Page:Travel letters from New Zealand, Australia and Africa (1913).djvu/46

 —A story one always hears on approaching New Zealand: In a strait near the coast is a fish known as "Pilot Jack," which escorts every ship through, except one. Some years ago a passenger on a certain ship fired at the fish, and wounded it. The fish disappeared for several months, but finally it appeared again, and resumed its old habits of piloting ships through the strait; but it never shows itself when the ship appears from the deck of which it was fired upon. The shooting incident caused the New Zealand Parliament to pass an act protecting "Pilot Jack." The fish is about twenty feet long, and photographs showing it swimming ahead of ships are common. These photographs, it seems to me, are faked, and made specially to sell to tourists. Seamen do not know why "Pilot Jack" appears whenever a ship invades his territory, but certain it is that he does appear, and swims ahead of the ship several miles. The captain of the "Maheno" says it is possible "Pilot Jack" likes to rub his back on the bottom of ships, and thus get rid of certain annoying parasites. Another theory is that the fish simply plays about the ships, which is not improbable; I have myself seen dolphins play in the waves thrown up by the prow of a ship, and keep it up several minutes at a time Last night I sent a wireless message to the Grand Hotel at Auckland, engaging accommodations on my arrival there. I was compelled to pay $2 for the service, and sign an agreement that I would not ask recovery in case the message was not delivered No one seems to know much about the albatross which are following us. A sailor told me that if an albatross should light on the water, it couldn't