SHIP'S MASCOT

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 590, 22 July 1933, Page 11

SHIP'S MASCOT

ADVENTUlRfOUS CAT ON GOYERNMENT ISLAND I STEAMER. THE MATAI' S MASCOT.

Some of the exploits of "Blackie," the mascot of the Government steamer Matai, are mentioned by Mr. John Payne, of Sydney, in an account written for the News of a winter cruise "of the West Co-ast Sounds. " 'Blackie,' the cat, is a most extraordinary specimen of felininity," writes Mr. Payne. "Like all sailors he gets fed up at times and goes on a 'bender.' "He left the ship at Auckland on one oceasion, but was at Wellington when the Matai tied up. The boatswain s>ays that he took his ticket out for the Limited like a perfect gentleman and so arrived at Wellington before the steamer. Whatever the sceptical may think the fact remains that he was there before the Matai and the only possible way he could have come j was by rail, no vessel sailing other than the Matai at that time. The explanation of this may be that it is 'Blackie's' eustom to seareh railway trucks alongside the vessel when at the wharves for rats, and he may have been caught in a truclc, later attaehed to a train from Auckland to Wellington. "On another oceasion he left the - Matai at Wellington and made the trip to Lyttelton and back| on th'ei Maori. His most extraordinary feat was leaving the Matai at Wellington, which then proeeeded right round the South Island, and found 'Blackie' awaiting them at Westport. He had gone from Wellington to Westport in a vessel that goes to Westport not oftener than once in six months, and how it happened to take 'Blackie' along to meet his ship at Westport is a mystery that only that very wise animal can solve. 'Blackie' is an institution 011 the Matai, not merely a mascot. The ship is perfectly clear of rats, thanks to 'Blackie,' and by saving the ship and its stores from destruction hy rats, 'Blackie' more than earns his keep. "He is a very shy gentleman — he runs away whenever he is approached by a human other than the hoatswain,

iand he even runs away from the hoatswain when the vicinity of passengers prevents the boatswain talking to him in language he understands. Plalin English is absolutely no good. But j let the boatswain say 'Come here, you ," and 'Blackie' meeldy I turns in his tracks and comes up plaintively mewing."