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Incidents of a Whaling Voyage, around Cape Horn in the ship
Ploughboy
Phelon, Master,
1849.

[By an Educated Member of the Crew
from New Bedford, Mass.]

In the Jaws of a Whale.

      In the following entry from the unsigned journal the unnamed witness to the whale chase and its aftermath writes of the death of the mate's boat-steerer and the incredible capture of the mate in the whale's jaw before he was let loose. This is the incident that was the subject of the 1954 booklet In A Sperm Whale's Jaws: An Episode in the Life of Captain Albert Wood, ed. by George C. Wood. J. J. Lankes (illus.) Hanover, NH: Friends of the Dartmouth Library.

      The author of this journal was seventeen years old when the voyage began and celebrated his eighteenth on board. He was a friend of and about the same age as Henry Phelon, Jr., son of the captain, and the source for the journal entries used in the Wood booklet noted above.

      The paragraph divisions in the text below have been added by the transcriber for clarity.


"Wednesday March 14th. [1849] — It is now almost a month since I have added any to my journal — it is not however altogether my fault for during the past month I have been quite unwell and unable to write.

"I now take the first opportunity to relate what has taken place during that time.

"On the 2d inst we gammed with the ship Messenger — she was 19 months out and only 550 barrels of sperm oil — she had seen several ships, & all appeared to be doing well — the next day we spoke the Catawba of Nantucket 10 months out 300 barrels.

"On sunday the 4th inst sperm whales were raised from mast head at about 9 1/2 o'clock there were some to leeward and some to windward — the 2d and 3d mates were ordered to lower and pull to windward while the 1st and 4th mates went to leeward.

"We pulled to windward like good fellows and got pretty handy to the whales but finding it of no use to chase them we gave up the chase and returned on board at about 1 o'clock. We had been on board ship but a few minutes, when the Captain sang out that one boat was fast and ordered us to lower away the boats and pull down to the whale as soon as possible; we lowered set our sails and pulled off.

"We were but a short distance off when the 3d mate cried out that the boat was capsized. We kept on pulling but by the time we got down there the men were picked up and the 4th mate sang out to us to fasten to the whale our boat — then pulled up to the whale and the boatsteerer gave him two irons — a short time we [killed] the whale.

"The ship then ran down to us and took the whale alongside.

"After we got aboard a sad story was told us. The mate's boatsteerer was killed and the mate himself almost eaten up by the whale who held him in his jaws for a considerable time. The mate still lives but is in a dangerous state. The next day we cut in the whale, made sail and shaped our course for Otaheite one of the Society Islands, where we intend to leave the mate. The whale made us about 80 barrels. We are now 9 months out. March 14, Latitude 12° 20' — longitude 121 west.


      On April 1, 1849, Mr. Wood was left at Tahiti. About a month later he was once again on board the Ploughboy which later that year was destroyed on a shoal in the Bay of Guayaquil near Tumbez, Peru.


Deadly Accident when after Black Fish.

      This dramatic event happend about six weeks before the previous encounter with the 80-barrell whale. Again, the paragraphs have been added by the transcriber.


"Friday Jany 26th — I have latly been very negligent about writing up my journal, not having added any to it since the 7th inst. but I now am resolved not to allow myself to be so again, and I therefore resume the writing of it daily, and will endeavour to be more at tentive that heretofore. Many things have occurred since I last had this pleasure, but not having taken note of them, it may be difficult for me to record them all. I will however do my best. From the 1st inst. to the 7th we were as I have already said been very busy breaking out in the holds; a few days after this blackfish were raised from masthead and they being quite numerous and pretty handy, we put the lines in the boats and lowered for them. The boat I belonged to soon got fast to a large fish, and upon the fish sounding we found that the line was foul, the fish did not however sound deep enough to haul out the snarl, and the irons having drawn we lost the fish.

"We hauled in the line and coiled it upin the stern sheets, without however clearing the snarl; in a few moments after we got fast to a still larger one, he sounded quite deep and took a good deal line so thatwhen the snarl came to the chocs it got jammed and the fish pulling at the same time the boat was capsized and we found ourselves floating on the waters and the fish all around us. I immediately swam for our boat and was soon safely lodged on top of it; the rest of the crew followed the example and were soon in a comparatively safe position. The third mate had his arm almost cut off with a lance, and so could scarcely swim. He reached the boat and held on with one arm, until the mate came and picked us up. We were soon on board the ship and so ended our first black fishing excursion. Two days after this occurraance we laid snugly anchored in the fine bay of Santa, about 3 miles distant from the little town of the same name.


Freak accident kills Captain Cornell of the Lancaster.

      A gam betwee the Ploughboy and the Lafayette, of New Bedford bring the news that the Captain of the Lancaster, a sister ship of the Ploughboy, was killed by a crew member falling from aloft.


"Tuesday 30th Jany — Today is a pleasant as any one can wish for, the wind moderate and refreshing. We today spoke the ship Lafayette of New Bedford and gammed with her all the afternoon. She is thirteen months and a half out, and has but 350 bbls of sperm oil and 15 bbls blackfish oil; she saw whales 18 times during that period, and would have had much more oil, if the boat steerers had done their duty. Last week they saw whales four days and in large numbers, they saved two small ones out of perhaps a thousand.

"From the Captain of this ship we heard of the death of Captn Cornell of the Lancaster belonging to the same owners as our own ship. He was killed by a man falling on him from the mizzen topsail yard, while lying off and on one of the Cape Verd Islands.


Notes.
  • "In the Jaws of a Whale." is from pages 47-48 of the journal.
  • "Deadly Accident when after Black Fish." is from pages 42-43 of the journal.
  • "Freak accident kills Captain Cornell of the Lancaster." is from page 45 of the journal.

The Ploughboy sailed from New Bedford, June 16, 1848; it was lost November 10, 1849, having currented onto the Payana Shoals, near Tumbes, Peru.

From loose notes by a third party (Paul C. Nicholson or previous owner?) in the back of the journal:

"Written by an educated boy between his 17th and 18th Birthday — sent to Sea for some misdeed to which he refers several times. This journal covers a period of months June 16th, 1848 to March 14th 1849 when the first Sperm Whale was taken and rendered 80 bbls. oil — at a cost of one man killed and a mate almost chewed to death in the jaws of the whale. The writer evidently gave up any further writing of this Journal thru lack of time & for other reasons as the contexts would indicate. Mentions numerous other whalers met by the Ploughboy and happenings on board. A most interesting Journal."

"Learned of death of Capt. Cornell of the Lancaster belonging to same owners as the Ploughboy — killed by a man falling on him from the mizzen topsailyard. Feb. 19 writes he was taken down with the fever and ague."

"Got first Sperm Whale in lat. 4° 30' South, long. 104° West — (80 Bbls. Oil) but one boat capsized, one boat-steerer was killed and one of the mates almost eaten up by Whale which held him in his jaws a considerable time — 9 months out."

"(Third Mate) almost had his arm cut off by Lance when boat capsized in try to catch some Black fish."

Source.
Incidents of a Whaling Voyage, around Cape Horn in the ship Ploughboy, Phelon, Master, 1849.
or
Journal of the Ploughboy (Ship) out of New Bedford, MA, mastered by Henry Phelon, Jr., on a whaling voyage between 1848 and 1849.

This transcription was made from the journal of "the educated member of the crew" which is available at the Internet Archive. The journal is in the Nicholson Whaling Collection at the Providence Public Library.

Last updated by Tom Tyler, Denver, CO, USA, Aug 24, 2023

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