Steve Gardham wrote: It's just that the thread has now gone beyond that point and the answers appear to lie in A W Reed's book which is mentioned in a few places online and exists in some NZ libraries, as one would expect. However, Bob and I can't find a copy for sale anywhere.

To be clear, Reed's book is a possibility, but no more. Searching LibraryThing, I find half a dozen books which, based on topic and date, appear to be possibilities. By far the most popular, based on LibraryThing ownership statistics, is Robert McNab's The Old Whaling Days. Happily, that is on Google Books. But I didn't find "Wellerman" in a quick search. (Not quite proof, but I'm almost certain it's not in there.) That leaves five possibilities. All appear to be equally (un)popular (one copy of each). Reed's is one of the five. It is hard to find. So I am starting with L. S. Rickard, The whaling trade in old New Zealand, and New Zealand Journal 1842-1844 of John B. Williams Salem MA, because I could get those. :-) If they aren't it, then I keep looking for Reed and the others.

It does look as if Reed is a better possibility than the others on my list. And neither of them appears to be available outside New Zealand. As Steve says, somebody who is in New Zealand could probably do this better than I can. :-)