Grandfather’s Yarns.

Southern Cross, Volume 2, Issue 37, 8 December 1894, Page 5

Grandfather’s Yarns.

*' 1 W' ‘ ' (All Rights Reserved). No. 3K A MORE ABOUT WHALING. MR GEL LIB RAND’S RIGHTS. UNJUST LAWS. HOW THEY WERE RIGHTED. “ Grandfather, please go on telling us about whaling,” said Jack this evening. “ Yes mj boy, if you like,” said Grandfather, “ Let me see, I think I told you about m 3 poor father’s death last time. Well 1 stayed in town three days for the funeral* and then went back to Triim'peter' Bay till the end of the season. ' J , “And a good season it. was, tob, but towards the end a spell of bad weather set in, and we ran up to town for a Few days. One day there was a strong S.E. gale blowing, and a whale came right up among the shipping. “Mr Young and some of us went out in a boat and fastened to and killed the whale, then anchored it down at the South Arm, intending to go and cut it in the first fine day. Next day was fairly good and we started out with our vessel to cut in the whale, but someone had been there before, us, for on going up to the whale we saw in large letters— ‘ Mr Mortimer : his property,’ “ Mortimer had gone past early in the morning in his boat, and seeing the whale, as he thought, unanchored, climbed on it and claimed it as his own.

“ ‘ I’ll property the wretch,’ said Mr Young'; and when they came up presently there was a row, but Young proved that the whale was his and we proceeded to cut her in.

“ I was sent ashore with two other fellows to get some ballast. We went in a large -whaleboat, and soon got on board about a ton of ballast, and were pulling back to the vessel when I saw what I thought was a woman running down the beach and beckoning to us. I told the others, and they turned round to have a look.

“ ‘ It’s Mr GelHbrand, we’d better go back,’ said one of the men. Mr Gellibrand was a great man then. His sou had come out as AttorneyGeneral to Judge Pedder, and he himself had a lot of property. We pulled ashore and there stood the old gentleman in his dressing-gown. ‘ My good men,’ he said, ‘ who authorised you to take away my stones “ ‘ Mr Young did,’ I said ; ‘ we want ballast before we can cut in our whale out there.’ “ ‘ Well,’ he said, 'Mr Young had no right to do that. Why, if everybody came and helped, themselves to my stones, I’d soon not have one on my beach ; unload your boat, my good men.’ •“ ‘ But,’ I said, ‘ I thought anyone had a right to stones below high water mark.’ “ ‘Ho,’ he said, ‘ my grant gives me the stones right down to low-water mark, so again I request you to unload. “ Of course we had nothing to do now but unload, and we flung the stones overboard with as much force as we could, and splashed the old fellow properly. “ I wonder how he’d like a little of my water, whispered one of the men to me, and angry as I was I couldn’t help laughing. But the old gentleman stood his ground well, and saw every stone out. • “ When we were pulling back to the ship he told me to tell Mr Young to come ashore to him at once. When we reached the vessel Mr Young was terribly angry, but 1 explained to him ; he flung himself intothe boat and we went ashore again. “ Mr Gellibrand harangued there for about an hour, and at last he wound up by saying, ‘ How, Mr Young, you are welcome to any

quantity of ballast at any time. That’s where I live,’ pointing to his house, 1 and. it’s very easy for you to come and ask me when you want any.* “ Toung couldn’t say anything to him, but when we got’ away he did rave. ‘ That old Tomfoolery in petticoats is very fond of asserting his authority, but if I were to contest him in a court of law I don’t think he’d look so smart,’ he said ; and he was angry for the rest of that day. “ Next season we were in Trumpeter Bay again and had a splendid season —there were plenty of whales everywhere* then. Though we only had two boats we got 300 tuns of oil ; of course we had to work hard for it. “ Next year (1830) Young and Walford had two fisheries—one in Adventure Bay and another in Trumpeter Bay. I was boat-steerer in Griffiths’ boat, and we went into either fishery —whichever happened to be the handiest —after the day’s work was over. One afternoon we were ashore iu Adventure Bay, Griffiths went up to the look-out point, and saw Young’s boat and a strange boat out after three whales.

“ He came running down and told us to get ready to go out; so off we went —both boat loads of us. When, we got out there was a great row going on. Young' had fastened to a whale which, however, broke the iron and'got awaj r . Then the other boat belonging to a man named Lucas, fastened to it; and there they were arguing away about the ownership of the whale.

“ While they were in the thick of it the whale got away again, and so we gave chase and fastened to the self-same whale.

. “ Then somehow either the fast whale or the loose whale, it all happened so quickly we never knew which —flew through the water right on top of us and stove in our boat. We were all sent flying into the water, but none of us were hurt. We managed to right our boat and were towed ashore by our other boat. ' “ For the third time then the poor whale got away, but Young and Lucas both went after it and both headsmen fastened at the same time, and they commenced quarrelling again. By this time it was getting’ a bit dark and time to go in, so both of them insisted on putting his own line and anchor to the whale and leaving it till morning ; and Young declared that however early Lucas’ boat was there in the morning he’d be there as soon. “ And sure enough he was there at daylight, though he had to come all the way from Trumpeter Bay ; and they commenced fighting about the whale again, Young proved, however, that by the then existing whaling rules the -whale was his, and Lucas had to give in. “ About that time. there was so much quarrelling and so many petty court cases between the different whalers and owners that the authorities determined to find out for themselves 'how whaling was conducted in. the fisheries. “ So Judge Montague came down to Trumpeter Bay and lived there a]l, the season in his yacht. Every day he went out in our boat, and he was always asking questions about the rules we had, and the life we led. ' “ Of course the whaling rules had been laid down by men who knew nothing' whatever about the sea, and some of them were unjust. For instance, if one boat fastened to and killed a calf they would claim the mother too, even if another boat had taken her a few yards off. Then again if a whale your iron was in got away and another boat fastened to her days afterwards you could claim, the whale though you had no hand in killing her. “ After Judge Montague had been

down there all that -was altered, though, and far fairer whaling’ laws were enforced. It is getting- late now, boys, but I will tell you more about Judge Montague’s visit to the fisheries to-morrow if you ask me.”