CHATHAM ISLAND SKETCHES

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 12, Issue 979, 19 September 1868, Page 3

CHATHAM ISLAND SKETCHES

BY OUB OWS CQRBESPOinMSBT;

" Holloa. ! where the devil did you spring from?" Such was the salutation of a person who emerged : from the bush to a pedestrian of refined manner and gentlemanly exterior, and who seemed plodding along the devious pathway: in a state of mental perplexity. This gentleman, be it understood, held, an important Government trust; and, having recently landed at Waitangi from a vessel then in harbour, was travelling toward Whangeroa. After replying to this interrogatory, the gentleman paused and took a survey of his strange questioner, who seemed a very model of manly vigour. He was roughly attired in the . usual country costume : moleskin trousers, duck jumper, and Kilmarnock bonnet — beneath which glossy brown hair crisped and curled around his forehead and the borders of his broad brow. He might have numbered some forty-five years ; many, . however, would have taken him for a much younger man, so full and smooth was his face. He was about six feet in height — a very Hercules in appearance, and a model of manly beauty ; his brawny neck and chest were bare, and his frame seemed corded with iron muscles, fully developed and brought out by years of long endurance; his countenance, somewhat tanned by exposure to sun and storm, seemed to wear an expression of sternness ; nevertheless it was pleasant to look upon, and was fully redeemed by a clear, bright, honest blue eye, which at once invited confidence. The pedestrian seemed satisfied with his scrutiny, and from his side-pocket produced a small flask of brandy, with the usual invitation — " Friend, will you drink ?" The response was brief and characteristic — " Will a duck swim ?" " TV"ell, here's to you." So putting the flask to his mouth without further ceremony, he speedily made himself acquainted with its contents — an acquaintance, however, that seemed to afford him considerable satisfaction. To the sternness of his brow succeeded a ray of genial sunshine, and his clear blue eye sparkled with renewed brilliancy. "Well, come along and get some tucker." Gratified and amused at this rencounter, the gentleman followed his eccentric companion to a small settlement named Torotoro, from whence, amidst the foliage of surrounding bush, arose a rude yet comfortable dwelling, most romantically situated on the margin of a small chain of clear and limpid lagoons, embosomed, as it were, by an amphitheatre of bush : a spot most gloriously constructed by nature to delight the soul of man. Upon entering the house the pot was immediately placed over the fire, and a luxurious repast was prepared for the guest, further enhanced by a bountiful supply of milk fresh from the cow. The parting was as laconic as the meeting had been, and the pedestrian pursued his journey towards Whangeroa, musing upon his singular acquaintance; and he has since affirmed that many pictures will pass from his memory sooner than his first rencounter with our old identity, Bill Tennant. This little sketch, however, is quite a key to the character of the man, and many of your readers who have made merry with him will bear witness to its fidelity.

Born of respectable parents amidst the rugged hills of New England, and, like most of his countrymen, eager for adventure, early in life, almost from boyhood, he entered the American whaling service, and encountered what he sought, a life of strange vicissitude, of stirring and dangerous adventure. Ho can tell of mighty conflicts around Cape Horn, where angry billows seemed to threaten the very skies, and the voice of God might be heard in the hollow of the sea ; of fearful encounters with the monsters of the deep ; of whale-boats riven asunder by the lashing of their terrible flukes; how once, in the midst of Cook's Strait, he and five others, in pursuit of a whale, were cast upon the waters, and for many hours during that solemn night were clinging to a boat bottom upwards, until, through God's mercy, the ship bore down upon them in the darkness, and they were rescued. All these, and many more of life's stern battles, Bill can relate to his guests around his glowing fireside. Some twenty-five years since he was wrecked off this Island, in the American whaling barque Erie ; he then joined a party of bay whalers, and took a Maori woman to wife — one, indeed, who has proved a most faithful and industrious partner. The bay whaling party was composed of many of the Arabs of society, who were, generally speaking, a most pernicious set of men, by whom vice was considered a virtue, and honesty great weakness. How he escaped the moral contamination it is hard to say ; but neither their precepts nor example destroyed the inherent good principles of his nature, for no mean or ungenerous action was ever attributed to him. Like the purer metal, he remained untarnished by the dross around him. But, tern/pus mutanter, the old bay whaling company became a thing of the past, and the amiable associates were dispersed, no matter where, and our old identity, who had never studied bucolics, abandoned the pursuit of bull and cow whales for bulls and cows of another form and colour — in other words, he retired into rural life, and became transformed into a comfortable farmer and grazier.