boats gain perceptibly on the whale. "And there goes flukes!" continues the headsman, as the huge animal makes a bound half out of the water, and shows its broad tail as it plunges again head-foremost into the sea. "Send us alongside, my lads. Now give way! Hurrah, my bonnies! Hearty and strong! Hurrah! I'll wager a pint (there goes the calf again !)-I'll wager a pint she tries out eight tun if she makes a gallon. Hurrah, hurrah, hurrah, then! Three or four strokes more, and she'll come up under our nose. The boat-steerer peaks his oar, places one leg in the round notch in the front of the boat, and poises the harpoon, with line attached, above his head. This A momentary pause is occasioned by the disappearance of the whale, which at last rises close to the rival boat. Their boat-steerer, a young hand lately promoted, misses the whale with his harpoon. Our former friend then manoeuvres his boat steadily to the place where the whale will probably appear next. "Pull two; back three!" shouts he, following a sudden turn in the whale's wake; and, as she rises a few yards in front of the boat, he cries in rapid succession, "Look out! All clear! Give it her!"—and the harpoon flies true and straight into the black mass. is called making fast. "Peak your oars," says the headsman ; the line whistles over the bow; a turn is taken round the loggerhead to check the rapidity with which the line runs out, and the boat flies positively through the water, forming ridges of foam high above her sides. The men sit still, with folded arms, by their peaked oars, the boat-steerer with a small hatchet in his hand, to cut the line should any entanglement occur, and the after-oarsman occasionally pours water on the loggerhead, which smokes furiously. Now is shown the skill of the headsman in steering the boat at this tremendous speed, and in watching every movement of the frightened whale. Now he gives directions to "haul in," when the line slackens; now says, "Veer away again," as the fish takes a new start. The whale rapidly takes the line, and the 200 fathoms in the boat are nearly exhausted by its sudden determination to try the depth of the water, technically called sounding; but another boat of the same party comes up, in answer to a whiff hoisted by the first boat, and fixes a new harpoon in the whale as she rises to take breath. She soon becomes exhausted with her efforts, runs less rapidly, and rises more frequently to the surface, and the headsman at last perceives the lucky moment. "Come aft!" he cries; and he and the boat-steerer change places. The boat ceases her progress as the whale stops to rest. "Down oars !—give way! are the orders, given in sharp, clear tones; and the crew, at least the old hands, know that he is nerved for his work by the decision apparent in his voice, and the way in which he balances the sharp, bright, oval-pointed lance. The whale seems to sleep on the surface; but she is slowly preparing for a move as the boat comes up. He follows her every movement. "A steady pull !-lay on! Pull two-back three !-lay on !—head off, all !—lay me alongside !"—and as the whale slowly rolls one fin out of water, the lance flies a good foot into the spot below where the life is said to be. The quick obedience to his instant order of "Starn, all !—lay off!" saves the boat from annihilation, as the whale swings round its huge tail out of the water, and brings it down with a tremendous report. She then breaches or leaps, and plunges in every direction. The headsman continues to direct his crew and boat-steerer, while he poises a new lance, and keeps just out of the vortex formed by her evolutions. The assistant boat and a third one have come up, and, being all of one party, watch outside the splashing for the best chance. One goes in, and having fixed a lance, receives a blow which smashes the boat and the legs of two of the men; the third boat picks up the men. Our first man at last gets steered into the vortex, gives a well-aimed lance in the life, and retreats from the foam, which receives a roseate hue. The monster leaps out of the sea, flourishing her tail and fins, and strikes the water with a noise as loud as cannon. She wriggles, and plunges, and twists more furiously than ever, and splashes blood over the boat's crew, who still restrain their excitement, and remain collected in all that they do. She is now in her flurry; she is said to "spout thick blood," and is a sure prize. The boat, by great good management, escapes all accident; and the headsman chuckles as he cuts a notch on the loggerhead, and gives the crew a tot all round. It is difficult to learn how soon this rough class of pioneers first established themselves on the shores of New Zealand. As early as 1793, the whaling-ships of different nations began to touch upon its coast. But the foundation of the whaling settlements on shore seems to have been laid about 1827, when the same men who had for years previously pursued the arduous life of a sealer along the coasts of the South Island and Foveaux Strait, were encouraged to engage in the pursuit of the whale, and to form establishments for that purpose in the neighbourhood of Queen Charlotte Sound, Kapiti, and Cloudy Bay. LAND-PURCHASE FROM THE NEW COLONEL WAKEFIELD, agent of the New Zealand Company, chartered a schooner from a whaler named Macgregor, and placed on board a large quantity of goods which had been approved of by the native chief, E-Kuru, and which he considered to be sufficient for the purchase of the Wanganui district. He then requested me to proceed to Wanganui in this schooner, to obtain the signatures of the other chiefs to the deed, which E-Kuru and some others had already signed. On the 14th of May 1840, we entered the river Wanganui, passing through heavy breakers on the bar at its mouth, caused by a westerly gale which had lasted for two days. Whilst in the most dangerous part of the entrance, E-Kuru, who was perched on the top of the foremast to pilot us in, could not restrain his exultation at bringing a vessel into his river. He let go his hold, balanced himself on the cross-trees, on his feet only, while the vessel lifted and drove on the high rollers, and shouted out an impromptu song of triumph in celebration of the event, flourishing at the same time his hands and arms with the usual quivering motion. We saw but few natives at the villages near the sea; and E-Kuru started off up the river in order to gather them to the sale, telling me that he should be several days away. About a week after E-Kuru's departure, large bodies of natives began to arrive in canoes from up the river. As they rounded the low point above, and came in sight of the ship, they would often fire guns by way of saluta tion. On the ninth day some men arrived in a canoe, and announced the near approach of E-Kuru and his company. Soon after this announcement, twenty or thirty crowded canoes glided in silence round the point, and, as they came full in sight, discharged their firearms in one grand volley. They continued to advance in this formal manner until near the vessel, when E-Kuru's canoe came alongside, and the others pulled off to the north bank, where they soon formed a temporary encampment on the fern-covered level. There were now about seven hundred natives assembled in the immediate neighbourhood; and E-Kuru told me that all were present who could possibly be collected, and signified that we might proceed to business at once. After several discussions at the different villages and on board the schooner, at which I explained, through an interpreter, the whole force and meaning of the transaction which was about to be made, I invited E-Kuru to assemble them all at one place; and on a bright sunny day soon afterwards, I landed from the schooner, and found a truly imposing audience assembled. In a small courtyard of the village all the superior chiefs, to the number of twenty or thirty, were sitting on the ground, dressed in their best mats and feathers, with all their greenstone clubs and ornaments set off to the best advantage. The roofs of the adjoining huts, the fences, the fish-racks, were bending under the weight of crowds of the inferior natives, all eager to obtain a peep at the conference. The rest of the assembled hundreds who were not so fortunate, were contented to sit or stand so as to hear the expected speeches. Among the assembly were some of the wildest natives which I had yet seen. Most of them were stout and muscular, more than half of them nearly naked, and plentifully bedaubed with red paint and |