Story: Whaling

Whalers were attracted to New Zealand by the numerous sperm whales to the north and east of North Cape. This engraving by Joel Samuel Polack shows whaling in the area in 1838, when there were many American whalers. The American sea shanty in this sound clip refers to ‘a thousand whales off the coast of New Zealand’. Two verses are sung by Wellington’s Bach Choir.

Lyrics

Come all of you whalemen who are cruising for sperm,
Come all of you seamen who have rounded Cape Horn;
For our captain has told us, and he says it out of hand
There's a thousand whales off th' coast of New Zealand.

'Twas early one morning just as the sun rose,
That a voice from the mast-head cried out: “There she blows!”
Our captain cried “Where away?”, “and how does she lay?”
“Three points on our lee, sir, scarce two miles away.