1835.

The following year Cloudy Bay was visited by two of the American whaling fleet—the Warren, of Warren, Mayhew, commander, and the Halcyon. The former had commenced her voyage on 28th September, 1834, and was nine months out when she was first reported at Cloudy Bay. The latter sailed for Sydney at the close of the whaling season, and there spread wild reports of native disturbances at Cloudy Bay. Information regarding her is very difficult to procure, but Starbuck reports a New London whaler of that name, commanded by Thompson, which sailed for the Indian Ocean in November, 1837.

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The arrival of the Erie at Newport in June gave the New England whalers full information of the capabilities of Cloudy Bay for bay whaling, and several of the vessels, then on the eve of departing for the South Pacific, were booked for the South Island of New Zealand. Some idea of the magnitude of the New Zealand trade in the ports of the New England States may be gathered from the fact that at this early date mails were there advertised for New Zealand. It is not suggested that these mails were advertised for the South Island, they were undoubtedly for the Bay of Islands, the general calling place of the American vessels, but all the vessels by which mails were advertised to go were bound for the black whaling bays of the South Island.

An advertisement, which the author believes to be the earliest known American mail notice for New Zealand, was found by him in the New-Bedford “Mercury” of 20th July, 1835, and reads thus:—

Letter Bags.

Ship Samuel Robertson, McKenzie, for South Atlantic Ocean and New Zealand, Aug. 5

This notice dates anterior to anything recorded in the interesting little publication on the history of the New Zealand Post Office, prepared by Mr. Robertson, I.S.O.

The information which American whalers gathered in New Zealand waters of the success of bay whaling in Cloudy Bay, and which they gave to the trade on their return to Home ports, produced an invasion of our bays by the American whalers.