Ahoy there! The Whalers arrive...

Its funny, but Alexander Graham Bell who invented the telephone apparently wanted people to answer the phone by say "Ahoy there!". Funnily enough it never caught on.

Whales were highly 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. From 1806 Whaling ships began to call into Kororareka. A ramshackle assortment of sheds whares and houses sprang up to service the various demands placed by Captains and Sailors alike.

The first Sojourners

Sealers began to arrive from Sydney in 1792. Traders and Merchants (like Simeon Lord) in the new colony saw the potential of the NZ coast to supply a lucrative trade in skins. Little consideration was given to the Natives of this coastline. Former convicts desperate to escape their miserable existence in Sydney cove were prepared to chance their arms. It was a precarious existence and one which was filled with the possibility of being marooned amongst, and eaten by heathen savages. By 1812 it was all but over, with the New Zealand Fur Seal almost extinct.

What was their impact on Maori? Not surprisingly it could be said to be relatively little. They exploited areas well away from the main Maori settlements even those of the Ngai Tahu. They had little to trade and often preferred to avoid contact with the cannibals who might choose to eat the seemingly worthless pakeha.

Some did become Pakeha-Maori integrating into their Maori hosts culture, accepted wives, tatooeing and cannibalism in some cases. James Caddell is an example of this.

However is some areas this was the reverse. In Southland and parts of Otago sealers did settle moving on from the sojourner to the settler - Johnny Jones being the best example.

The trade in muskets that occurred here would protect these Hapu from Te Rauaparaha in the 1830's.

Terra Incognita toTerra Nullis

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.