SKETCHES OF HAWKE'S BAY AND THE EAST COAST.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 12, Issue 950, 9 June 1868, Page 3

SKETCHES OF HAWKE'S BAY AND THE EAST COAST.

FIRST SERIES.— EARLY DAYS.. BY AN OLD COLONIST. " Fleeting' as were the dreams of old, Remembered like a tale thai's told, They pass away." Chapteb II. — "Whaling, &c. (OonMmoed). Vo continue my story, after my somewhat fcevdious digression. I find th c Wards did not make much of it, one seaa on appearing to have sufficed for their experience. In 1838;, Mr. Ellis took up th© Waikokopu statioai. I find the dates somewhat conflicting in comparing the various accounts I have received, but it is pretty clear that Mr. Ellis had it all his own way until 1841, when, the Auckland people beginning to feel an interest in the East Coast, Messrs. Morris and Brown commenced whaling under their auspices. Mr. Perry, an American, came down in 1842, and Mr. Morris shifted to Whakaari, whaling there several seasons. Mr. Ellis then appears, in 1843, to have gon e to Kini Kini, better known as Long Point.. In 1844, the first fishery was established .at the Wairoa river, Mr. George Morrison Tbeing at the hoad of it. In the year 1845 y the first extensive capture of sperm whales was made — marked in red letters as the first "big glut" — no less than, twenty-six being captured at Kini Kini alone. Th.ese fish were worth, on an average, £200' each — making a pleasant haul for our fri< 3nds. The Wairoa fishery was not very siticcessful during the years 1844 and 1845. A man named Mayo, in the Bay of Islands, se ems to have been the principal person coik jerned in the early fisheries, and was followed, some time afterwards, by Messrs. Ma cfarlane and Salmon, of Auckland. About tl lis period (1843 and 1844) Mr. Perry bought out Mr. Ellis, taking the Waikokopu station for a debt due by Mr. Ellis to Mr. Mayo, and stipulating that Mr. Ellis should whale no longer in Hawke's Bay. Mayo then disappeared from the scene, and Mr . Perry became the principal fishing master at that end of the Bay : he had heretofore been Mayo's manager, and perhaps was st ill so actually. Whaling continued to aug. tnent in importance till the years 1852 and . 1853, at which time it must have been aU its culminating point in Hawke's Bay- —something like fifty boats being engaged .in the pursuit, under various owners — one gantleman having as many as eighteen under his direction. The natives themselves owne d boats, Toha distinguishing himself amon;? the rest. The Lewises commenced whaling at Wairoa in 1846, and did pretty well, carrying on with varying success till 1860. Whilst naming the Lewises, I must needs refer to their unhappy fate. Thaddeus Lewis, "Thad," as they called him, was a fine fellow of upwards of six feet in height, and as strong as a horse — a genial, goodtempered man, well liked by his companions. He left the Wairoa river, with a cargo of wheat, on the 12th May, 1856, in a small schooner named the Wave ; on the 18th, a heavy gale came on from the eastward, and neither Lewis nor the Wave were ever heard of, although numerous stories were told of his having gone to California. The Wave was owned by Messrs. Hamlin, of "Wairoa, and, as she was very heavily laden, doubtless foundered during the gale. The brother, William Lewis, many years later, when in charge of a small vessel belonging to Mr. Joseph Carroll, also of Wairoa, put into Long Point for shelter; fancying the bad weather at an end, he took on board some passengers, including Mr. John Campbell, of Kini Kini, an old and much respected settler. After getting under weigh again, the gale, having only abated, came on with renewed violence. The vessel was lost, with eveiy soul on board — some fifteen in number. The Lewises were Americans. It could not be expected that so dangerous a pursuit as whaling should have been earned on for so many years without occasional mishaps ; but no accident occasioning serious loss of life seems to have occurred. Boats were now and again smashed, and so on, but I have heard of no serious casualty arising from the pursuit jper se. Mortality amongst the old hands seems to have been principally caused by drunkenness. Carefully collating the evidence of a number of persons intimately acquainted with the circumstances, I find that, during a period of ten years, seventeen deaths occurred, of which two only were by the ordinaiy operations of nature. I should ill perform my task did I not lift the veil from the dark stain upon the past, caused by drunkenness, and show it in its naked hideousness. I will spare the feelings of my readers as much as possible, and mention but one or two cases as exemplifying that phase of its history. Whero all were drunkards, Ned Tomlin was notorious ; he was a valuable man, and an able headsman. On the occasion of a heavy spree, after a more than usually sue-" cessful haul, Perry and others were cardplaying. Tomlin, more drunk than the others, had been turned out of the house. In the evening, just after dusk, he persisted in coming in again, and Perry, considerably irritated, went to the door and struck him, knocking him down. No more was thought about it, and card-playing was resumed ; but, in the grey light of morning, some of the party, wandering forth, discovered Tomlin lying stark and stiff. Without enquiry, and without comment, after the mockery of a service, read by Perry, they huddled the poor remains into the cold earth. Another man, known as "Blind Charley," although at the time seriously unwell, upon a cry of " Whales in sight" being raised, insisted upon taking his place in the boat, fearful of losing his share of the luck. Being unable, from weakness, to pull as well as his mates, he got chaffed by them, which he resented. On leaving the boat, and reaching the house, he immediately drank off a whole basin of rum, and then disappeared. When the men, tired of their several occupations, looked for Charley, they found him dead under the table where he drank the rum. Two others died raving I mad, owing to similar excesses. Perry himself died suddenly from apoplexy. lam mindful of the old adage, JDe, moriuis nil nisi honvm, and, as but little "good" can be said of these men, I will let them rest in peace. It is not clear either, even in these days of greater enlightenment, that things are much better. The population has increased, and that alters the complexion of the case. The class of men who drank their lives away then, still continue to do so ; the sole difference being that, whereas in those days they represented all, save a fraction, of the population, in these they represent but a per centage. In spite of finance ministers, who point with satisfaction to the enormous revenue arising from the spirit trade, I look \ipon the result as representing so much infamy and degradation — a blight instead of a blessing. I fully coincide with the moral of the story told by an Eastern philosopher : — A certain dovout Mahometan, priding himself over much on his spiritual gifts, was punished by being offered by an angel the selection of three crimes, one of which he was compelled to commit : he had the option of choosing drunkenness, adultery, or murder. Horrified at tho dilemma, he chose the former, and, it is recorded, committed all three."