying on the Te /Aro 'reclamation, and were " spouting" vigoiously. Measures were at once adopted to effect their capture. Five "men", named Brodie, Birch, Stunnell, M'Grath, and Gociie, foiir of whom are employed at the gasworks, put off m boats, armed with harpoons, lines, and other necessary appliances for the purpose, the operations on shore being superintended by Mr Wise, of the gasworks. Some of the implements were of the rudest description ; hfaving been hastily manufactured Qn the premises, whi}e others consisted, qf '• loggingspea^§,''.Awhic_h had been borrowed from neighbouring timber yurds. They were quitie sufficient to accomplish the object m view. The men harpooned' the fish m the blow-holes, ami " sickened " them by inflicting injuries of. a* more ov lesss mortal character, afierowhicli ■popes! were -lashed tq their tails/ and the monsters were thon secured to -the trestle-work. By this time, the news had^ spread -throughout . sihe city}' and , hundreds of people flocked to the, spot to witness the fun. At one time,, tl» ¥ re must havo been two or three ! thousand people looking on.: Great •difficulty was experienced m; despitehinpr the s whales, andit wan approaching--7 o'olock m the evening before theyeould i bb'aociiratel-y^descKibed-as being it^dead as a door-nail." JFor several alcrea; iv

the vicinity the water was discoloured with blood, and m their frenzied efforts to delude capture the whales displayed wonderful strength, bending themselves almost double m their agony and throwing up sand and water to an extraordinaay height. Once, when one of the whales seemed to be exhausted-, a captor named M'Grath ventured to mount it, and proceeded to dig a lance into it. Tho result was alike surprising to himself and amusing to the spectators. M'Grath was shot several feet into the air, and landed m the blooc(y foam a wetter and wiser, though otherwise uninjured man, the performance . provoking" the crowd*Ecf shriclcs of laughter. The death strokes of the monster were-really wonderful to behold. Inoheir dying moments the unfortunate creatures writhed and contorted themselves m great agony, the noise produced by the splashing- aboiit and beating of the water being plainly audible for a very considerable distance. At length, however the fish grew motionless and lifeless, and were subsequently hauled inside the trestlework, wjtere they still lay stranded this morning. The largest of the three measures 80 feetin length, while the dimensions of the remaining two are about 25 and 24 feet respectively. They are said to be " botblenosed" whales. Their value is roughly estimated at £120. Mr iW. T. !L. Travers paid a deposit of £1 to securo the first chance 'of making an offer for one or more oi the skeleton^, presumably for the Museum. An offer of £10 for the three whales was made by a bystander, but was naturally refused, when the bid was increased to £60. This, also, was declined, the captors considering their booty of much greater value, - The question relating to the number of ,piize-»harers has yet to be settled. The principal portion of the prize-money will doubtless fall to the first five men who were immediately concerned m the capture, but there are othcts who assisted m the despatch whose claims to consideration cannot probably be overlooked. With regard to the cutting up and trying out — which by the way ought to be conducted beyond the town boundary, so as not to create a nuisance, as was' done m Oriental Bay m a somewhat similar case some years ago — the assistance of a fisherman at Potirua, who is said to possess a practical acquaintance with these matter*, is being; secured, and no doubt the work will be accomplished m a manner calculated to yield tho greatest possible profit. It was first supposed that the strangei-s were four m number, and that one of the > school Succeeded m escaping,' but this is not .correct, the misapprehension having, m alt probability arisen m consequence b£one of the captured whales, to: whicn. a line hail been 'attached, having darted out to sea and ' afterwards made its reappearance at the spot from which it star led. It may 1 be added that Mr ' Luxforxl, manager of tho New Zealand Leather Company- has offered £&5 per tun for the oil.