A WHALER’S MEMORIES

Greymouth Evening Star, 3 October 1928, Page 9

A WHALER’S MEMORIES

RUSSELL IN EARLY DAYS. The Bay of Islands, the whaler, and the Maori are three subjects which will be found closely associated in many stories of the early days in Ne*/ Zealand, and some tough yarns have been told of them, (states “Lonehander” in the “New Zealand Herald”). One writer described Kororareka (Russell) as the Alsatia of the Pacific. But, if traditional accounts are correct, the old whalers’ resort was never more than a temporary sanctuary tor any really bad men. It was said that if a man got too tough for the community he was well tarred and, if feathers were not available, a good dusting with raupo pollen made a first-class substitute. The hard case would then be drummed off the beach. This rough and ready method of getting rid of undesirables was practised by men who were determined that' order of some kind should be kept, and for that purpose they drew up a set of rules and agreed among themselves to see that they were adhered to by all who resided inside a boundary line drawn from the head of Matauhi (or Blinds Bay as it was then known) to a point at the southern end of Oneroa (Long-

beach). A fund was formed to pay the expenses of the association by each member paying ten shillings down and two shillings monthly. Ho also provided himself with a musket and bayonet, 30 rounds of ball cartridge and a brace of pistols and kept the same handy for inspection by the officer appointed ioi that. duty. Any member failing to assist in enforcing the regulations was fined £lO. Members had to meet, monthly and choose a chairman, deputy and two members to act as officials for the month. Anyone accused of robbery was tried by seven members, one of whom was elected president’, and to find a man guilty the Court had to he unanimous. When that happened the prisoner was handed over to the British Resident. If he refused to act, then the guilty one was handled by the association. A person knowingly receiving stolen property was dealt with as a thief. For aiding a sailor to desert his ship a fine of £lO was decreed by the selfappointed officials of bush-law. Tampering with the whaler’s boats and gear was another offence that called for a similar heavy penalty. A landlord had to have an agreement, binding his tenant to conform to the regulations or lose £2O. A sailor having deserted his ship was deemed a free man if not reported as missing before the fourth day had passed. After that time had elapsed the skippers got no assistance from the association in recovering their men. A man who refused to pay a just debt, was left to the mercy of his creditor who. if lie was able, could take it out of the debtor any way he liked (presumably this meant, with his fists). However, that way of obtaining satisfaction for debt was seldom needed, for men of the Old Brigade generally paid up. Trouble between landlord and tenant was settled by the arbitrary decision of five members of tbe league.

There were other wise measures which the framers thereof thought expedient for the welfare of the community. but these may be omitted, as enough has been said to show that the rude forefathers of the old-time hamlet, many of whom now sleep in file shade of Russell’s battle-scarred church, did their best to keep things straight. Some good stories are told of how they carried out their self-im-posed duties. My own personal experience of the historic township of Russell began in the early sixties. By that time the statute law had considerable force behind it. yet there wore occasions even when a bit more power would have been helpful.