Pitcairn's Island  Notes  Source  Whalesite

EXTRACTS.

      "And God created great Whales" – Genesis.

      "And what thing soever besides cometh within the chaos of this monster's mouth, be it beast, boat, or stone, down it goes all incontinently that foul great swallow of his, and perisheth in the bottomless gulf of his paunch." – Hollands Plutarch's Morals.

      "Stern all! exclaimed the mate, as upon turning his head he saw the distended jaws of a large Sperm Whale close to the head of the boat threatening it with instant destruction; – 'Stern all, for your lives!'" – Wharton the Whale Killer.

      "The whale is harpooned to be sure; but bethink you, how you would manage a powerful unbroken colt, with the mere appliances of a rope tied to the root of his tail." – A Chapter on Whaling in Ribs and Trucks.

      "In the year 1690, some persons were on a high hill observing the whales spouting and sporting with each other, when one observed; there pointing to the sea – is a green pasture where our childrens grand children will go for bread." – Hist. of Nantucket.

      "Being once pursued by a whale which he had wounded, he parried the assault for some time with a lance; but the furious monster at length rush'd on the boat; himself and comrades only being preserved by leaping into the water when they saw the onset was inevitable." – Journal of Tyerman & Bennett.

      "She came to bespeak a monument for her first love who had been killed by a whale in the Pacific Ocean, no lees than forty years ago." – Hawtherne's Twice Told Tales.

      "Mad with the agonies he endures from these fresh attacks the infuriated Sperm Whale rolls over and over; he rears his enormous head, and with wide expanded jaws snaps at every thing around him; he, rushes at the boats with his head; they are propelled before him with vast swiftness and sometimes utterly destroyed. * * * * It is a matter of great astonishment that the consideration of the habits of so interesting, and in a commercial point of view, of so important an animal (as the Sperm whale) should have been so entirely neglected, or should have excited so little curiosity among the numerous, and many of them competent observers, that of late years must have possessed the most abundant and the most convenient opportunities of witnessing their habitudes" – Thos. Beales History of the Sperm Whale, 1839.

      "The Cachalot" (Sperm Whale) "is not only better armed than the True Whale" (Greenland or Right Whale) "in possessing a formidable weapon at either extremity of its body, but also more frequently displays a disposition to employ these weapons offensively, and in a

manner at once so artful, bold, and mischievous, as to lead to its being regarded as the most dangerous to attack of all the known species of the whale tribe." – Voyage Round the Globe, 1840.

      "The aorta of a whale is larger in the bore than the main pipe of the water works at London bridge, and the water roaring in its passage through that pipe, is inferior in impetus and velocity, to the blood gushing from the whale's heart." – Paley's Theology.

      "My God! Mr. Chace what is the matter?" I answered we have been stove by a whale." – Narrative of the destruction of the Whale Ship Essex.

      "Ten or fifteen gallons of blood are thrown out of the heart at a stroke, with immense velocity." – John Hunters account of the dissection of a Whale, (a small sized one.)

THE WHALE.

      Two-thirds of the surface of the earth are covered by the ever rolling restless waves of the deep blue sea. Could the eye of man penetrate those dark mysterious depths as we can those of the more buoyant air, we should see shells that outrival in beauty the choicest flowers of the field – plants which rejoice in raiment of purple and gold, and myriad gems "of purest ray serene," we should behold in these vast depths thousands of living creatures gay and sportive as the warblers of the wood, the fleet winged flying-fish, the graceful dolphin, the tumbling porpoise, the coward shark, and the lordly whale.

      The great characteristic of the ocean is abundance, its wealth inexhaustable, supplying food and luxuries for millions; it knows no stint; famine never visits its domain; yet withal, its appetite is insatiable, and its dark, unfathomed caves are sepulchres, most dread and mysterious, where lie not only untold treasures, but without headstone or record, sleep accumulated individuals and nations. In this domain of water, exists an animal of characteristic proportions, whose gigantic structure demands, the universal waste for a sporting ground; for in search of its food, it moves from zone to zone, from ocean to ocean, of all created things the mightiest – of all game pursued by the destructive hand of man, the most sublime.

      The Cetacea, or the Whale kind, closely resembles in shape the fishes, and until quite recently, have been confounded among them by naturalists. Fishy as the whale may appear, it is essentially different and belongs in the order of creation, to the mammalia. It is dependant for life upon breathing the upper air, is filled with warm, red blood, possesses a double system for its circulation, and brings forth its young alive. It is impossible from any description however perfect, to form any clear idea of the magnitude of the whale; nor can we be made to comprehend it by any familiar comparison. The hughest beast by its side makee little more impression than the tiny mouse. Sporting upon the surface of the ocean, it is as graceful as the trout of the mountain stream; it skims along the water with rapidity; it disports in the sun; it stems the mountain wave; and in its joyous exhultation, leaps bodily into the air; but like the hull of the noble ship, if stranded upon the shore, it becomes a wreck in form, helpless, and totally unlike the thing it was in life.

      The body of every species of whale is remarkable for its covering of fat. This fat called by the sailors "blubber," lies between the skin and the muscles, and varies from five to twenty inches in thickness supplying the oil so well known to commerce. It is of course texture, and much harder than the fat of pork.

      The sole propelling power of the whale is in his tail. This important member unlike the fish lies horizontally, upon the water, and when swimming is scroll wise coiled forward beneath the body, and then rapidly sprung backwards, giving the monster that peculiar darting, leaping motion when swimming furiously.

His side fins, are his steering apparatus only. It is also his weapon of defense, the whole bulk of the whale being knit over with a warp and woof of muscular fibres and filaments, which passing on either side the loins and running down into the flukes, insensibly blend with them, and largely contribute to their might; so that in the tail the measureless force of the whole whale seems concentrated to a point. In no living thing are the lines of beauty more exquisitely defined than in the crescentic borders of these flukes, at its utmost expansion in the full grown whale, the tail will considerably exceed twenty feet across.

      Of the grand order of Leviathans, the Sperm Whale and the Right Whale are by far the most noteworthy. They are the only whales regularly hunted by man. To the Nantucketer they present the two extremes of all the known varieties of the whale. The external difference between them is mainly observable in their heads; both are massive enough in all conscience, but there is a certain symmetry in the Sperm Whale which the Right Whale sadly lacks. There is more character in the Sperm Whale's head. You will involuntarily, (as you view it) yield the immense superiority to him, in point of pervading dignity.

      Far back on the side of the head, and low down, near the angle of either whale's jaw, if you narrowly search, you will at last see a lashless eye, which you would fancy to be a young colt's eye; so'out of all proportion is it to the magnitude of the head. The position of a whale's eyes corresponds to that of a man's ears; and you may fancy, for yourself, how it would fare with you, did you sideways survey objects through your ears. You would find that you could only command some thirty degrees of vision in advance of the straight side line of sight, and about thirty more behind it, so that it is plain that the whale can never see an object which is exactly ahead, no more than he can one exactly astern.

      If you are an entire stranger to the race you might hunt over the whale's head for hours and not discover the ear which has no external leaf whatever; and into the hole itself you can hardly insert a quill, so minute is it. It is lodged a little behind the eye. With respect to their ears, this important difference is to be observed between the Sperm and the Right. While the ear of the former has an external opening, that of the latter is entirely and evenly covered over with a membrane, so as to be quite imperceptable from without.

      Let us now examine the mouth of the Sperm Whale. What a really beautiful and chaste looking mouth, lined from floor to ceiling with a glistening-white membrane, glossy as bridal satins, and extending nearly the whole length of the head. Both the jaws, but especially the lower, are in part contracted to a narrow point. In the lower are forty-two teeth of a formidable size, but conical shape; there are none however in the upper, which instead presents depressions corresponding to and for the reception of the points of those in the lower jaw.

      The size of the toothless mouth of the right or Greenland Whale may be faintly comprehended, when it is known that the lower jaw makes a gothic arch for a gateway, sufficiently large for a man to drive through on horseback. To the roof of this mouth is attached the elastic substance known as whalebone. This material is in broad pieces from six to twelve feet long, and so arranged that one strip lies against another, like the slabs of a Venetian blind, the whole together forming an immense sieve, the tongue which resembles a large satin cushion, and contains from eight to twelve barrels of oil, rests beneath.

WHALING LIFE.

      The Whaling business is peculiary an ocean life. The sea, to mariners generally, is but a highway over which they travel to foreign markets; but to the Whaler, it is his field of labor, it is the home of his business. The Whaleman, when with his family, is but a visitor there. He touches at foreign ports merely to procure recruits to enable him to prosecute his voyage; he touches at home merely long enough to prepare for a new voyage; he is in the bosom of his family weeks, on the bosom of the ocean years. His youth, and strength, and best manhood, are all devoted to a life of tedious labor and great peril. His boyhood anticipates such a life, and aspires after its highest responsibilities; his age delights in recounting its incidents.

      We read, and sometimes, perhaps, dwell, with delight on the daring exploits of those whom the world calls heroes; and in proportion to the victims sacrificed on the altar of ambition, we attribute glory and honor to the victor. Alas! what is bloodshed? – what the pretences of war but words? – what its dire effects but cold blooded purchased butchery. For deeds of true valor, done without brutal excitement, but in the honest and lawful persuit of the means of livelihood, we may safely point to the life of the Whaleman, and dare the world to produce a parallel. The widow and the orphan mourn not over his success, oppression and tyranny follow not in his paths. No; his wife and his children reap the reward of his toils and dangers, society is enriched by them, and his prosperity is his country's honor.

      Captain Benjamin Worth, in a statement published in the History of Nantucket, says: –

      I began to follow the sea in 1783, being then 15 years of age, and continued till 1824. During this period of 41 years, I was a shipmaster 29 years. From the time I commenced going to sea until I quit the business, I was at home only seven years. At the rate of 4 miles an hour whilst at sea, I have sailed more than 1,191,000 miles; I have visited more than 40 Islands in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, some of them many times; and traversed the west coasts of North and South America from Baldivia, lat. 40° long, to 59° N, on the N. W. Coast, and up Christian Sound to Lynn Canal. I have assisted in obtaining 20,000 barrels of oil. During the last war I was taken by the English, in the ship George, and lost all I had on board."

      Statement by Captain George W. Gardner: –

      "I began to follow the sea at 13 years of age, and continued in that service 37 years. I was a ship master 21 years. I performed 3 voyages to the coast of Brazil, 12 to the Pacific Ocean, 3 to Europe, and 3 to the West Indies. Daring 37 years I was at home but four years and 8 months. There were 23,000 barrels of oil obtained by vessels in which I sailed. During my following the sea from the best estimate I can make, I have travelled more than 1,000,000 miles.

      "A few days ago a man was speaking to me of the emotions with which he bid adieu to his family on his last voyage. The ship in which he was to sail was at Edgertown, on Martha's Vineyard. The packet was at the wharf which was to convey him from Nantucket to the ship. He went down in the morning and saw all his private sea-stores packed away in the sloop and then returned home, to take leave of his wife and children. His wife was sitting at the fireside, strug-

gling in vain to restrain her tears. She had an infant a few months old in her arms, and with her foot was rocking the cradle, in which lay another daughter, about three years of age, with her cheeks flushed with a burning fever. No pen can describe the anguish of such a parting. It is almost like the bitterness of death. The departing father imprinted a kiss upon the cheek of his child. Four years will pass away ere he will again take that child in his arms. Leaving his wife sobbing in anguish, he closes the door of his house behind him. Four years must elapse ere he can cross that threshold again.

      A lady said to me a few evenings ago, "I have been married eleven years, and counting all the days my husband has been at home since our marriage, it amounts to but three hundred and sixty days. He is now absent, having been gone fifteen months; and two years and two months must undoubtedly elapse before I can see his face again; and when he does return, it will merely be a visit to his family for a few months only, when he will again bid them adieu for another four years' absence.

      I asked a lady the other day, how many letters she wrote to her husband during his last voyage. "One hundred," was the answer. "And how many did he receive?" "Six." The invariable rule is to write by every ship that leaves this port or New Bedford, or any other port that may be heard of for the Pacific Ocean. And yet the chances are very small that any two ships will meet on this boundless expance. It sometimes happens that a ship returns, when those on board have not heard one word from their families during the whole period of their absence. Imagine then the feelings of a husband and father who returns to the harbor of Nantucket after a separation of forty-eight months, during which time he has heard no tidings from home. He sees the boats push off from the wharves which are to bring him the tidings of weal or woe. Pale and trembling he paces the deck with emotions he in vain endeators to conceal. A friend in the boat greets him with a smile, and says, "Captain, your family are all well.' Or perhaps he says, "Captain, I have heavy news for you, your wife died two years and a-half ago.

      A young man left this island last summer, leaving in his quiet home a young and beautiful wife and young child. The wife and child are now in the grave. But the husband knows not, and probably will not know of it for some months to come. He perhaps falls asleep every night thinking of the loved ones at home left at his fireside, little thinking they are both cold in death.

      On a bright summer's afternoon the telegraph announces that a Cape Horn ship has appeared in the horizon and immedialely the stars and stripes of our national banner are unfurled from our flag-staff, sending a wave of emotion through the town. Many families are hoping it is the ship in which their friends are to return, and all are hoping for tidings from the absent. Soon the name of the ship is announced, and then there is an eager contention of the boys to be the bearer of the joyful tidings to the wife of the captain; for which service a silver dollar is the established and invariable fee.

      Who can describe the feelings which must agitate the bosom of a wife? Perhaps she has heard no tidings of the ship for more than a year. Trembling with excitement she dresses herself to meet her husband. "Is he alive?" she says to herself, "or am I a widow, and my poor children fatherless?" She walks about the room unable to control herself sufficiently to sit, down; eagerly is she looking out of the window and down the street. She sees a man with a hurried step turn the corner, with a little boy holding his hand. Yes, it is he. And her little son has gone down to the boat and found his father. Or perhaps instead of this she sees two of her neighbors returning slowly and sadly, and directing their steps to her door. It is the knell of her husband's death, and she falls senseless to the floor as they tell her that her husband has long since been entombed in the fathomless ocean."

      This is not fiction. These are not extreme cases which the imagination creates. They are facts of continual occurrence; facts that awaken emotions to which no pen can do justice.

      A few weeks ago a ship returned' to this island, bringing the news of another ship that was nearly filled with oil, that all were well, and that she might be expected in a neighboring port in such a month. The wife of the Captain resided in Nantucket, and early in the month, with a heart throbbing with affection and hope, she went to greet her husband on his return. At length the ship appeared, dropped her anchor in the harbor, and the friends of the lady went to escort the husband to the wife from whom he had been so long separated. Soon they sadly returned with the tidings that her husband had been seized with the coast fever, upon the island of Madagascar, when about a week out on his return home, he died and was committed to his ocean burial. A few days after I called upon the weeping widow and little daughter, in their home of bereavement. – Nantucket Paper.

      The Hon. Mr. Grinnell, of New Bedford, Mass., made during the session Of Congress (1844), the following statements in thd House of Representatives:

      "I have prepared with great care a table from authentic sources, to show the consumption of domestic and foreign articles by our whaling fleet now consisting of 650 ships, barques, brigs, and schooners, tonaging 200,000 tons; cost at the time of sailing, $20,000,000; manned by 17,500 officers and seamen, one half of whom are green hands when the vessels sail. By this table it will be seen that the annual consumption of this fleet is $3,845,500; only 400,000 is of foreign articles. This great source of wealth to the nation is dependent mainly on a home market for its products. The value of the annual import of oil and whalebone in a crude state, is $7,000,000; when manufactured it probably is increased in value to $8,000,000 or $9,000,000. The whole amount of exports of oil, whalebone, and sperm candles is only $2,000,000; leaving $6,000000 or $7,000000, to be consumed in this country. * * * The duties on each whale ship and outfits of 300 tons, amount to $1,700.

      * * * "This fleet of whaling ships is larger than ever pursued the business before: Commercial history furnishes no account of any parallel; our ships now outnumber those of all other nations combined, and the proceeds of its enterprize are in proportion, and diffused to every part of our country. The voyages of those engaged in the sperm fishery, average three and a half years; they search every sea, and often cruise three or four months with a man at each masthead on the look-out without the cheering sight of a whale. This fleet is manned by 17,500 Americans. They are hardy, honest, and patriotic, and will, as they did in the last war, stand by their country when in danger; they will man our ships and fight our battles on the ocean. Should we ever again be compelled to resort to war to maintain our rights, they, with the other seamen of our country, will be the right arm of our defence."

      Mr. Burke, in his famous speech on American affairs, in 1774, adverting to the wonderful display of daring enterprise exhibited by American Whalemen, says: And pray sir what in the world is equal to it? Pass by the other parts, and look at the manner in which the New England people carry on the whale fishery, while we follow them among the trembling mountains of ice, and behold them penetrating into the deepest frozen recesses of Hudson's and Davis's Straits – while we are looking for them beneath the Arctic circle, we hear that they have pierced into the opposite region of the Polar cold – that they are at the antipodes, and engaged under the frozen serpent Of the south. Falkland Island, which seems too remote for the grasp of national ambition, is but a stage and resting place for their victorious industry. Nor is the equinoctial heat more discouraging to them than the accumulated winter of both poles. We learn,

that while some of them draw the line or strike the harpoon on the coast of Africa, others run the longitude, and pursue their gigantic game along the coast of Brazil. No sea but what is vexed with their fisheries, no climate that is not witness of their toils. Neither the perseverance of Holland nor the activity of France, nor the firm sagacity of English enterprise, ever carried this most perilous mode of hardy industry to the extent to which it has been pursued by these recent people – a people who are still in their gristle, and not yet hardened into manhood.

THE LINE.

      With reference to the whaling scene shortly to be described, I have here to speak of the magical, sometimes horrible whale-line.

      The whale-line is only two-thirds of an inch in thickness. At first sight you would not think it so strong as it really is. By experiment its one and fifty yarns will each suspend a weight of one huhdred and twenty pounds: so that the whole rope will bear a strain nearly equal to three tons. In length, the common sperm whale-line measures something over two hundred fathoms. Towards the stern of the boat it is spirally coiled away in the tub. So as to form one round cheese-shaped mass of densely bedded "sheaves," or layers of concentric spiralizations, without any hollow but the "heart," or minute vertical tube formed at the axis of the cheese. As the least tangle or kink in the coiling would, in running out, infallibly take somebody's arm, leg, or entire body off, the utmost precaution is used in stowing the line in the tub. Some harpooners will consume almost an entire morning in this business, carrying the line high aloft and then reeving it downwards through a block towards the tub, so as in the act of coiling to free it from all possible wrinkles and twists.

      Both ends of the line are exposed; the lower end terminating in an eye-splice or loop coming up from the bottom against the side of the tub, and hanging over its edge completely disengaged from everything. This arrangement of the lower end is necessary on two accounts. First: In order facilitate the fastening to it of an additional line from a neighboring boat, in case the stricken whale should sound so deep as to threaten to carry off the entire line originally attached to the harpoon.

      In these instances, the whale of course is shifted from the one boat to the other; though the first boat always hovers at hand to assist its consort. Second: This arrangement is indispensable for common safety's sake; for were the lower end of the line in any way attached to the boat, and were the whale then to run the line out to the end almost in a single, smoking minute as he sometimes does, he would not stop there, for the doomed boat would infallibly be dragged down after him into the profundity of the sea.

      Before lowering the boat for the chase, the upper end of the line is taken aft, from the tub, and passing round the loggerhead there, is again carried forward the entire length of the boat, resting crosswise upon the loom or handle of every man's oar, so that it jogs against his wrist in rowing; and also passing between the men, as they alternately sit at the opposite gunwaes,[sic] to the leaded chocks or grooves in the extreme pointed prow of the boat, where a wooden pin or skewer the size of a common quill, prevents it from slipping out. From the chocks it hangs in a slight festoon over the bows, and is then passed inside the boat again; and some ten or twenty fathoms (called box-line) being coiled upon e box in the bows, it continues its way to the gunwale still a little further aft, and is then attadhed[sic] to the short warp – the rope which is immediagtely connect-

ed with the harpoon; but previous to that connection, the short warp goes through sundry mystifications too tedious to detail.

      Thus the whale-line folds the whole boat in its complicated coils, twisting and writhing around it in almost every direction. All the oarsmen are involved in its perilous contortions; so that to the timid eye of the landsman, they seem as Indian jugglers, with the deadliest snakes sportiuely festooning their limbs. Nor can any son of mortal woman, for the first time, seat himself amid those hempen intricacies, and while straining his utmost at the oar, bethink him that at any unknown instant the harpoon may be darted, and all these horrible contortions be put in play like ringed lightnings; he cannot be thus circumstanced without a shudder that makes the very marrow in his bones to quiver in him like a shaken jelly. Yet habit – strange thing! what cannot habit accomplish? – Gayer sallies, more merry mirth, better jokes, and brighter repartees, you never heard over your mahogany, than you will hear over the half-inch white cedar of the whale-boat. Perhaps a very little thought will now enable you to account for those repeated whaling disasters – some few of which are casually chronicled – of this man or that man being taken out of the boat by the line, and lost. For when the line is darting out, to be seated in the boat is like being seated in the midst of the manifold whizzings of a steam-engine in full play, when every flying beam, and shaft, and wheel, is grazing you. It is worse; for you cannot sit motionless in the heart of these perils, because the boat is rocking like a cradle, and you are pitched one way and the other, without the slightest warning:

      Again; As the profound calm which only apparently precedes and prophesies of the storm, is perhaps more awful than the storm itself; for, indeed, the calm is but the wrapper and envelope of the storm; and contains it in itself, as the seemingly harmless rifle holds the fatal powder, and the ball, and the explosion; so the graceful repose of the line, as it silently serpentines about the oarsmen before being brought into actual play – this is a thing which carries more of true terror than any other aspect of this dangerous affair.

INDIANS WHALING.

LINE PROPOSED.

      The Indians who inhabited the shores of America used to voyage out to sea and attack the whale from their canoes, and pierce him with their lances of wood, which were barbed, and which before they were plunged into his flesh, were fastened by a piece of rope, to a large block of light wood which was thrown overboard the moment the barbed instrument was thrust into its body, which being repeated at every rising of the whale, or when they were so fortunate as to get near enough to do so, in a few instances, by a sort of worreying to death system, rewarding the enterprising savage with the lifeless body of his victim, mostly a very young one. Few, indeed, must these instances hava been, when we consider the means that were employed in the capture of so immense an animal, possessing such enormous strength, by which their barbed lances of wood must have been frequently shivered to atoms, or drawn from the flesh of the whale, by the resistance the blocks of wood to which they were attached, must have occasioned when the animal became frightened into its utmost speed; and when we know at the present time, that by their powerful actions and convulsive movements, the best tempered iron, of which our harpoons are made, frequently becomes twisted to pieces, while the boats which are used in the chase

are often thrown high into the air with the head, or broken to fragments by one blow of the tail of this enormous creature.

      "But even after the capture of the sperm whale had been carried on in ships by the decendants of the European settlers upon the American shores, who struck the whales with harpoons, having a log of wood attached, after the Indian fashion, it was a considerable time before any great improvement manifested itself into their mode of fishing."

      "Presumptions indeed was he deemed, who first proposed to chase and capture such huge beings in small boats, and by the aid of lines at the end of which was attached the harpoon, by which they could draw themselves to the harpoon'd whale whenever they wished to destroy it with the lance."

      The Captain of an American vessel proposed to his men, and wished them to make a trial of the method they had just heard of, by the boat and line; but to his irresolute seamen the idea seemed monstrous; the mere thought of having the boat they were in attached to an infuriated leviathan by a strong rope struck terror among the whole crew. What said they, Shall we be dragged to the bottom of the sea? Shall we be towed with the velocity of lightning to the other side of the world? Shall we be torn to pieces by the jaws of the fish that we may be fastened to? in vain did their Captain explain to them the various means they could employ, to avoid those anticipated dangers; he urged their reason to note the excellence of the plan, but his eloquence proved of no avail: so fearful were they of this dangerous innovation on their old method, that the very rope which the Captain had prepared for the service, was pointed through the ships stern during the night and allowed to run overboard. But never the less, others more daring undertook the trial soon afterwards, in which they frequently came off victorious, so that the new method was established among them, and has since been much improved.

THE WHALE OF CAPTAIN DEBLOIS.

      A recent instance which puts all former exploits of the whale and perils by the whale fishery into the shade, is furnished in the destruction of a New Bedford ship, by the malice aforethought of a sperm whale.

      The ship Ann Alexander, Capt. S. Deblois, on the 20th of August 1851, reached what is well known by all whalemen, as the Off Shore Ground, lat 5° 60' S., long. 102° W.

      On that day they discovered whales and succeeded in fastening to one. Two boats had gone after the whales – the larboard and the starboard, the former commanded by the mate, the latter commanded by Capt. Deblois. The whale which they had struck was harpooned by the mates boat. After running some time, the whale turned upon the boat, and rushing at it with tremendous violence, opened its enormous jaws, and taking the boat in crushed it into fragments; Capt. Deblois instantly struck for the scene of disaster, and succeeded in rescuing the whole of the boats crew.

      The disaster had been seen from the ship, and the waist boat commanded by the second mate went to their relief, on the arrival of the waist boat the crews were divided, and another attack was determined upon. The waist boat now commanded by the mate was in the advance, the whale perceiving the demonstration, turned making a tremendous dash at the boat, seized it in its jaws, crushed it to atoms, the men barely escaping by throwing themselves into the ocean.

      Again Capt. Deblois urged his boat to the rescue at the risk of sharing the same fate, and succeeded once more in saving all the men. There were then 18 in the Captains boat, who were ordered to pull for the ship with all possible speed, but what was their consternation, at discovering the monster with wide extended jaws, making for them. Providentially he passed them, and they reached the ship in safety.

      It was now determined to pursue the whale with the ship, and in a short time she overtook him, and a lance was thrown into his head. The ship passed on by him, and immediately after they discovered that the whale was making for the ship. As he came up near her, they hauled their wind, suffering him to pass by. After he had fairly passed they kept off to attack again, when the ship had nearly reached him they found the whale had settled deep below the surface, and as it was near sun down, they concluded to give up the pursuit. Capt. Deblois wa[sic] at this time standing on the larboard bow, with lance in hand ready to strike should he appear, when looking off the side of the ship, he saw the whale rushing for her at the rate of fifteen knots. In an instant the monster struck the ship with tremendous violence, shaking her from stem to stern, she quivered under the violence of the shock, as if she had struck upon a rock, Capt. D. decending to the fore hold, discovered to his horror, that the monster had struck the ship about two feet from the keel, abreast the foremast, knocking a great hole entirely through her bottom, through which the water roared and rushed impetuously! The ship was rapidly sinking, repairing to the cabin all he could secure was a chronomoter, sextant and chart. Be came on deck ordered all hands into the boats, and was the last himself to leave the ship, which he did by throwing himself into the sea and swimming to the nearest boat. On the 22d, to their great joy they discovered a ship in the distance, made signals which were answered, and in a short time were taken on board the good ship Nantucket, of Nantucket, Capt. Gibbs, who clothed, fed and extended every comfort in his power.

      These facts were testified to before the United States Consulate at Payta, by all the officers of the ship Ann Alexander, and by several of the crew.

      On the Brazil Banks, year 1850, an attack was made by an enormous whale upon the ship Pocahantis, of Tisbury. Two boats had gone in pursuit of the whale, one of them had struck and been fast to the monster about twenty minutes, but in their attempt to lance the whale, he turned upon the boat and literally crushed it to atoms. The crew were uninjured and picked up by the other boat, after the crews got on board the ship, the vessel ran for the whale, but when about two boats lengths off he turned, and struck the vessel bow with such force as to start two planks and break one or two timbers on the starboard side of the bow, causing her to leak 250 strokes per hour, with much difficulty she reached Rio Janeiro.

      A like disaster happened to the whaling bark, Parker Cook, in the vicinity of the Western Islands. In a conflict with a large sperm whale, he had stove and capsised the boat with his head, and the line caught the leg of the boat steerer, John Hoxie, nearly severing the foot, while in the water Hoxie took his knife from his pocket and cut the line. The waist boat picked up the crew. Finding the whale very warlike, Capt. Cook prepared his bomb lance and gun, and in the mean time the whale attacked the bark and struck her on the

stem, which penetrated his head to the whole depth of the stem. The shock was so great that it threw every one on board upon the deck, and started the false stem. The whale then went off about a half a mile, and ran upon the vessel a second time, Capt. Cook then attacked the whale in his boat, with bomblance, and fired three times within eighty yards, the whale coming at him each time with mouth open and "showing fight" in the most desperate manner. The third lance caused him to spout blood, and be died soon after, yielding 103 barrels of oil.

LOSS OF THE SHIP ESSEX.

      The ship Essex, Capt. Geo. Pollard, sailed from Nantucket, 12th of August, 1819, on a whaling voyage to the Pacific Ocean. Her crew consisted of 21 men, 14 of whom were whites, mostly belonging to Nantucket, the remainder were blacks.

      "On the 20th of November, 1820, Lat. 0° 40' S. 119° W., a school of whales discovered, and in pursueing them the mates boat was stove which obliged him to return to the ship, when they commenced repairing the damage. The Captain and second mate were left with their boats pursueing the whales. During this interval, the mate discovered a large sperm whale near the ship, but not suspecting the approach of any danger, it gave them no alarm, until they saw the whale coming with full speed toward them, in a moment they were astonished by a tremendous crash. The whale had struck the ship a little forward of the fore chains. It was some minutes before the crew could recover from their astonishment, so far as to examine whether any damage had been sustained. They then tried their pumps, and found that the ship was sinking, a signal was immediately set for the boats.

      The whale now appeared again making for the ship, and coming with great velocity, with the water foaming around him, he struck the ship a second blow, which nearly stove in her bows.

      There was now no hope of saving the ship, the only course to be pursued was to prepare to leave her with all possible haste. The collected a few things, hove them into the boat and shoved off. The ship immediately fell upon one side and sunk to the waters edge. When the Captain's and second mates boats arrived, such was the consternation, that for some time not a word was spoken. The danger of their situation at last aroused them, as from a terrific dream, to a no less terrific reality. They remained by the wreck two or three days, in which time they Cut away the musts, which caused her to right a little. Holes were then cut in the deck, by which means they obtained about 600 lbs. of bread, and as much water as they could take, besides other articles likely to be of use to them. On the 22d of November, they left the ship with as gloomy a prospect before them as can well be imagined. The nearest land was about one thousand miles to the windward of them; they were in open boats, weak and leaky, with a very small pittance of bread and water for the support of so many men, during the time they must necessarily be at sea. Sails had been prepared for the boats, before leaving the ship, which proved of material benefit. They steered southerly by the wind, hoping to fall in with some ship, but in this they were disappointed. After being in their boats twenty eight days, experiencing much suffering ,by gales of wind, want of water, and scanty provisions, they arrived at Ducie's Island, in Lat. 24° 40' S., Long. 124° W., where they were disappointed in not finding a sufficiency of any kind of food for so large a company to subsist on. Their boats being leaky, they were hauled on shore and repaired.

They found a gentle spring of fresh water flowing out of a rock at about half ebb tide, from which they filled their kegs. Three men choose to stay on the Island, and take their chance for some vessel to take them off. On the 27th of December, they left this Island, and steered for Easter Island; but passed it far to the leward. Then they directed their course for Juan Fernandez, which was about 2,500 miles E. S. E. from them. On the 10th January, 1821, Mathew P. Joy, the second mate, died, and his body was launched into the deep. His constitution was slender, and it was supposed that his sufferings though great, were not the immediate cause of his death, on the 12th, the mate's boat separated from the other two, and did not fall in with them afterward. The situation of the mate and his crew, became daily more and more distressing. The weather was mostly calm, the sun hot and scorching; they were growing weaker and weaker for the want of food, and yet, such was their distance from land they were obliged to lessen their allowance nearly one-half; on the 20th a black man died, on the 8th February another of the crew died.

      From this time until the 17th of February, their snfferings were extreme, at 7 A. M. of that day, they were picked up by the brig Indian, Capt. Grozier, of London, and treated with all the care and tenderness their weak condition required, on the 25th, they arrived at Valparaiso.

      Capt. Pollard and Charles Ramsdell, the only survivors in the Captain's boat, were taken up on the 23d of February, 1821, by the ship Dauphin, of Nantucket; Capt. Zimri Coffin, in Lat. 37° S. off St. Mary's. The Captain relates, that, after the mate's boat was separated from the others, they made what progress their weak condition would permit, toward the Island of Juan Fernandez; but contrary winds and calm weather, together with the extreme debility of the crew, prevented their making much progress, on the 29th of January, the second mate's boat separated from the Captain's in the night, at which time their provisions were wholly exhausted, since which they have not been heard from. We shall not attempt a sketch of the sufferings of the crews of these boats. Immagination may picture the horrors of their situation, and the extremes to which they were driven to sustain life, but no power of the imagination can highthen[sic] the dreadful reality.

      The following is an account of the whole crew: In the Captain's boat two survived, viz.: Capt. Pollard and Charles Ramsdell. In the mates boat, three survived, viz.: Owen Chase, the mate Benjamin Lawrence, and Thomas Nickerson. Left on Ducie's Island and afterwards taken off, Seth Weeks, William Wright, and Thomas Chapple, one left the ship before the accident. In the second mates boat, when separated from the Captain's, three. Dead nine, which added to the second mate's crew, doubtless lost, makes total deaths twelve.

      The most extraordinary case, all things considered, is the recent destruction of the Waterloo, a British vessel loaded with grain, which, while in the North Sea quietly pursueing its course, was unprovokedly attacked and destroyed. The vessel was moving slowly along when a large whale was perceived to the windward, partly out of the water and swimming at a rapid rate, when, within ten yards of the ship's side, it dipped, and struck the hull so violently, that the ship was perceived "to heel and crack." The animal then rose to the surface and plunged downward head foremost, its tail nearly touching the foreyard while it was flourishing in the air. In two hours the ill-fated vessel began to settle down; the crew and captain almost destitute of clothing and entirely without food or water, barely had time to escape to their boats, when the ship capsized and disappeared head foremost under the waves of the sea.

      The sagacity of sperm whales is in no way so remarkably manifested, as in the instantaneous knowledge they possess, when one of their number is struck and wounded at a distance of two, three and even four miles apart. Whether they receive this knowledge by sight or sound, we shall not pretend to say. When a whale is struck, those around and feeding undisturbed, sometimes instantly and with one accord, make the best of their way toward the wounded whale, which gives the boats that are disengaged a fine opportunity to fasten. At other times they will collect in a body, and go in a contrary direction, as fast as possible, to all appearance much frightened.

FEARFUL CATASTROPHE – THE LIVING TOMB.

      The heads of the ships pointed to Valparaiso, upon the South American Coast. The bright burning sun of the Equatorial seas had set and risen again, since they had taken their departure; when at a long distance in the direction they were steering, the man at the mast head descried tiny moving specs upon the ocean, which seemed occasionally to appear and disappear. The ships and these uncertain objects approached each other steadily, until they were made out to be a vast school of sperm whales sporting, gambolling, blowing and diving, as if, in truth, they were the school of a pedagogue let loose from thraldom, and rejoicing in iheir liberty.

      The information from aloft set every thing in motion on deck, boats were cleared, irons prepared, lines coiled; and the men stretched themselves. as if rousing from inaction, or from the lethargy of weariness; and the laugh and the joke, which had been somewhat scarce of late, were bandied about in the utmost glee. The landsmen's hearts beat tumultuously, in anticipation of their first feat among the giants of the water.

      The approach of danger, and the hope of success, swayed their minds alternately; and it was difficult to say whether they most coveted the opportunity of grappling with such mighty antagonists, or whether they would not willingly have deferred the encounter.

      To them it was a moment of anxiety, like that preceeding the approach of two hostile squadrons.

      The feelings of the veterans were different. They were as eager for the moment of attack as slot-hounds to be loosed upon their prey. Feeling confidence in their skill, and in the superiority which art gives over the exertion of mere brute power, they hailed the prospect before them with feelings approaching to boyish enthusiasm.

      There was one however, on board the Leviathan, who, amidst the animated bustle which precedes an attack upon a school of whales, did not partake of the cheerfuhnss of his fellows. We need scarcely say that the individual was Thomas Starbuck. There was a determined soberness in his face and -demeanor, from the moment the cry from the mast head was uttered, which, at first, drew upon him the bantering jibes and jokes of his messmates; but he heard them without resentment, and he turned off their ill-timed jests with unangered answers. There was a deep gloom preying upon his spirits; while all others seemed to be in high good humour, and "eager for the fray," – he was listless and desponding. The fortune-tellers words had been forgotten, until now; but the sight of the approaching whales, and the active noisy preparation for the attack, brought all she had said fresh to his memory.

      Starbuck, who was harpooner to one of the boats, and a most important man in that capacity, was ashamed to show the white feather upon the first occasion

that had been presented for signalizing himself upon the voyage; – but the words of Judeth rang in his ears, and he felt that he could not lightly disregard the omen. Stepping aft to the quarter deck, as much to ask the advice of the captain, who was aware of the fortune-teller, as to obtain permission to remain on board for the time, he held a few brief words with Jonathan.

      "Captain," said he, "I feel an unaccountable presentiment that the words of Judith Query are about to be fulfilled, I would fain disappoint the prophetess, if she be one; and, though I know my duty, and have heretofore acquitted myself sufficiently well to be named one of your boat steerers, yet I am unwilling to go out upon this expedition without your positive commands. In short I lack confidence to day; and I come to ask to appoint one of the crew as my substitute."

      "There is no time to argue thing now," replied the captain, "or I might give thee convincing proof that fortune-tellers cannot look into futurity. I respect thy feelings, Thomas, however thou mayest have come by them; and therefore, I will neither urge nor command thee to go. Let it be as thou wishest; – if thou decline, I will appoint another in thy stead."

      Thomas Starbuck retired with a heavy heart. He saw that he had relinquished all chance of distinguishing himself for the day; and the dishonour of staying on board at the approaching crisis, with a troop of whales in sight of the ship could probably never be wiped away. The thought too of what Ruth would say to his conduct, when he should return home, and, above all, the certainty of the imputation of cowardice, which might be cast in his teeth by his companions, made him half repent the steps he had taken.

      The crew had witnessed the interview of Starbuck with the captain, and guessed at the import of their conversation.

      "So!" said one of them, within earshot of Thomas " We shall not have Starbuck's company to day, I s'pose. He's begged off, I'm sure or he'd be taking his place at the forward oar. I wonder who s going to be harpineersman for our boat, if he don't go?

      "A faint heart never won a fair lady," said another, who had heard of his attachment to Ruth; for secrets of that nature get whispered about among a ship's crew, especially if they all come from a small place like Nantucket, where every body's business and motions are likely to be known and canvassed by his neighbor.

      "He had reason to be chicken-hearted to day," observed a third, about that fortune telling affair. Do you remember the morning that we pulled off from Sherburne. For my part I'd a notion of going ashore again for everybody looked so melancholy that I knew we'd have a misfortune on the voyage. I'm glad he don't intend to go; I never knew Judith Quary to fail in her prediction.

      The whales were now near enough to lower the boats, and the crews jumped in and were ready to push off, in order to scatter themselves among the approaching animals, and thus multiply the chances of striking them, when they should attempt to escape. Four boats pulled away from the Grampus, and instantly three more followed from the Leviathan. The fourth boat commanded by one of the mates, still lay alongside, waiting for the compliment of oarsmen (to be from those whose duty it was to remain on shipboard,) to supply the place of Starbuck. Imbert was one of this crew, and was assigned to pull the after oar. He felt, as every novice feels, who, for the first time, is about to approach an animal so huge and dangerous as the whale; but he was devoid of childish fear, and rather courted the sport than otherwise. He had made himself a favorite with the whole crew, except Gardner, who could not divest himself of the thought of his being his rival, and, as he thought, a successful one: but, on most occa-

sions, they treated each other with respect, though cool and unfamiliar in its nature. Gardner was harpooner for another boat, and had managed to get rid of the company of Imbert, by assisting one of the mates to pick the crew, to the exclusion of his rival. The chance of Imbert, to exhibit his prowess, was small, as being a new hand, his task was merely to pull a steady oar, for the first voyage; and, until some lucky opportunity should offer, he could not expect to signalize himself, nor perform any prodigy to boast of. "On deck there!" bawled the impatient mate, from the whale-boat. He was answered by one of the crew, from the gangway, who had been designated to supply the place of Starbuck. "Be quick!" said the mate, "or all the sport will be over, before we can get a chance at the whales. Hurry, man: – hurry! jump in – jump in!"

      Thomas now come to the gangway, and his irresolution gave way, as he saw his substitute about to let himself drop into his place in the bow of the boat. A flush of pride came into his face at the moment; – his resolution came back from very shame; – he seized the man by the shoulder, and drew him into the ship, and then rushed over the side, in an indescribable agony of mind.

      "Let life or death be the issue," said he is he pushed off desperately from the ship. "I will go! It shall never be said that Thomas Starbuck disgraced his name, or his calling, by skulking dishonorably at a time like this. Pull, boys, pull!" said he, aloud, to his comrades, while he madly surged upon his oar, with a strength equal, at the time, to that of all the other oarsmen. The energy he exerted infused a spirit of emulation into his companions; the lingering whaleboat soon caught up with and passed the others and it was now leading the van. His shipmates in the other boats, who were acquainted with his intention of remaining on board, and his reason for so doing, saw in his flushed face, as he dashed by, that he had left all his superstitious fears behind; but they shook their heads at each other in sorrow, for they were all more or less imbued with the notion that he was rushing on his fate, and the superhuman strength he was exerting was but hastening on the catastrophe.

      The fearless whale-fishermen now found themselves in the midst of the monsters; – some turning flooks – some rising to the surface to breathe, with their young upon their backs; others spouting their cataract streams high into the air, while some, in play, or to dislodge the barnacles and tantalizing suckers that fastened like vermin, to their sides, came jumping into the light of day, head uppermost, exhibiting their entire bodies in the sun, and falling on their sides into the water with the weight of a hundred tons, and thus, "breaching" with a crash, that the thunder of a park of artillery could scarcely equal. It was a fearful and thrilling sight to the new comer; – but to the practiced whale-fisherman, a scene that he delighted in, though full of imminent danger.

      The commander of each boat immediately singled out his whale, and gave chase with steady earnestness. The ships, in the mean while, followed the course of the whales and of the pursuing boats; – a sufficient number of hands being left on board to work the vessels.

      Macy and Coleman, with a promptness that is the peculior recommendation of veteran whale-fishermen fastened at once to their whales, taking the first that came in their way, without regard to size.

      They proved to be young ones, that were still under the protection of their mothers. This was fortunate for the fishermen, for they fell an easy prey; and their mothers, too, keeping close to their dead bodies, in a few minutes more paid the forfeit of their unalienable affection.

      The other officers showed no lack of skill; and, in less than an hour, six spermacetti whales, of various sizes, were the fruits of the victorious assault.

      The mate of Coleman was more ambitious than the rest, and was determined, if possible, to strike the leader of the troop. He was of prodigious size and

worth any two of the others; but he was wary and watchful, and led his pursuer a tiresome chase, far away from his mates; and then by a circuitous route, he came back again to his scattered convoy. Still did the based mate return to the charge, endeavoring to head his stupendous antagonist as he should rise to blow.

      At last, the bubbling ripple from below indicated the approach of the animal to the surface; and a few vigorous pulls brought the boat to the spot where it was judged he would rise to its side. The oars were eased, and the word given to the harpooner to "stand up." The bow was turned to the spot; – The oarsmen rested on their oars, ready to back off; – and Starbuck stood erect, cleared his line, and balanced his iron.

      He placed himself in the posture for striking, and was bracing his knees to the bow, when the hump of the monster emerged from the water.

      It was a moment of indiscribable anxiety; – but to none more than the harpooner. But what was the consternation of all, when the head of the animal turned suddenly over! It is a motion made by the sperm whale, preparatory to using his teeth upon an object floating upon the surface of the water.

      His huge under jaw, armed with immense ivory tusks parted with the rapidity of thought. The bow of the boat struck against his jaw, and poor Thomas in the act of launching his harpoon, lost his foothold, and pitched, headlong, into a living tomb! The jaws of the monster closed upon his body, leaving the legs of his victim projecting from his mouth!

      The frightened mate lost his presence of mind, and omitted to give the word to back off. He held his steering oar without the power of motion. But Imbert, new as he was to the scene, seeing the opportunity to be avenged for the loss of his companion, seized the sharp lance of the mate, and plunged it to the hilt in the body of the whale, as he turned to escape. In a moment the boat and crew were driven into the air, by a stroke of the animal's tail. The frail barque was shivered into a thousand pieces; and the men, bruised and lacerated, fell into the broad ocean. All that had thus transpired was seen from the ship, and boats were dispatched forthwith to the relief of the wounded crew. Some had seized upon fragments of the wreck, while others sustained themselves with pieces of broken oars, supported beneath by the strong saline buoyancy so eminently peculiar to the unfathomable depths of the ocean.

      The unfortunate crew were resued in time to witness the last agonies of the desperate whale, which, like Samson crushing the temple in his might, dealt death and destruction on all sides, while he himself was oevrwhelmed[sic] in the general ruin.

      The animal, blind with rage, and feeling the sting of the death wound in his heart, whirled round the ships, in irregular circles for a short time, and then descended. The crew lay on their oars, watching where he would next appear, while the ships were hove to, to await the final result.

      Suddenly a mighty mass emerged from the water, and shot up perpendicularly, with inconceivable velocity into the air. It was the whale, – and the effort was his last expiring throe! He fell dead; – but, in his descent, he pitched headlong across the bows of the Grampus, and in one fell swoop, carried away the entire forepart of the vessel!

      The crew escaped by throwing themselves into the boats alongside, and rowing quickly off.

      The gallant ship instantly filled with water, and settled away from their sight.

THERE SHE BLOWS.

      "There she blows!" sung out the man at the fore; " not half a mile off."

      "Down helm!" shouted the Captain "Mr. B. Back the main topsail. Hoist and swing the boats! Lower away!" Follow down every man! As the boats struck the water every man was on his thwart, with his hand on his oar, and all at once the four boats were cutting their way through the water, in the direction of the whale.

      It was my duty to steer the mate's boat, and she happened to be the swiftest, so that, although we all left the ship together, and for a few rods kept nearly head and held with each other, still We knew well enough, that as soon as the word came from the mate to " give way," we should drop the others in a moment. So we did riot fret ourselves, but kept cool for a tight pull when the whale should show himself on the surface of the water again, which he did the moment after.

      "There she is!" cried the mate; " and not over ten rods from the boat. Now my dear fellows, lay back hand, I tell you! There she blows! Only give way my boys, and she is ours!" The boat bounded forward like a thing of life. " Spring like tigers!" said the mate, his voice sinking almost to a whisper, I looked over my shoulder to see what kind of a chance I was about to have, at the same time pulling at my own oar with all my might, we were going on her starboard quarter; just the chance I like to fasten to a whale.

      "Stand up!" shouted the mate, and in a moment I was on my feet, and the next moment I had two harpoons to the hitches into her. Stern 1 stern all I" sung out the mate, as he saw the irons in the whale. "Come here my boy!" said ' he to me we shifted ends; he to the head, and I to the stern of the boat.

      The whale started off like lightning.

      "Hold on line!" shouted the mate, and away we shot after her, like an arrow from the bow. "Clear away that lance!" Haul me on to that whale!" he shouted; and jail hands turned to hauling line, while I coiled it away in the stern sheets. We had got nearly up to the whale when she took to sounding, taking the line right up and down from the head of the boat. I had two turns of the line round the loggerhead, and was holding on as much as the boat would bear, when all at once, another large whale, that we knew nothing of, shot up out of the water nearly ]per whole length, in a slanting position, hanging directly over the boat. I threw off the turns from the loggerhead, and shouted to the men to " stern." But it was of no use; she fell the whole length of her body on the boat.

      I heaad a crash! and as I went down, I felt a pressure of water directly over my head, caused as I thought, by the whale's flukes as she struck. How log I was under water I know not; but I remember that all looked dark above me, and that I tried very hard to shove my head through in order to breathe. At last I succeeded, but what a sight was that on which I gazed, when I found myself on the surface I Almost a rod off was the whale we were fast to, thrashing the water into a foam with his flukes, the ocean red with blood, and the crimson streams pouring from the wounds in the whale's sides made by the harpoons. In another direction I could see pieces of the boat floating around, at the distance of two or three miles. I could occasionally get a glimpse of the ship as I rode on the top of a swell, and not a human being in sight.

      Not losing heart or hope; I struck out for a piece of the stern of our once beautiful boat a few rods distant. The crew come up one after another, catching at any thing they could see to help keep them afloat. One poor fellow came

paddling along with two or three oar under him, crying out that his back was broken. Another of the crew and myself got him on a piece of the boat that that we had hold of. His thigh was broken and he could not move his legs at all.

      The second mate soon after picked us up in his boat, and so much had we been engaged in looking out for ourselves, that we did not perceive one of our number was missing.

      But alas! it was too soon found out. He was a young man of about seventeen years of age, and did not belong to the boat, but went in the place of the midship oarsman, who was sick at the time. The whale fell directly over him, and probably killed him in a moment.

      With what feelings we pulled around and around the spot where the boat was stoven, unwilling to believe even after we knew there was no hope, that our shipmate was gone, never more to return! How silently we glided alongside of the ship, and hoisted in our other poor ship-mate now lamed for life.

      "Ah, that some of those people who look upon sailors as little better than brutes, and who know little or nothing of the kind feelings and strong affections that are hid under their rough outside, could have seen what I saw on board that ship. Even their hearts would melt; and they would find it not always the polished and educated, the smoothe faced and handsome man, that has the warmest heart, or the most generous feelings."

FORTY YEARS.

      Oh, Starbuck! it is a mild mild wind and a mild looking sky. On such a day – very much such sweetness as this – I struck my first whale – a boy-harpooner of eighteen! Forty – forty – forty years ago! – ago! Forty years of continual whaling, forty years of privation, and peril and storm time! forty years on the pitiless sea! for forty years has Ahab forsaken the peaceful land, for forty years to make war on the horrors of the deep! Aye, and yes, Starbuck, out of those forty years I have not spent three ashore. When I think of this life I have led; the desolation of solitude it has been; the masoned walled-town of a Captain's exclusiveness, which admits but small entrance to any sympathy from the green country without – oh weariness! heaviness! Guinea coast slavery of solitary command! – When I think of all this; only half suspected, not so keenly known to me before – and how for forty years I have fed upon dry salted fare – fit emblem of the dry nourishment of my soul! when the poorest landsman has had fresh fruit to his daily hand, and broken the world's fresh bread to my mouldy crusts – away whole oceans away, from that young girl-wife I wedded past fifty, and sailed for Cape Horn next day, leaving but one dent in my marriage pillow, wife? wife? – rather a widow with her husband alive! Aye, I widdowed that poor girl when I married her, Starbuck; and then, the madness, the frenzy, the boiling blood and the smoking brow, with which, for a thousand lowerings old Ahab has furiously, foamingly chased his prey – more a demon than a man! what a forty years' fool – fool – old fool, has Ahab been! why this strife of chase? Why weary, and palsy the arm at the oar, and the iron and the lance? how the richer or better is Ahab now? Behold oh, Starbuck is it not hard, that with this weary load I bear, one poor leg should have been snatched from under me? Here, brush this old hair aside; it blinds me that I seem to weep. Locks so grey did never grow but from out some ashes But do I look very old, so very, very old, Starbuck! I feel deadly faint, bowed, and humped, as though I were Adam, staggering beneath the piled centuries since Paradise.

      "Oh, my Captain! my Captain! noble soul! grand old heart, after all! why should any one give chase to that hated fish! Away with me! let us fly these deadly waters! let us home! Wife and child, too, are Starbuck's – wife and child of his brotherly, sisterly, play-fellow youth; even as thine, sir, are the wife and child of thy loving, longing, paternal old age! Away! let us away! – this instant let me alter the course! How cheerily, how hilariously, O, my captain, would we bowl on our way to see Nantucket again! I think sir, they have some such mild blue days, even as this, in Nantucket."

      "They have, they have, I have seen them – some summer day in the morning. About this time – yes, it is his noon nap now – my boy vivaciously wakes; sits up in bed, and his mother tells him of me, cannibal old me; how I am abroad upon the deep, but will yet come back to dance him again."

      "Tis my Mary, my Mary herself! She promised that my boy, every morning, should be carried to to the hill to catch the first glimpse of his father's sail! Yes, yes! no more! it is done! we head for Nantucket! Come my captain, study out the course, and let us away! See, see! the boy's face from the window! the boy's hand on the hill!"

      But Ahab's glance was averted, like a blighted fruit-tree he shook, and cast his last, cindered apple to the soil.

THE KILLER WHALE.

      The Killer is the wolf of the ocean and hunts in packs, and their dorsal fin can be constantly seen above the water. This fish has always as a companion, but swimming deeper, the sword fish, and now and then can be seen the shark. On sighting their prey, which the killer sees at a great distance, the pack gives chase; the unconscious whale is slowly moving near the surface, and occasionally spouting, as it were in sport, jets of water above him. But now he suddenly sees the "sea-wolf" near him. Instinct at once teaches him that on the surface he cannot be safe, and taking in a long breath, he flukes; that is, dives. But there has been another enemy watching him from the depth below, the "swordfish," which now darts at him with the velocity of lightning and perforates the whale beneath with his long and spear-like nose.

      This sends him at once to the surface: here he again meets with his enemy, the "killer;" but as yet they are afraid to approach him. The whale now begins to see the extent of his danger, and for time merely lashes the water with his ponderous fluke. He soon tires of this, and remains for a short time at rest; the pack now approach him, and he seeks safety in flight. But what can he do? The poor whale has a lump on his back and steers unsteadily, while the killers tall and stiff fin steadies him on his course. Nearer and nearer approaches the pack to to their victim; again he takes a long breath and dives. The sword-fish has steadily kept him in view; he too has a tall fin and long slender propelling tail; and while it is an effort to the whale to increase his speed, it is but play to the sword-fish, which again darts and perforates his prey, and sends the wounded whale again to the surface. The race again commences, but this time with diminished speed, the killers having separated to watch the rise of the whale, who, finding his enemies in every direction, courses in a circle, and again makes a third, and sometimes a fourth, attempt to escape by diving, but is always met by the terrible spike of the sword fish. He at last, weak, exhausted and dispirited, returns to the surface, where he again attempts escape by flight, streams of blood

mark his course; his enemies still follow steadily after him, until he stops and begins to lash and make the ocean foam around him; but now large streams of his life-blood are pouring out, and he is only increasing his weakness by the exertion, and merely lashing amidst his own gore. Tired, exhausted and faint, he rolls over. The deep red streaks of blood flowing from large orifices in his white belly can now be distinctly seen. The hungry pack now close, and one more bold than the rest seizes him near the throat and tears away the white skin and fat; he opens his mouth and bellows with pain. This is generally the signal for a combined attack. His tongue is seized and torn from his mouth; so are his eyes. The sword-fish now rises to the surface, and his tall spear-like protuberance is seen projecting over the body of the whale: the sharks also close in and feed on the fat rejected by the killers. In this state the whale makes a few dying struggles. The feast now commences and continues until the fat and sufficient flesh is stripped off to cause the carcass to become too heavy to float on the surface and sinks: The shark is left to enjoy his few streaks of fat, while the killer pack, accompanied by their companions the sword-fish, rove again the broad ocean to seek another leviathan of the deep.

THE LAST WHALE.

      There she blows! was shouted by the look-out at the mast head; and, sure enough, there was a large shoal of whales just discernible about half a point to the leeward of our course, enjoying the fine weather by lazily rolling about in the troughs of the sea. "Now," said the skipper, "now for the last pull, and then for our sweethearts and wives!"

      A few moments only elapsed before we were in full pursuit, but the whales got the scent of us and put away to the windward. Cheering on the boys as we dashed over the water, we soon came near two large sperm whales. It was — "Spring, boys, spring, dear fellows, spring, spring, I tell you! a few strokes more and the prize is ours, a good eighty barrels. Think of the yellow shiners, lads, and bend your backs!" Such were my cries as we neared the monster, and the critical moment arrived. "Stand up, Tony, my boy, and let him have it." My words were scarcely uttered before the first harpoon was hurled with unerring uncertainty, and quick as thought a second iron was sped upon its deadly mission. "Stern all!" was now the order, and with a will the boys obeyed it. The stricken whale gave a convulsive flounce, rolled himself half over, breached his enormous body high in the air, madly lashed his flukes upon the foaming sea, then down he went, carrying the smoking tow-line out of the vessel with startling velocity. No less rapid in his movements was the unhurt whale, for with that strange sympathy known to exist among the species, he appeared to share the agonizing pangs of his companion, by giving a wild spasmodic start; then, perceiving his unknown enemy, as if impelled by a desire for vengeance, he settled down a few fathoms beneath the surface of the sea, and then came rushing up madly at the boat, evidently intending to drive it to atoms by his monstrous head.

      With great difficulty we managed to evade the blow, and the whale breached out of the water a few feet from our bows. Finding he had missed his object, the enraged animal turned upon us with redoubled fury; rolling upon his side, and striking his huge jaws terrifically together, he rushed at us with open mouth.

      "Stern all! stern all, men, for your lives!" I shouted, as the monster came

down upon us. The boat, as if anticipating its own danger, glided rapidly astern, and thus once more just escaped the impending peril; but our danger was by no means over, for maddened and furious beyond measure at finding his attempts to seize us unavailing, the monster resolved on a different and more dangerous mode of attack. Rolling himself over toward the boat's head, he raised his body many feet above the water. J. at once comprehended the threatened visitation, and shrieked to the men, "Into the water, for God's sake! into the water!" Ere the command could be obeyed, the whale's enormous flukes was thrown up from the boiling sea, flashing above the whole forward part of the boat. With rapidity they passed away, when to! as if by a miracle, they descended with a deafening sound upon the water, leaving the boat, apparently unharmed, dancing and heaving upon the whitened waves.

      These scenes, so imperfectly conveyed to the mind by any description, occupied but a moment of time. We had cut the line attached to the wounded whale before the last terrific charge of its companion; it would have been madness to have held out longer, and all breathed freely that the danger of destruction was passed. Casting about our eyes, a universal exclamation arose – "My God! where's Tony I" He was at his place in the last charge of the whale; no one knew more. The horrid mystery was soon solved. Just at the boat's head was a wide, gaping opening, almost as round and clearly cut as if made by a saw, the bloody edges of which too painfully revealed the dreadful fate of the unhappy harpooner. He had beeen stricken down and torn through the side of the boat at the moment those fearful flukes, were flourishing over us; and such was the incalculable force of the blow that the surrounding timbers were unsprung. We had killed, for that voyage, our last whale, and lost a man.

OUR FIRST RIGHT WHALE CHASE.

      "That's a right whale," said the captain, who had ascended the mizzen shrouds to watch the movements of the boats. "Give him a dart. Don't stave your boat."

      The boat was close upon him in an instant. Hitherto he seemed unconscious of the noise and confusion around him, or of his proximity to the ship. As the words were echoed back from the boats, and the splash of the oars, as she backed away, fell upon his ears, he seemed to be a little alarmed, he turned flukes, going lazily downward in a diagonal direction. Antone, the boat steerer, let fly his iron, but the distance was too great, and it took no effect.

      "Oh, the devil!" shouted the captain, in a tone of disappointment, "I'd have given five dollars for that chance. You ain't worth your salt, you two-pence head."

      While Antone was hauling in the iron, and grumbling at his bad luck, the whale took a little circuit. He was visible at a great depth through the transparent water. The man at the masthead continually indicated his position, being enabled to see him at the distance of fifteen or twenty fathoms. He rose at length within a few feet of the waist, and commenced blowing.

      "Pull ahead! pull all! now's your time!" cried the mate.

      "Pull all!" was echoed back by the crew, and the boat was within dart of him in three or four strokes. Antone was so eager to make up for his first failure, that he overshot the mark this time. The iron slightly pricked the whale. Plunging down again, the huge creature milled round the stern. The boat followed close in his wake, but his evolutions were so sudden that it was

difficult to get within dart of him. In about ten minutes he rose directly under the jibboom. Antone stood ready with his iron. Watching his opportunity he darted as soon as the boat's bow came across the head. A tremendous hollow roar, like that of an infuriated bull, issued from the wounded monster. The blood spouted in torrents from his wound. Dashing the water with his flukes, he plunged down, covering the boat's crew with clouds of blood and spray.

      "You've killed him; that whale's a fool!" cried the captain.

      "He's dead! he's dead!" shouted Antone, greatly excited; "I've fixed him."

      "Dead be d——d! Clear your line," thundered the mate. "Hold fast now; pull two oars; back three; pull all now. Mind what you are about there, Mack; d'ye want to get stove? Take a reef in your eyes, and keep 'em aft here."

      The moment the line was made fast, the boat dashed right under our stern with fearful velocity. The whale sheered off barely in time to avoid dashing the boat to atoms against the lee quarter. As he rose within a few fathoms of the ship, he uttered another frightful roar, and the blood streamed from him in torrents, discoloring the water entirely around the vessel, so that she actually appeared to float in a gory sea. It was evident, however, that no vital part had yet been touched. The mate now sprang to the bow of the boat, shouting "Pull, my lads, pull!" Before the crew could stop her headway, the whale had rose about six feet out of the water, within half a dart of the boat. Shooting out his lance, the mate gave him a gentle prick on the nose; and dashing down with a hollow groan, the goaded monster made straight for the ship, towing the boat, with incredible swiftness, toward the weather beam. For a moment I thought nothing could save her. Her bow was not more than six feet from the vessel, when the whale suddenly milled, and thus saved her, and perhaps the lives of some of the crew.

      "Stand by to lower the starboard boat," cried the captain. "I'llhave that whale; I'll see whether he can be killed or not; I'll not lose a good chance. He won't have a fool to deal with, if I get within dart of him. Stand by all. Man the tackles and lower away."

      In a moment more, and the starboard boat was in hot pursuit. Bill Mann and I were left to take care of the ship this time, a circumstance which I did not regret, as the sun was pouring down with a burning intensity. I went to the mast head that I might enjoy a better view of the chase. It was now truly exciting. We hoisted a signal for the waist-boat, then about three miles from the scene of action. The mate's boat ploughed the water at the rate of ten knots an hour, and increased in speed as pain gave fresh impulse to the whale. In about an hour the three boats were in a line, running to the leeward at a brisk rate. The larboard boat was head and-head the whale at his next rising, and the waist boat rapidly bearing down upon him in an opposite direction. Ere the lances of either could be made use of, he rolled over in his agony, and parted the iron of the fast boat with a furious struggle. He then sounded, leaving the three boats in a whirlpool of blood and foam. When next seen, he was spouting blood a mile off, but it was so late in the evening that the captain gave up the chase and ordered the boats to return. Thus ended our first right whale chase.

FROM ETCHINGS OF A WHALING CRUISE.

CUTTING IN.

      When the whale has been towed alongside by a boat, it is firmly secured by a large rope attached to the 'small' by a running noose. There is not a little ingenuity in the manner in which the fluke rope is first passed under the body of the whale. A small line, to which a lead is fastened, with a block of wood at the extremity, several fathoms from the lead, is thrown over between the whale and the ship's side. From the impetus given to the lead, it sinks in a diagonal direction, drawing the block down after it. One end of the lead line is fastened to the end of the fluke rope on board, and the block attached to the other rises at the off side of the whale. It is then hauled on board by means of a wire hook fastened to a long pole, and, in hauling it in, the fluke rope passes round under the body of the whale, till the end arrives on board, when it is passed through the loop in the other extremity, and thus a running noose is formed, which is easily slipped down to the small. The fluke rope is then made fast on the forecastle, and the flukes are hauled up to the bow, or as near as they will reach, leaving the head pointed aft. Of course, the size of the vessel and the length of the whale make a great difference; but in general the head reaches to the quarter. To prevent concussion, the whale is always on the weather side. The progress of the vessel, which is usually under easy sail during the time of cutting in, keeps the whale from drifting out at right angles from the side; though, in most cases, the head is kept in its appropriate position by a small rope made fast aft.

      The cutting tackle is attached to a powerful strap, or pendant, passing round the mast in the main-top by two large blocks. There are, in fact, two tackles, the falls of which pass round the windlass. To each of these tackles is attached a large blubber hook, which, upon being made fast to the blubber, are hauled up by the windlass, one only being in operation at a time, so that when the first strip of blubber, or "blanket piece," reaches the stationary block on the pendant, the other can be made fast by a strap and bolt of wood to a hole cut below the point at which that blanket piece is to be cut off. I have endeavored to give some idea of this part of the process in the frontispiece accompanying the work. The blanket pieces are stripped off in a spiral direction, running down toward the flukes; the whale turning, at every heave of the windlass, till the whole covering of blubber is stripped off to the flukes, which are hoisted on board, and those parts containing oil cut away, and the remainder thrown overboard. The head having, in the first place, been cut off and secured to the stern, is now hauled up, with the nose down, if too large to be taken on board, and hoisted as far out of the water as may be found convenient, and the oil or liquid spermaceti bailed out with a vessel attached to a long pale, and thus taken in and saved. As there is no little risk attending this mode of getting the spermaceti, and a great deal of waste, the head is always taken on board, when not too large or heavy.

      The "case," which is the name given by whalers to the head, sometimes contains from ten to fifteen barrels of oil and spermaceti. A single "blanket piece" not unfrequently weighs a ton or upward. In hauling it up by the tackles, it careens the vessel over frequently to an an angle of fifteen or twenty degrees, owing to its own great weight, combined with that of the whale, the upper surface of which it raises several feet out of the water. When the blanket

piece has reached the stationary place in the top, it is cut off by a boat-steerer, who stands by with a boarding knife, having first, however, been secured below by the other blubber hook, which is hauled taut, to prevent it from breaking by too sudden a jerk. The upper piece then swings in, and, when it ceases its pendulating motion, is dropped down into the hold or blubber-room, where it is cut up in blocks of a foot and a half or two feet in length, and eight or ten inches in width. These blocks are called "horse pieces." The white, hard blocks, containing but little oil, and which are found near the small, and at the flukes, are called "white horse." The carcass of the whale, when stripped of its blubber, is cast loose, and soon sinks from the want of its buoyant covering. I have seen it float astern, however, some distance without sinking.

      Breakfast over, all hands were called to cut in. Six or eight men were stationed at the windlass, two in the blubber-room, and the boat-steerers in the waist. The first and second mates took their station on a couple of stages or platforms rigged out at the gangway, each provided with a spade. One of the boat-steerers, whose turn it was to fasten the blubber hook, went down over the side on the whale's back, and, after several unsuccessful attempts, and rather an uncomfortable ducking, performed his task. While yet on the whale's back, a large, hungry looking shark, which had been eyeing him for some time very anxiously, was washed up behind him by a heavy sea, and apparently loath to lose so good an opportunity of making a meal, began to make his way along the slimy surface till within a foot or two of the boat-steerer's heels. The officers happened at the moment to be looking up at the pendant block, and in all probability the man would have been seriously injured, if not carried off bodily, but for the timely alarm of one of the crew. The mate immediately turned to see what was the matter, and perceiving the critical position of the boat-steerer, brought his spade to bear upon the shark, and at a single dart chopped off his tail. Strange to say, the greedy monster did not appear to be particularly concerned about this indignity, but, sliding back into his native element, very leisurely swam off, to the great apparent amusement of his comrades, who pursued him with every variety of gyrations. It surprised me to see with what cool indifference the boat-steerer witnessed the whole transaction. I do not remember that he said a word about it.

      The various duties being apportioned to the men without favor or choice, it fell to my lot to sit on the weather-side of the quarter deck and turn the grindstone, a tiresome and monotonous task. The cooper attended to the sharpening of the spades, boarding-knives, and other implements need in "cutting in." I am not sure that I had the hardest of the work to do, but it certainly was the most unpleasant. for I could not prevail upon any of the hands to change places with me, even for a brief period. My appearance at this time would have been somewhat striking to some of my friends in Washington. With my duck frock all black with whale-gurry, my trousers torn and smeared with rough work, my red Scotch cap half way over my eyes, and my face oily and sunburned, I certainly looked as little like my original self as one can well imagine. There I turned that grindstone, and turned on hour after hour, and turned the palm of my right hand into a great blister, and turned the palm of my left into another; turned both my arms into a personified pain; turned every remnant of romance out of my head; turned and turned till my grand tour seemed to have turned into a grindstone; round and round I turned that stone till I began to think I was a piece of the handle, and turned with it; and my head appeared to turn, and my feet to turn, and the game-legged cooper to turn, and the ship to turn, and the sea, and the whale, and the sharks, and the clouds. and all creation seemed to he turning with myself and that grindstone! Having at last contrived to get a sufficient number of spades sharpened ahead of he mates, I

peeped over the quarter rail to see how they were getting on. The sharks had by this time gathered around the vessel in immense numbers, and eight or ten were fighting just under the quarter for a piece of the whale's carcass which had been cut away. Watching my opportunity, I snatched up a spade, slipped it over while the captain was forward, and began a terrible onslaught among the sharks. With five or six thrusts I killed four of the greedy monsters, by striking them on the back of the head, and cutting the principal artery. This was quite a refreshing little episode in my business of turning; and my success, in the destruction of sharks-induced me to believe that I had a greater natural turn for sport than the monotonous turning of a grindstone. But my amusement was of short duration. The eagle eye of the captain espied me before I could get in the long pole of the spade. ,

      "Ha! what are you at there?" cried his highness directly behind me, at the very moment when I supposed he was on the forecastle giving orders to the men. "What are you at, hey?"

      "Keeping off the sharks, sir."

      "Who told you to keep 'em off?"

      "Nobody, sir."

      "Haul in that spade directly."

      "Ay, ay, sir."

      "And, look'ee, if I catch you keepin' off any more sharks, I'll wipe you down with a rope's end!"

      "Ay, ay, sir."

      "Cooper, hain't you got no work for this fellow!"

      "Not just now, sir."

      "Go to the windlass, then, and rest yourself on a handspike!"

      "Ay, ay, sir."

      I had reason to consider my shark killing a poor speculation. The heaving and surging at the windlass was but a questionable improvement upon my old business of turning the grindstone. At the word, "Heave away!" somebody struck up an extemporaneous song, which, to the best of my recollection, had no particular claims to poetical merit, but ran somewhat thus:

      At the conclusion of this medley, the captain, who had seated himself in the starboard quarter boat to inspect the cutting, began to criticise the mate's style of cutting rather severely. Now the mate, be it known, was really a very skillful whaleman, and handled the spade with an unerring hand. The "old man's" comments, thus lowering him in the eyes of the crew, by no means pleased him.

      "I say, Mr. ——," persisted the captain, "that's not the way to cut-in a wnale: I don't want no such work as that about me."

      "It's my way, sir," replied the mate, getting very red in the face

      "Well, I never see a whale out that way. I ain't used to it; I won't have it."

      "You haven't seen everything yet, sir. I've always cut whales this way, and always mean to do it."

      "No you won't; not here you won't. You can just cut as I tell you."

      "I reckon I know my` own business, Captain A——. Now, sir, I'm not a going to be dictated to in this manner If you think you can cut a hole in a whale better than I can, you'd better take my place."

      After some more angry words, during which both the captain and mate became much excited, and threatened to whip each other, the quarrel ceased, and the "old man" went below in high dudgeon.

      This was all "nuts" for me. I was rejoiced to see somebody among the privileged few talk up to him as he deserved. Indeed, I was itching to express my own personal opinion on the subject, but had no particular fancy for the mode of "wiping down" hinted at a short time previously.

      Cutting in, trying out, and clearing up the decks, occupied us for the next six days. We had an average of five hours' sleep out of the twenty-four. Working incessantly in oil, which penetrated to the skin and kept us in a most uncomfortable condition, besides being continually saturated with salt water, produced a very disagreeable effect upon those who were not accustomed to such things, by chafing the skin, and causing painful tumors to break out over the whole body. Before I had half finished my share of the labor, I heartily wished myself in the meanest dog-kennel ashore, or, to borrow an old Idea, I should have considered myself in an enviable situation had some enemy been kicking me down Pennsylvania Avenue. Tabor, the oldest whaleman on board, who laughed at hardships, and took all the disagreeable parts of his duty with the utmost good humor, frequently joked me on my "grand tour to Europe."

      "What do you think of whaling now, B——? Is it equal to travelling in Italy?"

      "I think not, Tabor."

      "Tain't writin short hand neither, is it? I think you'd as lief be in Washington, with them thar big members of Congress, as blubber-hunting. Cutting figures with the pen ain't cutting blubber, by a considerable sight, is it?"

      I freely acknowledged that, of the two sorts of cutting, I preferred cutting figures with the pen; at which Tabor laughed most heartily, assuring me that "it was nothing when I'd get used to it. By'm-by I'd see what whaling was. This wasn't a circumstance. I'd smell smoke yet. I'd begin to find out what some folks was at while others was riding about in chaises.

NORTHERN SEAS.

      The first discoverer of the Northern seas detailed strange stories of these singular regions; and "scientific works," published within the period of seventy years, give grave accounts of the merman, mermaid, great sea serpent, and the kraken. This latter named fish, supposed to be of the polypus species, was described as the most surprizing in the world. When the Norwegian fishermen suddenly discovered the waters underneath them growing shallow, they said the kraken was rising from the depths below, whereupon they would run away with great expedition. Presently, the fishermen asserted, the animal would come to the surface, displaying a number of humps that resembled small islands, covered with sea-weeds, and abounding with a great variety of fish, which would leap about and then roll back into the sea. At length a great number of pellucid

attenae would rise up, as large and high as the masts of moderately sized ships, and by tne means of these instruments the creature moved and gathered his food. After he had remained a little time on the surface, he disappeared with a motion that would cause great swells and whirlpools in the water. "In all probability," suggests the historian, the many 'floating islands' described by early navigators were no other than the back of this huge monster.

      The "merman" attracted immense attention because so frequently met with: it was evidently what is now known as the seal. Even at this day this curious animal, while sporting in groups upon the surface of the sea, is so suggestive of human beings that a superstitous feeling comes over the novice as to the propriety of wantonly taking their lives. How these harmless ereatures looked to the fishermen one hundred and twenty-five years ago is faithfully given in the following affidavit, sollemnly sworn to before one Cornelius Van Gram. Said fisherman declared that, in the month of July, in calm weather, between Haveen and Saedland, they approached in their boat, something that floated on the surface like a dead body, which lay without motion until they were within seven or eight fathoms of it, when it sunk instantaniously, but arose again in the same place. There he remained near a quarter of an hour staring at them. Being terrified at the sight of this monster, they began to row away.

      He then blew up his cheeks, uttered a kind of muttering roar, and dived under the water. He appeared like an old man, with broad shoulders, and small head covered with short black hair. His eyes were hollow, his face meagre and weather-beaten. One of the party concluded by further affirming that he had seen a mermaid twenty years before; and the historian who records these things and published them "by the King's authority," adds The marmich or marmate belongs to the same class, and is, perhaps the young of this species. It is often caught by the fishermen of Norway, some no larger than infants a year old, some larger than children of three years.

      No chapter of human suffering is more painful to read than that resulting from the cold peculiar to the regions inhabited by the Greenland whale. The icebergs which are constantly floating about often crnsh ships to pieces, or inclose them in a solid barrier of granite, leaving their human inmates to perish by the most terrible of deaths. Some of these disasters have been attended by peculiar circumstances. In 1825, the Active was so completely beset with ice in Exeter Sound, that the crew felt obliged to abandon her, and take passage home in other ships. Next year a vessel was sent out to ascertain her fate, and, to the astonishment of the crew, the abandoned ship was found upon the beach, near where she was last seen, perfectly uninjured, and, with her cargoe, was brought home in safety. The ship Resolute, sent out by the British government, to seek Sir John Franklin, became imbeded in a field of ice in Wellington Sound, and was finally abandoned by Captain Belcher, her commander. Nearly two years afterward (October, 1855) the ship was found, fourteen hundred miles from where she was deserted, in almost perfect order, and was brought safely to New London by Captain Buddington, an enterprising whaleman, hailing from that port. These incidents would seem to confirm the truth of the following strange narrative: In 1775 Captain Warrens, master of a Greenland whale-ship, found himself becalmed amongst an immense number of icebergs. At midnight the wind rose to a gale, and in the morning he discovered that he was completely surrounded, save in one place, where the accumulated ice presented a narrow opening as far as the eye could discern. Two miles beyond the entrance of this canal, about noon, a ship suddenly made its appearance. The sun partly dissipated the fogs, and showed a single mast, remarkable for the manner in which its sails were disposed, and the dismantled aspect of the yards and rigging. The vessel continued to move before the wind, until she grounded upon some low

icebergs, and remained motionless. Captain Warren's curiosity was so much excited that he immediately leaped into his boat, with several other seamen, and rowed towards her.

      On approaching, it was observed that the ship's hull was miserably weather beaten, and not a soul appeared upon the snow-covered deck. Hailing the crew several times, and receiving no answer, Captain Warrens peered into an open port-hole, near the main chains, and perceived a man reclining back in a chair with writing materials before him, but the feebleness of the light made everything indistinct. The captain and his party proceeded on deck, removed the hatchway, which was closed, and entered the cabin. The first apartment examined was the one seen through the port-hole, and it sent a thrill of horror through all who witnessed it. Its inmate was found to be a corpse; a green, damp mould covered the cheeks and eyebrows and veiled the eye-balls; a pen still remained in its hand, and in the log-book, open upon the table, was this unfinished sentence: "November 11, 1762. We have now been enclosed in the ice seventeen days. The fire went out yesterday, and our master has been trying ever since to kindle it again, but without success. His wife died this morning; there is no relief."

      Captain Warrens and his seamen hurried from the spot, and pressed forward without uttering a word. Upon entering the principal cabin, the first object that attracted their attention was the dead body of a female reclining on a bed in an attitude of deep interest and attention. Her countenance retained the freshness of life, and a contraction of the limbs alone showed that her form was inanimate. Seated on the floor was the corpse of a young man holding a steel in one hand and a flint in the other. In the fore part of the vessel several sailors were found lying dead in their births, and the body of a boy was crouched at the bottom of the gangway stairs. Neither provisions nor fuel could be discovered anywhere; but Captain Warrens was prevented by the superstitious prejudices of the seamen from examining the vessel as minutely as he wished to have done. He therefore carried away the log-book already mentioned, and returning to his own ship immediately steered to the southwest, deeply inspired with the awful example, which he had just witnessed of the danger of Navigating the polar seas.

FOOD OF THE SPERM WHALE.

      "It is well known to whalers that the favorite and appropriate food of the sperm whale is a gelatinous medusa; which, however, has not as yet received from naturalists much attention. It may, however, be advanced as certain that this molluscous animal most abounds in the higher latitudes of both hemispheres, which would therefore seem to be the places in which it is produced, and to which its habits are best adapted.^* During our cruise in the higher southern latitudes, we saw vast numbers of these medusae, around and near the icebergs. The quantity was such as to prove conclusively that it was in the waters of the temperature caused by the vicinity of these masses of ice that they delight to dwell. Whales were also in abundance, and although principally of the fin-back species, sperm whales were not entirely wanting.

      "As regards the medusa, its powers of locomotion are feeble, and confined chiefly to the purpose of rising and sinking at pleasure. If polar currents exist

it must, therefore, be swept by them from the place of its nativity, and in its passage to lower latitudes will, by its locomotive power, seek strata in the water of the low temperature to which its constitution is best adapted. My attention was drawn to the habits of the whales here in particular, from the novel manner they exhibited of feeding near the surface, instead of diving lower down, as they are usually seen to do in the lower latitudes: they were constantly in sight, instead of being only seen at intervals.

      "It will be readily admitted that the medusa, like other animals, has its appropriate seasons of procreation, and it will appear probable that the season at which we saw them in such numbers was that in which they are brought forth most abundantly. So, also, however low the temperature of the water in which they delight, there is little probability that their increase goes forward when the regions in which we met them are locked up in ice, and the genial light and warmth of the sun is denied them.

      "The food of the sperm whale will, therefore, be borne off to lower latitudes by the polar streams in greater abundance at one season than another, and this former season corresponds with that in which these currents have their greatest force. The sperm whale, it must be expected, will leave the higher latitudes, and follow the currents which transport his food.

      "In conformity with this view, we find the habits of the sperm whale migratory. The polar currents, as has been seen, disappear from the surface in many cases, but do not cease to flow; and even when felt both at the surface and below, they will in approaching lower latitudes, have their higher temperatures near the surface. The medusae will, therefore, descend in either case to greater depths, and the whale must dive in quest of the food which, in higher latitudes, he could find at the surface. We have seen in what a decided manner the polar currents become or continue superficial at the southern promontories of the continents. A similar cause, operating to a less extent, raises them, if submarine, when they are interruped or impeded by islands, and spreads water of low temperature over the surface. Here, then, at the proper season. the food of the whale will be not only accessible, but more abundant within a given space, in consequence of the check the velocity of the stream must experience.

      "So, also, in the zones of calms, we have seen that the matter borne by the polar currents in all probability finds a resting place; and here, also, at fit seasons, the food of the whale must be abundant. Points possessing either of these characteristics I have distinguished, as before stated, by the name of nuclei.

      "However satisfactory this theory may be in explaining the causes of the migratory habits of the sperm whale, it is obvious that we do not know enough of the natural history of his favorite food, nor of the rate and course of all the submarine polar currents, to enable us to predict with certainty the seasons?l-which he will be found in particular parts of the ocean. This cab be learned by observation alone, and long experience has taught those who are skillful in the whale?shery the position of the favorite haunts of their prey, and the times at which they are most likely to be met with there. Comparing these points and the nuclei of the currents, as observed and explained in the preceding pages, the coincidence will strike every one who will examine the subject; and when all the facts necessary to illustrate this subject shall be ascertained, theory may serve: in some degree, to shorten the apprenticeship which is now necessary in order to acquire game in this adventurous employment; the object, therefore, of the residne of this chapter will be devoted to whaling, and to point out the results which our own observations, with the information devived from others, has afforded.”

      Booklet prepared for Williams' Panorama of a South Sea Whaling Voyage -- a theatrical show with a moving panorama which toured in New England, New York, and Philadelphia in the early 1860s. Begins with a Moby Dick 'Extracts' section. Otherwise an anthology of texts taken from the whaling literature available in 1860 — Melville, Browne, Beale, Olmstead, Hart, Macy, etc.

Edward C. Williams.
      Life in the South Seas: History of the Whale Fisheries, Habits of the Whale, Perils of the Chase and Method of Capture: Startling Incidents, Graphic Deleniations, Thrilling Scenes in the Life of the American Whaleman, Compiled from Various Writers and the Author's Personal Experience of the scenes described.
New York: Polhemus & De Vries, 1860.

  Notes  Source  Whalesite