Deep Sea (Ocean) Whalers

Whales were valued for the oil that they produced, when their blubber was boiled down. The oil was useful in industry especially the factories of England but also in lighting the streets. Belich writes that Britain spent £300,000 per year on whale oil for its street lamps. Other parts of whale were also useful, bone, and baleen (the frilly teeth from baleen whales, was made into buggy whips and corsets.)

By the end of the 18th century Europe and America were running out of whales in the Atlantic. In 1792 the first Whaler arrived in the Pacific. Others quickly followed. They were looking for Right Whales and if possible Sperm Whales. Right Whales were valued because they were slow swimmers making them easier to catch and would float higher out of water making them easier to tow back to the ship. Sperm whales were harder to catch (audio) but each held a reservoir of Spermaceti oil in their head which was particularly valuable. (The reservoir was big enough for a man with a bucket to climb inside to empty!) Sperm Whales were also known as Catchalots because there was between 25 and 40 barrels of the valuable oil in the Spermaceti organ.

Whaling ships had the reputation for being rough and ready. They (reputedly) smelt so bad you could smell them before they could be seen. When whales were sighted Whaleboats were launched and crews chased down the whales. Once harpooned the crew then endured the “Nantucket Sleigh-ride” until they exhausted whale could be harpooned again (and again) until it died. Then the whale (often with the help of less successful crews) was towed back to the ship. Whale blubber was then (flensed)cut off in huge strips which were then boiled in Try Pots giving off smoke and the dreadful stench. (think of the deception used at the end of Russell Crowe’s ‘Master and Commander’)

A whaling ship could be at sea for 2-3 years.

Whaling was dangerous. Few seamen could swim and life aboard the ship was dangerous enough let alone chasing and catching an angry whale. Moby Dick was based on a true story. The whaler 'Essex' was sunk in 1820 by an angry Sperm Whale that smashed in its side.

When they had the chance the Whaling crew wanted to let loose and have a (really) good time.

At first they called into Port Jackson to re-supply but quickly found the regulations and taxes (and corruption – early Sydney was run like a fiefdom by the Officers amongst the guards) to onerous. Luckily nearby was a tax free haven. The Bay of Islands was already recognised as a world class anchorage. A tiny settlement Kororareka developed into what the Whalers wanted most, a safe anchorage, with plenty of food and water, cheap rum and women.

Sealing in the Southern Pacific

Sealing was already established around the coast of Australia, sealers travelled all around the pacific, in 1808 a far ranging ship the 'Topaz' would discover Pitcairn Island and the 9 surviving mutineers from the 'Bounty'.

The trade in Fur Seal supplied skins for the London market but more importantly was a tradeable commodity in China. The Chinese commanded a monopoly on the international tea trade. They found little of value in the normal trade goods offered by European traders. They demanded payment in gold. This was draining the vaults of Europe as the flow of gold was all one way. One thing the Chinese did want were Fur Seal skins. This meant that the skins were virtually worth their weight in gold. Of course Britain would later solve this dilemna by importing Opium from India, creating a mass market of Chinese addicts and reversing the flow of gold. This would lead to the Opium Wars and the annexation of Hong Kong.

The first Sealers set up camp in Dusky Sound (Fiordland) in 1792. Mainly ex-convicts, they were outfitted and supplied by entrepeneurs based in Port Jackson (Sydney). The job was simple. Kill as many Fur Seals as possible, skin them, cure the hide with salt and wait to be picked up. A good crew could return to Sydney with several thousand skins.

In New Zealand, Sealers were a rough and ready group. They settled in small groups around the southern coasts of both Islands. Sparsley populated by Maori their interaction remained relatively light. Most sealing operations were centred on the south coast of the North island, and both coasts of the South Island. These areas were lightly populated by Maori especially the South Island. This did not mean that their impact was not important but the gangs were not settlers. They lived close to seal colonies were there for a matter of weeks or months and left. They might return but it was an itinerant lifestyle and was often a different group of men. They rarely carried any trade goods thus there was little incentive for Maori to interact with them in anything more than a cursory nature. The impact of this interaction is limited by the areas that sealing took place.

It is limited by the few Maori who lived in these areas and their lack of trade goods. Some did become close to local Maori and were taken (See James Caddell) and some took wives and became apart of the tribe. In general their impact can be seen as introducing some Maori to Europe, their culture and the possibilities that they might offer. It would be the northern tribes who cashed in on this potential.

The first sealing 'gang' arrived aboard the 'Brittania' captained by William Raven, its skins were bound for China. Many ships would leave with at least 10,000 skins, one ship the (the aptly named) 'Favourite', landed 60,000 skins in a single trip in 1806.

Life for the sealers was rough. Often landed close to the Seals breeding grounds they were left on desolate coasts often hemmed in by cliffs and wild seas. Left with limited stores of food they endured bad weather, starvation and possible abandonment should their ship fail to return to pick them up. Sometimes shipwreck, meant their ship never returned. Sometimes bad debts and bailiffs stopped the ship from coming back. Some Captains simply found a more lucarative venture, leaving their men marooned. Abandoned gangs were left to forage for seabird eggs, crabs or merely to eat the rotting meat of their seals. Some attempted to build boats and if successful, to sail to safety.

A gang from the 'Active' survived for 3 years before being discovered.

The greatest fear of all Sealers were the Maori. The thought that they might end up in a cooking pot terrorised them. Several gangs did disappear, probably to attack by local tribes. In 1817 Captain Kelly of the 'Sophia' was attacked by Maori. He and his crew fought them off then attacked their settlement. Captain Riggs of the 'General Gates' had a bad reputation in Sydney and it was no surprise that he apparently upset Maori in southern New Zealand who attacked two of his gangs, killing and eating them both over several days in 1823 and later in 1824. James Caddell was one sealer who was captured by Maori but who managed to become an accepted member of the tribe, becoming a Pakeha-Maori. In the 1820's a gang was attacked and John Boultbee recorded their escape and the help afforded by more friendly Maori nearby.

The impact on seals was more obvious. Within 20 years the Fur Seal was almost extinct on the New Zealand mainland. It would have a brief rennaisance in the 1820's when sealing gangs braved the southern waters and the sun-antartic islands, but by then the golden days were long gone.

The final sealing season in 1946 saw the slaughter of 6,187 seals.

The effect of sealers can be hard to judge. They were relatively few and often virtually illiterate, most records of sealers are written by more respectable members of society who abhorred their way of life and culture. These records therefore can be seen as biased against them. We know they were mainly in the south and that some were killed and eaten others became immersed into the local Iwi. They did introduce Maori in some places to european culture and trade goods. This would essentially mean that southern Nagi Tahu (Bloody Jack) were able to resist Ngati Toa incursions more easily than their northern relatives. Information gathered by Sealers would pave the way for later Shore Whalers and Traders .

Competing for the Pacific

Cook had beaten the French by only a few weeks. French explorer D'surville missed Cook (literally as ships in the night) and unaware of his contemporary renamed Doubtless Bay, Lauriston Bay. On his return to France, Benjamin Franklin used D'survilles notes to plan for the civilisation of New Zealand Maori. D'surville fell out with local Maori and kidnapped a chief who died on the voyage back to France. (surprisingly kidnapping a native wasn't altogether unusual). Another Frenchman, Marion Du Fresne also visited in 1772 but would end up being killed and eaten after his crew had inadvertantly broken tapu. The resulting massacre by his crew was not an unusual response.

Cook returned to Britain with reports of the Countries and Peoples he had found. These reports were read and notes made of what they offered to the Crown. Initially not much, as Britain had an enourmous empire in the Americas and was fully occupied there. Then in 1775 the Americans revolted. When it was over Britain had lost more than just their pride.

Since industrialisation had begun to effect Britain, the cities had become larger, poverty had become widespread and with it crime. Prisons had been overwhelmed and in an effort to solve their problems they had exported their prisoners to Maryland and Virginia. Indentured workers were bonded to their employer for between 7 and 14 years. It had had provided a cheap labour for the American and helped solve Britains problem.

With American ports closed to them, Britain looked to a temporary solution. Old retired warships and merchantmen were towed up the Thames to London and filled the Hulks with convicts.

A permanent solution was needed. Canada refused to have any, Jamaica had already turned its back on indentured whites (who suffered in the sun and had little immunity to tropical disease) for african slaves and so whites could not be used as forced labour there. (It would upset the idea of racial superiority if there were white slaves) so an expedition was sent to the Mosquito Coast to look for a suitable site for a penal colony.

It was a disaster, with something like 80% of the expedition dying. (Malaria, Yellow Fever etc) and although the Government might not have cared about such a fatality rate, it would have been difficult to make such an enterpise economic, as well as difficult to recruit for (probably as popular as a posting to Iraq today) and finally humaniarians amongst the British public may not have been happy about such an arrangement.

Then someone remembered Cooks detailed reports. Analysis showed that the Maori in New Zealand might be to warlike and uncooperative about such an arrangement. But 'Botany Bay' sounded perfect and the 'wretched' people Cook described did not sound like they would provide any resistance. Joseph Bank's had grown to some importance and appears to have had some influence on the choice... except that 'Stingray Bay' (as named by Cook) was not very good as farmland. In fact while it boasted an impressive range of plants, it was effectively a swamp.

As well as solving their problem with the convicts, Australia offered the possibility of a secure naval base. By now Britain and France were beginning to shape up for yet another war. There was a possibility that such a conflict could spread to the Pacific, (as both nations had commercial interests there). A base there would help secure trade routes. As a by product, the timber and flax in New Zealand might also be useful in reprovisioning a fleet.

Naval ships at that time tended to go through masts and rope at a huge rate. Norfolk Island pines and New Zealand trees would make excellent masts or planking, while rope and canvas were both a product of treated flax.

In 1788 the First Fleet arrived off Botany Bay. The 780 convicts and their soldiers who arrived lacked any agricultural skills. They began to farm but failed miserably. Even a move to Sydney Cove did not dramatically improve their position.

A move to trading for food with the Maori improved their situation which in the first few years was precarious. This contact with Maori increased steadily. New Zealand was now open to explorers and exploiters.

Landmarks: First Footprints

Its unfortunate that we have a third generation copy of this series (TV > VCR > DVD) which is really showing its age. Its a sad indictment of our culture that we are so reluctant to put our past onto the small screen. 'Landmarks' was produced in the 1970's, a newer version, 'Frontier of Dreams' wasn't produced until 2006. Unfortnately copyright issues mean we may never see this out on DVD. At this rate the next version will appear in time for your grandchildren to study.

'Landmarks' was presented as a "personal view' of our history. It could have been presented by one of our eminent historians of the '70's Keith Sinclair but for some odd reason they chose Kenneth Cumberland one of our more eminent Geographers.... go figure.

Any way we'll suffer through the poor video quality, indifferent sound and dreadful special effects and enjoy the narrative. Cumberland is very much representative of the time, he did after all arrive in New Zealand in 1938. His views on Maori and race relations sometimes verge on the paternal and his ideas are based on some common beliefs of the time. In 'First Footprints' you may notice he accepts the 'accidental voyaging' thesis without providing any real evidence (apart from wind patterns) in support. He also irritatingly constantly uses Maoris as a plural. In his defence, Belich also wrote 'Maoris' in his early books, but corrected this in later writing.

So why are we watching? Well its a nice break from listening to me and it occasionally throws up some interesting points for discussion. It also contains some archival material which can be hard to acquire anywhere else.

Small things

Congratulations to Skye for the first comment of 2008. Well done.

On another note, I have been contacted by a fellow teacher about referring their students to the blog. I have no problems with this, its nice to be asked.

If I don't teach you and your using the site it would be nice to leave a comment.... especially you are a teacher. I make this note as we've had 200+ visits this month and almost half are from Auckland...

This picture is the bottom of Queen Street about 1843.

Explorers

Of course New Zealand History doesn't start with James Cook. In fact it doesn't start with Abel Tasman. The Maori had a whole complete culture and world view before Europe "discovered" New Zealand. How the Maori got here isn't strictly part of the topic and if I stuck to the topic neither would Cook or Tasman. (our topic is NZ 1800-1900) History is fluid and you cannot understand any topic by looking at it in isolation. It was the reports made by European explorers that sparked the interests of later visitors. The way the Maori were viewed and treated by europeans was based on these reports and where the Maori may have originated (Aryan Maori?) influenced the way interactions took place.

The terms "Terra Australis" or "Terra Incognita" feature in this initial period of discovery. Europeans were convinced that there must be a land mass of similar size to Europe, Russia, China and North America . It was necessary to balance the globe otherwise it would simply tip over! It was believed that such a land would like others create vast wealth from its natural resources. Everyone who followed the Conquistadors wanted the same luck. Of course the native people would be unaware of their mineral wealth and would gladly hand over control of these resources because of the benefits that contact with the Europeans would bring. (Western civilisation including possible enslavement, disease, loss of land, language and culture....) A second factor was religion. The indigenous people would lack any understanding of Gods word, and would need to be converted. It was their duty to seek out and convert these heathens. It was also necessary to ensure they were converted to the "true" faith dependent upon the variety of the Christian faith which was followed. Thus Catholic and Protestant competed for the souls of the natives. Another reason was simple curiosity. The late 18th and early 19th centuries were ones of great investigation and discovery. Europeans in paticular the French and British were searching further and further afield as they sought to open up the world. Science was breaking free of the shackles imposed by religion and superstition.

Tasman arrived off the coast of New Zealand in 1642 looking for Australia. He'd managed to sail from Batavia in the Dutch East Indes along the coast of Western Australia then across the Great Australian Bight and across the sea that would later bear his name. Tasman missed Victoria and New South Wales completely! He more or less crashed into New Zealand by accident. Having sighted the West Coast and being attacked at Murderers (Later renamed 'Golden Bay' for obvious reasons) Bay he left sighting "Giants" (through an imperfect lens perhaps?) on the Three Kings. He returned to Batavia by sailing north, Australia continued to elude him. His report when it arrived in Holland would prove that the super-continent Terra Australis did not exist. This meant that the little bit of land on his map was not Australia and needed a new name. The Mapmaker chose New Zeeland. Maps based on those left by Tasman would be used in 1769 by James Cook who as we know travelled to Tahiti to view the transit of Venus. His secret orders sent him south to confirm that there was no super-continent (trust the British not to accept the word of Europeans!). Thus he discovered and mapped New Zealand and then crossed the Tasman Sea to at last find the east coast of Australia, that the wayward Dutchman had missed.

Cook had the benefit of the H4, Harrisons new chronometer which allowed him to make some of the most accurate maps ever made. The new charts and reports of the resources in both places would lay the foundations for later exploration. He reported New Zealand was populated by a fairly civilsed, industrious, people and contained large quantities of flax and timber suitable for the needs of a navy. Australia especially the area near Botany Bay was well suited to settlement despite the "wretched" people that lived there.

Agricultural change leads to a Demographic Shift

The Polynesians who arrived in New Zealand around 750AD found a new and strange land. Initial settlement tseemed to take place in the South Island. DNA and evidence from archealogical evidence from ancient middens seems to confirm this.

Why they avoided the north is debateable. It may have been that the dark and brooding forests scared them, and despite being heavily populated by birdlife they may have found them to difficult to hunt efficiently.

In the South however there existed large areas of open grassland or scrub which it seems were grazed by large herds of birds. New Zealands extreme isolation had meant that almost no mamalian life existed here (excluding 2 species of bat). Instead birds had dominated and developed free of predators. Amongst them were many species of flightless birds including the Moa. These existed in a variety of sizes from relatively small chickens to the giants that are on display in our Museums.

The Polynesians found hunting Moa easy and like many neolithic peoples began to slowly wipe them out. These people are often called the Classic Maori but culturally were not the Maori as we know them. They developed as Hunter-Gatherers moving in small groups in an orderly fashion following the seasonal foods, kai moana, forest food etc. There were probably only a few thousand of these people as this lifestyle does not support groups larges than 40-50. Smaller groups struggle to collect enough to feed themselves, larger groups struggle to find enough to support themselves...

By the end of the 13th century the Hunter-Gatherer lifestyle was coming to an end. Quite simply the Moa was running out. Neolithic hunters often killed by driving entire herds over cliffs or into swamps. DoC would not be happy. TIt was also getting colder the Classic Maori were in danger of dying out.

Luckily for them far away something was coming to their rescue. A voyager, almost certainly Polynesian, had travelled from South America carrying a small root vegetable. The Kumara arrived in Polynesia and quickly spread across the islands suplimenting other food stuffs like yam and taro. Just as the saviour arrived the door slammed shut on voyaging and Maori were isolatd from the world until the arrival of Europe in the 18th century.

The Kumaras arrival in New Zealand allowing the Maori to survive. The Classic Maori was replaced by the Modern Maori. Necessity drove them north, the Kumara could only grow in the warmer parts of the North Island. Agriculture developed and land became important. Agriculture supports larger populations and more people demanded more food, more food needs more land.





Larger and closer family ties meant that Whanau, Hapu and Iwi developed into a complex tribal groups. Protection of crops and land demanded fortified villages. Alliances developed via Iwi and were reinforced through marriage.

The Origins of the Maori

Cook and the Polynesians

The Polynesians fascinated early European explorers. It was a period in European history when the "Noble Savage" was in vogue. The Polynesians seemed to epitomise everything that philosophers said would exist in a perfect natural world. It was warm, food grew in abundance and they seemed uninhibited about sex. Tahiti proved to be especially popular, with the crews cheerfully exchanging iron for the local pleasures. Sometimes this threatened the safety of the ship as the crew stripped the vessel of nails.

Maori were obviously Polynesian as they spoke a language not terribly dissimilar to the language used in Samoa or Tonga. What the Europeans found difficult to explain was how the had managed to spread across the Pacific despite having little more than a stone age culture. Europeans had only just begun to sail confidently across the oceans, and it was only the advent of reliable chronometers that made navigation easier.

Before this there were a myriad of methods used to estimate longitude, many were fanciful at best, most were downright dangerous. The Spanish had been in the Pacific for several centuries but had little idea just how wide the ocean was because they could only use the time spent and estimates of speed to guess. They had found and lost the Solomons three times in that period!

Cook as mentioned earlier was testing Harrisons H4 chronometer, one of the cabin boys sole duty was to keep the watches wound! The timepieces allowed him to keep his longitude measurements accurate over the many months and years of his voyage. Even today his charts are remarkably accurate.

Europeans had little idea how the Polynesians could have done it themselves.

The presence of the Maori in New Zealand fascinated them. Several bizzare ideas emerged in the 19th century. One believed that Maori were 'Aryan', in fact a lost European people who had somehow wandered off and got lost! This would explan why the Maori were so similar in nature to Europeans and so more advanced than other indigenous peoples (comparisons with the Aboriginals were often made).

The other odd thought was that they were in fact the (lost) 12th tribe of Israel - one of Noahs sons who had somehow also wandered off and gotten lost, only to be rediscovered again on the other side of the world! Bizarre indeed.

There is a form of reverse racism evident here. It was easier to admit the Maori (albeit via side door) into the Europan fold than it was to admit they (Natives!) might be as good (or better?) than them.

Today we know that Maori were the people who populated the last great land mass on earth. They arrived most likely about 750AD in large Waka(canoes) built for long distance voyaging. They had begun their journey in Asia about 2000BC, travelling further eastward driven either by curiosity or overpopulation. As they progressed and distance between islands grew larger, so did their seamnship and quality vessels improved. By about 0AD they were on the fringes of Polynesia and by 1000AD had settled on the three corners of the Polynesian triangle. (Hawaii, Easter Island and New Zealand).

Andrew Sharpe in (1969?) put forward the idea that this voyaging was accidental and one way. Recent evidence has shown that this was unlikely. David Lewis spent many years in Micronesia and Polynesia studying the old navigators. He also helped with the Hokoleau a waka built in the old style which was successfully sailed across Polynesia, including form Hawaii to New Zealand. The 'Vaka Moana' exhibition at Auckland Museum is well worth a visit for more information.

Thor Heyerdahl postulated in the late 1950's that Polynesia was settled by South American. His raft the Kon Tiki fired peoples imaginations but his idea is generally discredited. The raft was basically unseaworthy especially in comparison to Polynesian waka. It didn't explain how the Kumara arrived in Polynesia from its native Peru. Except that since the trade winds blow east to west it would allow the waka to tack into the wind heading eastward and if nothing was found to simply turn about and allow the wuind to take them home. Crossing the Humboldt current (which the Kon Tiki needed to be towed across) was no great barrier. The Kumara arrived in Polynesia in the 13th or 14th century. (more on that later)

Maori themselves had little or no memory of this by the time Europeans arrived. The Great Fleet story confirmed how they had arrived but little else. Europeans like Percy Smith and Elsdon Best collected many of these stories, and the Fleet myth was created. According to this Maori left Hawaiiki in seven great waka which travelled to New Zealand following in the wake of the explorers Kupe, Toi and Maui. Once here they then travelled around the country laying claim to various parts. Almost every tribe adheres to this and can trace their roots back to one or more of the waka and their captains. My own tribe is affiliated to the waka Mataatua.

The only tribe that does not is the Tuhoe (Children of the Mist) from the Ureweras. I ma not sure what their spirits do after death as all other tribe believed that their spirit travelled north to Cape Reinga and the jumping off point before travelling back to Hawaiiki.

Studies of language have found Hawaiiki is most likely Savaii (in Samoa) but Lapita pottery takes us back towards Asia, as does the fact that Polynesian is an Austronesian language and DNA seems to link Maori to place as far afield as the indigenous people of Taiwan (I'm sure Winston Peters is pleased).

Why had the Maori lost this knowledge? It seems that sometime in the early part of the second millenium the climate changed. In London around 1000AD they grew grapes, but a sudden cooling of the planet (a mini Ice Age) changed all that. In the Pacific a long period of relative calm, with regular trade wnds became less predictable and long distance voyaging decreased. Easter Island,Hawaii and New Zealand became cut off from their brethren. In New Zealand the Polynesians became Maori.

Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics

The old saying is that there are "Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics."

These are some of the stats from 2008 for this site.

They're all true! (Thanks to http://www.google.com/analytics).

Last year we had 900 individual visits, 754 were from New Zealand. Of these 381 were from Wellington, 33 from Lower Hutt and 9 from Porirua. We also had 183 from Auckland, mostly in October/November - if you do visit from outside our school could you please leave a comment - I'll send your teacher an invoice!

Seriously some feedback would be great.

Since the beginning of 2008 we've had 187 visits from 18 countries (114 from New Zealand). Hopefully there will be more information as the new school year progresses.

Cheers

Good Web Sites

I'll probably refer to these sites or parts of them during the year but if you need information these are good places to start:

NZ History Net has lots of information put together by the History group of the Ministry of Culture and Heritage. Its aimed at students and has information aimed at each of the 3 NCEA levels. Of special interest is the "Classroom" section and the forum(s).

The last large encyclopaedia was the "McLintock" published in 1966. The Government has commisioned an new on-line encyclopaedia called Te Ara which has lots of information in an easy to read format. It warrants repeated visits as you can dig down into the material to reveal some really valuable information. Interestingly they have included a digital version of the McLintock, which can thow up some interesting ideas and views.

The Treaty of Waitangi is online here at the official Treaty site.

Information on Maori in the Wellington region can be found here at the WCC site.

Cheers