Capt. James Bruce signs the deed

Press, 18 June 1986, Page 30

Capt. James Bruce signs the deed

(From

STEVEN LOWNDES,

of the Akaroa Museum) If you visit Akaroa today you will more than likely journey by road and on arrival find excellent hotels and several motels offering accommodation; In 1842, you would undoubtedly have travelled by sea, and approached Akaroa from the grand sweep of the harbour, but you would still have found excellent accommodation waiting for you ashore. In that year, Captain James Bruce, a whaler from Dundee, opened Canterbury’s first residential hotel — in Akaroa.

Bruce had been whaling and sailing up and down the coast of Te Wai Pounamou for eight years and was the image of the grizzled sea dog: prickly side whiskers, spyglass under one arm, and the rolling gait of one accustomed to 5 the sea. r It was Bruce who landed the first Otago settlers, from the Magnet, at Waikouaiti in 1840, and he survived many adventures up and down this turbulent coast. At the age of 36, he decided to settle in Akaroa.

He bought a cutter, The Brothers, and determined to trade out of the harbour; but on only its second voyage, the vessel was lost in a squall off Manuka Tahi, about I.skm south of the Kaik. Bruce, who could not swim, was rescued by one of the passengers. Along with the cutter he lost 300 gold sovereigns, deeds to 222 ha at Preservation Inlet, o.sha at Circular Quay, Sydney, and a small island off the West Coast. Also lost with The Brothers was an original French map of Akaroa, and paintings and surveying instruments belonging to Captain Mein Smith, surveyor general to the New Zealand Company.

The loss of so much must have seemed like an omen, and Bruce decided to live ashore. In 1842, he built Bruce’s Hotel on the site now occupied by a Best Western Motel, near

the main wharf. Bruce’s Hotel was a substantial, three-gabled building with a shingle roof. He ran it with the exuberance of a sea captain, washing down the floorplanks every morning so that the place gleamed in the sun. His eye-glass was invariably trained on the harbour, and it was Captain Bruce who rowed out to pilot the Monarch up the harbour in 1850. The Monarch, bound for Auckland with 52 passengers, limped into Akaroa anchorless, rudderless and out of fresh food. “To our great delight, we saw a boat coming down the harbour toward us. The occupants soon boarded us, and amongst them was an old sea captain, who, knowing the harbour, had come to pilot us up to the anchorage, not forgetting to bring with him some eatables, consisting of new bread, butter and watercress. "We partook of tea on the day of our landing at Bruce’s Hotel. The table was well furnished, and the cooking excellent. “As may easily be imagined, we did ample justice to a substantial repast set before us, and enjoyed it as only those can who, for a long time, have neither tasted fresh meat, nor, indeed a proper meal. “For this, our first meal in our new country, we

each paid two shillings and sixpence. As night came down, we returned to the ship, and this daily routine was kept up for a fortnight.” Partly as a result of Bruce’s solicitousness, 40 of the passengers disembarked and remained in Akaroa. James Bruce was obviously a man to be taken seriously and his name appears as a European witness on Kemp’s Deed, which was signed in Akaroa on June 12, 1848. William Kemp, described as Minister for the Extinguishing of Native Land Claims, drew up a document in which the New Zealand Company purchased about 8 million hectares of what is now virtually the whole of Canterbury for the sum of £2OOO, to be paid in four installments of £5OO each. Even at the time of signing, there was dissention: Hone Tikao realised the paucity of the offer and stormed off Kemp’s ship, H.M.S. Fly, demand ing £5,000,000 as fair payment. He was only persuaded to return when Kemp threatened to draw up the deed with the Ngatitoa on the strength of their conquests in the early 1830 s. The grievances spawned in 1848 were not settled until the Ngai Tahu Claim Settlement Act of 1944, when payment of £20,000 for a period of 30 years was

agreed. And later, in 1973, the Maori Purposes Act decreed this sum be paid in perpetuity. Bruce was an excellent host and adept at handling the rough clientele the hotel enjoyed. There were whalers from France, America, Scandinavia and Britain, runaways rejoicing in sobriquets like Holy Joe or One-eyed Jimmy —- a melting pot of people — but James Bruce always managed to stay one jump ahead. Even the bottles of expensive liqueur on display behind the bar were filled with coloured water so that the inevitable damages suffered during a brawl would be minimised. People trusted him with their valuable possessions and he kept them locked up in his personal safe. He had the ear of Governor George Grey and, during one of his rare visits, Bruce persuaded him that Akaroa should be a Port of Entry. In 1852, the Customs House was opened. It was very much in Bruce’s interests that spirits, beer and wine could be imported directly, but no doubt a few casks still found their way ashore “duty free.” In 1858, the year of Bruce’s death, it may be sobering to note that Akaroa’s imports totalled £BB5. Of that sum, £709 constituted wine, beer and

whisky — mostly whisky. “Have you ever been to Akaroa? Where the girls are frisky, and the boys drink whisky . . .” The Customs House and Bruce’s safe are part of the display at the Akaroa Museum, and there also is a display showing the four hotels that have stood on the site of Bruce’s Hotel. Hospitality, so much the tradition of Captain Bruce, continues today, and following the trail of today’s advertisers ensures you of a relaxed time. We love to please, so “Come on Over” often and listen to the silence.