ORIGINAL AND SELECTED MATTER.

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 12569, 11 August 1906, Page 7

ORIGINAL AND SELECTED MATTER.

J j "'HISTOBICCASTEKBUBY. < *J J uim JrilE WHALING DAYS. J \* '" ' ' v I ', ' (Bx Moko.) 1 *■'« r«wct_u* warms top. "xir* rnF-ss".) j ■S - U*roai*the old days, tho bold f -" ' J '_ «, when bush camo down to the blue < ; i r*rj t tfw, and tnis trilled and mako 1 \ t £_U chimed in it. when half a dozen < j iCnch and Yankee whal.ng ships J ■i ' *__feht li" at anch ° r 5n th 6 ba> ' *°" J * 3 'Cthcr, when prudent men gave swag- < " 3 Hayes the path, and reell ) to-W.krs played uproarious games of I; '< Zc-im wirh good bottles of gin in ? XS ** hot... or f Jonghc each other with the bottles on 1 beach outside. It was a d.fteron *' ' tLce from tho quiet little township of I - JvdaT, that drowse in the warm sun, ( '% lulled" by the lapping sea. < / Halt a dozen white-haired men and ' 4.1 ' women live who were children, or but , % little more, when their ship, the Comte j % de P-ris. sailed with her sixty-five long- ; i togged emigrants, sent out to found a j \\ -colony for France, into the smooth 1 C '_ aten! of Akaroa harbour, and their t t sank *iddenly to boo an English , _\ " i, r ig of war at rest there, beside the < J French frigate, which had preceded f 8 ."tßom, and a group of men surrounding ' 3 , , flagstaff from which tho Union Jack , *I~ _«r gaily. B" fc the y were told tl,at ! had no import, and after it had ] --•been removed, by agreement between 1 Stanley and Commodore La- j jT-tand. of the French frigale, to save ] r'poeaible trouble, they continued to hope ] I c -"t_-t they were still beneath the , i A wrereignty of La Belle France, until, 1 l -in a few years' time, they were satis- 1 f -' ficd to know tho truth, and proud of ] I "• being loyal British subjects. j I X With one of theee first settlers the , I " writer had some long talks i I a recent stay at Akaroa. j i v*The old pioneer had been about I i eighteen yeare old when he 1 I h first came out with his parents, and, 1 / though bo had kept no diajy of those i *~* early days, "I have a good diary hero/ j 'fehe said, tapping his forehead. Ho re- j f<; membered, in the very early forties, 1 '~ seeing as many as eighteen whaling , !'• vessels and throe men-of-war, two ] -- French and one American, moving in : " ' or out of Akaroa harbour, or lying at j anchorage there on one day. It seem- 1 "cd incredible, but the old man was i very positive, and it is related, on i .' other authority, that as many as '" eleven whalers have taken shelter at 1 " ' one timo in Jsland Bay, to tho south f \ of tbe mouth of Akaroa harbour. ] '•• Those were wild days, he admitted, after the first settlement of the place, i *. It was ho who described' tho famous ] i - game of ninepins as played in the old t _f - hotel. It was resorted to by the 1 fT whalers as a rariation from drinking, they had become too drunk to j &l£dnnk Jonger, except after proper in- i [Sterols. Three cases oi-gin were f t~j? called for, each holding twelve bottleß. ] Ono wj« emptied, and nine bottles, c "-placed in ro«is upon, the top of the i Bocond case, were uacd aa ninepim_, i aud the others served competitors as l ," balls. The bottles were placed on the l j case so that the rows faoed the reeling t * seamen diagonally, and the throwing < j was underarm. Generally they wero <: "- -«o drank when they tihis game '. JL that the destruction! of bottles and j -.; waste of good gin were much dimin- A 7 ished by the circumstance. In fact, ] when a man threw, the bottle was as \ likely to gft behind him as in front. , - They played in twos, one pair follow- \ ing another, and' the bottles that would c s-' not break soon enough, or that were { left when the game ended, had their f heads knocked off with a jack-knife, f and were emptied into an American j bucket, into which the players dipped , r for refreshment. The losers in this . " novel competition paid for the three f " cases. When the game was finished, 7 the entertainment would most probably l Lr -be varied by a noisy fight, and when 1 ft- was done, the whalers would bo < | T ready for more drinking. i , A younger resident of Akaroa told t \ only the other evening how, when a \ ",:' Wi bo came one morning upon four '". sailors, lying, with Woody faces turned j '' to the sky, and blood-besmeared clothes, ( ■r beside a little stream that tricKles ' • down' close to the peaceful, modern j , township. There had been a fight i American and French sailors, knives had been drawn, and these four ] "V had bam left to recover from the t stupor caused by drink amd wounds. v ," k . Mr S. C Farr, who was at Akaroa ; - * from 1850 till 1662 r says that the \ "'i whalers often used to fight with ' .- bottles. Tlie men of an American ' * • vessel which had had a lucky trip would * _ gibe, perhaps, those of a Frenchman ' /■' whicii had been lees fortunate. Gibes ' i t woald lead to blows, and the French { ; sailors, who were, Mr Farr sayß, curi- ' Httle men, seldom over Sft 6m. * in height, knowing themselves no ' match for the Americans at fisticuffs, 1 would take to other weapons. Bottles i

_ ' were a favourite arm, doubtless as affording a good grip and being always plentiful. Two men would fight, when one gave in another would assail the victor, and so it would go on nntil .> .* a number of them wore cut and wounded horribly. But they always parted good friends.

To return, however, to tho old - Frenchman's story. Wo English havo a pleasing explanation of the forestalling • of tho French by Captain Stanley at , Akaroa, and tho hoisting of the English f flag a day before they arrived. When Lavaud, who was convoying the emigrants, touched at Auckland on his way to the projected colony, it is said, Governor Hobson, half suspecting his miswon, entertained him royally. In an

unguarded moment the commodore repealed his secret, and Hobson was quick . to act. Captain Stanley, of the Britl' otnarte, was ordered to make all speed ' to Akaroa, and take possession for the . British first. He did so, and Hoheon's smartness, the closeness of that me© for possession, and perhaps the <»si-y imagined discomfiture of the French commodore when he arrived too late, have always had a special charm for British hearers. But the old Frenchman told a different -tory, curious in its contradistinction, if lot so well established, and an articlo of belief, apparently, with others of his wuntrymen. When the Akaroa settlement was founded by the Nanto-Borde-laiso Company, he explained, the Government, under Louis Philippe, had no desire of colonisation, and was c6peo , mUv anxious to avoid a foreign embroilment. So Lavaud, who was a connection, it is said, of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, wa.s given tlio Governorship oi the projected settlement for five years, with wido discretionary powers in other matters, but strict in-N-ructions to do nothing that might provoke a conflict with Great Britain. And so. on his arrival at Auckland, he

'NOTES ON BOOKS AND AUTHOES.

purposely "let tho cat out of the bag." .According to this authority, who claimed to have derived his information from ft priest on Lavaud's ship, L'Aube, tho secret was told to tlio British, «n<l tho French commodore purpostJy <Ihl--lied about Auckland for five days, until Captain Stanley had left. and only set sail for Akaroa after his lieutenant had accused him of treacherous designs. Another of the earlier* immigrants, rince dixul, nwd to explain thai Lavaud's action _\vas tho outcome of definite secret instructions from the ultra-cautious French Government. Certainly (lie story offers consolation to French pride, but it is curious tbat whereas its latest teller felt hi-- blood still bnil with indignation at the recital, the other narrator, who bnquoathed the opinion to his ton, w:»m, in his later days, at all events. on-" who rejoiced at the re.-nlt. and had no opinion whatever of the prospects of a colony governed largely from Paris.

Much light may lte thrown on tho circumt-tancvß of that race to found a colony if applications are sucocev-ful, which are now being made hy tho commit tee which, is collecting documents and relics of the early days to place in the Peninsula Bay at the Exhibition. Tho Britisli Admiralty aro being a.skod if they can send out the lor; of tho Britornarte covering the period in question, and Mr E. E. ]>lievre has written to a friend in Rochfort. asking him. if p;**uble, to di-envor and send out that of tlie frigate L'Aube

During tho first years of the settlement Lavaud was Governor, and the whole colony was under French law. the English Magistrate, Mr Robinson, apparently having an easy time. One law forbade tihe private purchase of liquor in bulk from the whaln-s, and tho old French colonist told an entertaining sH:ory in this connection. _ A man named Green, it seems, having bought a barrel of brandy from a whaling ship, poured the contents into kegs .which he hid in his garden, and filled up the barrel with rather brackish water. Lavaud, hearing of the purchase, semt an officer to make enquiries, and this man. seeing the barrel and getting no satisfactory reply, arrested Green and confiscated tho supposed liquor, both being placed on beard Lavaud's vessel. Here tho barrel was observed by the sailors, and broached by stealth, but great were theiT disappointment and disgust when tho brackish water met their mouths. They left tho barrel lenking, and its drip, dirip, was observed in course of time by Lavaud, who sniffed, had his suspicions aroused, tasted, spluttered, and sent for Green to obtain an explanation. "What have you got in that cask?" was the commodore's first, and superfluous, question. "Water," was the reply. "What was in it before?" "That is not your business." "Why did you fill it with water?" "Because it pleased mc." "And wlhy did you not tell mc it was water?" ''"Because you didn't ask." And the commodore could get no more satisfaction out of his prisoner, whom he was forced to release. The pioneer interviewed was a firm believer in the validity of Captain L'Anglois's purchase, in 1838, of practically the whole of Banks' Peninsula from the natives, which led to the French settlement after L'Anglois had vested his interests in tho NnntoBordelaise Company. L'Anglois bought the peninsula from the head chief, he said, in tho presence- of other chiefs. Ho gave thorn certain articles on account, and tho purdhaso was concluded very much on tho modern time-pay-ment system. This man had his information from ono Fleniret, who had been a witness of the first transaction. The second payment wias nipde on arrival of the Comte de Pa.ris. and consisted of muskets, clothing, and other articles. The narrator remembered seeing four annual payments made altogether at Akaroa. It was a great day for the Maoris, who assembled from all over the peninsula, when the distributions wore made. The old colonist remembered hearing Captain L'Anglois address a meeting of intending emigrants and others in France, and pourtray to them the advantages of the new country. He was a man very careful of his appearance, and was nicknamed Beau L'Anglois, to distinguish him from a brother. His purchase of the peninsula was approved at the timo by Commodore Cuiello, of the Heroine, who happened to bo in tho vioimty, and declared French sovereignity over tho island, it is said, two years before Captain Stanley's arrival to mako the bargain more conclusive.

"Do I remember Bully Hayes?" asked the old settler, on tho subject of conversation being thus changed. "I should think I did, since he very nearly kidnapped mc once, and carried mc oft' to sea." And he proceeded to tell the story. Hayes, whoso line of business was simply defined as "to steal and sell again," had paid a visit to tho port, and been arrested for somo misdemeanour. The day happened to be Sunday,. and in answer to tho prisoner's many protests he was released on tlio strict understanding that ho should come before tho magistrate in the morning. Hayes preferred to get away, but the difficulty was that all his crew were on shore, and apparently either not to bo collected at once, or not in a condition to set sail. While he was taking possession of a boat on tho beach, in which to board his vessel, a cutter from 60 to 80 tons, ho spied the narrator of the story. "Here, young man," he called out. "just help mc to hoist my anchor and get under sail." Tho young man obeyed, pretty nervously, and when the operations were finished Hayes caught hold of the painter of tbe boat, lis only means of getting back to shore, and confronted him fixedly. At last, "Ate you a marrifd man?"' he asked, and the pressed helper answered that ho was. Hayes still hesitated, but a generous sentiment prevailing, handed the painter to tho Frenchman who stepped into the boat and was soon safe on shore, leaving tlie other, presumably, to sail his cutter out singlehanded, a fairly difficult task, though doubtless he could y>ick up other hands at Peraki, or one of tho other whaling stations about the harbour.

There were four of these stations in the very early days—at Peraki, Ikeraki. Island Bay, and Go Ashore Bay, and about thirty men lived on shore at enoh, and fished from boats off the shore. A look-out man was stationed on 'he hillside, and when a whale was sighted the boats would start out, and be guided by this man as to its course. As the great fish changed its direction ho would run along the hillside lighting hits of tussock, the smoke of which would act as signals of the whale's progress till it was seen to spout, and tho attack commenced. The carcase was beached, and the long strips of blubber cut away with spades, and hauled by a. line from tlie windlass to the huge "trying-out'' pots. A big firo was kept burning under these, and as the blubber melted tlie oil was transferred to casks, to be shipped away when tho traders called for it. Tlio eld cauldrons, heaps of whalebone, and other relics of the industry, wore still to be seen at Island Bay not long ago.