IN THE WAKE OF A WHALE.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLII, Issue 110, 11 May 1908, Page 3

IN THE WAKE OF A WHALE.

THE WILD WEST COAST.

(Special to The Press:)

(By Edgar R. Wait©, F.L.S., Curator,

Canterbury Museum.)

On opening my newspaper on February 17th, I read that a large whale, measuring 99 feet long and" 20 feet wide, had been washed ashore six miles north of Okarito, "near Hokitika." It was so high that a man on horseback could not see over, it, and, viewed from a distance, it had the appearance of a stranded dismasted vessel. If this account was anything near the truth, it was something like a whale. As the result of telegraphic messages to and from Okarito, I left for the West Coast with Mr William Sparkes, taxidermist to the Museum. I had no authentic record of a whale 99 feet in length, and was prepared to discount this considerably. People said:—"Why couldn't«they say 100 feet while they were about it?" But one had to-remember the remark of the Yankee under similar circumstances: "Stranger, do you imagine I would imperil my. immortal soul for the sake of a paltry twelve inches." ; However, before starting, we learned that the whale had been taped by Mi- J. W. Thomson, harbour master of Okarito, and that the exact length was 87 feet. Here, then, we had one of the largest whales known to science. It is true that greater dimensions have been recorded; have we not an instance in the newspaper report of this identical creature, which, diminished 12 feet under the tape? Whales have been described as 960 feet in length, but the older historians were notorious for drawing a very long bow. In 1532 Olaus Magnus, whose. ilustrations, by the way, are monstrous and fantastic, in describing a whale cast on to a Northern beacn, gave its length at 90 feet; this may have been correct, for, according to the most reliable modern authorities-, whales have been accurately measured 85 feet in length

Whales are the largest animals which the world has ever known, gigantic fossil remains notwithstanding. Anyone therefore, who has seen a whale 87 feet long, has viewed the greatest Animated production of Nature.

My object was to secure the skeleton of this gigantic whale for the Canterbury Museum, but, as my readers will be aware, I have not been successful.

There was no mechanical bar to securing the bones and transporting them to Christchurch, and failure did not result from want of energy or enthusiasm; there are, however, conditions quite beyond one's control, and before these the most ardent must needs bow. )

Before attempting to describe the whale as we found it, lying in its hugeness on the beach, some account of how we reached the scene may be of interest. I may say that we started off with very meagre details of the route, and had to feel our way, so to speak, as we went along. At 7 a.m. on February 19th we left Chnstchurch, and b^ the usual tourist route, through the Otira Gorge, finally arrived at Greymoufh, on the West Coast, about 8 o'clock at night. Leaving early next morning by train we reached Hokitika before 9 o'clock, and here experienced our first difficulty. We had learned from the guide books that a boat runs between Itokitika and Okarito, 83 miles to' the south; and we found that it does—sometimes. The last time the boat entered Okarito Harbour was two months previously. The silting up of a shifting bar was responsible for the condition of affairs which, as we afterwards learned, is ruining the welfare of the town. Tho only nl+ernafivo. tlie>'fiforf\ wai

evening-^Friday to Wednesday was to long to wait, for who could say what might happen to the whale meanwhile. The greatest difficulty was experienced in geting a conveyance. Mr McNab, the Hon. Minister for Lands, was eight hours ahead of us, and had taken the best horses and vehicles out of the place. Finally we did manage to arange for a passage, though a rather expensive one. When, however, we turned up at the appointed time, we were told that the weather was threatening, and indeed it was, and that the driver was not going to run any risks_ with the rising . rivers; he valued himself : and his horse and trap, and also had some consideration for us. To make the proverbial "long story short," another conveyance, or rather the same conveyance and horse, but another driver, was secured, at a very substantial increase oh the , previous stipulated amount. lam not going to say there was collusion, but at any rate this ended the difficulty so far as the conveyance Was concerned. After wasting half a day over the matter, we drove away about three o'clock, The number of tenantless and dilapidated houses and store* was new evidence of the change which had pome over the once prosperous a fate comijaon to irfany places built on gold. Chatting with an old man, he said that where how no boat was lying at the long'wharves, he had seen them three deep, arid that in the. good old days money ran like water. As we drove along we saw men at work on the roads, all old men, all former diggers, many^ of them at one time prosperous. Leaving the town behind with its mountains of "tailings," still being formed by modern dredges, we passed through forests of rimu or red pine, slowly disappearing.Jbefore the ravenous timber mills which besprinkle the route, and smaller areas of silver and white pine/ Tree ferns luxuriate on the dampness of the west, and the fcuis flit about and carol from the topmost branches of the dead giants which Nature has cheated of the woodman's axe.

Our horse was a strong one, but had the hajbit of stopping and- hacking. Our driver wouldn't allow that this was jibbing. He^explained that the horse had been in a baker's cart for some time, and had got into bad habits. Every semblance of a hill had to be. negotiated with the driver at the horse s head; on the flat or the down grade we made excellent progress, so that, like Mark Twain's watch, we made a fair and square average. A stoppage at jßoss for meals upset the horse considerably, and a broken trace resulted. Rough roads, heavy rain, and swollen rivers, made driving unpleasant, but we were told that owing to the fact that the Minister was in the district, the larger boulders had been removed from the route across the rivers, and our crossing was the easier therefor. As darkness came on, the sides of the

road were illuminated with, fairy lamps, the light being emitted by phosphorescent fungi. We finally reached Fern Gully and stayed at the accommodation house of Mrs Fergu-

son. , - ' The rain having cleared away during the night, the promise of a fine day was amply fulfilled, but a night's rest had not improved the temper of our horse. In addition to usual means employed to mollify a jibbing horse, our patient driver introduced some methods which were new to me. I am sure he walked or ran as often as he rode, and during one of his excusions afoot he placed his handkerchief crosswise in the horse's mouth, tying thev ends to the rings of the bit. "That's to occupy his attention," was the explanation. The next move was to tie two knots in the handkerchief, and later a few pebbles "were placed in the fabric, but trifles of this kind did not seem to have much influence on the mental condition of the animal.

I had not previously seen anything very special in New Zealand in the way of ferns, but this drive on the West Coast was a revelation to me. Mile after mile the road was banked by great masses of fern of many .species, and •' the brilliancy of their, greenery was most refreshing after the comparatively parched appearance at that time observable on the east. A visit to the West shows how justifiable is the adoption of the fernleaf .as the emblem of New Zealand.

Lest the very luxuriance of growth, should become monotonous, great diversity of scenery is provided. Now the road skirts a beautiful lake, peopled with ducks, and from the;banks rise pukaki, as we drive along. Kingfishers are also. seen, while native pigeons fly across our route at frequent intervals, or perch on the trees but a little way distant. The frequent river crossings furnish some excitement, and in our case the maximum was reached at the "Big Wanganui." 'As we afterwards learned, there is a ferry here, but our driver, who was new; to the route, appeared to be unaware of this. He was palpably nervous of a river with the name and reputation of the Big Wanganui, arid his countenance visibly brightened when we saw ahead of us, on the near banks of the river, two drays preparing to cross. Mr Sparkes and I were transferred to the top of one of the drays, laden with bags of chaff, and I can safely say .1 have never had a rougher time aboard any vehicle than I had in crossing this river. In the deepest parts it was eight inches above the axles of the dray, was running like a torrent, and its bottom is set with huge boulders. Lying full length on my back on the top of the chaff bags, my arms extended, and each hand grasping a bar, of irpn, I was jolted, chucked, and jostled about so that sometimes, my body was thrown clean, off the bags, and it seemed as though my arms would be pulled out of their sockets. The river is wide, and we were all fording at the same time; a dray in front, our trap with the patient driver and jibbing horse next, and finally ourselves on the other \dray. We had got fairly going when the expected happened. /The jibbing horse jibbed, and stood stock still in the middle of the roaring, rushing water, and we pulled up in consequence. Responding to the driver's persuasion, the horse promptly broke a trace, and every credit is due to the way in which the man clambered over the horde's back and effected temporary repairs. We were all glad to find ourselves, we scarcely knew how, safely on the further bank. Soon afterwards we met Mr McNab and party and following a five minutes' chat and wishing him "good luck" at the river, we passed ©n to, the foot of Mount Hercules. Here a new horse was obtained and, though it had less jib (it was not entirely free from a will of its own), it had also less pace, so that our average was about again maintained. Here the people of Okarito intercepted me by telephone and we learned something more about the whale. I cannot attempt to describe the scenery of the next twenty-eight miles. The route across Mount Hercules is as fine as anything I can re-

member. The Otira Gorge is grand and imposing, but the Mount Hercules route is infinitely more beautiful. There was ore more serious river to cross, the Waitaroa, but this "was accomplishd in a boat, and the way in which the ferryman, a Maori, managed to cross the rapids, the boat being swirled about like a cork, was something to admire. We reached Okarito about 7.30 on Saturday evening, having made a really rapid trip from Christchurch. Next morning we made &n early start for the whale, but in the meantime learned something of Okarito, past and present. To-day it Contains nine inhabited houses, of which two are hotels; in the seventies there were no less than1 thirty hotels, a Custom house, many stores, and altogether it was a thriving town. There was then no road from Hokitika, and all traffic was conducted along the beach. I was told that there was a constant stream of pack horses to and from the diggings, and the two punts, each carrying fifteen horses, were kept busy. Almost every house of the hundred or so which formerly existed has been removed, and though not now meriting eveii the name of village, it is still spoken of as the town. To one man met across the lagoon I said, "Po you live on this side?" "Oh, no," he replied, "I live in town." There are two great influences retarding the growth of the place; one is the bad approach by land, the other by sea. The good effect of the bridges over some v of the riyers is lost owing to a breakNin the chain, and the rising of the Big Wanganui may suspend traffic, for days. , A bridge /is greatly needed, but it will be^for the Minister to decide if the cost, can be met. The shifting bar is the other trouble, and perhaps the mam one, for all stores, etc., are normally carried by water. It is now four months since the vessel was able to enter, and stores are at ruinous prices. I was informed that very shortly the price of sugar would be £1 per 561b bag. There is a fine belt of red pine round I the lagoon, easily removable in punts, . but unworked, owing to the difficulty and uncertainty of transit. At present there are 300 bales of flax fibre and 40 bales of wool in the sheds awaiting the boat. Immense flocks of black swans people the lagoon, and daily we saw that rare bird, the white crane. One resident told me ihat he had seen eight sitting together on a rock, and I was very pleased.;to find that the residents have tbi greatest regard for these birds, and I fancy that anyone destroying^ one would have a very rough time indeed. Ducks are numerous, and oystercatchers, godwits, and other birds people the shores. Here, too, we saw the only bats I have met with in New Zealand.

Gold is being worked in many places, and it is said that a man can always make a living by washing the black sand on the seashore. Several prospects were made for us 011 a shovel, and an excellent show of colour was obtained.

(To be continued.)