NEW ZEALAND WHALING 243 



The Sperm whaling trade was carried on mainly by British and American ships, 

 while a small though increasing proportion was done by Sydney and Hobart firms 

 (McNab, 1913, p. 260). The Sperm whalers called mainly at the Bay of Islands at 

 the northern end of the North Island, but also at Doubtless Bay in the extreme north, 

 and at Cloudy Bay at the northern end of the South Island. This latter locality, with 

 the neighbouring Queen Charlotte and Marlborough Sounds, later became the main 

 centre of the New Zealand Right whale industry. The Sperm whalers established bases 

 in these bays at which the ships could be repaired and careened, and arrangements 

 were made with the natives for the supply of foodstuffs, the whalers trading iron for 

 potatoes and flax (McNab, 1914). The natives often went aboard the whaling ships 

 to assist in the disposal of the carcase and the getting of the oil. 



At the end of the third decade of the nineteenth century (1827-30) the number of 

 Sperm whales in New Zealand waters became seriously diminished (McNab, 1913, 

 p. 2), and the increasing demand for Right whale oil and whalebone drew greater 

 attention to the habits and pursuit of the southern Right whale. The year 1830 saw the 

 beginning of the Right whale industry, which, for some years, continued side by side 

 with Sperm whaling and finally became the more important of the two. Right whaling 

 continued as a flourishing industry until 1840, when ruthless overfishing began to tell 

 seriously upon the stock. The fishing was carried on both in the open sea and among 

 the bays and sounds around the coast (bay whaling). The vessels engaged in the trade 

 were at first almost all fitted out and owned at Sydney or Hobart. In the year 1834 the 

 first British and American vessels took part, and after that year the number of American 

 ships whaling around New Zealand steadily increased. In 1840 there were between six 

 and seven hundred American whalers distributed around the coasts of the two islands 

 (CondHffe, 1930, p. 115). This was about half the total number for all nations. The 

 Americans carried on most of their operations at Cloudy Bay in Cook Strait, but also 

 at Kapiti Island and farther south at Banks Peninsula or Bluff Harbour or farther north 

 at the Bay of Islands and Doubtless Bay. The British whalers never seriously rivalled 

 the Americans, even when a tariff' of ^26. 125. od. per ton was introduced by the British 

 Government upon oil carried in foreign ships (McNab, 1913, p. 261). In 1838 a 

 number of French ships were operating at Banks Peninsula and the corvette ' Heroine ' 

 was sent out "to overlook the interests of France and to maintain order in, and give 

 help to, their numerous whalers in the South Pacific". Portuguese and Dutch ships 

 also entered the business at about this time. 



BAY WHALING 

 Much of the Right whale industry was carried on by the method known as "bay 

 whaling". This branch of the fishery derived its name from the Right whales' habit 

 of entering shallow bays and inlets along the coast for the purpose of giving birth to 

 their calves. "These fish", wrote Dieffenbach (1843, p. 47), "approach the shores and 

 bays with the flood tide and quit them with the ebb . . . they are often seen in places 

 where the depth of the water does not much exceed their own breadth, rubbing their 



