AN EXCITING CAREER.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 270, 7 November 1908, Page 4

AN EXCITING CAREER.

«>. . WILD DAYS IN NEW ZEALAND. A contributor who signs himself •■ K. A." gives to the Kaikoura Star an interesting account of the exciting careeof John Mori-ell, an old whaler, who died oji September 3'lst, of ove)- DO' years of age, and after living over 70 years in .New Zealand. We make the following extracts:— SAVED FROM MASSACRE. A Frenchman by birth, Mo-rell shipped on buard it whaJer which left Uordeaux in IS3!|, bound for this country. The Macquarrie Islands were first sighted, but an attempt to land was frustrated by a storm which blew them off-shore, and the ship made for Duncdin. (In landing they learned of the massacre of a ship's crew at the Macuunrie Islimds a few days previously, so that llorrell and his companion* escaped a similar fate. There were very few pakelms when they landvd, but the natives were numerous, and it was interesting to hear him tell of the abundance of food then procurable. Dried lisli, heaped up and thatched with raupo like haystacks, were seen everywhere, and pigeons (the native kereru) had not to be shot to be obtained; one could kill dozens with a stick on the tree limbs.

Slorrell U-ft the whaler at Duncdin. u7HI went north in a corvette which was taking Bislio.p Pompallier to (iisliorno. Subsequently iie joined the whalers i:i llawke's Bay, and there spent ..ie "router part of his life. He knew intimately many of the .Maori chiefs who were engage,] in the »var. and was an eye-witness of nianv thrilling ineidc its during it. Te Kocti was intimately known to the deceased, and many act's of prowess and cunning were committed in the hitter's presence. Carroll, the father of tin; present Native Jltaister, pulled an oar in JlorreH's ivhalehoat. and Jaka, the great riiief of the Wairoa,. was on friendly terms with him. NATIVE ATKOCITIES. An incident in the life of the latter, witnessed by ilorrell, may be interesting as showing (he absolute power of chiefs in those days. A captain trading to llawke's Hay. was insulted by a Maori, and lhi s was reported to Jaka. who ordered tile native to ilie brought to liim. .Inkiv killed the insulter, took out his heart, and oll'ered it to the captain, telling him to eat it, Their wav to alone for the insult.

As another illustration of revenge for injury the following may be instructive:—A notorious chief, who spared no one against whom he had a grudge, whether a ■member of his own ur any other tribe, but murdered wholesale, was caught by relatives of some of his victims, tied to a tree head downwards, and worried to death by the infuriated mea and Women, as wolves devour a tired reindeer.

Pages could be filled with similar experiences, related by the deceased to the writer; also scenes of volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, terrible accidents that occurred while whaling, and dangers lie escaped. One more, however, must suffice. A young officer belonging to a guaboat, who landed to obtain water, was surrounded and caught. The

Maoris lashed liim to the gate post of a pah. and pierced him through and through with rifle ram-rods made red hot. His screams could be heard for miles around. A FEARLESS WHALER.

It is doubtful if New Zealand eveboasted of a more 'expert, fearless, ami successful whaler than Morrell. He has had boats smashed to splinters by onraged eow whales, witnessed the horrible deaths of men crushed by them in their death throes, while others were drowned by the capsizing of whaleboats. His account of the'doings of the men who were engaged at the Wairoa half a century ago beggars description; thieves, murderers, forgers, bushrangers and desperadoes of every kind formed the then population. A man so kindly, gentle, honourable, and upright in all his actions—for ami'/ the scenes oi bloodshed, robbery, and crime enacted by the lawless fiends who formed I lie populace of Hawke's Bay at that lime—Worrell's life and character shone as a good deed in an evil world. He married a chief's daughter 04 years ago, and leaves issue to the fourth generation.