LURE OF AMBERGRIS.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 10, 12 January 1929, Page 10

LURE OF AMBERGRIS.

KAIPARA FIND WEIGHS 272L8

"HUNTING" THE BEACHES.

MAX WORKS WITH FOX-TERRIER

(By Telegraph.—Own Correspondent.)

DARGAVILLE, this dav.

Quite a stir was caused by the news that Mr. Subrit/kys party had found a valuable piece of ambergris, over 2001b iu weight, near the northern entrance to the Kaipara Harbour. The ambergris was brought up to the Bank of New Zealand here to-day, but the banker refused to handle it unless it was packed in a zinc-lined case. Last evening the case was deposited in the bank, the net weight being 2721b. It measures 4% by 18 by 21 inches. The owners, Mr. Subritzky, his son and Mr. Anderson, have insured it, and will probably ship it to London later. It appears that they passed something log-like, covered with marine growth when on a trip by motor car to the graveyard at the northern entrance to Kaipara Harbour. On the way back they, stopped to make an examination. With great difficulty they got it into the back seat of the car, and brought it along to a beach camp near Te Kopuru. It is reported that Mr. Alf Ringrose, another Te Kopuru resident, who hunts' with a fox-terrier dog. found pieces weighing 32 ounces during the holiday*. Mr. Ringrose patrols the beaches from Beacon Point opposite Ruawai, pas.t Pouto up the West Coast as far as Maunganui Bluff, a distance of probablv over eighty miles. He has made some valuable finds.

Some people have very exaggerated ideas about the value of ambergris. One of the few men in these parts who can speak with authority about the article is Mr. Walter H. Mason, of Auckland; he has been dealing in it for years, and regularly sends shipments to the Continent and England. He pointed out to a "Star" reporter this morning that the price in London might range from four shillings to four pounds an ounce. In New Zealand it would be very much less. It would be impossible to estimate the value of any find unless one actually handled it, as there were many

grades. In more than one instance finders of strange substances on the setshore who had thought they had fallen across a nice find of ambergris had been doomed to disappointment; the stuff having turned out to be something quite different, such as a lump of tallow, for instance. Mr. Mason sees no reason to doubt the genuineness of this reported find » the North. Ambergris, he said, had be« picked up along the West Coast beaches from time to time, and some of them wefe patrolled regularly by men on the look out for this valuable flotsam. Smaß quantities had been found at Piba, Waitakere. occasionally. The best time to go searching for ambergris was the spring, and after heavy gales from the weetward. It was understood that the stuff came from the whales passing up the coast from the seas of the Antarctic to the warmer waters of the equator, where the cows brought forth their calves, after which the family returned south.

Among large finds in New Zealand Mr. Mason recalled one of 800 ounces made by a iir. Lloyd, of Pihama, Taranaki, worth probably £17-50. The biggest piece found, as far as he knew, was a 200O0Z lump, discovered in the sand at Mason's Bay, Stewart Island, b.V a Mr. John Leask. some of which was handled by Mr. Mason. Stewart Island was a noted place for the ambergris searchers, and a Mr. Adameon, known down South as the "Ambergrie King." spent many months searching the lonely storm-swept beaches on the west side of the island.

In one season this Mr. Adamson «li reported to have returned to civilisation with 3400 ounces.

*u A ° uniber of people who live along the West Coast keep an eve open for ambergris, and some of them patxol the beaches regularly. There is a man living out at Piha, who has made finds from time to time, although the pands there are only a couple of miles in length. One man regularly patrols the "Ninety Mile Beach" in the far north. 011 his motorcycle. Other men ride along the beache* on horseback and trust to their dogs te scent out any ambergris that has been washed up. This is the method referred to in the telegram from our Dargarillecorrespondent.

AmT>ergr!s when fairly new looke rather like a bit of cobbler's wax « colour, but it is softer. Age will grey it, and then it is most valuable. If • match be put to a piece of ambergne it will burn like sealing wax, and will give off a distinct odour, somewhat resembling very weak incense.