civilization and the diseases which followed in its train. Measles proved the most deadly scourge, and carried off the natives by hundreds. It must have been a stirring life that of these old whalers, full of excitement and adventure. A mere handful of white men surrounded by a large population of such stalwart and warlike savages as the Maoris then were, must have had plenty of food for anxiety, if at all of an anxious turn of mind. But no doubt this latent danger, as well as the actual perils of their calling, merely added a zest to the enjoyment of life by those young sea-dogs. It was not the chance of making money that was the attraction, for even with a good take their money remuneration would not amount to a large sum in a season. The "lay" might appear a fair one, but as it was calculated on the value of the oil at the station, and not on the market value at Sydney, the owners fared much better in the distribution of the proceeds than did the whalers who risked their lives in their procurement of them. In order to lessen their dangers from the natives, who might have been tempted to kill the goose for the sake of its golden egg, and rifle the store-house of its treasures, it was the practice to enlist a number of the most important young men in their enterprise; at least three out of each boat's crew, who put off in pursuit of the giant cetacean were Moaris of blue blood. The young chiefs took kindly to the exciting sport, and proved expert boatmen in the chase of the sea monsters, and were, without their knowledge, hostages for the good conduct of their kindred on shore. For the cooper and carpenter, and those of the pakehas who were left ashore, could communicate with their comrades at sea by hoisting a signal of distress on their flagstaff, if any indication appeared of an intention on the part of the natives ashore to take advantage of the absence of the majority of the whites to resort to violence.
Mr. Haberfield says that at the time of his residence at Otago Heads, the only residents at the head of the bay, where Dunedin now stands, were wild pigs, descendants from those turned loose by the illustrious navigator Captain Cook. But shortly before the advent of the pilgrim fathers of the Province of Otago at Dunedin, whose doings and history are recounted later on, one or two white settlers were attracted to the scene
