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Historical Records of New Zealand South

Auckland Islands—The Enderby Project

Auckland Islands—The Enderby Project.

These islands are situated in lat. 51deg S., long. 166deg E., distant 160 miles from Stewart Island. They were discovered by Captain Bristow (1806), in the ship Sarah, belonging to Enderby whaling fleet. The Sarah must have been a full ship at this time, en route for England. June 5, 1808, she is reported by Sydney Customs: Inward, from England; fourteen months out. The islands comprise 100,000 acres. Exclusive possession was given to Charles Enderby in consideration of the "endeavours made by him to promote geographical knowledge, as, also, to extend the whale fisheries." Commenting thereon in a manifesto written by Enderby, and now deposited in the Parliamentary Library, Melbourne, he says: "I find myself in a position to confer upon a company, organised upon a proper basis, for carrying on the southern whale fisheries from thence, an advantage over and above the many which have been already enumerated; as, also, far surpassing, I do not hesitate to say, any that could be hoped for from the acquisition of a whaling station, however suitable elsewhere, seeing that our powers as sole grantees of the island would enable us effectually to preclude the possibility of the company's operations being interfered with by individual competitors from at least any portion of the territory conceded to us. The project, therefore, which I have formed and now submit, is: That a Southern Whale Fishery Company should be stablished under the sanction of a charter from the Crown, with a sufficient capital and fleet of ships for the effectual prosecution thereof from the Auckland Islands." He goes on to add: "I feel so morally assured that success must page 156attend a well-directed undertaking of the nature proposed, that I am quite willing to abide by the responsibility of recommending it, as one which is particularly entitled to the public confidence and support… It is further intended that the island ports shall be free, and that neither duties nor taxes shall be levied, so that the only revenue derived will be that accruing from the sale or lease of the land, which, in order to facilitate its settlement, will be divided into convenient sections. Such a colony, combining as it would the pursuits of whaling and agriculture, might be expected to prove particularly attractive to many amongst the maritime population on the coasts of both England and Scotland, but more especially of the latter country, who would prove eligible seaman and settlers; as, also, to shipwrights, caulkers, sailmakers, coopers, carpenters, and the like."

The Southern Whale Fishing Company was thereupon instituted, incorporated by Royal Charter, whereby the liability of each shareholder was limited to the amount of subscription. The Right Hon. the Earl of Hardwiek, R.N., was Governor. The directors were: Philip P. Blyth, Sion House, Lower Clapton; Robert Brooks, St. Peter's Chambers, Cornhill; Lieutenant-colonel Golquhoun, R.A., Woolwich; Charles Enderby, F.R.S., Great St. Helens; John Entwhistle, Great Winchester street; John Gilmore, R.N., George yard, Lombard street; William Gladstone, Austine, Friars; W. S. Lindsay, Abchurch—lane; James Peck, Finsbury square; Captain William Pexley, Kensington; J. D. Powels, Austine, Friars; Fred. Somes, Ratcliff (with power to add to the number). Bankers: Messrs Barclay, Beavan, Tritton and Co., 54 Lombard street. Secretary: Robert Preston. The Royal Charter is dated January 16, 1849. It fixes the capital at £100,000, in shares of £50 each; shareholders being empowered to increase this either at one time, or from time to time, to £500,000, and, with the consent of the President of the Board of Trade, to any larger amount. The company was authorised to begin operations when one-half the sum of £100,000 was subscribed and one-fourth thereof paid up. In illustration of the financial operations of the scheme, the following estimate is appended:—

A ship of 250 tons, at £20 per ton, including all

expenses of the voyage and insurance £5000 0 0
Two years' interest at 5 per cent. 500 0 0
£5,500 0 0
Returns—
On two voyages, of one year each, 340 tunsof common oil at £22 per tun 7480 0 0
30 tuns sperm oil, at £70 per tun 2100 0 0
14 tons of whalebone, at £130 per ton 1820 0 0
£11,400 0 0
Loss— Freight and charges for 384 tuns at £6 per tun (£2304), and the crew's share (£2000) 4,304 0 0
£7,096 0 0
Add Value of the ship at the end of two years 2,500 0 0
£9,596 0 0
Deduct
Cost of equipment as above 5,500 0 0
profit £4,096 0 0

The preceding calculation constitutes an average one, applicable to any number of ships. It is proposed to limit, in the first instance, the business page 157of the fishery to the employment of 30 vessels, and afterwards to extend it progressively to the full extent of the means which the company may be at any time able to command. Computed, therefore, upon 30 ships, the return would be £122,880, or at the rate of £61,440 per annum, from which, after making sufficient allowance for expenses, management, and contingencies, a net balance of profit would remain capable of yielding satisfactory returns to the shareholders. It is only reasonable to assume the establishment of this fishery will attract settlers to the island, and as it is proposed to afford them due encouragement, the effect will be to enhance the value of the land by means of its progressive cultivation. Should any net revenue be derived from the land, the moiety thereof accruing will be so much added to the profits of the fishery, and constitute, in fact, a bonus to the shareholders.

Charles Enderby was appointed Chief Commissioner to the company and Lieutenant-governor of the Auckland Islands. He sailed from England in the Samuel Enderby, 395 tons, accompanied by the Fancy, 321 tons, in 1849. The Brisk sailed shortly afterwards. Enderby reached Auckland Islands, December 4; 1849. The party comprised 37 men and 18 women—namely, nine officers, or non-producers, 15 mechanics, and 13 labourers. To these may be added nine New Zealanders, part of a tribe residing on the island, who had been there some years, and to whom the company gave employment. Nine ships were equipped for the fisheries. In December, 1851, 20 acres of land had been cleared and enclosed, and five acres brought into cultivation. Nearly one mile of road had been made, a storehouse, stockyard, smithy, cooperage, boat-house, wharf, and 30 dwellings erected. The Fancy proving unseaworthy was sent to the entrance of the harbour, about five miles distant, to be used as a whale station. At that place two colonial vessels, a few years previous, obtained 3000 barrels in one season. The Brisk reached Port Ross, arriving there before the Fancy, and was first ship to proceed to the fisheries. They spent two months, so as to test Sir James Ross's report regarding the fisheries. The average take of British vessels at that time was 40 tuns per annum of sperm and, when the whales were plentiful, 65 tuns. The Earl of Hardwick returned with 110 tuns; also Lord Nelson and Lord Duncan. After twenty months unsuccessful operations the company had exhausted its available capital, and determined upon abandoning the islands. Messrs George Dundas and Thomas Robert Preston were sent out to wind up the concern.

May 8, 1852.—H.M.S. Phantom arrived at the island to superintend at the breaking up of the settlement. She reports that the settlement had been named Hardwick. She gave rather a sad account of things. It hardly ever ceased blowing, and the rain was incessant. The ground was saturated so that even, in fine weather walking was impossible. Cultivations were in a most precarious state. Break-winds were erected every few feet to little purpose. July 22, about a quarter to 9 a.m., a shock of earthquake was felt, lasting three-quarters of a minute. The noise produced was like that of rolling casks, and the Phantom trembled as if getting up steam. Several naval courts of justice were held in virtue of the Mercantile Marine Act, 13 and 14 Vict., chapter 39, section 82, and offenders were sentenced to 12 weeks' imprisonment, and fed on bread and water. These were inflicted on board ship. One of the company's vessels, the Hardwick, arrived in the harbour May 31, after a four months.' cruise, with one man dead and four in irons. The others were ill of scurvy. On Shoe Island a small boarded hut had been erected as a prison. The first person consigned to it, was a doctor. His offence wag drunkenness. The Maories consisted of 20 men, 17 women, and 10 children. They lived in whares near the sattlement. There were [unclear: he] doctors in the settlement, but no chaplain Three horses were brought to the island, but they were taken away at the disbandment.

Enderby's grant remained in force until 1862-63. By memorandum dated December 30, 1862, Alfred Domett, Colonial Secretary of N.Z., advises the page 158Secretary of State that since the passing of the Constitution Act, the political status of the Auckland Islands had been in dispute, having apparently been included in the boundaries of N.Z., as defined in the commission to Governor Grey, and excluded from these boundaries as specified by section 80 of the Constitution Act. By the latter they are defined (15 and 16 Vict., chap. 72, sec. 80), 50deg. South latitude, but that Act does not absolutely repeal the limits given by the letters patent of 1842. which are 53deg. South latitude. The position of the Aucklands is 51deg. South latitude, and 166 East longitude. In a despatch to Sir George Grey, it is stated:—"It appears to me that, by your commission, the limits of your Government to the south, are so defined as to include the Auckland Islands, on which a separate settlement has lately been established by British colonists, and which it will be inconvenient to place within the limits of New Zealand. The boundary is therefore fixed at 50deg. The settlement referred to was Enderby, for which a lease, dated March 1, 1846, at an annual rental of £1000 had been granted, with a right of re-entry in case of non-payment of rent. The point was referred to the law advisers of the Crown, under whose advice formal re-entry was made and an Act, 15 and 16 Vict., chap. 72 (June 8, 1865), was passed, repealing clause 80, and substituting the following:—The colony of New Zealand shall, for the purposes of the said Act, and for all other purposes, be deemed to comprise all territories, islands, and continents lying between the 33 and 53 parallels of south latitudes."

Commenting upon the fisheries project, the Quarterly Review for June, 1847, writes:—"Auckland Island group is singularly adapted by position and other natural features to assist the revival of a most important, though at present, to all appearances, moribund department of British industry—the South whale fishery. We believe that few speculations will be found more sound, more profitable, and more congenial to our national habits than that suggested by the present grantee of these islands, which were discovered under his auspices. Sir James Clark Ross, who made a lengthened stay at them in 1840, remarks 'that in the whole range of the vast Southern Ocean no spot could be found containing so completely the essential requisites for a whaling station.'"

George Vallentine Printz, of Riverton (now deceased), was in 1841 a lad 14 or 15 years old. He made two trips round the south-west coast of New Zealand as ship's boy in a sealer, attending on gangs. He made his third voyage to the islands. The Aucklands were then known to sealers as Bristow Land. They anchored in "Sarah's Bosom (Port Ross), named after the craft in which Bristow discovered the islands. In all they landed 14 men; Printz being of the number. The island on which they landed was a flat country, with sand dunes and shingle beaches. During their first week's stay they met with excellent sport, knocked down seals on the open beaches. They also met wild pigs. Printz there learned the art of killing seals, by tapping them on the nose. In one of their raids they visited the further end of the island. Returning to their old quarters, they discovered a craft at anchor. Communicating therewith, they ascertained she brought a lot of Maoris from Chatham Islands. One of the Maoris had been on the Aucklands previously in a whaler, and it was under his advice they came thither. They were not communicative as to the reason of their migration, and, after equivocating, the sealers were led to understand it arose out of tribal disputes. In further communication they ascertained from the Maori, who had been on the island previously, a most valuable part of the seal trade was to be found on the western shores of the island. Unlike the eastern side, it was bold precipitous, and the rookeries in many cases were at a height amongst the cliffs. Acting on that information, the gang shifted to North Port. From thence they worked down into rookeries under Blackness Point. Results were satisfactory. Reconnoitring page 159the coast, they determined upon raiding a rookery from the shore. They arranged the boat party should direct them to the spot, and that the sealers should lower themselves down from the cliffs. Carcases were to be sent over the precipice and caught by the boating party. A slant of weather was got, and the arrangement so far succeeded. Seven sealers were slung over the rocks to a ledge 300ft down. Getting inside the rookery, it was found to be a huge aperture, with shelving rocks or: platforms 6ft and 8ft above the floor. A goodly number of seals lay stretched out, and to the hasty despatch of these the strikers directed attention. Getting into a disturbed state, the seals resting on the shelves and ledges unexpectedly made a simultaneous movement, which brought the herd pell-mell down on the top of the sealers. In the darkness and confusion it proved a most disastrous encounter, the dead and dying carcases getting piled up at the narrow entrance to the cave until exit and light were closed out. One man battled his way into a crevice clear of the seals, and, after a time, succeeded in striking a light. Feeding the light with blubber, a flame was raised, which enabled two of the others to find their way towards him. None of the three were seriously injured. A fourth was also rescued, but he was to a great extent helpless. A fifth was wedged in amongst the seals, and as some of them were alive and dangerous, they had to be killed before he could be rescued. Having lost their clubs in the melee, some time elapsed before they were found. Proceeding to clear away the entrance, they got the bodies of the other two, dreadfully torn and mangled, amongst the mass of seals. They were wrapped in sealskins and lowered down the cliff, from whence they were consigned to the sea—(From personal recollections supplied by the late Mr George V. Printz.)

A melancholy accident occurred to the Sally at Auckland Islands. By an untoward circumstance two boats were lost and six seamen drowned.—(Hobart Town Gazette, June 10, 1826.) The further particulars given are that in rounding a certain point there is a dangerous channel. Unless you get through it with the tide the passage is critical, and when the wind and tide meet it is a terror. Captain Lovatt went first with his boat and carried through all right, but the next boat missed the tide, and no trace of man or boat was afterwards seen.

Besides meeting with the accident recorded, the Sally, on this trip, got mixed up in an adventure characteristic of the times, and remotely associated with a notable event in New Zealand history. During the time she remained at the island, the Harriett, commanded by one Jack Guard, was at work in an adjoining sound. He induced two of the Sally's men—John Wilson and Mark Shaw—to desert and join his gang. John Wilson was an elderly man, with rather a singular record. He had been a coal miner, and when a mere lad, in the Middle Wards of Lanarkshire, Scotland, got mixed up in a colliers' strike, and was, with others, caught destroying machinery belonging to an obnoxious proprietary. Despite his youth, he was sent into transportation, and in due time made his way to Hobart. His convict record is briefly as follows:—He was a "Point-Peur boy." Point-Peur was a place at Port Arthur where the juvenile convicts were kept separate from hardened offenders and taught trades. From that place he merged as an assigned servant to a gentleman in the country. There he got into trouble, and was sentenced to the chain gang. On the expiration of that sentence he was again assigned, but shortly afterwards got into trouble and was awarded another sentence. Back to Port Arthur, he remained there many years, atoning for a variety of offences. A change for the better induced the authorities to give him another chance, and he was again forwarded to a hiring depot. Once more assigned, he got into the hands of a man who acted on humanitarian principles. He page 160reported Wilson was a man who would not be overlooked at his work. "If I stand over him," wrote the master, "he would probably throw down his tools and walk away in a paroxysm of temper. I therefore determined upon giving him his own way, as far as possible, for he was an active, good workman when he liked." By that means he was got to do his work most satisfactorily, and in due time his application for a ticket-of-leave, strongly recommended, was forwarded to the authorities. While it was under consideration the poor fellow was clandestinely visited by two of his old comrades in chains. They had come in a whaleboat, provided with food and arms, and in an unreflective moment they induced him to abscond. After landing at Port Nepean they made their way overland to Melbourne, where they were taken by the police and sent back to Launeeston. From Launceston they were being forwarded to George Town. At Mount Direction police station they halted for the night. Seizing a favourable moment, when the constables were off their guard, they bolted into the scrub, carrying one of the station knives with them. With the knife they succeeded in filing off their irons, and got clear. Late one night, a few weeks after, Wilson and a companion presented themselves at the residence of his late employer. The latter was at first disposed to drive them away, but, out of compassion to Wilson, whom he looked upon as in a great measure the victim of circumstances, he was induced to listen to their appeal. They had carried off a whaleboat, had landed in the river hard by, and wanted provisions, that they might put to sea and escape as best they could. He let them have the provisions they wanted, but cautioned them to be off, as he would assuredly forward particulars of their escapade to the nearest station. They took the hint, and put out to sea. After buffeting about many days they were picked up by the Sally, and eventually made their way in her to Auckland Islands, where we met them as detailed. Captain Jack Guard, of the Harriett, was an old lag, and possibly that may have had something to do with inducing Wilson and his mate to desert the Sally. However, that may have been, Captain Lovatt having lost six of his crew by drowning and two by desertion, left the island immediately, returning to Sydney. The Harriett appears to have been working round what is known as Water-fall Harbour. She got filled up, and was about taking her departure when Guard pounced upon an exceedingly rich rookery, of 1 which he had had no previous knowledge. He determined upon leaving it undisturbed, pending his return next season. The fact gave new bent to his views with respect to the two convicts. They knew all about the rookery, and it was no uncommon thing for one gang to split on plants spotted by another. Moreover, he was not sure he would not get into trouble with the owners of the Sally for having induced her two men to desert. Guard accordingly resolved upon leaving Wilson and bis mate behind. Getting into Sarah's Bosom, he managed to lose them in the neighbourhood of what has since been chosen as the site for a New Zealand wreck depot. There the two were left to shift for themselves, from about the end of November until the end of April following. In the interim they were put to sore straits for food. Still, they had plenty seal flesh, and were never at any time in danger of actual starvation. Towards the end of their solitary confinement Wilson sickened and died, and his grave is, or was, marked by a mound in the vicinity of the memorial stone, set up by the Transit of Venus Expedition (American) in 1841. Left solitary and alone to perform the funeral obsequies to hie late companion, Mark Shaw's situation must have been doleful. He fossicked out a hollow on the edge of the bush, but so reduced was his strength that he was quite unable to convey the body thither. After two days spent in painful suspense, during which he never entered the hut night or day, but lay down crouching beneath a sand-bank, the novel idea struck him of binding the body to two branches and dragging it along, hand-barrow fashion, to the place of interment. All he could do was to cover it over with lose debris and branches, and in that state it remained two months until a craft arrived at the opening of the seal season.

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Jack Guard and the Harriett subsequently became conspicuous in New Zealand history. January 23, 1827, along with The Sisters (Captain Duke) he recaptured the brig Wellington cut out by convicts from Tasmania. In August, 1834, he made affidavit before the Governor of New South Wales at Sydney to the effect that the brig Harriett, belonging to him, had been wrecked on the Avestern coast of New Zealand; that all the cargo was seized by the natives, who attacked him in considerable numbers, slew several of his party, took his wife and two children prisoners, and forced him to seek safety in flight. That, having effected with ten of his men a retreat, after a journey of some length, they fell in Avith another tribe, and were sent under escort to Mataroa pa, where they were sheltered, and from whence Captain Guard and three natives finally departed for Cloudy Bay, promising to procure ransom from Sydney for the remainder of the crew. Thereupon a meeting of the Executive Council of New South Wales was held as to the circumstances of the case. The Council made the following deliverance:—"Having attentively and maturely considered the subject, are of opinion application be made to Captain Lambart, commanding H.M.S. Alligator, now in Port Jackson, to proceed to obtain restoration of the nine men, woman, and children. It was also the opinion of the Council that if this object could not be accomplished amicably force should be employed, and that it might be advisable for the Governor to place a military party on board, to be employed, if Captain Lambart saw fit." The Council iurther represent to the Secretary of State the necessity for having a ship of war permanently stationed in these waters for protection of British subjects and commerce. To these findings the Colonial Treasurer (E. D. Riddell) objected, stating the Council had no evidence of the character of Guard. The Treasurer had been casually informed he was formerly a convict, and that his dealings with New Zealand had in some instances been marked by cruelty. He also understands New Zealand traders were afraid for the result of the expedition.

August 31, the Alligator, accompanied by the colonial schooner Isabella, with a detachment of the 50th Regiment, sailed from Port Jackson. The 11th of the following month they arrived off Cape Egmont. On the 21st the eight male prisoner were given up. Their appearance was "wild and haggard in the extreme, but their report of the treatment they received was as favourable as it could be. The natives had shared with them all they possessed; had never injured them nor as much as threatened them with injury." On the 28th they were met by a chief to whom the utterly unrecognisable name, O-O-hite is given. He rubbed noses with Guard in token of amity, and said he had come to receive the promised payment for the woman and her children, who were at the. "Numa," in readiness to be given up. He was made prisoner, put into a boat manned by a crew belonging to the Harriett, and ordered aboard the Alligator in charge of Guard. Attempting to make his escape he was fired upon while in the water and again captured; one of the balls entered his leg. In the boat he was cut and wounded in a most shameful and disgraceful manner by Guard and his men. Thereafter a pa was set fire to and utterly destroyed. On the 30th, the aforesaid O-O-hite was sent in one of the boats to negotiate for surrender of the woman and children. On seeing their chief, the joy manifested by the natives was excessive, and Mrs Guard and one child were given up. In getting the other child more difficulty was experienced. The native in whose charge it was demanded payment of the promised ransom. Thereupon a misunderstanding ensued. The order was given to fire. Six natives were killed, and others wounded. The child, however, was rescued in safety. Then followed a good deal of pa burning, and these gallants distinguished themselves at the expense of a handful of savages, who evidently meant no offence beyond demanding a payment that had been promised.

Commenting thereupon in the Hobart Town Gazette, December 12, 1835, a correspondent writes:—"The loss of life and destruction of property will excite a natural regret that the expedition was sent forth by the Sydney page 162Government with an interpreter confessedly ignorant of the language; having only that degree of acquaintance with it which served him to discharge his former office of a spirit seller and billiard marker on Korarika Beach. It may and will be made a political question how far that Government can be borne out in directing a hostile expedition against New Zealand, altogether without a reference to the British Resident with that people, which, though a people of semi-barbarians had been, I conceive, formally recognised by the King of England as an independent nation in the triple act of sending them a representative, presenting them with a national flag, and finally, doing that flag, on its first hoisting, the honour of a Royal salute."

The United States Exploring Expedition visited the islands March 7, 1840, in the Porpoise. The report thereon made is that they are the resort of whalers for the purpose of refitting and awaiting the whaling season, which occurs here in the months of April and May. Near the watering place in Sarah's Bosom, a commodious hut has been erected by French whalers. Near by was another in ruins, and close to it the grave of a French whaler, whose name was inscribed on a wooden cross.

The French whalers here referred to were Jean Bart (afterwards captured by the natives at Chatham Islands), La Manche, and L'Herion. They all rendezvoused at Ross Harbour, occupying the hut referred to. Its remains are still to be seen, but all traces of the Frenchman's grave are obliterated. Re La Manche, Sydney Customs Records, October 6, 1838, report: "The barque Magnet, which arrived from New Zealand on Tuesday, brings us news of La Manche, a French whaler, having got on shore at the New River, where she lay some considerable time, until she obtained assistance from some American whalers, who succeeded in getting her off, without having sustained any considerable damage. She went on to the Bay of Islands to effect repairs. There are at present a great number of whalers off the coast of Southern New Zealand, apparently doing well."

There is nothing to show how many unfortunates have lost their lives on the Auckland and other islands in that great waste of waters south of New Zealand. The following, however, are the principal casualties known. They are recorded in a wreck record, in the Wreck Depot, Ross Harbour. It is manifestly incomplete, no mention being made of casualties prior to the "sixties":—

"January 3, 1804.—Grafton, from Sydney. Captain Musgrave and his crew of five made their way in a small boat to Stewart Island, arriving on July 27, 1865.

"May 10, 1864.—Minerva, of Leith. Four persons saved from wreck, and rescued on March 25, 1865.

'May 16, 1864.—Invercauld, from. Melbourne. There was a total of 25 crew and passengers on board, six of whom were lost at the time of the wreck. Sixteen of the survivors were Starved to death, and three were rescued May 10, 1865.

"May 13, 1866.—General Grant, from Melbourne, with a total of 83 passengers and crew. Sixty-eight were lost at the time of the wreck, one was starved to death, four were afterwards drowned, and the remaining 10 were rescued November 21, 1867.

"March 12, 1887.—Derry Castle, from Geelong. The total of the crew and passengers was 23, of whom 15 were lost at the time of the wreck, and eight were rescued on August 19, 1887, by the Awarua.

"March 19, 1891.—Compadre (barque), ran ashore, having previously taken fire. Peter Nelson, a seaman, was lost in the bush and starved to death, and 15 survivors were rescued by the Janet Ramsay on June 30, 1891."

[It will be noticed that in 1865 three parties of castaways were on the Auckland Islands without any knowledge of each other's existence. A. small craft named the Daphne, which went in search of the gold on board the General Grant, was also lost, with six persons.]

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