Page:Tales-of-Banks-Peninsula Jacobson 2ed 1893 cropped.pdf/208

There are different tales in explanation of the manner by which Le Bon’s came in possession of its name. One is that the whalers in the very early days were accustomed to bring in the whales to the Bay and there try them out. In the course of time the beach was covered in whale bone, and the place was called the Bone Bay. Another story tells how Captain Le Bas came in his ship to Le Bon’s, mistaking it for Akaroa. He sent a boat’s crew ashore, and one of the crew was named Le Bon. The Bay was named after him. Captain Le Bas stayed in the Bay for some time. There were a great many whalers of all nations about in those days (during the fifties), but they seldom called into the Peninsula bays by all accounts, generally making Akaroa Harbour their head quarters. Le Bas’ ship is supposed by some to be the first ship that was anchored in the Bay.

There was a Maori pah on the beach before white men came into the Bay, but they had all gone before the first settlers arrived. Skeletons are often found in the sand, and some curios, such as greenstone tomahawks, ear-rings, etc. Traces of the pah still remain, and lead to the conclusion that there was once a large number of Maori inhabitants. Abundance of stumps of totaras were found about the Heads. The trees had evidently been cut down for