Anthology  Source  Whalesite

      Perhaps there is no voyage attempted by man where there is so much danger attending as whaling. The hardy mariners engaged in this business, have not only the elements to contend with, but also the great leviathan of the deep. Many ships cruize in latitudes but little known and encounter severe gales and suffer many privations which are unknown to those engaged in the merchant service. It was once my lot to be engaged in this business, and an incident occurred during that voyage which may well be worth relating. There are several persons on the Island of Nantucket who can vouch for its authenticity

      Early one pleasant morning, while cruising near the equator, the man in the maintop-gallant cross-trees, sang out, 'there she blows!' which is the usual intelligence to the officers on deck that a whale is in sight

      'Where away?' lustily enquired the mate

      'Three points off the bow, sir. There she blows! looks like a sperm whale, sir,' again sung out the man

      The mate had already ascended the rigging as high as the top-mast cross-trees, when he arranged his spy glnss, and looked in the direction in which the whale was blowing

      'There she blows — that's a sperm whale;' exclaimed the confident mate. — 'Mr. Emmons,'continued he, addressing the second mate, who was on deck, 'call the captain.'

      But this was unnecessary; the captain had already turned out of his berth, and rushed on deck, where he was finishing his toilet

      'Mr. Fisher, what is it? a fin back?' inquired he of the mate

      'No, no, sir, sperm whale — I could see his hump very distinctly with the glass — but he is gone down now.'

      'What time is it, steward?' inquired the captain. After ascertaining which, he addressed the second made, telling him to finish washing off at once, and order the boat steerers to get their boats in readiness. The captain was all 'eager for the fray;' he ascended the rigging, till having reached the fore-top-gallant yard, (the sail being furled,) he seated himself, and inquired of the mate how far off the whale was when last seen?'

      'About four or five miles.'

      Which way was he heading?'

      'To leeward sir, as near as I could judge.'

      'On deck there!' hailed the captain.

      'Hallos, sir.'

      'Keep her off two points, and square in the yards a bit.'

      'Aye, aye, sir,' replied the second mate.

      The yards were squared in and the good ship Cyrus, of Nantucket, began to move a little faster through the water. — The mate hinted to the captain that probably the ship might run over the whale, and asked him if the foresail should not be hauled down

      Nearly forty-five minutes had now elapsed since the whale disappeared; and every eye was strained in looking for him

      'There she blows!' shouted half a dozen voices at once

      'I see him,_my lads' said Captain Hussey; 'there he is, Mr. Fisher, about a mile off; we will lay down and lower away.'

      The boats were immediately lowered from the davits into the water, and every man soon in his respective place

      'Use-your paddles instead of oars; do you hear, the other boats?' exclaimed the captain at the top of his voice

      'Aye, aye, sir,' was the reply

      I belonged to this boat, and had the honor of steering. It was soon perceptible that our boat was the nearest to the whale, the other boats consequently ceased paddling, so as not to frighten the whale, which we were approaching so rapidly.

      'Dick,' said the captain, 'don't miss him, for he is an eighty barrel whale.'

      'Never fear, sir,' I replied, taking the head iron (the harpoon) in my hand, and eyeing the huge whale as he slowly moved through the water, scarcely burying his hump.

      We were now almost within dart, when the captaih whispered to the men, 'seize the oars and pul1.' In an instant we were alongside.

      'Give it to him, Dick,' roared the captain.

      'Bang,' went one iron; 'bang,' went the other.

      'Starn all — starn all — stern, you scamps, starn!' cried our elated captain, after having seen the second iron buried to the hitches in the back of the whale

      'Come after me, my boy.' 'Aye; eye, sir,' I replied, going aft, seizing the line which was around the loggerhead in the stern of the boat. The captain went forward preparing to use the deadly lance as the two other boats came up with the intention of also fastening. — The whale which a few moments before was so quiet, now appeared more like an enraged bullock; his flukes (i.e. tail,) was often high in the air, every joint was cracking, making a sound similar to the snapping of a hundred whips; and then his head would appear several feet out of water, which, together with his formidable jaws and frightful teeth; plainly showed his strength, and what it was in his power to do. The second male's boat approached the whale, and the young man by the name of Hale was standing up ready to dart the irons, but the whale caught sight of the boat and instantly made for it with his mouth open. Yet Hale was nothing daunted, but he darted, the irons, one after the ether, and then jumped overboard. It was all that saved him, for the jaws of the whale came down on the very spot where be had stood, and with so much power that the head of the boat was bitten off. He swam to our boat evidently grateful for having escaped. Mr. Fisher now pulled up.

      'Be careful how you go on that whale,' exclaimed the captain, much chagrined at the catastrophe which he had just witnesssed

      The mate, however, was not allowed to approach his whaleship, for he politely gave the boat a gentle cut with his flukes, which stove the bottom in, and sent the crew some rods from the boat in company with some whaling gear, such as harpoons, lancets, wail-poles, line-tabs, &c.

      'By George!' roared captain Hussey, 'two boats stoven, and the whale not having received a lance.'

      'Haul line! haul line! I will now see what we can do. Bow the line, Hale, and sit down upon the thwart,' said he to the young man who had been taken into our boat, and was standing up by his side. But he disregarded the captain's order, and still remained standing. The captain was in the act of darting a lance, when the whale turned upon us.

      'Starn — starn — starn — starn all! Take the harpoon oar, Hale, and stern! he exclaimed

      As Hale was about obeying this order, the whale rolled under the bow of the boat, and striking it at the same time with his jaw, so that by the collision he lost his balance, and fell overboard directly under the jaws of the whale! The whale lilted his head out off, the water, showing the young man firmly in his mouth; as if in mockery of all our attempts to capture him and then disappeared with his victim. How long the whale was out of sight, I cannot tell. In a few seconds, however, Hale's hat came up and floated upon the surface, and about a minute after, Hale himself appeared.

      'Pull me in for Heaven's sake,' he exclaimed, 'I have been'in the whale's jaw.'

      We soon had him in the boat, his scalp was hanging by a portion of the skin, at the back of his head. It was replaced, and a handkerchief bound round to keep it in she right position. For some minutes he could not speak, but after a time he informed us that he was not injured elsewhere

      'Where's the whale?' inquired the captain

      'Blast the whale!' I almost exclaimed.

      'There he is, sir,' answered one of the men, pointing it out.

      'Well, haul' line, we will haul up close to him and then cut, for Hale must be injured more seriously than perhaps we are aware of.'

      We were accordingly hauled up, when the whale turned flukes and disappeared

      'Cut line; it is folly to hold on any longer,' said the captain

      The line was cut, and we were soon alongside the ship. Hale was hoisted up in the boat and carried into the cabin, where he was examined by the captain and myself. On moving a portion of his clothes, several frightful wounds were discovered, one of which, in the lower extremity of his body, was so large that a portion of the intestines were hanging out. There were others also on his thighs. These were all sewed up, and after being properly bandaged, he was placed in one of the berths. The stoven boats were picked up; others immediately rigged and put in order, while men were sent to the mast heads (with what hearts I will not pretend to say,) to keep a look-out for the whale that had cost us so much trouble

      'Pretty 'how-do-you-do,' said the captain to the mate, who till now had been very busy in making the changes in the boats. 'Two boats knocked in pieces — craft of various kinds lost, and what is ten times worse, one of the boat-steerers nearly killed — pretty morning's work, I declare. I want to see that whale once more, if it is only to ask him how he feels with those irons in his back.'

      Mr. Fisher expressed the same sentiment, adding that he had never witnessed such hard luck. What became of the whale I never learnt. If he was afterwards seen from the mast head, no one announced the fact. After a few days, the carpenter had repaired the boats, and some of the crew had partially forgotten the occurrence. But not so with poor Hale. He was obliged to remain below some weeks before he was enabled to go in the boat again.

      On being asked by some one what his thoughts were in the whale's jaw, he replied he thought 'the whale might make eighty barrels of oil!'

      I will merely add that be is now mate of a whale ship. Mr. Fisher now commands the Napoleon, and Mr. Emmons the Cyrus, both ships belong to Nantudket. Captain Hussey is in the ship James Maury, of Salem.

"Incident of a Whaler" by an eye witness.
      The Signal of Liberty (Ann Arbor, Michigan)
Vol. 4, No. 45 (Whole No. 201)
Monday, March 3, 1845.
p. 177.

Anthology  Source  Whalesite