 This behaviour was not just confined to the Bay of Islands.Missionary John Brumby in Marlborough in 1838, found the whalers to be "rogues and outlaws unrestrained by any law" Other contemporary observers had differing views.In 1839, Edward Wakefield, who later became a member of parliament in Britain, described shore whalers as having a dark side to their character but they were "frank and hospitable".