OUTWITTING THE HAWK.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 226, 24 September 1927, Page 21

OUTWITTING THE HAWK.

AN OLD-TIME SMUGGLER. A RACE WITH THE REVENUE CUTTER. ADVENTURES OX THE NEW ZEALAND COAST.

(By 1.M.)

"\es, I would have been a poor man, but for the wtisky cargoes." Old J .Jim T chuckles reminiscently when I he thinks of the neat profits he earned by skill and cunning under the very noses of the revenue officers. He is one of the few survivors of the oldtimers who owned and commanded the little cutters which flitted from bay to bay along the coast, earning profits inversely proportionate to the lawfulness of their cargoes. "In those days," he says, "I had the Half-Caste, and a fine little vessel she wa3. She was built at Tairua, and in her day she could walk away from anvthing on the coast. Ostensibly we we're engaged in bringing sawn timber from the nulls at Mercurv Bay to Auckland, but in a vessel of her type, built tor speed rather than capacity* carrying timber did not pay for our 'grub.' We were far more concerned with the running of whisky which had not passed His Majesty's Customs, and there was always a good demand for liquor among the null hands and bush-whackers around Mercury Bav.

The Hawk Swoops. "The revenue officers had their eve on me, however, and on one trip, with a. full cargo of "joy-juice ,, in the hold, they nearly had me. We were just passing Cape Colville, hound for Mercury Bay, when the revenue schooner Hawk slipped out of Cabbage Bav and started arter us. She had been waiting there to catch us with the goods. She flew signals, but I carefully looked the other way, and awav we went on a -stern chase down the coast, running before a strong northerly breeze. "The Hawk very shrewdlv worked in between us and the land,'and after a while we began to realise that, before the wind, at any rate, she was the faster vessel. Very carefully she began to edge us further and further out to ; sea. I knew what the little HalfCaste could do, however, so I bided mv time until we were well down the coast past Mercury Bay. Then we swung round and came on the wind, heading back up the coast. On the' wind we were more than a match for the poor old Hawk, and she was left well to loo'ard." There was quite an affectionate tone in the old smuggler's voice when he spoke of his one-time enemy, and he chuckled gleefully when he thought of the shrewd stroke of seamanship which had given him the advantage in the most desperate race of hie adventurous career. As to how he made use of the advantage . "I had carefully timed the manoeuvre to fit in with my plans, and eo we reached Mercury Bay early in the evening, with the Hawk about three miles behind. Just inside the river, the bank is a steep cliff, with deep water at the foot. Big pohutukawas hung out over the water, and we forced the cutter well in under them. The mast was thrust up between the branches and we lay without a eound in the deep evening shadow.

la the Bay. "Everything was deathly quiet, end we did not dare even to breathe as the Hawk came into the river. She passed within a stone's throw of where we lay, and soon after we heard her anchor drop further up, where the river narrows. Obviously her commander thought he had us in a cul-de-sac. Then we heard her lower a boat which pulled away up the river to look for us. It was now dark, so very quietly we got into the dinghy and towed the cutter out of the river, keeping as close to the bank as we could. The friendly pohutukawas nearly proved our undoing, for tht noise they made when the mast was forced clear of the branches seemed terribly loud in the stillness of the night.

! "As soon as we were safely outside we piled on all sail and headed for Mercury Island. Here we had an emergencv depot where we could land our cargo if at any time we were unable to make Mercury Bay. We lost no time in discharging, and morning found us back at the bay. This time we anchored quit? boldly jirst outside the mouth of the river. It was a very angry Hawk that came down the river on the ebb tide to find us quietly at anchor, with our tishing lines over the side. Asked what we were doing, we retorted with the obvious truth that we were waiting for the tide to turn so that we could proceed up the river to load. "Of course one of the revenue officers came aboard, and the Half-Caste was searched from truck to keelson. The only liquor that was found, was half a bottle of painkiller that stood openly and unashamedly on a shelf in the cupboard. Beaten. "The revenue men knew that there was something more in our business than met the eye. but what could they do? They took themselves off quietly enough, for they knew that for once, at any rate, they were beaten. But after that thev gave us no peace. If the Hawk did not escort us down the coast, an honour that greatly troubled my bashful and retiring nature, then the local constable was sure to meet us at the wharf with a not too sincere concern for our general welfare. "Such flattering attention from the great ones of the earth and sea was fatal to the most profitable branch of our trade, and with only legitimate cargoes, or at the most, a very occasional smuggling trip, my prospects were far from bright, and eventually I had to set out. I went down to the Islands, where the comings and goings of 'innocent' little vessels were not so carefully watched by the authorities. When I came back my little jokes with the revenue officers were quite forgotten. My reputation was stainless." In these days of his respectable old age the one-time smuggler is a well-known resident of one of our maritime suburbs. His smuggling adventures arc to him what his youthful orchard-raid-ing exploits are to many a staid Auckland business man—-the scarce of many pleasant memories, and he spins his yarns with all the gusto that comes of the recollection of a good game well played.