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.