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THE 


WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 


••  •  I  iiri •(•  '-lit    hl<«\\  x  !      1  iici  r  --he  hlo\\  s  ! 

Man  \niir  boat>'.  tor  in'thing  -t;iy  '. 
Such  a  pri/.r  \\c>  must  not  '. 

I  ay  {«  MMIV  «ai^  '     A\vay  1  away  !" 


THE 

WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES 

IN  THE  SOUTHERN  OCEAN; 


AS  GATHERED,  BY  THE  REV.  HENRY  T.  CHEEVER,  ON  THE 
HOMEWARD  CRUISE  OF  THE  "  COMMODORE  PREBLE." 


EDITED   BY 


THE  REV,  W.  SCORESBY,  D.D.,  F.R.S., 

MEMBER   OF  THE   INSTITUTE   OF  FRANCE, 

OF   THE  AMERICAN   INSTITUTE   OF  PHILADELPHIA,    AUTHOR  OF   THE 
ACCOUNT  OF  THE  ARCTIC   REGIONS,   ETC. 


"  Oh !  the  rare  old  whale,  'mid  storm  and  gale, 

In  his  ocean  home  will  be 
A  giant  in  might,  where  might  is  right, 

And  king  of  the  boundless  sea." 


LONDON : 
SAMPSON  LOW,  169,  FLEET  STREET, 

AND 

DAVID  BOGUE,  86,  FLEET  STREET. 


LONDON  I 

HENRY  VIZETELLY,   PRINTER   AND  ENGRAVER, 
QOUOH   8QVARE,    FLEET  STREET. 


Bancroft  Library 


THE  following  pages  comprise,  in  substance,  the 
private  notes  of  a  pious  and  observant  American 
clergyman,  whilst  embarked,  on  account  of  his  health, 
on  a  whaling  voyage  to  the  South  Seas  and  Pacific 
Ocean.  Whilst  the  original  work  was  in  progress, 
a  copy  came  into  the  hands  of  the  present  publishers, 
who,  considering  the  matter  of  it  to  be  novel  and 
interesting,  as  well  as  calculated  for  conveying  use- 
ful moral  impressions,  applied  to  the  Editor  in  re- 
spect to  his  approval  of  it,  with  a  view  to  his  super- 
intendence of  an  edition  for  the  British  public. 

Finding,  on  undertaking  this  task — which  the 
sound  and  excellent  character  and  lively  spirit  of  the 
work  inclined  him  to  do — that  revision  and  altera- 
tion would  be  necessary  to  adapt  it  for  the  class  of 
readers  designed;  application  was  made  to  the 
Author  (the  Rev.  Henry  T.  Cheever)  for  the  requi- 
site permission,  which  was  so  fully  and  frankly 
conceded,  as  to  leave  the  discretion  and  taste  of  the 
Editor  quite  unfettered. 

Of  this  kind  confidence  he  has  freely  availed 
himself  wherever  he  has  deemed  alteration  or  cor- 


VI 

rection  needful.  And  thus,  so  far  as  pertains  to  the 
natural  history  of  the  "  right  whale,"  or  mysticetus, 
or  to  the  usual  practices  of  the  northern  whale  fish- 
ery, or  to  the  general  character  of  the  Arctic  re- 
gions, he  has  made  himself,  in  a  considerable  de- 
gree, responsible.  But  in  respect  to  the  natural 
history  of  the  sperm  whale,  with  the  modes,  adven- 
tures, dangers,  and  conflicts  of  the  southern  whale 
fishery,  he  has  not  ventured  on  any  essential  altera- 
tions ;  for  what  the  Author  states  respecting  what 
he  himself  saw,  or  what,  from  credible  information, 
he  received  as  facts,  the  statements  given  will,  no 
doubt,  carry  that  favourable  impression  to  the  minds 
of  the  readers  which  a  credible,  conscientious,  and 
intelligent  witness  has  a  right  to  expect. 

In  respect  to  certain  surprising  incidents  herein 
recorded,  the  Editor  has  not  felt  himself  authorized 
to  offer  either  opinion  or  comment ;  first,  because  in- 
cidents are  not  unfrequent  in  the  whaler's  hazardous 
pursuits  so  special  as  to  be  deemed  almost  marvellous 
in  comparison  of  the  occurrences  of  ordinary  sea- 
faring adventures ;  and,  secondly,  because  he  him- 
self, being  in  possession  of  no  more  information  than 
the  reader,  could  merely  offer,  at  the  best,  an  un- 
certain judgment.  The  terrible  combats,  for  ex- 
ample, described  in  Chapter  VII.,  betwixt  the  whale 


vii 

and  its  various  enemies,  are  thus  inserted  without 
observation,  the  Editor  having  no  knowledge  per- 
sonally of  these  conflicts  ;  not,  indeed,  that  his  own 
negative  experience  can  guide  in  forming  a  judg- 
ment thereon,  further  than  in  indicating  the  pro- 
bable fact,  that  such  combats  are  vastly  less  frequent 
in  the  Arctic  regions,  if  they  occur  there  at  all,  than 
in  the  regions  traversed  by  the  southern  and  north- 
western whalers. 

Whilst  the  Editor  has  taken  much  liberty  with 
the  construction  of  the  work,  and  occasionally  with 
its  phraseology,  he  has  been  careful  not  to  interfere 
with  the  free,  frank  style,  and  lively  spirit,  of  the 
Author,  either  in  the  descriptions  of  what  he  per- 
sonally witnessed,  or  in  his  interesting  reflections 
on  the  circumstances  with  which  he  was  sur- 
rounded. 

These  explanations  having  been  given — both  in 
justice  to  the  confiding  Author,  and  for  the  guidance 
of  the  public  as  to  the  real  integrity  of  this  London 
edition  of  his  work — it  only  remains  to  the  Editor 
to  commend  this  publication  as  embodying,  he  be- 
lieves, a  considerable  quantity  of  novel  incident  and 
curious  information,  which  can  hardly  fail  to  inter- 
est the  youthful,  and,  he  hopes,  the  general  reader  ; 
and  as  having  interwoven,  (to  adopt  a  hope  expressed 


by  the  Author,  when  addressing  his  own  country- 
men in  America,)  "  moral  hints  and  lessons, 
which  may  catch  the  eye  and  touch  the  heart 
of  the  casual  reader,  like  sober  threads  of  green 
in  tapestry  of  gold." 

THE  EDITOR. 

TORQUAY,  Nov.  IBth,  1850, 


CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  I. 

INTRODUCTION. 

Tho  Whale  Fishery— Early  History— Dutch  Fishing  Settle- 
ment at  Smeerenburg — The  Rise  of  the  New  England 
Whale  Fishery :  its  temporary  suspension  and  rapid  recov- 
ery— The  American  Whaling  Fleet — -Statistics  of  the 
Trade — Sources  of  information  respecting  Cruising  Grounds 
— The  Author's  intention  in  the  present  Work  .  1 

CHAPTER  II. 

CORAL  ISLAND  OF  RIMATARA. 

The  Commodore  Prehle  at  Rimatara — An  Invitation  to  the 
Author — He  goes  on  Shore — Bimatara  Beauties — King 
Temaeva — His  House  and  Chapel — A  Rimataran  Feast — 
The  King  visits  the  Ship — Contrast  between  the  Chris- 
tianized and  Heathen  Islanders  of  the  South  Seas — Treach- 
ery of  the  latter — Reception  of  a  Wrecked  Crew  by  Chris- 
tian Islanders — An  Islander's  Argument  for  the  Bible  14 

CHAPTER  III. 

CAPTURING  AND  CUTTING-IN  OF  A  WHALE. 

"  There  she  blows !" — The  Boats  start  in  pursuit — Capturing 
of  a  Whale— The  process  of  Cutting-in— A  flock  of  Alba- 


X  CONTENTS. 

trosses — Other   Sea-birds — Trying-out — The  Whaleman's 
delight — Magnitude  of  the  "Whale  ....        34 

CHAPTER  IV. 

NEW  ZEALAND   CRUISING   GROUND. 

The  Whale':  its  habits  and  resorts — Points  of  difference  be- 
tween the  " Right"  and  "Sperm"  Whales — Food  of  the 
Whale — Arctic  Animalcules— Anatomy  of  the  Whale — 
Physiology  of  the  Whale — Loss  of  Whales  by  sinking — 
The  Cause  assigned  for  it — An  unsuccessful  Attempt  to 
Float  Dead  Whales— Reflections  on  Suicides  .  .  45 

CHAPTER  V. 
THE  WHALE'S  PHYSIOLOGY  AND  NATURAL  HISTORY, 

The  Whale's  Physiology — Natural  History — Trying-out — 
Discovery  of  a  Whale — "  Give  way  my  lads" — The  Chase — 
The  fast  harpoon — The  Capture— Towing  a  dead  Whale  62 

CHAPTER  VI. 

DIFFERENT    CRUISING   GROUNDS    AND    NORTH-WEST 
WHALING. 

Different  cruising  grounds — Variety  of  Whales — Gambols  of 
the  Fin-back — Various  resorts  of  the  Whale — A  veteran 
Whaler — Boat  destroyed — History  of  North-west  Whaling 
— Yearly  destruction  of  Whales — Diminution  of  Whales  76 

CHAPTER  VII. 
THE  WHALE'S  BIOGRAPHY,  AND  INCIDENTS  IN  THE 

CAPTURE. 

Account  of  Whales — Care  for  their  young — Sperm  Whale 
feeding — Sperm  Whale  dying — Ambergris — Deformities  of 


CONTENTS.  XI 

Whales— Size  of  Whale's  Calf— Natural  enemies  of  the 
"NVhale— Fight  with  a  Killer— Sword-fish  and  Thrasher — 
Sea  Serpent  and  Whale — Opinion  of  an  old  Sailor — Sab- 
bath desecration 89 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

ATLANTIC  OCEAN   MAMMOTHS  AND   MONSTERS. 

Cape  Horn — A  shoal  of  Sperm  Whales — Our  first  Atlantic 
Whale — Capture  of  a  Whale's  Calf — Dimensions  of  a 
Whale's  Calf — A  Sun-fish — Varieties  of  fortune — Our  Cap- 
tain's hazard  —Sperm  Whale  lost — Concord  of  Whales  106 

CHAPTER  IX. 

EPISODES  IN   THE  FORTUNES  OF  WHALEMEN. 

Gam  of  Whales — Grounding  on  a  Whale's  back — Captaiu 
overboard — His  narrow  escape — The  Captain's  story — 
Accidents  by  boat-lines — Dangerous  progress — Fruitless 
perils— Whaler's  Journal — Fatal  result— The  Heart  under 
the  Pea-jacket 115 

CHAPTER  X. 

CONQUEST  AND   DISPOSAL  OF  A  SPERM  WHALE. 

Large  Spermaceti  captured — Description  of  Sperm  Whale — 
Cutting-in  -Spermaceti— Sharks— Tenacity  of  Life  of 
Sharks— Sperm  Candle  Manufactories— New  England 
Enterprise — Hopeful  future  .  .  .  .  132 

CHAPTER  XI. 

AUTHENTIC  TRAGEDIES  AND  PERILS  OF  THE  WHALING 
SERVICE. 

A  moving  incident —Whale  harpooned — Boats  dragged  far 
a.vuy—  Boats  out  of  sight— A  man  overboard — Seaman  lost 


Xll  CONTENTS. 

— Search  for  missing  boats — Joy  out  of  Despair — Story  of 
Captain  "Warrens — The  Ancient  Mariner       .         .         143 

CHAPTER  XII. 

YARNS  FROM  THE   EXPERIENCE   OF  OLD  WHALEMEN. 

Whaling  Sailors'  Yarns — Dead  Whale — Competition  for  dead 
Whale— Successful  Stratagem — Recovery  of  sunk  Whales — 
Chase  hy  rival  Whalemen — John  Bull  and  Brother  Jona- 
than— Romance  of  rival  Whaling — Dashing  exploit  of  a 
Yankee 161 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

PECULIAR  VOCABULARY  AND  HAZARDS   OF  WHALEMEN. 

Leisure  Occupations — Mode  of  stowing  away  our  gigantic 
Game — Matter  for  the  Dictionary — Material  for  Illustra- 
tion— Treatise  on  Gamming — Appalling  Forms  of  Danger 
— Fatal  Incident— Reflections  .  .  .  .  181 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

REMARKABLE   EVENTS   IN  THE   ANNALS  OF  WHALING. 

Remarkable  Events — Whaling  of  the  "Royal  Bounty" — Loss 
of  the  Essex  by  a  Whale — Ships  destroyed  by  Whales — 
Other  Incidents — Fearful  Enterprise — Incidents  of  Whaling 
— Dangers  of  the  Fishery 196 

CHAPTER  XV. 

CLAIMS   AND   ADVANTAGES     OF   THE   SABBATH   IN    A 
WHALE   SHIP. 

Sabbath  for  a  Whale  Ship— Whale  Ship  Sabbath-breaking— 
Pretexts  for — Pretexts  answered — False  Pleas  refuted — 
Inconsistent  Profession— Experience  of  a  Pious  Sailor — 


CONTENTS.  Xlll 

Testimony  as  to  the  Sabbath— A  Word  to  the  Sabbath 
Keeper 22 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

A   PLEA  IN   BEHALF   OF  THE   SABBATH  FOB  WHALEMEN. 

Plea  for  Whalemen's  Sabbath— Eeligion  and  Sabbath  Whaling 
— Responsibilities  of  Sabbath  Whaling — New  England 
Sabbath — Scoresby*s  experience — Sabbath-keeping  Whaler 
— Providential  Testimonies — Rational  Conclusions — Hopes 
of  Good  Times  for  Seamen 237 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

N EARING   HOME,   AND   ANALOGIES  FROM  THE   SEA. 

Hopes  and  Fears  on  nearing  Home — Dangers  of  the  Coast — 
Religious  Exercises  and  Fruits — Spiritual  Lessons  .  267 

CHAPTER.  XVIII. 

KNITTING   OF   THE    LESSONS   OF  THE  VOYAGE 
AT   ITS    CLOSE. 

Lessons  and  Reflections — Spiritual  Illustrations — News  of 
Sorrow — Birthdays  of  Eternity  .  .  .  .  277 


ILLUSTRATIVE  NOTES pp.  293-304 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


I.    THE  LOOK  OUT—  \     ^  ^ 

"  There  she  blows !  there  she  blows !"  / 

PAGE 

II.    THE  CHASE          ......        73 

III.  VIEW  OF  A  WHALE  SHIP— CUTTING  IN  or  A  ) 

WHALE ) 

IV.  A  RIGHT  WHALE  TURNING  A  BOAT  OVER   ) 

f  go 

WITH  HIS  NOSE  j 

V.    A  WHALE-BOAT  CRUSHED  BY  A  WHALE         .       128 

VI.    A  POLAR  RIGHT  WHALE  ON  THE  ICE     .         .       152 

VII.    RIVAL  WHALING 173 

VIII.    BOAT  AND  MEN  THROWN  INTO  A  WHALE'S    i 

MOUTH j      20S 


THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 


CHAPTEE    I. 

INTRODUCTION. 

"  The  mighty  whale  doth  in  those  harbors  lye, 
Whose  oyle  the  careful  merchant  dear  will  buy." 

Old  English  Poem. 

he  Whale  Fishery— Early  History— Dutch  Fishing  Settle- 
ment at  Smeerenburg — The  rise  of  the  New  England 
Whale  Fishery :  its  temporary  suspension  and  rapid  reco- 
very— The  American  Whaling  Fleet — Statistics  of  the 
Trade — Sources  of  information  respecting  Cruising  Grounds 
— The  Author's  intention  in  the  present  Work. 

FKOM  very  early  times  it  is  probable  that 
North-west  Indians,  Esquimaux,  and  Nor- 
wegians were  in  the  habit  of  capturing  whales 
in  their  rude  way,  in  order  to  supply  themselves 
with  fat  and  food.  There  is  a  curious  tradition 
extant  of  one  Ochter,  a  Norwegian,  who,  as 
long  ago  as  King  Alfred's  time,  "  was  one  of 
six  that  had  killed  sixty  whales  in  two  days, 

B 


THE    WHALE    FISHERY. 

of  which  some  were  forty- eight,  some  fifty 
yards  long."*  But  the  Biscayans  are  believed 
to  have  been  the  first  people  who  prosecuted 
the  whale  fishery  as  a  commercial  pursuit,  so 
far  back  as  the  twelfth  century.  In  the  north 
of  Europe,  and  all  around  the  Bay  of  Biscay, 
whale's  tongues  were  among  the  table  delica- 
cies of  the  middle  ages. 

When  this  branch  of  industry  failed  with 
them,  by  reason  of  whales  ceasing  to  visit  the 
Bay  of  Biscay,  the  English  and  Dutch,  taught 
by  the  Biscayans,  "  who  were  best  experienced 
in  that  facultie  of  whale -striking/'  took  it  up  in 
the  Northern  Seas,  where  the  gigantic  game 
was  then  everywhere  found  in  vast  numbers  by 
navigators  in  search  of  a  northern  passage  to 
the  Indies.  By  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth 

*  The  record  of  this  exploit,  though  literally  derived  from 
ancient  documents,  is  of  much  uncertainty  because  of  its  im- 
probability. The  fact,  however,  is  shown  in  Scoresby's  Arctic 
Regions  (vol.  ii.,  p.  10)  as  not  unlikely  to  have  occurred  in 
respect  to  a  species  of  Delphinus,  so  frequently  driven  on 
shore  and  captured  by  the  inhabitants  of  Orkney,  Shetland, 
and  Iceland  in  the  present  day.  In  the  work  referred  to,  the 
early  history  of  the  whale-fishery  is  given  at  considerable 
extent. — ED. 


EARLY   HISTORY. 


century  the  Dutch  had  built  the  considerable 
village  of  Smeerenburg,  on  the  Isle  of  Amster- 
dam, along  the  northern  shore  of  Spitzbergen, 
within  little  more  than  ten  degrees  of  the  North 
Pole,  where  the  unbroken  night  lasts  for  four 
months  in  the  winter,  and  perpetual  day  as 
long  in  summer.  This  was  the  great  rendez- 
vous of  Dutch  whale-ships,  and  it  being  their 
practice  to  boil  the  blubber  on  shore,  it  was 
amply  provided  with  boilers,  tanks,  and  all  the 
apparatus  then  used  for  preparing  the  oil  and 
whalebone. 

This  fishing  colony  of  the  frozen  zone,  an 
incidental  fruit  of  those  daring  adventures  after 
a  north-east  or  transpolar  route  to  India,  was 
founded  nearly  at  the  same  time  with  Batavia 
in  the  East,  and  it  was  for  a  considerable  time 
doubtful  which  of  the  two  would  be  most  impor- 
tant to  the  mother  country.  When  in  its  most 
flourishing  state,  near  1680,  the  Dutch  whale 
fishery  employed  two  hundred  and  sixty  shij>< 
and  fourteen  thousand  seamen.  This  singular 
village  and  Bay  of  Smeerenburg,  where  tli 
were  seen  at  one  time  by  the  Dutch  navigator 

B  2 


4  NEW   ENGLAND   WHALE    FISHERY. 

Zorgdrager  no  less  than  one  hundred  and  eighty- 
eight  vessels,  afford,  perhaps,  the  most  remark- 
able instance  on  record  of  what  commerce  can 
do  against  unyielding  laws  of  Nature,  and  over 
obstructions  which  it  would  seem  impossible  to 
surmount.  But  how  soon  does  Nature,  if  ever 
temporarily  displaced,  resume  her  sway.  Now 
that  the  whales  have  long  since  deserted  those 
parts,  even  the  site  of  the  old  Arctic  colony  is 
hardly  discernible,  and  even  the  English  branch 
of  the  Greenland  whale  fishery,  of  late  years 
the  principal  and  most  prosperous,  has  become 
quite  insignificant,  indeed  all  but  extinct. 

The  first  person  that  is  recorded  to  have 
killed  a  whale  among  the  people  of  New  Eng- 
land was  one  William  Hamilton,  somewhere 
between  1660  and  1670.  In  the  town  records 
of  Nan  tucket  there  is  a  copy  of  an  agreement 
entered  into  in  the  year  1672,  between  one 
James  Lopar  and  the  settlers  there,  "  to  carry 
on  a  design  of  whale  fishing."  But  whether 
the  first  proper  whaling  harpoon  used  in  Ame- 
rica was  wrought  there  or  on  Cape  Cod  cannot 
be  ascertained.  From  this  time  onward,  when- 


EARLY   HISTORY. 


ever  whales  were  descried  in  the  bay  or  offing 
from  the  rude  "  look-outs"  constructed  along 
shore,  notice  was  instantly  spread,  and  they 
were  attacked  by  boats  then  manned  mostly  by 
.e  Indians,  who  early  evinced  an  aptitude  and 
fondness  for  this  business.  Shore- whaling 
seems  to  have  reached  its  height  by  172G, 
during  which  year  eighty- six  whales  were  taken, 
eleven  in  one  day.  It  was  continued  with 
declining  success  up  to  1760,  and  for  seventy 
years  preceding  that  date  not  a  single  white 
man  is  known  to  have  lost  his  life  in  the 
hazardous  pursuit. 

As  early  as  1700,  they  began  to  fit  out  ves- 
sels from  Cape  Cod  and  Nantucket  to  "  whale 
out  in  the  deep  for  sperm  whales."  These 
gradually  crept  alcmg,  emboldened  by  expe- 
rience, north  to  the  Labradors  and  south  to 
the  Bahamas,  where  New  Providence  became 
famous  as  a  whale  fishing  station,  through  the 
skill  and  daring  of  New  England  enterprise, 
while,  as  Burke  said,  "  but  in  the  gristle,  and 
not  yet  hardened  into  the  bone  of  manhood." 
By  the  year  1771,  New  England,  through 


6  THE    WHALE    FISHERY. 

her  adventurous  whale  fishery,  both  in  the 
North  and  South  Atlantic  Oceans,  began  to 
command  the  admiration  of  the  world,  and 
was  eulogized  by  the  highest  eloquence  of  the 
British  Parliament.  From  the  year  1771  to 
1775,  Massachusetts  alone  employed  in  it,  an- 
nually, three  hundred  and  four  vessels,  of  an 
aggregate  burden  of  twenty-seven'  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  forty- six  tons.  The  quan- 
tity of  oil  brought  into  Nantucket  yearly,  at 
the  time  of  the  breaking  out  of  the  Eevolu- 
tionary  war,  was  thirty  thousand  barrels, 

Stimulated  by  their  success,  both  France 
and  Great  Britain  now  entered  anew  into  this 
lucrative  enterprise  ;  Louis  XVI.  himself  fitting 
out  six  ships  from  Dunkirk  on  his  own  account, 
in  1784,  which  were  furnished  with  experienced 
harpooners  and  able  seamen  from  Nantucket. 
In  1790,  France  had  about  forty  ships  em- 
ployed in  the  fishery,  but  the  wars  consequent 
upon  the  French  Revolution  at  once  swept 
them  all  off,  and  the  whaling  fleet  of  Holland 
also;  as  did  the  War  for  Independence  likewise 
suspend  this  lucrative  branch  of  the  commerce 


GENERAL   HISTORY.  7 

of  New  England.  By  reason  of  it,  no  less 
than  one  hundred  and  fifty  of  her  vessels  were 
either  captured  or  lost  at  sea,  and  great  num- 
bers of  her  seamen  perished. 

In  1788  Great  Britain  had  the  honour  of 
opening  the  Pacific  to  the  sperm  whale  fishery, 
through  the  Amelia,  Captain  Shields,  fitted  out 
at  vast  expense  by  Mr.  Enderby,  of  London. 
Her  unprecedented  success  started  numbers  on 
her  track  both  from  New  England  and  the  Old 
Country ;  and  by  1820  the  whole  South  Pacific 
and  Indian  Oceans  were  traversed  by  intrepid 
whalemen.  In  the  seas  of  China  too,  and  on 
the  coasts  of  Japan,  they  were  adventuring  on 
the  same  enterprise,  and  striking  the  harpoon 
into  those  mammoth  denizens  of  the  deep. 

Prostrated,  however,  by  the  Revolutionary 
war,  the  New  England  branch  of  the  whale 
fishery  had  hardly  recovered  its  former  pros- 
perity, when  the  last  war  with  Great  Britain, 
from  1812  to  1815,  again  broke  it  up.  But 
upon  the  restoration  of  peace  its  recovery  was 
rapid;  so  that,  by  1821,  there  were  owned  in 
Nantucket  alone  (which  had  lost  during  the 


8  NEW   ENGLAND    WHALE   FISHERY. 

war  twenty-seven  ships),  seventy-eight  whale 
ships,  and  six  whaling  brigs.  In  1844,  the 
entire  American  whaling  fleet  amounted  to  six 
hundred  and  fifty  ships,  barks,  brigs,  and 
schooners,  tonnaging  two  hundred  thousand 
tons ;  and  they  were  manned  by  seventeen 
thousand  five  hundred  officers  and  seamen. 
At  the  same  time,  the  English  whale  fishery, 
which  in  1821  employed  one  hundred  and 
fifty- nine  ships,  was  reduced  to  about  one -half. 
But  the  New  Holland  branch  of  the  English 
whale  fishery  was  rapidly  growing — the  proxi- 
mity of  those  whaling  ports  of  Australia  to 
some  of  the  most  productive  cruising  grounds 
enabling  the  ships  fitted  out  there  to  perform 
three  voyages  while  the  English  and  Americans 
are  performing  two.  The  number  of  whale 
ships  from  French,  German,  and  Danish  ports, 
at  the  same  time,  was  between  sixty  and  seventy. 
The  estimated  annual  consumption  of  the 
American  whaling  fleet  was  $3,845,500.  Va- 
lue of  the  annual  import  of  oil  and  whalebone 
in  a  crude  state  $7,000,000,  increased  by  manu- 
facturing to  $9,000,000.  The  number  of 


PROGRESS   AND    STATISTICS.  9 

vessels  in  the  American  whale  fishery,  the  last 
year,  1849,  as  gathered  from  the  "Whaleman's 
Shipping  List,"  was  estimated  at  six  hundred 
and  ten,  or  one  hundred  and  ninety-six  thou- 
sand one  hundred  and  thirteen  tons,  nearly  one- 
tenth  of  the  navigation  of  the  Union.  Eeceipts 
of  sperm  oil  in  the  year  1848,  one  hundred 
and  seven  thousand  nine  hundred  and  seventy- 
six  barrels,  at  an  import  value  of  $3,455,232. 
Keceipts  of  "  right-whale"  oil  in  the  same  time, 
two  hundred  and  eighty  thousand  six  hundred 
and  fifty- six  barrels,  at  an  import  value  of 
$3,429,494.  Whalebone,  two  million  three 
thousand  six  hundred  pounds,  worth  $508,762. 
Crude  value  of  the  whale  fishery  in  1848, 
$7,393,488. 

The  average  yearly  quantity  of  sperm  oil 
taken  for  the  last  nine  years,  has  been  one  hun- 
dred and  forty- two  thousand  two  hundred  and 
forty- two  barrels ;  of  right- whale  oil,  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty-five  thousand  four  hundred  and 
fifty- six  barrels ;  of  whale-bone,  two  million 
three  hundred  and  twenty-four  thousand  five 
hundred  and  seventy-eight  pounds.  Average 


10  NEW   ENGLAND   WHALE    FISHERY. 

yearly  value  for  nine  years,  $8,098,360.  There 
was  a  falling  off  in  1848,  from  the  previous 
year,  of  thirteen  thousand  barrels  of  sperm, 
thirty- three  thousand  barrels  of  right- whale,  and 
one  million  pounds  of  bone.  Nineteen  years 
ago  it  was  estimated,  by  taking  into  account  all 
the  investments  connected  with  the  American 
whale  fishery,  that  property  to  the  amount  of 
$70,000,000  was  involved  in  it,  and  that 
seventy  thousand  persons  derived  from  it  their 
chief  subsistence  ;  a  valuation  which  should  be 
much  augmented  rather  than  diminished  at  the 
present  time. 

The  New  Bedford  district  now  supplies  to 
the  whale  fishery  one  hundred  and  two  thou- 
sand three  hundred  and  five  tons  of  shipping. 
All  other  ports,  including  sixty- six  ships,  or 
twenty- three  thousand  tons  from  Nan  tucket, 
give  ninety- three  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
eight,  in  all  one  hundred  and  ninety- six  thou- 
sand one  hundred  and  thirteen  tons.  The 
exports  of  oil  to  foreign  ports  in  1848,  from 
New  Bedford,  were  seventeen  thousand  and 
ninety- three  barrels. 


SOURCES    OF   INFORMATION.  11 

To  those  who  are  in  quest  of  definite 
information  concerning  the  various  cruising 
grounds,  and  the  times  of  finding  whales  there, 
the  closing  chapter  of  the  Annals  of  the  United 
States'  Exploring  Squadron  is  the  most  satis- 
factory of  any  thing  to  be  found.  It  should  be 
printed  in  pamphlet  form,  and  kept  in  the 
chart-box  of  every  whaler.  Other  interesting 
matter,  of  a  miscellaneous  character,  pertaining 
to  the  southern  whale  fishery,  is  to  be  found  in 
the  appendix  to  a  work  of  J.  E.  Browne,  called 
"Etchings  of  a  Whaling  Cruise,"  and  in  a 
volume  entitled  "  Incidents  of  a  Whaling  Voy- 
age," by  F.  A.  Olmsted.  As  to  the  Northern, 
or  Greenland  Whale  Fishery,  Scoresby's  History, 
in  vol.  ii.  of  his  account  of  the  Arctic  regions, 
stands  alone. 

Without  superseding  or  conflicting  with  any 
of  these  instructive  or  entertaining  books,  the 
course  pursued  in  the  present  volume  is  an  in- 
dependent one,  whereby  it  is  aimed  to  finish 
tin1  complement  of  whaling  literature,  and 
supply  what  was  wanting,  in  order  to  put  the 
r<  Deling  public  in  possession  of  a  full  length 


12  NEW   ENGLAND   WHALE    FISHERY. 

portraiture  of  the  whaleman  as  seen  in  the 
actual  pursuit  and  garb  of  his  perilous  occu- 
pation. Personal  narrative  and  incident,  other 
than  what  bears  directly  upon  this,  are  there- 
fore omitted,  together  with  those  minute  de- 
scriptions of  whaling  implements,  outfits,  modes, 
customs,  and  sea  usages  to  be  found  elsewhere. 
Neither  does  it  enter  into  our  purpose  to 
portray  a  sailor's  life  and  manners  in  the  fore- 
castle or  before  the  mast,  below  or  aloft,  for 
this  is  a  department  of  marine  literature  in 
which  books  are  so  numerous,  both  in  the  form 
of  the  novel  and  the  sea  journal,  that  little 
remains  to  be  told.  In  adventures,  however, 
almost  every  whaleman's  voyage  is  an  original, 
certainly  so  to  himself.  We  begin,  therefore, 
at  once,  with  the  peculiar  lights  and  shadows 
of  a  homeward  cruise  in  the  Pacific  and  Atlan- 
tic, from  the  Sandwich  Islands  to  Boston,  in 
the  good  ship  Commodore  Preble,  Captain 
Lafayette  Ludlow. 

In  a  voyage  of  two  hundred  and  thirty- six 
days  there  will  always  be  lights  and  shadows, 
good  and  evil,  pleasures  and  displeasures,  inter- 


THE  AUTHOR'S  EXPERIENCE.     is 

locking  one  another.  To  the  author  the  com- 
forts of  this  long  voyage  far  exceeded  its 
discomforts,  by  the  constant  blessing  of  Provi- 
dence, making  it  eminently  conducive  to  the 
recovery  of  health,  and  through  the  personal 
kindness  of  a  skilful  captain  and  esteemed 
friend.  Would  that  every  wanderer  in  quest 
of  health  could  be  cheerfully  returning  home- 
ward under  circumstances  as  favourable ! 

"  Now,  little  book,  with  prosperous  tide  and  gale, 
I'll  pledge  thee  to  a  voyage  round  the  world. 
Buoyant  and  bounding  like  the  polar  whale, 
That  takes  his  pastime,  every  joyful  sail 
Here  to  the  freedom  of  the  wind  unfurl, 
While  right  and  left  the  parted  surges  curl !' 


14          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 
CHAPTEK    II. 

CORAL    ISLAND    OF   R1MATARA. 

"  Happy  they  were,  and  without  a  care, 
Who  had  made  their  home  for  ever  there  ; 
Happy  they  were,  and  calm  and  free, 

Living  upon  their  island-home, 
Whose  heach  was  girt  with  a  silvery  sea, 

That  sprinkled  it  ever  with  starry  foam. 
Their  life  was  a  moving  melody, 
Their  season  a  long  serenity." 

Story. 

The  Commodore  Preble  at  Rimatara — An  Invitation  to  the 
Author — He  goes  on  Shore — Rimatara  Beauties — King 
Temaeva — His  House  and  Chapel — A  Rimataran  Feast — 
The  King  visits  the  Ship — Contrast  between  the  Chris- 
tianized and  Heathen  Islanders  of  the  South  Seas — Treach- 
ery of  the  latter — Reception  of  a  Wrecked  Crew  by  Chris- 
tian Islanders — An  Islander's  Argument  for  the  Bible. 

THE  first  view  we  have  of  the  Commodore 
Preble  is  as  she  is  lying  off  and  on  the 
lone  island  of  Kimatara,  in  quest  of  the  fresh 
supplies  which  whalemen  covet  in  order  to 
keep  at  bay  the  scurvy.  This  is  one  of  those 
fascinating  South  Sea  Islands,  which,  on  their 
first  discovery  by  Europeans  in  the  latter  part 
of  the  last  century,  quite  turned  the  heads  of 


RIM  A  TAR  A.  15 

many,  and  at  once  started  so  much  speculative 
nonsense  and  sentimentality  about  primeval  in- 
nocence and  bliss  embosomed  in  the  Pacific. 

"  A  coral  rock,  by  gentle  Nature  made 
Verdant  and  beautiful,  through  tropic  sun, 

And  fertilizing  rain,  and  grateful  shade  ; 
Placed  far  amid  the  melancholy  main." 

It  is  about  seven  miles  long,  one  and  a  half 
or  two  wide,  and  lies  in  152°  west  longitude, 
and  22°  45'  south  latitude  ;  about  five  hundred 
miles  southwest  from  Tahiti.  It  is  properly, 
perhaps,  one  of  the  Society  Island  group,  being 
a  mere  pile  of  corallite  and  wave-washed  coral 
sand.  We  came  in  sight  of  it  in  the  after- 
noon, a  blue  hummock  on  the  bosom  of  the 

ocean,  and  ran  on  till  we  discovered,  to  our 

• 
great  delight,  what  could  not  be  mistaken  for 

a  meeting  house  and  a  white  flag  flying  on 
a  post  near  by,  to  indicate  the  friendliness  of 
the  natives,  and  induce  us  to  stop  for  trade. 

The  sea  broke  so  high  upon  the  northeast 
and  southwest  points  of  the  island,  and,  indeed, 
;ill  along  shore,  that  our  captain  did  not  deem 
it  prudent  to  attempt  landing  that  night.  We 


16          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

therefore  stood  off  until  twelve  o'clock,  mid- 
night, and  then  tacking,  were  up  with  it  again 
by  ten  o'clock  next  morning,  on  the  leeward 
side. 

The  island  presented  a  beautiful  appear- 
ance, being  thickly  wooded  to  the  water's  edge, 
and  elevated  in  some  parts  into  gentle  hills, 
crowned  with  all  the  various  and  luxuriant 
growth  of  the  tropics.  Canoes  soon  launched 
out  through  the  boisterous  surf,  and  came  along- 
side of  us,  having  two  or  three  lads  and  men  in 
each,  much  fairer- skinned  and  better  looking 
than  the  majority  of  Hawaiians. 

The  captain's  boat  anchored  off  the  reef, 
while  the  natives  brought  their  articles  of  trade 
in  their  pigmy  canoes.  By  four  in  the  after- 
noon he  had  procured  a  boat-load  of  pigs  and 
cocoa-nuts,  with  which  returning  to  the  ship, 
we  stood  off  again  until  next  morning,  when  the 
captain  gave  orders  for  two  boats. 

One  of  our  sailors  by  the  name  of  Johnson, 
who  had  lived  on  Tahiti,  and  could  talk  a  little 
in  their  tongue,  had  told  the  natives  the  day 
before  that  there  was  on  board  a  missionary,  or 


RIMATARA.  17 

a  missionary's  friend,  from  Hawaii,  and  there 
I  accordingly  sent  off  through  him,  on  a  slip 
of  paper,  very  legibly  written  by  the  native 
teacher,  a  Kimatara  letter,  of  which  the  follow- 
ing is  a  literal  translation : 

"  Dear  Friend  and  Father, — 

"  May  you  be  saved  by  the  true  God.  This 
is  our  communication  to  you.  Come  thou 
hither  upon  the  shore,  that  we  may  see  you 
in  respect  to  all  the  words  of  God  which  are 
right  with  you.  It  is  our  desire  that  you  come 
to-day. 

"  From  Teutino  and  his  brethren." 

Eager  to  know  something  more  of  a  people 
from  whom  came  so  cordial  an  aloha,  and 

"  My  very  heart  athirst 
To  look  on  Nature  in  her  robe  of  green," 

I  made  ready  to  go  ashore.  The  breakers  were 
not  formidable  enough,  though  beating  with 
fearful  violence,  to  make  me  forego  the  novelty 
of  setting  foot  on  a  coral  South  Pacific  island, 
and  the  pleasure  of  a  stroll  among  the  trees 
:  seven  weeks  at  sea.  Taking,  therefore, 

c 


is          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

a  life-preserver,  I  ventured  into  one  of  the  little 
canoes  that  came  alongside  the  boat,  and  was 
paddled  and  handed  by  a  narrow  cleft,  through 
roaring  breakers  and  ragged  rocks  that  threat- 
ened instant  destruction,  among  which  a  com- 
mon boat  could  hardly  live  a  moment.  Those 
frail  canoes,  however,  only  nine  and  eleven  feet 
long,  carried  safely  through,  one  by  one,  all  that 
ventured  ashore. 

Immediately  on  our  landing,  the  natives 
gathered  around  and  formed  a  ring,  naturally 
curious,  like  savages  every  where,  to  notice 
every  thing,  and  I  not  less  so  to  observe  their 
own  eager  attitudes,  expressive  gestures,  and 
fine  looks.  The  women  have  an  uncommonly 
pleasing  aspect  of  countenance,  clear  skin,  but 
a  shade  or  two  darker  than  a  dark  brunette, 
black  eyes,  hair,  and  eyebrows,  and  a  capti- 
vating beauty  of  form,  and  bashful  turning 
away  when  looked  at,  that  is  not  a  little  attrac- 
tive. Their  nostrils  are  not  so  negro-like,  nor 
their  lips  so  thick  as  those  of  the  Hawaiians, 
but  still  they  bear  to  them  a  close  resemblance. 
Many  of  the  little  girls  and  maidens  were  truly 


LANDING    AT   RIMATARA.  19 

beautiful,  and  would  be  deemed  paragons,  even 
in  the  artificial  state  where  beauty  is  not  left 
so  much  to  itself,  but  has  to  be  busked,  bustled, 
and  corseted  by  omnipotent  fashion. 

I  soon  made  my  way  to  the  island  king, 
Temaeva,  who  sat  apart  from  others  upon  a 
block  of  coral,  and  leaning  on  a  staff,  his  only 
dress  being  a  shirt  and  kihei  (mantle).  He 
was  a  benevolent-looking,  well-made  man,  hav- 
ing the  port  and  presence  of  a  king,  and,  if 
that  were  all, 

"  With  Atlantean  shoulders  fit  to  bear 
The  weight  of  mightiest  monarchies." 

He  offered  me  his  hand  with  much  apparent 
cordiality,  and  immediately  led  the  way  to  his 
house  in  the  interior.  The  path  was  at  first 
rugged  as  the  volcanic  clinkers  of  Hawaii,  over 
heaps  and  swells  of  broken  and  sharp  coral, 
overgrown  with  huge  roots  of  the  Kamani  and 
Koa  trees,  in  the  borrowed  terms  of  Words- 
worth, 

"  A  growth 

Of  intertwisted  fibres  serpentine, 
Up-coiling,  and  inveterately  conyolved." 

c  2 


20  THE    WHALEMAN  S    ADVENTURES. 

This  barrier  passed,  there  was  a  subsidence 
and  inclining  of  the  island  inward,  and  the  path 
went  through  a  meadow  of  bulrushes,  in  time 
of  rain  flooded.  The  soil  was  a  rich  black 
loam.  Next  came  beds  of  wet  kalo  (Arum  es- 
culentum),  very  luxuriant  and  large,  beyond 
which  were  the  houses  of  the  king  and  native 
missionary  teachers,  the  chapel,  school-house, 
and  principal  settlement.  These  were  prettily- 
made  buildings  of  kamanu  posts,  wattled  be- 
tween, lined  on  both  sides  with  a  good  coat 
of  white-washed  plaster,  and  thatched  on  the 
roof  with  grass.  Being  clustered  tastefully  to- 
gether, they  make  a  very  pleasing  appearance 
outside. 

The  chapel  and  house  of  the  king  were  fur- 
nished with  flooring  and  settees.  In  the  former 
was  a  round  pulpit,  very  much  like  those  seen 
in  Koman  Catholic  cathedrals,  wherever  is  seen 
at  all  what  popery  is  by  no  means  fond  of — the 
pulpit.  They  had  been  built  eleven  years,  it 
being  more  than  twenty,  we  were  told,  since  the 
island  was  first  Christianized  by  native  mission- 
aries from  Tahiti.  They  were  all  surrounded 


LANDING    AT    RIMATARA.  21 

by  a  low  paling  of  posts  driven  slightly  into  the 
ground,  merely  to  keep  out  hogs ;  while  cocoa- 
nut  trees  and  giant  bananas  were  dropping  their 
fruits  all  around.     The  whole  scene,  in  every 
feature,   was    most  pleasingly  corroborative  of 
the  representations  quoted  by  Harris  in  "  The 
Great    Commission,"    to    show    the    temporal 
utility  of   missionary  exertions   in  the  South 
Seas.     "Instead    of   their   little,   contemptible 
huts  along  the  sea-beach,  there  will  be  seen  a 
neat  settlement,  with  a  large  chapel  in  the  cen- 
tre, capable  of  containing  one  or  two  thousand 
people  ;    a  schoolhouse  on  the  one  side,  and  a 
chiefs  or  the  missionary's  house  on  the  other ; 
and  a  range  of  white  cottages  a  mile  or  two 
long,  peeping  at  you  from  under  the  splendid 
banana  trees  or  the  bread  fruit  groves.     So  that 
their  comfort  is  increased  and  their  character 
elevated." 

Soon  after  reaching  this  little  metropolis  of 
the  island,  the  king  had  baked  pig  and  delicious 
kalo  placed  upon  a  massive  rude  table,  and 
plates  of  English  crockery,  with  knives  and 
forks.  A  blessing  was  asked  by  the  native 


22  THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

teacher,  and  I  was  invited  to  eat.  It  was,  in  their 
view,  an  important  piece  of  courtesy,  which  a 
recent  breakfast  rather  unfitted  me  for ;  yet  I 
ate,  with  compliments,  of  the  mealy  kalo,  and 
tasted  of  the  pig,  while  the  king  was  taking 
huge  morsels  that  would  almost  sink  a  common 
man. 

The  wine  of  this  feast  was  the  delicious 
milk  of  young  cocoa-nuts  just  from  the  tree ; 
and  I  will  venture  to  say  that  Hebe  never 
poured  such  nectar  into  the  goblets  of  the 
gods,  It  was  more  like  that  which  Eve  made 
ready  once  in  Eden,  as  the  poet  tells,  where- 
with to  entertain  their  angel  guest : 

"  With  inoffensive  must  and  meathes, 
From  many  a  berry  and  from  sweet  kernels  pressed, 
She  tempers  dulcet  creams ;  nor  them  to  hold 
Wants  her  fit  vessels  pure  ;  then  strews  the  ground 
With  rose  and  odours  from  the  shrub  unfumed." 

This  entertainment  over,  we  repaired  to  the 
teacher's,  where  again  was  served  up  the  same, 
with  the  addition  of  banana  made  into  &poiy  of 
which  the  king  ate  freely.  I  was  here  pre- 
sented with  a  couple  of  rolls  of  white  kapa  by 


LANDING    AT   RIMATARA.  23 

the  good  woman  of  the  house.  After  survey- 
ing the  premises,  getting  a  specimen  of  the 
king  and  teacher's  handwriting,  and  giving 
them  a  card  to  certify  any  other  chance  ship 
of  their  hospitality,  I  returned  to  the  shore 
by  another  path,  through  a  dense  wood,  coming 
out  of  it  on  the  windward  side  of  the  island, 
by  the  old  church  and  grave-yard,  where  Te- 
maeva  pointed  out  the  tomb  of  a  former  wife, 
having  the  date  of  her  death  rudely  cut  in  a 
coral  slab. 

The  cocoa-nuts  passed  were  numberless, 
shedding  their  fruit  by  thousands ;  also  lofty 
and  straight  pandanuses,  kukuis,  and  milo 
trees.  Following  round  the  shore  to  the  point 
at  which  we  had  struck  off  into  the  woods, 
we  found  the  captain  there  busy  trading.  I 
pleased  myself  a-wbile  with  looking  at  those 
mixed  and  motley  groups,  and  trying  to  com- 
municate with  the  harmless  Arimatarians,  and 
then  went  off  to  the  boat  through  the  out- 
rageous surf,  only  wishing  I  could  leave  with 
them  some  substantial  and  enduring  testimony 


24          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

The  king  and  his  wife,  together  with  the 
captain,  came,  one  by  one,  soon  after,  and  we 
all  pulled  off  to  the  ship,  where  the  king 
seemed  highly  gratified  with  his  entertainment 
and  presents.  He  is  manifestly  king  but  in 
name,  having  to  promise  a  recompense  even 
to  the  men  that  brought  him  off  to  the  boat 
in  their  canoe.  The  Gospel  has  abolished  all 
tyranny,  and,  as  the  sailor  interpreted  it,  "  all 
there  are  for  themselves,  and  without  distinc- 
tions." They  are  four  hundred  all  told,  and 
live,  according  to  their  own  telling,  in  much 
peace,  being  visited  two  or  three  times  a  year 
by  whale  ships  for  recruits,  whose  trade  just 
keeps  them  (the  adults)  with  a  single  cloth 
garment,  or  kihei,  a-piece. 

A  roughly-made  schooner,  of  kamanu  wood 
(much  like  our  mahogany),  was  on  the  stocks, 
for  which  they  were  very  anxious  to  get  tar, 
oakum,  and  a  compass.  No  white  missionary, 
we  were  told,  has  ever  resided  upon  the  island, 
but  all  their  imperfect  Christianization  and 
acquaintance  with  the  arts  have  been  effected 
by  native  teachers  from  Tahiti.  White  men 


FRIENDLY   RIMATARANS — REFLECTIONS.        25 

have  stopped  on  the  island  occasionally,  but 
they  say  they  do  not  want  them,  unless  they 
know  the  language  and  have  some  trade. 

I  could  not  leave  this  secluded  and  lovely 
island, — though  but  the  stopping-place  of  a  day, 
and,  ere  long,  as  I  hoped,  to  mingle  with  humanity 
in  a  wider  and  more  populous  field, — without 
a  feeling  of  sadness,  I  hardly  knew  why.  But 
so  it  is  in  the  voyage  of  life,  especially  in  that 
of  a  traveller,  sailing  down  the  stream  of  time, 
we  hail  a  friendly  bark,  or  touch  here  and 
there  at  a  pleasant  landing-place  upon  its 
banks,  pluck  a  few  fruits  and  flowers,  exchange 
good  wishes  and  kind  words  with  the  friends 
of  a  day,  truly  love  and  are  loved  by  some 
congenial  hearts,  both  drop  and  take  some 
seeds  of  good  and  evil,  to  spring  up  when  we 
are  in  our  graves,  and  then  we  are  away ;  the 
places  that  now  know  us  know  us  no  more 
for  ever,  and  the  faces  that  now  smile  upon 
us  we  never  see  again.  Who  can  help  sighing 
a-  lie  thinks  of  it,  and  wishing  to  leave,  where- 
ever  he  goes,  some  durable  evidence  that  an 
immortal  spirit  has  passed  that  \ 


26  THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

"  Oh,  at  what  time  soever  thou 

(Unknown  to  me)  the  heavens  wilt  bow, 

And,  with  thy  angels  in  the  van, 

Descend  to  judge  poor  careless  man, 

Grant  I  may  not  like  puddle  lie, 

In  a  corrupt  security, 

Where,  if  a  traveller  water  crave, 

He  finds  it  dead,  and  in  a  grave  ; 

But  as  the  clear  running  spring 

All  day  and  night  doth  flow  and  sing  ; 

And  though  here  born,  yet  is  acquainted 

Elsewhere,  and,  flowing,  keeps  untainted — 

So  let  me  all  my  busy  age 

In  thy  free  services  engage. 

And  though  (while  here)  of  force  I  must 

Have  commerce  sometimes  with  poor  dust, 

Yet  let  my  course,  my  aim,  my  love, 

And  chief  acquaintance  be  above  ; 

So  when  that  day  and  hour  shall  come 

In  which  Thyself  will  be  the  sun, 

Thou 'It  find  me  dressed  and  on  my  way, 

Watching  the  break  of  thy  great  day." 

How  different  now  our  reception  here  by 
islanders  that  had  been  blessed  with  the  Bible, 
from  that  which  a  whale  ship  had  while  sail- 
ing along  in  this  same  Pacific  in  the  year 
1835,  from  barbarians  that  had  never  received 
the  Gospel.  A  large  number  of  natives  came 
off,  as  to  us,  for  purposes  of  trade.  No  trea- 
chery was  suspected,  and  all  for  a  while  went 


UNCHKISTIANIZED    ISLANDERS.  27 

on  amicably.  But,  upon  a  signal  from  a  chief, 
the  natives  sprang  for  the  harpoons,  whale- 
spades,  and  other  deadly  weapons  at  hand, 
and  a  desperate  contest  immediately  ensued. 
The  captain  was  killed  hy  a  single  stroke  of 
a  whale-spade ;  the  first  mate  also,  soon  after. 
The  second  mate  jumped  overboard  and  was 
killed  in  the  water,  and  four  of  the  seamen 
lost  their  lives.  A  part  of  the  crew  ran  up 
the  rigging  for  security,  and  the  rest  into  the 
forecastle. 

Among  these  last  was  a  young  man,  the 
third  mate,  by  the  name  of  Jones,  the  only 
surviving  officer.  Ey  his  cool  intrepidity  and 
judgment,  after  a  dreadful  encounter,  the  ship 
was  cleared  of  the  savages,  the  chief  killed, 
and  many  of  his  companions,  both  of  those 
on  board  and  those  who  came  alongside  to 
aid  in  securing  the  ship. 

Jones  now  became  the  captain,  buried  the 
<Kud,  dressed  the  wounded,  put  the  ship  in 
order,  and  made  sail  for  the  Christianized  Sand- 
Nvidi  Islands  with  the  surviving  crew.  With  a 
skill  and  self-possession  worthy  of  the  man  that 


28  THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

could  accomplish  such  a  rescue ;  and,  with  a 
favouring  Providence,  he  navigated  the  bereaved 
whaler  to  Oahu,  where  the  survivers  were  hos- 
pitably entertained.  The  ship,  however,  had 
to  be  sent  home,  the  voyage  being  completely 
broken  up  for  want  of  the  necessary  officers, 
and  thousands  of  dollars  lost  to  owners  and 
underwriters. 

I  remember  once  to  have  listened  to  the 
narrative  of  a  captain  who  was  wrecked  in  the 
Pacific  on  a  sunken  rock,  and  for  fourteen  days 
and  nights  himself  and  crew,  twenty- two  in 
number,  were  exposed  in  their  boats,  and  had 
quite  given  up  hope  of  ever  again  reaching  the 
land.  But,  on  the  morning  of  the  fifteenth  day 
after  the  loss  of  their  ship,  they  found  their 
boats  nearing  an  unknown  island.  They  were 
almost  spent,  and  saw  the  shore,  which  was 
guarded  by  a  reef,  lined  with  natives,  whether 
cannibals  or  Christianized  they  could  not  tell. 

While  their  lives  were  in  doubt,  and  they 
were  questioning  whether  a  worse  death  by 
savage  violence  did  not  await  them  than  if 
they  had  perished  at  sea,  one  of  the  natives 


CHRISTIAN    ISLANDERS.  29 

came  out  toward  them  through  the  surf,  hold- 
ing in  his  hand  a  book,  and  cried,  with  a  loud 
voice,  "Missionary  !  missionary!''  An  answer- 
ing shout  of  recognition,  and  beckoning  from  the 
poor  mariners,  immediately  brought  the  natives 
through  the  waves  to  their  aid,  by  whom  they 
were  carried  on  shore  in  their  arms,  supplied 
with  food,  and  generously  entertained  with  more 
than  human,  with  Christian  kindness. 

It  so  happened,  according  to  the  captain's 
statement,  that  this  was  an  island  whose  in- 
habitants had  been  first  brought  to  the  know- 
ledge of  Christianity  by  the  brother  of  this 
captain,  who  had  been  some  years  before  cast 
away  on  this  very  island,  and  with  one  other  of 
the  ship's  company,  was  saved.  They  were 
taken  by  the  natives  to  be  offered  up  as  a  sacri- 
fice to  their  gods.  But  while  on  their  way  to  the 
place  where  human  victims  used  to  be  sacrificed, 
they  remembered  the  tradition  that  a  god  should 
come  to  them  from  the  sea. 

Overruled,  doubtless,  by  a  divine  impulse, 
they  now  entertained  the  white  man  as  a  god, 
and  he  instructed  them  concerning  the  only 


30  THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

true  God  and  Saviour.  They  invited  the  mis- 
sionary from  another  island,  and  in  Heaven's 
blessings  upon  his  instructions  was  read  the 
secret  of  all  their  after-kindness  to  the  white 
men  who  visited  or  were  cast  upon  their  shores. 
All  whalemen  may  see  in  this  contrast,  as  we, 
to  our  joy  in  the  Commodore  Preble,  saw,  what 
a  difference  there  is  between  islands  that  have, 
and  places  that  have  not  the  "  BOOK." 

It  is  THE  BOOK  which  has  brought  it  to  pass, 
that  the  adventurous,  weary  whaleman  can  now 
traverse  the  entire  Pacific,  and  land  with  im- 
punity at  most  of  its  lovely  islands,  and  be 
supplied  on  terms  of  equity  with  all  he  needs. 
Let,  then,  those  that  owe  to  it  the  most,  be 
loudest  in  their  praises,  and  warmest  in  their 
love,  and  most  ca,reful  in  their  obedience  to  the 

BOOK    OF    BOOKS. 

It  was  the  reasoning  of  one  of  this  great 
family  of  South  Sea  Islanders  (with  whom  our 
ship  had  such  pleasant  intercourse),  soon  after 
he  came  into  possession  of  the  BIBLE  : — 

"  When  I  look  at  myself,  I  find  that  I  have 
hinges  all  over  my  body.  I  have  got  hinges  to 


ISLANDERS    ARGUMENT   FOR   THE    BIBLE.      31 

my  legs,  my  jaws,  my  feet,  my  hands.  If  I 
want  to  lay  hold  of  anything,  there  are  hinges 
to  my  hands,  and  even  to  my  fingers,  to  do  it 
with.  If  my  heart  thinks,  and  I  want  to  make 
others  think  with  me,  I  use  the  hinges  to  my 
jaws,  and  they  help  me  to  talk.  I  could  nei- 
ther walk  nor  sit  down  if  I  had  not  hinges  to 
my  legs  and  feet.  All  this  is  wonderful.  None 
of  the  strange  things  that  men  have  brought 
from  England  in  their  big  ships  are  at  all  to  be 
compared  to  my  body,  He  who  made  my  body 
has  made  all  those  clever  people,  who  made  the 
strange  things  which  they  bring  in  the  ships ; 
and  he  is  God,  whom  I  worship. 

"  But  I  should  not  know  much  more  about 
him  than  as  a  great  hinge-maker,  if  men  iii 
their  ships  had  not  brought  the  book  which 
'they  call  the  Bible.  That  tells  me  of  God,  who 
makes  the  skill  and  the  heart  of  man  likewise. 
And  when  I  hear  how  the  Bible  tells  of  the  old 
heart  with  its  corruption,  and  the  new  heart, 
and  a  right  spirit,  which  God  alone  can  create 
and  give,  I  feel  that  his  work  in  my  body  and 
liis  work  in  my  heart  fit  each  other  exactly.  I 


THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

am  sure,  then,  that  the  Bible,  which  tells  me 
of  these  things,  was  made  by  him  who  made 
the  hinges  to  my  body.  I  believe  the  Bible  to 
be  the  word  of  God. 

"  The  men  on  the  other  side  of  the  great  sea 
used  their  skill  and  their  bodies  to  make  ships 
and  to  print  Bibles.  They  came  in  ships,  and 
brought  iron  hoops,  knives,  nails,  hatchets, 
cloth,  and  needles,  which  are  very  good.  They 
also  brought  rum  and  whisky,  which  are  very 
evil.  They  moved  the  hinges  of  the  jaws,  and 
told  lies  and  curses,  which  are  abominable.  At 
last  some  came  and  brought  the  Bible.  They 
used  the  hinges  of  their  bodies  to  turn  over  its 
leaves  and  to  explain  God's  blessed  word.  That 
was  better  than  iron- ware  and  stuff  for  clothing. 
They  were  the  servants  of  the  living  God,  and 
my  heart  opened  to  their  words  as  if  it  had 
hinges  too,  like  as  my  mouth  opens  to  take 
food  when  I  am  hungry.  And  my  heart  feels 
satisfied  now.  It  was  hungry,  God  nourished 
it;  it  was  thirsty,  God  has  refreshed  it.  Blessed 
be  God,  who  gave  his  word,  and  sent  it  across 
the  sea  to  bring  me  light  and  salvation."'' 


CHRISTIAN    ISLANDER.  33 

Now  we  say  that  this  unsophisticated  native 
thinker,  working  thus  all  by  himself  at  the1 
great  theological  argument  from  evidences  of 
design,  could  hardly  have  done  better  had  he 
been  going  to  school  to  Calvin  or  Chalmers  all 
his  days.  He  might  have  written  in  his  Poly- 
nesian Bible  the  lines  which  are  said  to  have 
been  found  on  the  blank  leaf  of  a  copy  of  the 
Scriptures  belonging  to  a  great  English  poet. 
And,  ah !  how  much  better  had  it  been  for  the 
world  if  Byron  had  loved  his  Bible  as  there  is 
reason  to  believe  the  unknown  Tahitian  did  his. 

"  Within  this  awful  volume  lies 
The  mystery  of  mysteries  : 
And  bless' d,  for  ever  bless*  d  are  they 
Who  read  to  hope,  and  read  to  pray. 
But  better  had  he  ne'er  been  born, 
Who  reads  to  doubt,  or  reads  to  scorn." 


34          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 
CHAPTEK    III. 

CAPTURING   AND    CUTTING-IN    OF   A   WHALE. 

"  Here  leviathan 

Hugest  of  living  creatures,  on  the  deep 
Stretch'd  like  a  promontory,  sleeps  or  swims, 
And  seems  a  moving  land ;  and  at  his  gills 
Draws  in,  and  at  his  trunk  spouts  out,  a  sea." 

Milton. 

"  There  she  blows !" — The  Boats  start  in  pursuit — Capturing 
of  a  Whale — The  process  of  Cutting-in — A  flock  of  Alba- 
trosses— Other  Sea-birds — Trying-out — The  Whaleman's 
delight — Magnitude  of  the  Whale. 

FOE  the  first  time  in  our  ten  weeks'  passage 
from  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  on  this  New 
Zealand  Cruising  Ground,  we  now  heard  that 
life-kindling  sound  to  a  weary  whaleman, 
"  THERE  SHE  BLOWS  ! "  The  usual  questions  and 
orders  from  the  deck  quickly  followed.  "Where 
away  ?  "  "  Two  points  on  the  weather  bow  ! " 
"How  far  off?"  "A  mile  and  a  half!" 
"Keep  your  eye  on  her!"  "Sing  out  when 
we  head  right ! "  It  turned  out  that  three 
whales  were  descried  from  aloft  in  different 


CAPTURING    OF   A   WHALE.  35 

parts,  and  in  a  short  time,  when  we  were  deemed 
near  enough,  the  captain  gave  orders  to  "  Stand 
by  and  lower"  for  one  a  little  more  than  half 
a  mile  to  windward. 

Three  boats'  crews  pulled  merrily  away,  glad 
of  something  to  stir  their  blood,  and  with  eager 
hope  to  obtain  the  oily  material  wherewith  to 
fill  their  ship  and  make  good  their  "  lay."  The 
whale  was  going  leisurely  to  windward,  blow- 
ing every  now  and  again  two  or  three  times, 
then  "  turning  tail,"  "  up  flukes,"  and  sinking. 
The  boats  "  headed"  after  him,  keeping  a  dis- 
tance of  nearly  one  quarter  of  a  mile  from 
each  other,  to  scatter  (as  it  is  called)  their 
chances. 

Fortunately,  as  the  oarsmen  were  "  hove 
up/'  that  is,  had  their  oars  a-peak,  about  the 
place  where  they  expected  the  whale  would  next 
appear,  the  huge  creature  rose  hard  by  the  cap- 
tain's boat,  and  all  the  harpooner  in  the  bow 
had  to  do  was  to  plunge  his  two  keen  cold 
irons,  which  are  always  secured  to  one  tow-line, 
into  the  monster's  sides.  This  he  did  so  well 
as  to  hit  the  "fish's  life"  at  once.  It  was  the 

D2 


36          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

first  notice  the  poor  animal  had  of  the  prox- 
imity of  his  powerful  captors,  and  the  sudden 
piercing  of  the  barbed  harpoons  almost  to 
his  vitals,  made  him  flounder  and  run  most 
furiously. 

The  boat  spun  after  him  with  singular  swift- 
ness, now  diving  through  the  seas  and  tossing 
the  spray,  and  then  lying  still  whi]e  the  whale 
sounded ;  anon  in  swift  motion  again,  when 
the  game  arose,  for  the  space  of  an  hour. 
During  this  time  another  boat  "  got  fast"  to 
him  with  its  harpoons,  and  the  captain's  cruel 
lance  had  several  times  struck  his  vitals.  He 
was  killed,  as  whalemen  call  it,  that  is,  mortally 
wounded,  an  hour  before  he  went  into  "  his 
flurry,"  and  was  really  dead  or  turned  upon  his 
back. 

The  loose  boat  then  came  to  the  ship  for  a 
hawser  to  fasten  round  his  flukes ;  which  being 
done,  the  captain  left  his  irons  in  the  carcass 
and  pulled  for  the  ship,  in  order  to  beat  to 
windward,  and,  after  getting  the  fish  alongside, 
to  "  cut  him  in."  After  the  whale  was  thus  got 
hold  of,  and  the  mammoth  carcass  secured  to 


CUTTING-IN    OF   A    WHALE.  37 

the  ship  by  a  chain  round  the  bitts,  they 
proceeded  to  reeve  the  huge  blocks  that  are 
always  made  fast  for  the  purpose  to  the  fore 
and  main  mast  head,  and  to  fasten  the  cutting- 
in  tackle.  The  captain  and  two  mates  then 
went  over  the  sides  on  a  well  secured  stage, 
and  having  each  a  breast-rope  to  steady  him 
and  lean  upon.  The  cooper  having  passed 
them  the  long-handled  spades,  which  he  was  all 
the  time  grinding  and  whetting,  they  fell  lustily 
to  work  to  chop  off  the  blubber. 

First  came  one  of  the  huge  lips,  which, 
after  they  had  nearly  severed  close  to  the  crea- 
ture's eye,  was  hooked  into  by  what  they  call 
a  "  blubber  hook,"  stripped  off,  and  hoisted  on 
board  by  the  windlass.  It  was  very  compact 
and  dense,  and  covered  with  barnacles. 

Next  came  one  of  the  fore-fins ;  after  that 
the  other  lip,  and  then  the  upper  jaw,  along 
witli  all  that  peculiar  substance  called  wlmle- 
bone,  through  which  the  animal  strains  his 

food.      It  is  all  fringed  with  coarse  hair  that 

i  * 

detains    the   little   shrimps    and   small   fry   on 

which    the    creature    feeds.       The    bones,    or 


38  THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

rather,  slabs  of  whalebone,  radiate  in  leaves  that 
lie  edgewise  to  the  mouth,  from  each  side  of 
what  may  be  called  the  ridge-pole  of  the 
mouth's  roof,  forming  a  house  almost  big 
enough  for  a  man  to  stand  up  in.  Outside 
it  is  crowned  by  what  they  call  a  bonnet,  being 
a  crest  or  comb  in  which  burrow  legions  of 
barnacles  and  crabs,  like  rabbits  in  a  warren, 
or  insects  in  the  shaggy  bark  of  an  old  tree. 

Next  came  the  lower  jaw  and  throat,  to- 
gether with  the  tongue,  which  latter  alone  must 
have  weighed  fifteen  hundred  or  two  thousand 
pounds ;  an  enormous  mass  of  fat,  not,  however, 
so  firm  and  tough  as  the  blubber.  Whalers 
often  have  to  lose  it,  especially  from  the  north- 
west whale,  it  being  impossible  to  get  it  up  on 
deck,  detached  and  alone,  because  it  would  not 
hold  by  the  tackling ;  and  it  is  generally  too 
large  and  heavy  to  be  raised  along  with  the 
throat. 

After  this  was  got  on  deck,  the  rest  of  the 
way  was  plain  sailing,  the  blubber  of  the  body 
being  cut  and  peeled  off  in  huge  unbroken 
strips  as  the  carcass  rolled  over  and  over,  being 


CUTTING-IN.  39 

heaved  on  by  the  power  of  the  windlass, 
then  hooked  into  by  the  blubber  hooks,  and 
hoisted  in. 

As  often  as  a  piece,  nearly  reaching  to  the 
top  of  the  main  rnast,  was  got  over  the  deck, 
they  would  attack  it  with  great  boarding- knives, 
and  cutting  a  hole  in  it  at  a  place  nearly  even 
with  the  deck,  thrust  in  the  strap  and  toggel  of 
the  "  cutting  blocks,"  that  they  might  still  have 
a  purchase  on  the  carcass  below.  Then  they 
would  sever  the  huge  piece  from  the  rest,  and 
lower  it  down  into  the  "blubber-room,"  between 
decks,  where  two.  men  had  as  much  as  they 
could  do  to  cut  it  into  six  or  eight  pound  pieces, 
and  stow  it  away.  It  was  from  nine  to  eleven 
inches  thick,  and  looked  like  very  large  fat  pork 
slightly  coloured  with  salt-petre. 

The  magnificent,  swan-like  albatrosses  were 
round  us  by  hundreds,  eagerly  seizing  and  fight- 
ing for  every  bit  and  fragment  that  fell  off  into 
the  water,  swallowing  it  with  the  most  carni- 
vorous avidity,  and  a  low,  avaricious  greed  of 
delight,  that  detracted  considerably  from  one's 
admiration  of  this  most  superb  of  birds,  just 


40  THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

as  your  veneration  for  one  whom  the  colouring 
of  a  youthful  imagination  has  made  a  little 
more  than  human,  is  not  a  little  ahated  hy 
finding  him  subject  to  the  necessities  and 
passions  of  poor  human  nature.  Gonies,  stink- 
ards, horse-birds,  haglets,  gulls,  pigeons,  and 
petrels,  had  all  many  a  good  morsel  of  blubber. 
For  at  any  time  in  these  seas,  though  eight 
hundred  or  a  thousand  miles  from  shore,  the 
capture  of  a  whale  will  allure  thousands  of 
sea-birds  from  far  and  near.  Sharks,  too, 
appeared  to  claim  their  share;  but  it  was  not 
until  after  a  man  had  been  down  twice  on  the 
wave-washed  carcass,  to  get  a  rope  fast  to  a 
hole  in  the  whale's  head,  or  I  should  have 
trembled  for  his  legs. 

Before  the  blubber  was  all  off,  the  huge 
intestines  of  the  whale  burst  out  like  barrels, 
at  the  wounds  made  by  the  spades  and  lances. 
I  hoped  the  peeled  carcass  would  continue  to 
float  for  the  benefit  of  the  gonies  and  other 
birds.  But  no  sooner  was  the  last  fold  of 
blubber  off  the  flukes  hoisted  in,  and  the  great 
chain  detached,  than  it  sank  plump  down. 


TRYING-OUT.  41 

About  the  same  time  two  ships  bore  down  to 
speak  us,  the  Henry  of  Sag  Harbour,  and  the 
Lowell  of  New  London.  Their  captains  came 
on  board  to  congratulate  us  on  our  success, 
and  "  learn  the  news."  They  had  just  arrived 
on  the  ground,  and  had  not  yet  taken  any 
whales. 

Soon  after  we  had  finished  cutting  in,  about 
eight  o'clock  in  the  evening,  the  wind  increased 
almost  to  a  gale,  making  it  impossible  "  to  try 
out"  that  night.  But  the  next  day,  while  the  ship 
was  lying-to,  the  business  was  begun  in  good 
earnest :  the  blubber-men  cutting  up  in  the 
blubber-room ;  others  pitching  it  on  deck ; 
others  forking  it  over  to  the  side  of  the  "  try- 
works  ;"  two  men  standing  by  a  "horse"  with 
a  mincing  knife  to  cleave  the  pieces  into  many 
parts  for  the  more  easy  trying  out,  as  the  rind 
of  a  joint  of  pork  is  cut  by  the  cook  for  roast- 
ing ;  the  boat-steerers  and  one  of  the  mates 
pitching  it  into  the  kettles,  feeding  the  fires 
with  the  scraps,  and  bailing  the  boiling  fluid 
into  copper  tanks,  from  which  it  is  the  duty 
of  another  to  dip  into  casks. 


42  THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

The  decks,  meanwhile/  present  that  lively 
though  dirty  spectacle  which  whalemen  love, 
their  faces  all  begrimed  and  sooty,  and  smeared 
with  oil,  so  that  you  cannot  tell  if  they  be 
black  or  white.  A  farmer's  golden  harvest  in 
autumn  is  not  a  pleasanter  sight  to  him,  than 
it  is  to  a  whaler  to  have  his  decks  and  blubber- 
room  "  blubber-log,"  the  try- works  a-blazing, 
cooper  a-pounding,  oil  a-flowing,  everybody 
busy  and  dirty  night  and  day.  Donkey-loads 
of  Chilian  or  Peruvian  gold,  filing  into  the 
custom-house  at  Valparaiso  and  Lima,  or  a 
stream  of  Ben  ton's  yellow-boys  flowing  up  the 
Mississippi,  or  bags  of  the  Californian  dust 
riding  into  San  Francisco,  have  no  such 
charms  for  him  as  cutting-in  a  hundred-barrel 
whale,  and  turning  out  oil  by  the  hogshead. 

The  whale  now  taken  proved  to  be  a  female 
or  "  cow  whale,"  forty-five  feet  long  and  twenty- 
five  round,  and  it  was  calculated  to  yield  be- 
tween seventy  and  eighty  barrels  of  "  right 
whale"  oil.  This  is  about  the  ordinary  size 
of  the  New  Zealand  whale,  a  mere  dwarf  in 
comparison  with  that  of  the  northwest,  which 


MAGNITUDE    OF    THE   WHALE.  43 

sometimes  yields,  it  is  said,  three  hundred 
barrels,  ordinarily  one  hundred  and  fifty,  or 
one  hundred  and  eighty. 

Though  so  huge  a  creature,  a  very  small 
part  of  its  bulk  appears  out  of  water,  and  that 
continually  bending  with  the  undulations  of  the 
waves ;  nor  have  you  so  fair  a  view  of  this 
immense  mass  of  organized  matter,  as  of  a  ship 
afloat  in  comparison  to  one  on  the  stocks.  To 
have  a  just  idea-  of  its  greatness,  it  should  be 
seen  on  dry  land.  As  is  usually  the  case,  the 
observed  reality  of  this  mammoth  animal,  pro- 
digious as  it  is,  hardly  comes  up  to  the  pre- 
conceived vague  idea  of  it,  still  less  to  the 
poetic  notion  of 

"  That  sea-beast 

Leviathan,  which  God  of  all  his  works 
Created  hugest,  that  swim  the  ocean  stream. 
Him  haply  slumbering  on  the  Norway  foam, 
The  pilot  of  some  small  night-foundered  skiff, 
Deeming  some  island,  oft,  as  seamen  tell, 
"With  fixed  anchor  in  his  scaly  rind, 
Moors  by  his  side  under  the  lee,  while  night 
Invests  the  sea  and  wished  morn  delays." 

They  used  to  tell  some  "big  fish  stories" 
in  Milton's  day,  and  I  have  no  doubt  they  had 


44          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

something  to  do  in  his  mind  with  the  creation 
of  that  image  of  Satan  on  the  burning  lake. 

"  "With  head  uplift  above  the  wave,  and  eyes 

That  sparkling  blazed ;  his  other  parts  beside, 

Prone  on  the  flood,  extended  long  and  large, 

Lay  floating  many  a  rood  ;  in  bulk  as  huge 

As  whom  the  fables  name  of  monstrous  size, 

Titanian,  or  earth-born,  that  warred  on  Jove  : 

Forthwith  upright  he  rears  from  off  the  pool 

His  mighty  stature :  on  each  hand  the  flames, 

Driven  backward,  slope  their  pointing  spires,  and  rolled 

In  billows,  leave  in  the  midst  a  horrid  vale. 

Then,  with  expanded  wings,  he  takes  his  flight 

Aloft  incumbent  on  the  dusky  air, 

That  felt  unusual  weight." 


NATURAL   HISTORY   OF   THE    WHALE.          45 


CHAPTEK    IV. 

NEW   ZEALAND    CRUISING    GROUND. 

"  Oh,  the  whale  is  free,  of  the  boundless  sea ; 

He  lives  for  a  thousand  years ; 
He  sinks  to  rest  on  the  billow's  breast, 

Nor  the  roughest  tempest  fears. 
The  howling  blast,  as  it  rushes  past, 

Is  music  to  lull  him  to  sleep  : 
And  he  scatters  the  spray  in  his  boisterous  play, 

As  he  dashes — the  king  of  the  deep." 

Sea  Song. 


The  Whale  :  its  habits  and  resorts  —  Points  of  difference  be- 
tween the  "right"  and  "sperm"  Whales  —  Food  of  the 
Whale  —  Arctic  Animalcules  —  Anatomy  of  the  Whale  — 
Physiology  of  the  Whale  —  Loss  of  Whales  by  sinking  — 
The  Cause  assigned  for  it  —  An  unsuccessful  Attempt  to 
Float  Dead  Whales—  Reflections  on  Suicides. 


recent  capture  of  one  "right  whale," 
-L  getting  fast  to  another,  and  pursuit  of 
several  more,  and  the  sight  of  them  blowing  all 
around,  close  at  hand  and  at  a  distance,  naturally 
puts  one  upon  inquiring  into  the  habits  and 
resorts  of  this  sea  monster.  It  is  of  the  class 
mammalia,  order  cetacea,  warm-blooded,  bringing 


46          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

forth  its  young  alive,  generally  one  at  a  time, 
and  giving  them  suck.  It  is  not,  therefore,  a 
fish,  is  without  scales,  breathes  the  air  through 
enormous  lungs,  not  gills,  and  respires  by  what 
is  called  its  spout  or  blow-holes,  a  kind  of 
nostrils,  or,  in  other  words,  two  apertures  situ- 
ated on  the  upper  part  of  its  head,  through 
which  is  forcibly  expelled  all  the  warm  air  and 
vapour  of  the  lungs. 

The  character  of  the  spout  serves  to  distin- 
guish at  a  distance  the  kind  of  whale,  whether 
"right  whale"  (Balaena  mysticetus),  or  " sperm" 
(makrocephalus).  The  "right  whale,"  having 
two  large  orifices  on  the  top  of  the  back  part  of 
its  head  as  it  lies  along  in  the  water,  the  dense 
vapour  ejected  is  forced  up  perpendicularly  till 
dissipated  in  the  air,  or  carried  off  by  the  wind. 
The  "sperm  whale,"  on  the  other  hand,  has  but 
one  external  blowhole,  and  that  a  little  on  one 
side  or  corner  of  its  head,  from  which  the 
ejected  stream  of  breath  issues  a  little  obliquely, 
and  not  straight  up,  as  in  the  "  right  whale." 
Being  only  the  confined  air  of  the  lungs,  and  con- 
densed into  a  white  mist,  it  vanishes  instantly. 


DESCRIPTION    OF    RIGHT   WHALE.  47 

Two  fins,  planted  a  little  behind  the  head, 
one  on  each  side,  with  a  broad  and  powerful 
tail,  constitute  at  once  the  propelling  apparatus 
and  means  of  defence  of  the  whale.  The 
juncture  of  these  "flukes,"  or  tail,  with  the 
main  body  of  the  whale  is  comparatively  small, 
and  a  skilful  whaler  will  try  to  cut  the  tendons, 
as  in  hamstringing,  with  his  spade,  when  the 
whale  is  violent.  If  successful  in  this,  the  flukes 
will  be  still,  and  the  danger  of  approaching  the 
whale  greatly  diminished.  The  natural  work- 
ing of  them  on  their  joints  by  the  waves,  after 
the  animal  is  dead,  will  always  propel  the  car- 
cass directly  to  windward. 

Of  a  small  one  that  I  measured,  the  fins 
were  five  feet  long  each,  and  the  flukes  twelve 
feet  across,  horizontally.  Of  another,  and  that 
by  no  means  fully  grown,  the  body  was  thirty- 
nine  feet  long  and  nineteen  feet  round,  the 
head  seven  feet  from  its  tip  to  the  spout-holes, 
three  feet  wide  just  behind  the  same,  and  three 
feet  from  the  upper  outside  superficies  to  the 
roof  of  the  mouth  inside, — making  its  entire 
head,  with  the  mouth  closed,  seven  feet  in  di- 


48          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

ameter,  or  twenty- one  feet  round.  The  length 
of  one  of  another  species,  a  "  sperm  whale," 
which  I  exactly  measured,  was  fifty-nine  feet, 
and  thirty  round. 

The  ear  of  the  whale  is  extremely  small, 
and  so  hidden,  like  a  mole's,  that  you  would 
not  find  it  without  diligent  search.     Still  the 
creature  is  thought  by  seamen  to  be  quick  of 
hearing  as  well  as  sharp  of  sight.     The  organ 
for  the  latter  sense  is  about  as  large  as  the  eye 
of  an  ox.     The  head  of  a  "  right  whale,"  when 
his  mouth  is  open  in  feeding,  or  when  he  brea- 
ches, as  I  have  sometimes  seen  him  do  quite  out 
of   water,  is  a    most  uncouth   and   formidable 
sight.     The  huge  lips  close  from  below  upward, 
and  shut  in,  when  the  monster  has  got  a  mouth- 
ful, like  the  great  valve  of  a  mammoth  bellows, 
or  the  water  gates  of  a  canal  lock. 

The  living  of  this  vast  animal  is  thought  to 
be  upon  a  substance  which  I  hear  universally 
called  by  whalemen  "  right  whale  feed."  It  ap- 
pears in  the  water  as  a  red-coloured  insect, 
which,  with  the  medusae  associated  with  it,  as 
Captian  Scoresby  has  described,  is  in  trapped  by 


FOOD    OF   THE    WHALE.  49 

the  hair  that  fringes  the  leaves  of  whalebone,  ay 
the  whale  swims  along  with  mouth  open.  It  is, 
in  fact,  a  little  red  shrimp,  sometimes  seen  float- 
ing on  the  surface  in  these  seas  alive,  oftener 
dead,  when  it  has  the  appearance  at  a  distance 
of  patches  or  clots  of  blood,  only  yellower.  I 
have  seen  it  in  both  states,  when  entangled  in 
the  hair  of  dead  whales.  The  quantity  neces- 
sary for  the  animal's  support  must  be  prodigeous. 

I  can  doubly  appreciate  now  that  amusing 
passage  in  the  Holy  War,  where  Bunyan  says, 
"  Silly  Mansoul  did  not  stick  nor  boggle  at  a 
monstrous  oath  that  she  would  not  desert  Di'a- 
bolus,  but  swallowed  it  without  chewing,  as  if 
it  had  been  a  sprat  in  the  mouth  of  a  whale." 
This  "  feed  "  is  supposed  to  He  generally  rather 
deep  under  water  in  these  southern  seas,  as 
whales  are  often  taken  in  greatest  numbers 
where  none  of  it  is  to  be  seen  on  the  surface. 

A  volume  of  the  Family  Library,  on  "  Polar 
Seas  and  Regions,"  which  I  read  with  great 
interest  on  ship  board,  says,  that  the  basis  of 
subsistence  for  the  numerous  tribes  of  the 
Arctic  world  is  found  in  the  genus  medusa, 

E 


50  THE   WHALEMAN  S    ADVENTURES. 

which  the  sailors  graphically  describe  as  sea- 
blubber.  The  medusa  is  a  soft,  elastic,  gelat- 
inous substance,  specimens  of  which  may  be 
seen  lying  on  our  own  shores,  exhibiting  no 
signs  of  life,  except  that  of  shrinking  when 
touched.  Beyond  the  Arctic  Circle  it  increases 
in  an  extraordinary  degree,  and  is  eagerly  de- 
voured by  the  finny  tribes  of  all  shapes  and 
sizes.  By  far  the  most  numerous,  however,  of 
the  medusan  races  are  of  dimensions  as  small  as 
a  pin's  head;  whilst  some  species',  not  observ- 
able without  a  microscope,  have  been  shown  by 
Captain  Scoresby,  to  be  the  cause  of  certain 
peculiar  colours  which  occasionally  tinge  con- 
siderable extents  of  the  Greenland  Sea.  The 
colour  produced  by  the  larger  and  more  preva- 
lent kind  is  olive- green,  and  the  water  is  opaque 
compared  to  that  which  bears  the  common  cer- 
ulean hue. 

These  olive-coloured  waters  occupy  about  a 
fourth  of  the  Greenland  Sea,  or  above  twenty 
thousand  square  miles,  and  hence  the  number 
of  medusan  animalcules  which  they  contain  is 
inconceivably  great.  Captain  Scoresby,  to  whose 


ARCTIC    ANIMALCULES.  51 

researches  we  are  indebted  for  a  knowledge  of 
these  minute  creatures,  informs  us  that  they 
are  so  numerous,  in  many  extensive  tracts  of 
sea,  as  to  be  but  the  fourth  of  an  inch  asunder. 
In  this  proportion,  he  calculates,  that  a  cubic 
inch  of  water  must  contain  64 ;  a  cubic  foot, 
110,592:  a  cubic  fathom,  23,887,872;  and  a 
cubic  mile,  23,888,000,000,000,000  !  And  as 
these  medusae  extend  obviously  to  a  great  depth, 
from  the  opacity  produced  by  them  in  the 
water,  such  a  vast  number  as  this  might 
be  actually  comprised  within  an  area  of  two 
miles  square — supposing  them  to  extend  in  a 
sea  above  a  mile  deep  to  the  depth  of  only  250 
fathoms.  As  such  a  number,  as  this  compara- 
tively minute  portion  of  olive- green  sea  might 
afford,  is  far  beyond  the  ordinary  conceptions 
of  the  human  mind,  he  illustrates  its  vastness 
by  observing,  that  it  would  have  required  80,000 
persons,  starting  to  count  at  the  period  of  the 
creation  of  man,  to  complete  the  enumeration 
at  the  present  time. 

What  a  stupendous  idea  this  fact  gives  of 
the  immensity  of  Creation,  and  of  the  bounty 

E  '-? 


52          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

of  the  Divine  Economy  and  Providence,  in 
furnishing  such  a  profusion  of  minuter  life, 
remote  from  the  habitations  of  man,  for  the 
ultimate  subsistence  of  the  giant  occupants  of 
the  great  deep !  This  green  sea  may  be  con- 
sidered as  the  Polar  Pasture  ground,  where 
whales  are  usually  seen  in  greatest  numbers. 
These  prodigious  animals  cannot  derive  any 
direct  subsistence  from  such  small  and  all  but 
invisible  particles ;  but  these  form  the  food  of 
other  minute  creatures,  which  then  support 
others,  till  at  length  marine  insects  and  medusae 
are  produced  of  such  size  as  to  afford,  by  means 
of  the  whale's  beautiful  food- gathering  appar- 
atus, the  requisite  nourishment  for  their  mighty 
devourers  * 

"The  genus  cancer,  larger  in  size  than  the 
medusa,  appears  to  rank  second  in  number  and 
importance.  It  presents  itself  under  the  vari- 
ous species  of  the  crab,  and,  above  all,  of  the 
shrimp,  whose  multitudes  rival  those  of  the 
medusa,  and  which  in  all  quarters  feed  and  are 
fed  upon.  So  carnivorous  are  the  propensities 

*  Scoresby's  Arctic  Regions,  vol.  i.,  p.  179. 


ANATOMY   OF   THE   WHALE,  53 

of  the  northern  shrimps,  that  joints  of  meat 
hung  out  by  Captain  Parry's  crew  from  the 
sides  of  the  ship  were  in  a  few  nights  picked 
to  the  very  bone,  and  nothing  could  be  placed 
within  their  reach  except  bodies  of  which  it 
was  desired  to  obtain  the  skeleton.  Many  of 
the  zoophytical  and  molluscous  orders,  particu- 
larly Actinia  sepia,  arid  several  species  of  ma- 
rine worms,  are  also  employed  in  devouring  and 
affording  food  to  various  other  animals." 

We  learn,  then,  that  the  law  of  mutual  con- 
sumption holds  throughout  the  wide  domain  of 
the  deep.  And  Byron  was  literally  correct  when 
saying,  in  his  apostrophe  to  the  Ocean, 

"  Even /row  out  thy  slime 
TJie  monsters  of  the  deep  are  made." 

The  internal  anatomy  of  a  whale  is  to  me 
a  subject  of  great  curiosity,  and  I  wish  it  were 
in  my  power  to  report  a  full  and  accurate,  lei- 
surely post-mortem  of  the  subjects  we  have 
discussed.  But  a  few  clinical  notes,  roughly 
taken  by  the  bed-side,  as  the  whalemen  were 
operating  between  wind  and  water  with  their 
professional  spades  and  lances  of  dissection. 


'54  THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

are  all  I  have  to  exhibit.  From  the  barrel- 
like  size  of  the  protruding  intestine  of  one 
of  the  whales  we  dissected,  or  more  properly 
peeled,  it  is  reasonable  to  infer  by  the  law  of 
relative  proportions  on  which  Agassiz  constructs 
a  fish  from  a  single  scale,  that  the  great  aorta 
of  one  of  the  .largest  kind  of  whales  can  be 
but  little  less  in  diameter  than  the  bore  of  the 
main  pipe  of  the  Croton  water- works ;  and  the 
water,  as  pursuing  its  passage  through  that 
pipe,  must  be  inferior  in  impetus  and  velocity 
to  the  blood  gushing  from  the  whale's  great 
heart,  when  his  pulse  beats  high  in  the  conflict 
with  his  captors. 

In  Dr.  Hunger's  account  to  the  Koyal  So- 
ciety of  the  dissection  of  only  a  small  whale 
cast  upon  the  coast  of  Yorkshire,  this  aorta  is 
stated  to  have  measured  a  foot  in  diameter.  In 
that  proportion,  fifteen  or  twenty  gallons  of 
living  blood  must  be  ordinarily  thrown  out  of 
the  heart  of  a  large  whale  at  a  stroke,  with  an 
immense  velocity,  through  the  great  bore  of  a 
blood-vessel,  or  rather  blood  aqueduct,  a  foot 
or  two  in  diameter. 


PHYSIOLOGY   OF   THE    WHALE.  56 

How,  then,  with  such  a  prodigious  current 
of  blood  constantly  flowing  and  needing  oxygen- 
ization  by  the  air,  the  whale  can  remain  under 
water  so  long,  (respiration  being  sometimes 
suspended  in  the  case  of  a  sperm  whale,  an 
hour  and  a  half),  it  was  difficult  to  conceive, 
until  dissection  discovered  that  in  the  cetaceous 
animals,  the  arterial  blood,  instead  of  passing 
into  the  venous  circulation,  the  ordinary  way, 
had  provided  for  it,  by  Creative  wisdom,  a 
structure  which  is  nothing  less  than  a  grand 
reservoir  for  the  reception  of  a  quantity  of 
arterial  blood,  which,  as  occasion  requires,  is 
emptied  into  the  general  circulation,  and  thus 
for  a  time  supersedes  the  necessity  of  respira- 
tion. Tt  may  be  that  the  accidental  piercing, 
now  and  then,  of  the  walls  of  this  reservoir  of 
arterial  blood,  by  the  harpoon  or  lance,  has 
something  to  do  with  the  whale's  occasional 
sinking  after  being  killed,  a  circumstance  not 
atisfactorily  explained. 

Until  within  a  few  years  this  gigantic  game 
has  been  so  abundant  in  the  general  ocean, 
that  whalemen  have  used  no  special  means  to 


56          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

keep  their  rich  prizes  from  sinking ;  but  when 
one  has  gone  down  worth  $1500  or  $2000,  or 
even  $3000,  they  have  taken  it  as  the  whale- 
man's fortune,  and,  with  but  little  lamentation, 
have  sought  compensation  by  the  capture  of 
others  instead.  In  some  voyages,  they  say, 
more  whales  have  been  sunk  than  have  been 
saved.  The  useless  devastation  thus  caused 
among  these  huge  denizens  of  the  deep  has 
been  very  great.  One  practical  whaleman  cal- 
culates the  number  of  whales  killed  in  one 
season  on  the  north-west  coast  of  America  and 
Kamtschatka  at  12,000,  out  of  which,  it  may  be 
thus  assumed,  several  thousands  to  have  been  lost. 
Would  whalemen  go  provided  with  buoys  of 
India-rubber  or  other  light  material,  ready  to 
be  bent  on  to  harpoons  to  be  darted  into  a 
whale's  carcass  as  soon  as  et  turned  up/'  or  when 
he  is  perceived  to  be  going  into  "  his  flurry," 
we  are  persuaded  that  many  thousands  of  bar- 
rels of  oil  might  be  saved,  and  not  a  few  poor 
voyages  would  be  made  good  ones.  According 
to  Commander  Wilkes's  Narrative  of  the  United 
States'  Exploring  Squadron,  the  Indians  of  the 


LOSS    OF   WHALES   BY   SINKING.  57 

north-west  coast  take  a  number  of  whales  an- 
nually, by  having  their  rude  fish  spears  fastened 
to  inflated  seal-skin  floats,  four  feet  long  and 
one  and  a  half  or  two  feet  broad,  which  tend  to 
keep  the  whale  on  the  top  of  the  water,  and 
allow  him  to  fall  a  comparatively  easy  prey. 
The  same  thing  used  to  be  effected  by  the  In- 
dians of  Cape  Cod,  having  their  fish  spears 
fastened  to  blocks  of  wood — in  lieu  of  which 
sperm  whalemen  now  use,  instead  of  a  buoyant 
float,  only  what  is  called  a  "  drag."  Now  that 
whales  are  getting  scarce,  we  think  it  impossible 
but  that  Yankee  sense  and  forehandedness  will 
soon  see  to  this,  and  go  prepared  against  such 
disheartening  catastrophes  as  losing  their  game 
by  its  sinking,  after  unsurpassed  skill  and  dar- 
ing have  made  it  fairly  their  own. 

If  owners  knew  how  much  might  be  saved 
by  it,  they  would  never  let  a  ship  go  from  port 
without  buoys  to  hold  up  dead  whales,  and  long 
hawsers  to  lay- to  with  by  them  in  gales  of  wind. 
The  Commodore  Preble  lost,  in  the  course  of 
tins  voyage,  seven  whales  by  sinking  after  they 
were  "  turned  up,"  and  three  from  alongside  in 


58  THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

rugged  weather,  from  the  want  of  a  long  and 
strong  hawser  to  secure  them  by  to  windward 
while  lying- to.  Six  of  our  boats  were  stove  in 
one  season  on  the  north-west  coast,  some  of  the 
crew  were  badly  hurt,  and  the  men  got  so  afraid 
of  a  whale,  that  some  of  them  would  hide  away 
when  the  order  was  given  to  lower. 

The  only  cause  I  have  ever  heard  assigned 
for  the  right  whale's  sinking  so  often,  is  by  hav- 
ing the  air-vessel,  which  Nature  is  thought  to 
have  provided  this  animal  with,  pierced  by  the 
lance  or  harpoon.  Any  one  can  see  that  a  few 
buoys  fastened  to  them  would  counterweigh 
this  tendency  to  sink;  for  so  moderate  is  the 
downward  force,  that  I  have  heard  of  whales 
being  hauled  up,  when  out  of  sight  below,  by 
four  boats'  crews  pulling  upon  the  tow-lines 
that  were  fast  to  the  harpoons  buried  in  the 
sinking  carcasses. 

Till  we  know  more  of  the  natural  history  of 
the  whale  than  we  yet  do,  its  sinking  so  appa- 
rently without  regular  cause  cannot  be  certainly 
accounted  for.  One  whaleman  says  that  he  has 
known  a  whale  of  the  largest  size,  which,  in 


LOSS    OF   WHALES   BY    SINKING.  59 

cutting  him  in,  proved  to  be  a  dry-skin — that 
is,  the  blubber  containing  much  of  a  milky 
fluid  instead  of  oil, — and  yet  the  whale  floated 
"  quite  light."  Again,  he  has  killed  a  whale 
with  a  single  lance,  which  sunk  like  a  stone, 
whilst  another,  after  lancing  a  hundred  times, 
likewise  sank.* 

An   ingenious   Frenchman,   I   am  told,    in 

*  The  tendency  of  the  whales  killed  in  tropical  climates  to 
sink  after  death,  admits,  perhaps,  of  the  simplest  explanation 
on  the  supposition  that  the  ordinary  specific  gravity  of  the 
animal  is  hut  very  little  less  than  that  of  sea- water.  Hence  in 
the  Arctic  regions,  where  the  specific  gravity  of  the  water  is 
increased  by  a  freezing  temperature,  the  cases  of  sinking  are 
very  unusual ;  whilst  the  same  description  of  animal,  being 
immersed  in  water  30°  to  50°  warmer,  might,  from  the  effects 
of  temperature  alone,  become  ordinarily  of  a  specific  gravity 
so  nearly  the  same  as  that  of  the  supporting  element  as  some- 
times to  sink,  sometimes  to  swim. 

But  to  illustrate  the  extent  of  this  influence  of  tempera- 
ture : — The  mean  specific  gravity  of  the  Greenland  Seas,  as 
shown  in  Scoresby's  Arctic  Regions  (vol.  i.,  p.  182,  183)  is 
1-0265  at  the  temperature  of  60°.  This  density,  reduced  to 
the  freezing  temperature,  would  be  1*0281,  or  to  a  tropical 
temperature  (80°)  1'0243.  The  difference,  in  its  effect  on  the 
Imoyancy  of  a  full-grown  whale  of  50  tons  weight,  would  be 
about  4  cwt. ;  that  is,  a  whale  with  a  floating  power  of  less 
than  4  cwt.,  in  the  Arctic  regions,  would,  in  a  sea  of  like  salt- 
ness  of  a  tropical  temperature,  sink. 

It  has  been  ascertained,  however,  by  the  above  authority, 
that  the  icy  seas  of  the  north  are  somewhat  less  salt  than  those 


60  THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

these  seas,  once  rigged  swivels  in  the  heads  of 
his  boats,  and  had  bladders  and  other  gear  to 
float  dead  whales ;  but  he  succeeded  with  it  all 
so  poorly,  that,  in  mortification  and  despair, 
when  he  put  into  one  of  the  ports  of  New  Zea- 
land, he  went  out  into  the  woods  and  shot 
himself  with  a  brace  of  pistols  through  both 
his  eyes.  I  think  some  quick-witted  Yankee 
would  do  better  to  give  his  attention  to  experi- 
menting in  this  line ;  and,  even  if  the  whales 
would  not  be  killed  or  floated,  he  would  not  be 
such  a  fool  as  to  blow  his  own  brains  out.  It 
is  a  true  saying  of  Massinger  : 

"  Who  kills  himself  to  avoid  misery,  fears  it, 
And  at  the  best  shows  a  bastard  valour ; 

which,    forasmuch    as   the   crime   is   becoming 

of  the  temperate  and  torrid  zones ;  and  Dr.  Marcet  has  con- 
cluded, from  numerous  specimens  of  sea-water  examined, 
that  the  mean  specific  gravity  of  the  equatorial  seas  is  1-02777. 
But  this  density,  though  greater  by  0-0013  than  that  of  the 
north  polar  seas  at  the  temperature  of  60°,  would  be  less  by 
0-0025  than  the  latter,  if  compared  at  their  actual  existing 
temperatures.  This  difference  would  yield  a  diminished  power 
of  notation  after  death  of  about  300  pounds  in  a  full-grown 
whale  in  seas  of  the  tropical  temperatures,  probably  sufficient 
to  account  for  the  greater  proportion  of  whales  sinking  in 
those  regions  than  in  those  of  a  perpetually  freezing  tempera- 
ture.— ED. 


REFLECTIONS    ON    SUICIDES.  61 

popular  now-a-days,  it  would  not  be  amiss  to 
put  a  stop  to,  by  enacting  a  law,  as  they  once 
did  in  ancient  Eome,  to  expose  the  body  of 
every  suicide  naked  in  the  market-place  after 
death. 


62  THE    WHALEMAN  S    ADVENTURES. 


CHAPTEE    V. 

THE  WHALE'S  PHYSIOLOGY  AND  NATURAL 
HISTORY. 

"  Spout !  spout !  spout ! 
The  waves  are  purling  all  about, 
Every  billow  on  its  head 
Strangely  wears  a  crest  of  red. 
See  her  lash  the  foaming  main 
In  her  flurry  and  her  pain. 

Take  good  heed,  my  hearts  of  oak, 
Lest  her  flukes,  as  she  lies, 
Swiftly  hurl  you  to  the  skies. 

But  lo  !  her  giant  strength  is  broke. 
Slow  she  turns,  as  a  mass  of  lead  ; 
The  mighty  mountain  whale  is  dead." 


The  Whale's  Physiology — Natural  History — Trying-out — 
Discovery  of  a  Whale — The  Chase — The  Capture — Towing 
a  dead  Whale. 

THEEE  are  some  points  in  the  whale's 
physiology,  and  in  the  way  of  disposing  of 
the  blubber,  not  noted  in  previous  chapters, 
which  are  so  well  described  in  parts  of  "  a 
sailor's  yarn"  that  I  have  found  in  a  loose  num- 
ber of  the  Sailor's  Magazine,  that  I  will  take 
from  it,  here  and  there,  with  corrections,  what 


WHALE'S  PHYSIOLOGY.  63 

may  be  wanting  to  complete  the  integrity  of 
our  description.  Although  it  is  difficult  to  de- 
scribe the  head  of  a  right  whale  without  the 
assistance  of  a  drawing,  yet  a  tolerably  cor- 
rect idea  may  be  obtained  of  it,  by  comparison 
with  known  shapes  and  objects,  and  by  accurate 
dimensions. 

It  is  curiously  adapted  to  the  habits  of  the 
animal,  and  is  unlike  any  other  head  in  nature. 
Its  general  shape  is  not  unlike  a  flat-soled, 
round-toed  shoe,  the  sides  being  straight,  and 
the  widest  part,  or  heel,  joining  the  body.  The 
lower  jaw  is,  say,  eight  or  ten  feet  wide,  where 
it  joins  the  body,  and  grows  narrower  toward 
the  nose,  so  that  when  the  jaw-bones  are  clean- 
ed from  the  flesh,  they  form  a  bluntly-pointed 
arch,  and  are  often  preserved  and  used  as  gate- 
posts ;  many  of  them  may  be  seen,  about  New 
Bedford  and  Nantucket,  applied  to  this  use. 
The  skull  or  crown  bone,  constituting  the  upper 
jaw,  is  a  single  bone  rounded  on  its  roof  or  top, 
about  four  or  five  feet  wide  at  the  neck,  and 
gradually  lessening  to  its  outward  extremity. 
To  this  bone  is  attached  the  whalebone  of  com- 


64  THE   WHALEMAN  S    ADVENTURES. 

merce,  which  is  in  slabs  averaging  about  a 
quarter  of  an  inch  thick.  The  longest  are  near 
the  middle  of  the  series,  and  are  eight  or  ten 
inches  wide  where  they  join  the  skull,  and  are 
in  a  large  whale  ten  to  twelve  feet  long,  nar- 
rowing to  a  point  as  they  approach  the  lower 
jaw. 

They  hang  perpendicularly  from  the  crown 
to  the  lower  jaw,  with  their  thickest  edges  put ; 
they  are  set  about  half  an  inch  apart,  some- 
thing like  the  slabs  of  a  Venetian  blind  made 
very  close.  The  inner  edge  of  each  slab  has  a 
fringe  of  hair  several  inches  long,  so  that  on 
looking  into  the  cavity  of  the  head,  the  sides  of 
it  appear  as  if  lined  with  felt  or  hair- cloth. 
Upon  the  lower  jaw  lies  the  enormous  tongue, 
which  is  a  mass  of  fat  containing  six  or  eight 
barrels :  it  appears  like  a  large  cushion  of  white 
satin,  so  exceedingly  soft  and  delicate  is  it. 
The  lips  are  attached  to  the  sides  of  the  lower 
jaw,  and  extend  nearly  the  whole  length  of 
the  head  on  each  side.  Except  when  feed- 
ing, they  are  closed  over  the  sides  of  the 
head,  their  upper  edges  fitting  to  the  skull  or 


NATURAL   HISTORY   OF   THE    WHALE.  65 

crown,  and  the  whole  head  appearing  as  a  solid 
mass. 

The  food  of  this  whale,  as  we  have  already 
observed,  is  a  species  of  shrimp,  of  a  blood-red 
colour.  Some  of  them  are  very  minute,  and 
few  are  found  more  than  half  an  inch  long; 
these  float  in  immense  shoals  on  the  surface  of 
the  ocean,  and  sometimes  colour  the  water  for 
miles.  When  the  whale  is  disposed  to  break 
his  fast,  he  rushes  through  a  field  of  shrimps 
with  open  mouth,  until  he  has  received  myr- 
iads of  the  little  animals;  then  the  water  is 
forced  out  between  the  slabs  which  I  have  de- 
scribed, leaving  the  shrimps  attached  to  the 
hairy  strainer  within  ;  by  means  of  the  tongue 
they  are  collected,  and  the  delicate  mouthful  is 
conveyed  to  his  capacious  stomach. 

When  "cutting  in  a  whale,"  as  the  carcass 
rolls  over  by  the  power  of  the  windlass,  the  lips, 
which  are  composed  entirely  of  hard  blubber, 
are  cut  off  and  hoisted  on  board  as  they  present 
themselves.  The  crown  bone  is  also  disjointed 
from  the  body,  and  is  hoisted  in  with  tin1 
whalebone  attached  to  it.  A  very  large  head 


66          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

produces  near  two  thousand  pounds.  The 
tongue  and  the  fins  are  also  saved  ;  so  that 
when  the  carcass  is  turned  adrift,  after  being 
properly  stripped,  very  little  oily  matter  falls 
to  the  share  of  the  birds,  who  make  a  ter- 
rible clamour,  however,  in  quarrelling  for  that 
little. 

The  "blubber-room"  is  a  space  under  the 
main  hatch,  between  decks,  capable  of  receiv- 
ing the  blubber  of  two  or  three  whales ;  into 
this  every  piece  is  lowered  as  it  comes  from 
the  whale  :  these  are  called  "  blanket  pieces/' 
and  some  of  them  weigh  one  or  two  tons. 
As  they  are  piled  one  on  another,  the  press- 
ure of  their  own  weight,  with  the  motion  of 
the  ship,  which  is  never  at  rest,  causes  the 
oil  soon  to  exude,  and,  mixing  with  the  blood, 
more  or  less  of  which  comes  in  with  each  piece, 
the  blubber-room  soon  presents  an  indescrib- 
able mess. 

Into  this  odorous  retreat  it  is  the  duty  of 
one  man  immediately  to  descend  with  a  cut- 
ting-spade, to  commence  cutting  the  "  blanket 
pieces  into  "horse  pieces; "  these  are  about  a  foot 


TRYING    OUT.  «7 

square,  and  by  means  of  a  pike  or  fork,  are 
pitched  up  on  deck  for  mincing,  and  taken  to 
the  "  mincing  horse/'  a  small  table  secured  to 
the  rail  of  the  ship,  where  a  boy  with  a  short- 
handled  hook,  holds  the  piece  to  keep  it  from 
sliding,  while  the  mincer,  with  a  two-handed 
knife  slashes  it  nearly  through  into  thin  slices, 
which  just  hang  together;  the  piece  then  be- 
comes a  "  book,"  and  is  pitched  into  a  large 
tub  ready  for  boiling. 

A  fire  is  now  kindled  in  the  arches  under 
the  pots,  which  are  two  or  three  in  number, 
firmly  set  in  brick-work,  and  each  capable  of 
Containing  a  hogshead  of  oil.  A  small  quantity 
of  oil  is  first  put  in  each,  and,  as  soon  as  it  be- 
•  •onios  heated,  fresh  blubber  is  added,  until 
the  pots  are  full,  when  a  portion  from  each 
is  baled  out  with  a  large  ladle  into  a  copper 
cooler,  from  whence  it  is  received  into  c; 
and  stowed  below.  The  operation  of  boiling 
continues  day  and  night  until  the  whole  is 
finished,  and  sometimes,  when  whales  are 
jil'-ntiful,  the  fires  are  scarcely  put  out  until 
-iiip  is  lilh'd. 

F  '2 


68  THE  WHALEMAN  S    ADVENTURES. 

With  such  an  intense  fire  over  a  wooden 
deck  and  frame  for  weeks  together,  and,  with 
tarred  cordage  and  canvass  above,  both  of 
which  would  burn  like  tinder,  it  may  seem 
strange  that  so  few  ships  take  fire.  Close  atten- 
tion and  untiring  vigilance  can  alone  prevent 
it.  If  the  "pen"  under  the  works,  which 
should  be  kept  full  of  water,  happen  to 
spring  a  leak  in  the  night  without  being  ob- 
served, a  short  time  only  would  be  sufficient 
to  envelop  the  ship  in  flames.  Sometimes, 
too,  a  pot  full  of  boiling  oil  will  burst  with- 
out any  apparent  cause,  and  let  its  contents 
into  the  fire  beneath.  Several  ships  have 
been  destroyed  by  such  an  accident. 

Frequently  the  oil  in  a  pot  rises  at  once  and 
boils  over,  communicating  fire  to  the  others: 
this  is  generally  checked  by  means  of  covers 
which  are  kept  at  hand  to  smother  the  flame ; 
but,  though  not  an  uncommon  occurrence,  it  is 
attended  with  considerable  danger.  The  colour 
of  the  oil  depends  much  upon  the  mode  of 
boiling  it.  Unless  the  pots  are  kept  perfectly 
clean,  and  no  sediment  permitted  to  adhere  to 


TRYING-OUT. 

the  bottom,  the  oil  will  be  dark  and  of  inferior 
value.  It  is  necessary,  therefore,  that  one  man 
be  constantly  employed  in  stirring  the  mass, 
whilst  it  is  the  duty  of  another  to  skim  out  the 
scraps  as  fast  as  they  are  "  done :"  these  are 
used  for  fuel,  no  wood  being  necessary  after  the 
fire  is  fairly  started. 

The  blubber  on  a  fat  whale  is  sometimes,  in 
its  thickest  parts,  from  fifteen  to  twenty  inches 
thick,  though  seldom  more  than  a  foot ;  it  is  of 
a  coarser  texture  and  much  greasier  than  fat 
pork. 

Both  the  sperm  and  right  whale  are  usually 
of  a  jet  black  colour,  but  not  unfrequently  the 
right  whale  is  found  with  irregular  spots  of  a 
milky  whiteness,  very  like  those  on  a  pied 
horse.  The  skin  of  both  kinds  is  similar. 
Outside  of  the  sensible  skin,  which  has  no 
peculiarity,  there  is  a  coat  of  something  re- 
sembling fur,  very  close  and  compact,  and  the 
fibres  united  by  a  glutinous  matter,  so  as  to  ivn- 
der  it  about  as  hard  as  the  rind  of  a  new  cheese: 
tins  is  termed  the  "black  skin,"  and  is  about 
half  an  im-h  thick.  Still  outside  of  this  is  a 


70          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

very  thin  and  delicate  skin,  which  when  first 
detached  from  the  body,  whence  it  is  easily 
stripped,  very  nearly  resembles  a  glossy  black 
silk ;  and  when  the  whale  basks  in  the  sunbeams 
on  the  surface  of  the  water,  its  smooth  outer 
covering  glistens  as  if  it  were  from  the  looms  of 
France  or  Italy,  so  much  is  it  like  the  shining 
silk. 

As  soon  as  the  business  of  the  voyage  is 
fairly  commenced  by  taking  the  first  whale,  the 
appearance  of  the  ship  and  her  crew  wofully 
chaoges  for  the  worse.  The  decks,  which  have 
hitherto  been  kept  scrupulously  clean,  are  now 
covered  with  oil,  and  it  is  only  by  keeping 
a  thick  coat  of  sand  scattered  over  them,  that 
the  crew  are  enabled  to  get  about  without  slip- 
ping. The  smoke  from  the  try-works  blackens 
every  face,  so  that  the  watch  on  deck  resembles 
a  party  of  colliers.  Each  rope,  too,  exposed  to 
its  influence,  is  coated  with  lamp-black,  and  the 
clothing  of  the  men  saturated  with  oil.  Even 
the  sails,  which  on  the  passage  were  of  a  snowy 
whiteness,  receive  their  share  of  defilement; 
for,  as  they  are  handed  every  night,  the  men, 


TRYING-OUT.  71 

as  they  spring  aloft  from  the  try-works  with 
besmeared  hands  and  clothes,  cannot  furl  them 
without  leaving  a  mark  wherever  they  touch. 

Your  ship,  perhaps,  has  been  thoroughly 
scrubbed  and  cleansed,  crew  cleared  of  "  gurry," 
and  all  again  made  ship-shape  and  tidy,  when, 
just  after  dinner,  as  all  hands  are  on  deck,  the 
welcome  cry  is  raised,  "There  she  blows!" 
"  Where  away  ?"  says  the  captain,  hailing  the 
man  aloft.  "  About  two  points  on  the  lee  bow, 
sir/'  "  There  she  blows !  There  she  blows  ! " 
is  shouted  again,  and  echoed  back  by  a  dozen 
voices  all  agog.  The  mate,  if  lively,  is  soon 

aloft.  "What  do  you  make  them,  Mr. ?  ' 

says  the  captain,  mounted  on  a  thwart  in  the 
quarter  boat,  and  scanning  the  horizon  with  the 
most  eager  interest.  "  I  can't  make  'em  out 
yet,  sir.  There 's  three  or  four  of  'em  ;  and 
they're  going  quick  to  windward." 

Presently  there  sings  out  one  from  the  fore- 
iMp-^ill;int  yard,  "There  goes  flu-u-u-kes — 
flukes."  This  is  always  decisive  of  the  kind  ; 
t«»r  the  rnjht  whale,  after  breathing  or  blowing 
,i  iVw  moments  on  the  surface,  pitches  down 


72  THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

head  foremost  into  the  deep,  and  as  the  head 
descends,  the  tail  rises  with,  a  graceful  curve 
above  the  water,  and  for  a  moment  is  seen  in 
nearly  a  vertical  position,  and  then  slowly  dis- 
appears. All  now  in  your  ship  is  eagerness 
and  engrossment  in  the  motions  of  your  game, 
and  every  man  is  intent  at  his  station.  The 
tubs  of  lines  have  just  been  put  into  the  boats  ; 
the  harpoons  and  lances  adjusted  in  their  proper 
places,  ready  for  action. 

"Lower  away!"  at  length  cries  the  mate, 
and  every  boat  is  instantly  resting  on  the  water, 
manned  by  their  respective  crews.  "  Give  way, 
my  lads  !"  is  the  next  you  hear,  and  the  boats 
are  leaping  as  if  alive  toward  the  point  where 
the  whale  was  last  seen.  All  orders  are  now 
given  in  a  low  tone ;  every  man  is  doing  his 
utmost,  and  the  boats  are  springing  over  the 
smooth  swells,  each  striving  to  be  headmost  in 
the  chase.  "  Now  we  rested,  with  our  oars 
apeak,"  says  a  sailor,  narrating  an  actual  scene 
like  this,  "for  the  whales,  who  had  gone  down, 
to  break  water  again.  Presently  they  were  up 
and  blowing  all  around,  and  very  much  scattered, 


CHASE    OF   THE   WHALE.  73 

being  alarmed  by  the  boats,  so  that  it  was  im- 
possible to  get  near  enough  for  a  dart.  But  at 
one  time  five  of  the  monsters  rose  close  to  our 
boats.  The  mate  motioned  us  all  to  be  silent, 
when  we  could  have  fastened  to  one,  and  the 
only  reason,  as  we  supposed,  why  he  did  not, 
was  because  he  was  so  frightened. 

"  The  whale  now  ran  to  the  southward,  and 
every  boat  was  in  chase  as  fast  as  we  could 
spring  to  our  oars.  The  first  mate's  boat  was 
headmost  in  the  chase,  ours  next,  and  the  cap- 
tain's about  half  a  mile  astern.  The  foremost 
now  came  up  with  and  fastened  to  a  large 
whale.  We  were  soon  on  the  battle  ground, 
and  saw  him  struggling  to  free  himself  from 
the  barbed  harpoon,  which  had  gone  deep  into 
his  huge  carcass.  We  pulled  upon  the  mon- 
ster, and  our  boat-steerer  darted  another  har- 
poon into  him.  *  Stern  all !'  shouted  the  mate. 
k  SUTII  all,  for  your  lives!'  We  steered  out 
of  the  reach  of  danger,  and  peaked  our  oars. 

"  The  whale  now  ran,  and  took  the  line  out 
<'f  tin-  boat  with  such  swiftness  that  we  were 
obliged  to  throw  water  on  it  to  prevent  its 


74  THE    WHALEMAN  S    ADVENTURES. 

taking  fire  by  friction  around  the  loggerhead. 
Then  he  stopped,  and  blindly  thrashed  and 
rolled  about  in  great  agony,  so  that  it  seemed 
madness  to  approach  him.  By  this  time,  how- 
ever, the  captain  came  up  and  boldly  darted 
another  harpoon  into  his  writhing  body.  The 
enraged  whale  raised  his  head  above  the  water, 
snapped  his  horrid  jaws  together,  and  in  his 
senseless  fury  lashed  the  sea  into  foam  with 
his  flukes.  The  mate  now,  in  his  turn,  ap- 
proached near  enough  to  bury  a  lance  deep 
in  his  vitals,  and  shouted  again,  at  the  top  of 
his  voice,  'Stern  all!'  A  thick  stream  of 
blood,  instead  of  water,  was  soon  issuing  from 
his  spout-holes.  Another  lance  was  buried ; 
he  was  thrown  into  dying  convulsions,  and  ran 
around  in  a  circle ;  but  his  flurry  was  soon 
over ;  he  turned  upon  his  left  side,  and  floated 
dead.  We  gave  three  hearty  cheers,  and  took 
him  in  tow  for  the  ship,  which  was  now  about 
fifteen  miles  off." 

This  towing  of  captured  whales  is  no  boy's 
play;  although  it  is  one  of  the  pleasantest 
parts  of  a  whaleman's  duty,  it  is  also  often 


TOWING    A    DEAD   WHALE.  7-3 

the  most  laborious,  and  fraught,  too,  with 
danger,  when  the  ship  is  distant  and  nightfall 
at  hand.  Under  a  fierce  equatorial  sun,  to  row 
for  hours,  perhaps  right  to  windward  or  in  a 
dead  calm,  with  a  carcass  of  seventy  tons'  weight 
dragging  astern,  will  blister  the  hands  and 
strain  the  muscles  of  the  hardiest  whaleman, 
and  wearied  nature  will  sometimes  give  out. 
But  it  is  cheerfully  endured  for  the  end  in 
view,  of  cutting  in,  and  trying  out,  and  stowing 
down  a  "  hundred  barreler,"  that  will  net  to 
the  ship  three  thousand  or  fifteen  hundred 
dollars,  according  as  it  is  a  sperm  or  a  right 
whale.  If  "money  makes  the  mare  to  go," 
so  does  oil  the  crew  of  a  "  blubber  hunter," 
from  the  green  cabin-boy  to  the  sable  doctor. 


76          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

DIFFERENT    CRUIZING    GROUNDS    AND    NORTH- 
WEST   WHALING. 

"  Thou  didst,  0  Lord !  create  the  mighty  whale, 

That  wondrous  monster  of  prodigious  length  : 
Vast  are  his  head  and  body,  vast  his  tail ; 

Beyond  conception  his  unmeasured  strength. 
When  he  the  surface  of  the  sea  hath  broke, 

Arising  from  the  dark  abyss  below, 
His  breath  appears  a  lofty  stream  of  smoke, 

The  circling  waves  like  glittering  banks  of  snow." 

Anon. 


Different  cruizing  grounds — Variety  of  Whales — Gambols  of 
the  Fin-back — Various  resorts  of  the  Whale — A  veteran 
Whaler — Boat  destroyed — History  of  North-west  Whaling 
—  Yearly  destruction  of  Whales — Diminution  of  Whales. 

IT  will  be  readily  surmised  that  none  but  a 
genuine  son  of  the  sea,  a  veritable  Cape 
Homer,  "  homeward  bound,"  in  the  great 
South  Pacific  could  make  these  characteristic 
rhymes,  and  many  other  rude  but  expressive 
ones,  which  we  have  not  room  to  transcribe 
here.  The  sailor  that  made  them  says  of  him- 
self, in  the  course  of  some  doggrel  staves  of 
autobiography, 


VARIETY   OF   WHALES.  77 

"  I  twice  into  the  dark  abyss  was  cast, 
Straining  and  struggling  to  retain  my  breath  ; 

Thy  waves  and  billows  over  me  were  past ; 
Thou  didst,  0  Lord,  deliver  me  from  death." 


Different  practised  whalemen  tell  of  twelve 
or  fourteen  different  species  of  this  great  sea 
monster :  right,  sperm,  black-fish,  hump-back, 
r;i/or-back,  fin-back,  grampus,  sulphur-bottom, 
killer,  cow-fish,  porpoise,  narwhale,  scrag  whale, 
and  elephant  whale.  In  the  attempt  to  cap- 
ture one  of  the  latter  kind,  a  New  London  ship, 
not  long  since,  lost  eleven  men,  including  the 
first  mate.  The  first  four,  only,  of  this  cata- 
logue are  much  sought  after  for  their  oil ;  now 
and  then  some  of  the  others  are  taken  by  chance. 
The  razor-back  is  sometimes  met  with  one 
hundred  and  five  feet  long,  but  not  so  large 
round  as  the  right  whale,  bearing  about  the 
same  comparison  to  the  latter  that  a  razor-faced 
fellow  you  now  and  then  meet  with  among 
men  does  to  a  fair,  round  alderman.  The  por- 
]>oise,  as  every  one  knows,  is  harpooned  from 
a  ship's  bow,  hauled  on  board,  and  its  carcass 

n    by   the  name   of  "  sea  beef."     Its   oil, 


78          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

like   the  ship's  slush,   is   a   perquisite    of  the 
cook's. 

The  fin-back,  so  called  from  a  large  fin  on 
the  ridge  of  its  back,  looking  just  like  the  gno- 
mon of  a  dial,  is  a  large  whale  found  all  over 
the  ocean,  and  could  it  be  taken,  would  add 
greatly  to  the  productiveness  of  the  whale  fish- 
ery. It  often  comes  near  a  ship  with  a  ringing 
noise,  in  spouting,  like  the  sound  of  bell-metal 
but  it  can  seldom  be  so  closely  approached  by  a 
boat  as  to  dart  a  harpoon ;  and  when  it  is  struck, 
it  is  said  to  run  with  such  amazing  swiftness 
as  to  render  the  safe  management  of  line  im- 
practicable. Its  spout  at  a  distance,  especially 
near  the  Falkland  Islands,  where  I  have  seen 
them  in  great  numbers,  flashes  up  from  the 
ocean  just  like  smoke  from  the  breech  of  a  gun 
fired  on  a  frosty  morning.  I  have  seen  the 
horizon  thus,  for  an  extent  of  many  miles, 
smoking  with  them,  and  the  ocean  all  alive  with 
their  gambols.  It  is  not  a  thing  beyond  the 
reach  of  probability  that  this  hitherto  unmolested 
sea-rover  may  yet  be  brought  within  the  all- 
powerful  grasp  of  predatory  man  by  swivels  or 


VARIOUS    RESORTS   OF   THE    WHALE.  79 

air-guns,  that  shall  fire  harpoons  or  poisoned 
arrows  into  him,  from  a  distance. 

The  places  where  the  right  whale  is  now 
most  sought  by  the  adventurous  American 
whalemen  are,  in  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  on  what  are 
called  Main  and  False  Banks,  between  Africa 
; iml  Brazil,  the  parts  around  the  Falkland  Islands 
and  Patagonia,  and  the  region  of  ocean  in  mid- 
Atlantic,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Island  of  Tristan 
d'Acunha ;  in  the  Southern  Ocean,  south  of  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope,  near  the  uninhabited 
Crozettes  Islands,  St.  Paul's,  and  other  parts  of 
the  Indian  Ocean ;  in  the  Pacific  Ocean,  about 
the  New  Zealand,  New  Holland,  Chili,  and  the 
North-west,  cruising  ground ;  from  the  coast  of 
America  clear  over  to  Kamtschatka. 

This  last  is  now  the  great  harvest- field  of 
American  whalers  from  May  to  October ;  and  it 
will  bo  likely  to  last  longer  than  any  other,  be- 
oause  of  b»'ing  prohibited  by  the  Russians  from 

whaling,  \vhich  destroys  the  cows  about  tin- 
nine  of  calving.  Almost  all  ships  fill  up  there. 
Son  if  have  even  thrown  overboard  useful  stores 
to  make  way  for  oil.  The  havoc  they  make  of 


whales  is  immense.  There  were  ships 
during  the  season  of  1848,  obtained  twei 
to  even  thirty- three  hundred  barrels  of  < 
few  months.  I  have  heard  of  one  ship  tl 
twenty- six  whales  by  sinking  after  the 
killed  ;  of  another  that  killed  nine  bef< 
saved  one;  of  another  that  killed  six 
day,  and  all  of  them  sunk;  of  anotb 
had  three  boats  stove,  and  all  the  men  ] 
into  the  sea,  without  any  one  being  lost, 
forced  trial  of  hydropathy  is,  indeed,  so  c< 
an  occurrence,  that  whalemen  make  r 
of  it. 

Those  huge  north-west  whales  art 
vicious,  and  less  easily  approached  aftt 
are  struck,  than  the  whales  of  other  lai 
It  is  considered  no  disgrace  to  be  run  aw* 
by  one  of  those  jet-black  fellows,  found  ii 
five  or  fifty  degrees  north ;  and  many 
whaler,  who  had  made  his  boast  that  ne 
did  a  whale  run  off  with  him,  has  been  con 
to  give  in  as  beaten  when  fast  to  one  o 
"  Northwest  Tartars." 

One  captain  says  he  has  seen  instai 


A   VETETIAN    WHALER.  81 

the  most  wonderful  strength  and  activity  in 
these  whales,  greater  than  he  ever  saw  before  in 
( itlin-  right  or  sperm.  He  was  once  fast  to  a 
large  cow  whale,  which  was  in  company  with  a 
small  one,  a  full-grown  calf.  They  kept  together, 
and  after  a  time  the  captain  hauled  his  boat  up 
between  them.  When  they  were  both  within 

-  h,  he  shoved  his  lance  "  into  the  life  "  of  the 
cow,  at  which  she  threw  her  flukes  and  the 
small  part  of  her  body  completely  over  the  head 
of  the  boat  without  touching  it  (although  they 
were  half- drowned  with  the  water  she  scooped  up), 
and  the  full  weight  of  the  blow,  intended  for 
tin.1  boat,  fell  upon  the  back  of  the  other  whale. 
It  sunk  immediately,  going  down  bent  nearly 
double,  and,  the  captain  thinks,  must  have  been 
killed  by  the  blow.  The  same  person  has  seen 
a  stout  hickory  pole,  three  inches  in  diameter, 
and  six  feet  long,  broken  into  four  pieces  by  a 
blow  from  a  whale's  tail,  and  the  pieces  sent 
fixing  twenty  feet  into  the  air,  and  that,  too, 
when  no  other  resistance  was  offered  than  that 
of  the  water  upon  which  it  floated. 

The  first  whale  this  man  struck  in  that  fish- 


82          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

ing  region  turned  him  over  in  two  different 
boats,  and  afterward  "  knocked  them  into  kind- 
ling wood,"  while  spouting  blood  in  thick  clots; 
and  yet  this  whale,  with  singular  tenacity  of  life, 
lived  four  hours  afterward.  He  came  up  along- 
side the  boat,  and  turned  it  over  with  his  nose, 
and  then,  with  his  flukes,  deliberately  broke  it 
up.  Of  course  the  crew  had  to  take  to  Nature's 
oars,  and  they  all  marvellously  escaped  unhurt, 
although  one  of  them  was  carried,  sitting  upon 
the  whale's  flukes,  several  rods,  till  he  slid  off 
unharmed  from  his  strange  sea-chariot.  This 
man  could  say,  in  one  of  the  sailor's  rude  rhymes 
whom  we  have  already  quoted, 

"  Although  he  furiously  doth  us  assail, 

Thou  dost  preserve  us  from  all  danger  free. 

He  cuts  our  boat  in  pieces  with  his  tail, 
A.nd  spills  us  all  at  once  into  the  sea." 

This  northwest  cruising  ground  was  first 
visited  in  the  spring  of  1836  by  two  or  three  of 
the  Chilian  whalers,  who  saw,  indeed,  numerous 
whales,  but  gave  it  as  their  opinion  that  the 
fishery  could  never  be  prosecuted  there  with  any 
success,  by  reason  of  constant  and  dense  fogs. 


HISTORY    OF    NORTH-WEST    WHALING.          83 

The  following  year  several  more  of  the  Chilian 
fleet  started  to  the  northward,  "between  seasons," 
and,  looking  further  to  the  north  and  westward, 
found  better  weather,  and  made  a  good  cruise. 
During  the  three  years  following  few  ships  were 
found  there ;  but,  upon  the  almost  entire  failure 
of  the  southern  whale  fishery,  the  right  whale- 
men were  forced  to  turn  their  prows  to  those  in- 
hospitable seas,  and  the  north-west  became  a 
very  El  Dorado  to  the  intrepid  American 
whalers.  This  cruising  ground  extends  properly 
from  the  thirty-fourth  to  the  fifty-ninth  degree  of 
north  latitude,  and  from  the  coast  of  America, 
in  west  longitude  say  one  hundred  and  thirty,  to 
the  meridian  of  one  hundred  and  seventy  < 
longitude,  or  about  sixty  degrees.  The  largest 
whales  are  said  to  have  been  found  between  fifty 
and  sixty  degrees  north  latitude,  and  from  one 
hundred  and  forty-five  to  one  hundred  and 
eighty  degrees  west  longitude.  At  the  I 
I  slands,  in  latitude  fifty-two  degrees  north,  sperm 
\\lialesof  the  largest  size  have  been  found, 
uell  as  ri^ht  whales  ;  and  near  the  peuinsul;. 
Al;i>ka  tlu-y  are  very  \\\\ 


84          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

Intelligence  from  the  northern  whaling 
ground  of  latest  date  shows  that  the  Arctic 
Ocean  has  been  entered  at  Behring's  Straits  by 
our  intrepid  American  whalemen.  Captain 
Boys,  of  the  bark  Superior,  from  Sag  Harbor, 
was  thus  reported  in  the  Sandwich  Island 
Honolulu  Friend  :  "  I  entered  the  Arctic  Ocean 
about  the  middle  of  July,  (1848),  and  cruised 
from  continent  to  continent,  going  as  high  as 
latitude  seventy,  and  saw  whales  wherever  I 
went,  cutting  in  my  last  whale  on  the  23rd  of 
August,  and  returning,  through  Behring's  Straits, 
on  the  28th  of  the  same  month.  On  account 
of  powerful  currents,  thick  fogs,  the  near  vicinity 
of  land  and  ice,  combined  with  the  imperfection 
of  charts  and  want  of  information  respecting 
this  region,  I  found  it  both  difficult  and  danger- 
ous to  get  oil,  although  there  were  plenty  of 
whales.  Hereafter,  doubtless,  many  ships  will 
go  there,  and  I  think  there  ought  to  be  some 
provision  made  to  save  the  lives  of  those  who 
go  there,  should  they  be  cast  away." 

During  the  entire  period  of  his  cruise  no 
ice  was  seen,  and  the  weather  was  ordinarily 


NORTH-WEST   WHALING.  85 

pleasant,  so  that  the  men  could  work  in  light 
clothing.  In  most  parts  of  the  ocean  there  was 
good  anchorage,  from  fourteen  to  thirty-five 
fathoms,  and  a  part  of  the  time  the  vessel  lay 
at  anchor.  The  first  whale  was  taken  at  twelve 
o'clock  at  night.  It  was  not  difficult  to  whale 
the  whole  twenty-four  hours,  it  being  so  light 
that  it  was  easy  to  read  in  the  cabin  at  midnight. 
The  whales  were  quite  tame,  but  different  from 
any  Captain  Koys  had  ever  before  taken.  He 
captured  three  different  species,  one  of  the 
largest  yielding  two  hundred  barrels  of  oil. 
The  first  species  much  resembled  the  Greenland 
whale,  affording  one  hundred  and  sixty  or 
seventy  barrels.  The  second  was  a  species 
called  Polar  whale,  a  few  of  which  have  been 
taken  before  on  the  North-west  Coast ;  and  the 
the  third  was  a  small  whale  peculiar  to  that 
ocean.  The  last  three  whales  which  were  taken 
yielded  together  over  six  hundred  barrels. 

It  is  the  opinion  of  Lieutenant  Maury  of  the 
United  States  National  Observatory,  that  all 
the  whales  in  the  Pacific  Ocean  have  particular 
resorts  at  certain  seasons  of  the  year,  where  the 


86  THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

whalers  may  generally  expect  to  find  them,  just 
as  the  shad,  salmon,  herring,  and  other  fish  are 
periodically  found.  He  is  endeavouring  to  work 
out  this  conclusion,  and  to  fix  the  localities  of 
whales'  resorts  by  a  comparison  of  the  logs  of 
a  vast  number  of  whalers.  It  is  easy  to  see 
that,  if  he  should  succeed,  it  will  be  of  great 
importance  to  the  whaling  interest,  as  it  will 
reduce  the  expense  of  outfits  by  shortening  the 
time  of  voyages,  and  making  their  results  more 
sure  and  speedy, 

If  we  inquire  into  the  probable  duration  of 
the  North-west  whaling,  including  this  Arctic 
opening,  there  seems  good  reason  to  believe, 
from  the  extent  of  ocean  it  embraces,  greater 
than  all  the  other  cruising  grounds  together, 
that  it  will  continue  good  at  least  twenty  or 
twenty-five  years  from  its  commencement.  An 
experienced  captain  thinks  that  as  there  is  not, 
nor  is  likely  to  be,  any  bay  whaling  on  this 
cruising  ground,  the  whales  will  be  less  con- 
stantly hunted,  and  nearly  all  the  calves  born 
will  arrive  at  an  age  when  they  can  take  care  of 
themselves  before  the  old  whales  are  encountered 


YEARLY   DESTRUCTION    OF   WHALES.  87 

in  the  summer  season  by  their  most  formidable 
enemy,  man.  He  estimates  that  by  three  hun- 
dred ships  capturing  or  mortally  wounding  forty 
whales  each,  twelve  thousand  whales  are  killed 
in  a  season  ;  and  as  many  of  these,  perhaps  full 
half,  would  probably  be  cows  with  calf,  the 
number  of  whales  to  be  born  and  arrive  at 
maturity,  in  order  to  make  up  for  this  sweeping 
destruction  among  them,  must  be  not  less  than 
eighteen  thousand.  He  thinks,  therefore,  that 
the  poor  whale,  chased  from  sea  to  sea,  and  from 
haunt  to  haunt,  is  doomed  to  utter  extermina- 
tion, or  so  near  it,  that  too  few  will  remain  to 
tempt  the  cupidity  of  man. 

The  history  of  the  sperm  whale  fishery,  from 
the  first,  when  only  five  or  six  months  were 
necessary  to  complete  a  cargo  upon  the  Brazil 
ground,  and  fifteen  upon  that  of  Chili,  to  its 
present  almost  entire  abandonment  as  a  separate 
business,  confirms  this  calculation.  Before  the 
end  of  the  present  century,  therefore,  judging 
from  the  past,  is  it  not  likely  that  the  hunting 
of  whales  on  the  sea  will  be  any  more  prosecuted 
as  a  commercial  business,  than  the  hunting  of 


88          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

deer  on  the  land  ?  In  one  part  of  the  world 
they  have  been  driven  to  the  deepest  recesses  of 
Baffin's  Bay,  and  in  another  to  the  very  confines 
of  the  Pacific,  and  off  to  the  icebergs  of  the 
antarctic  zone.  "  Whether  their  mammoth 
bones  in  some  distant  century  shall  indicate  to 
the  untaught  natives  of  the  shores  they  now 
frequent  that  such  an  animal  was,  or  whether, 
lurking  in  the  inaccessible  and  undisturbed 
waters  north  of  Asia  and  America,  the  race  shall 
be  preserved,  is  almost  a  problem/' 

"  They  roamed,  they  fed,  they  slept,  they  died,  and  left 
Race  after  race  to  roam,  feed,  sleep,  then  die, 
And  leave  their  like  through  endless  generations : 
So  HE  ordained,  whose  way  is  in  the  sea, 
His  path  amid  great  waters,  and  his  steps 
Unknown !" 


ACCOUNT    OF   WHALES. 


CHAPTEK    VII. 

THE  WHALE'S  BIOGRAPHY,  AND  INCIDENTS  IN 
THE  CAPTURE. 

"  The  -whale  he  shall  still  be  dear  to  me, 
When  the  midnight  lamp  grows  dim  ; 
For  the  student's  book,  and  his  favourite  nook, 

Are  illumined  by  aid  of  him. 
From  none  of  his  tribe  could  we  ere  imbibe 
So  useful,  so  blessed  a  thing, 
hen  hand  in  hand  we  '11  go  on  the  land, 
To  hail  him  the  ocean  king." 

Sailor's  Song. 

Account  of  Whales — Care  for  their  young — Sperm  Whale 
feeding — Sperm  Whale  dying — Ambergris — Deformities  of 
Whales — Size  of  Whale's  Calf — Natural  enemies  of  the 
Whale— Fight  with  a  Killer— Sword-fish  and  Thrasher- 
Sea  Serpent  and  Whale — Opinion  of  an  old  Sailor — Sab- 
bath desecration. 

IN  continuing  our  inquiries  into  the  peculiari- 
ties of  whales  and  incidents  of  whaling,  it  is 
to  be  remarked  of  the  great  right  whale  (Balaena 
Mysticetus),  that,  like  the  hugest  of  all  land 
animals,  its  disposition  is  mild  and  inoffensive. 
It  never  shows  fight  except  when  wounded,  and 
then  in  an  awkward,  and  blind  way,  that  proves 
it  is  not  used  to  war  either  offensively  or  defen- 


90  THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

sively.  Its  immediate  recourse  is  to  flight,  ex- 
cept when  it  has  young  to  look  out  for,  and  then 
it  is  bold  as  a  lion,  and  manifests  an  affection 
which  is  itself  truly  affecting.  It  grazes  quietly 
through  the  great  deep,  never  using  its  prodigi- 
ous strength  to  seize  or  lord  it  over  other  inhab- 
itants of  the  seas,  but  strains  its  insect-like  food 
through  its  admirably  contrived  apparatus  of 
bone  and  hair,  that  strikingly  evinces  His  bene- 
ficence and  wise  design, 

"  Whose  creating  hand 
Nothing  imperfect  or  deficient  left 
Of  all  that  he  created." 

It  makes  one  think  of  the  couplet  we  used  to 
read  when  boys,  in  the  New  England  Primer : 

"  "Whales  in  the  sea 

God's  voice  obey. 

Even  the  mute  fish  that  swim  the  flood, 
Leap  up,  and  mean  the  praise  of  God." 

I  have  heard  of  one  of  these  whales  with  a 
cub,  when  driven  into  shoal  water,  being  seen 
to  swim  around  its  young,  and  sometimes  to 
embrace  it  with  her  fins,  and  roll  over  with  it  in 
the  waves,  evincing  the  tenderest  maternal  soli- 
citude. Then,  as  if  aware  of  the  impending 


MATERNAL  AFFECTION  OF  WHALES.     91 

peril  of  her  inexperienced  offspring,  as  the  boat 
drew  near,  she  would  run  round  her  calf  in  de- 
creasing circles,  and  try  to  decoy  it  seaward, 
showing  the  utmost  uneasiness  and  anxiety. 
Reckoning  well  that,  the  calf  once  struck,  the 
dam  would  never  desert  it,  the  only  care  of  the 
harpooner  was  to  get  near  enough  to  bury  his 
tremendous  weapon  deep  in  its  ribs,  which  was 
no  sooner  done  than  the  poor  animal  darted 
away  with  its  anxious  dam,  taking  out  an  hun- 
dred fathoms  of  line.  It  was  but  a  little  time, 
however,  before,  being  checked,  and  the  barb 
lacerating  its  vitals,  it  turned  on  its  back,  and, 
displaying  its  white  belly  on  the  surface  of  the 
water,  it  floated  a  motionless  corpse. 

The  huge  dam,  with  an  affecting  maternal 
instinct  more  powerful  than  reason,  never  quit- 
ted the  body  till  a  cruel  harpoon  entered  her 
own  sides;  then,  with  a  single  tap  of  her  tail, 
she  cut  in  two  one  of  the  boats,  and  took  to 
flight,  but  returned  soon,  exhausted  with  loss  of 
blood,  to  die  by  her  calf,  evidently,  in  her  last 
moments,  more  occupied  with  the  preservation 
of  her  young  than  herself. 


92          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

The  habits  and  living  of  the  sperm  whale 
are  quite  as  different  from  those  of  the  right  as 
is  its  structure.  Its  head  is  enormously  large 
and  unshapely,  and  furnished  with  an  immense 
under  jaw,  that  is  armed  with  two  rows  of  mam- 
moth teeth,  forty-eight  and  fifty-four  in  number. 
It  seizes  its  prey  with  these  teeth,  having  no 
whalebone  seive  or  strainer,  like  what  has  been 
already  described  in  the  right  whale,  and  it  is 
supported  principally  by  the  squid,  otherwise 
called  cuttle-fish,  or  Sepia  Octopus,  of  which 
one  sperm  whale  that  we  captured  disgorged 
pieces,  or  congeries  of  pieces,  almost  as  long  as 
the  whale  boat,  before  going  into  its  flurry. 

From  what  I  have  observed  myself  and  have 
been  told  by  others,  it  appears  that  when  this 
whale  is  inclined  to  feed,  he  goes  to  a  certain 
depth  below  the  surface,  and  there  remains  in 
an  oblique  position,  as  quiet  as  possible,  open- 
ing his  vast  elongated  mouth  until  the  lower 
jaw  hangs  down  perpendicularly,  or  at  right 
angles  with  the  body.  The  roof  of  his  mouth, 
the  tongue,  and  especially  the  teeth,  being  of  a 
glistening  white  colour,  must  of  course  present 


SPERM   WHALE    DYING.  93 

a  remarkable  appearance,  which  seems  to  be 
that  which  attracts  his  prey.  When  a  sufficient 
number  of  other  fish,  or  quantity  of  the  squid, 
as  the  case  may  be,  are  within  the  mouth,  he 
rapidly  closes  his  jaw  and  swallows  the  contents. 
When  this  creature  is  fatally  struck  or  killed 
while  in  the  act  of  feeding,  the  whalemen  will 
soon  know  the  items  of  its  last  bill  of  fare  ;  for, 
while  the  waters  around  are  purpled  with  its 
gore,  and  a  crimson  tide  is  flowing  from  its  spi- 
racles, portions  of  its  lance-lacerated  lungs,  and 
the  contents  of  its  capacious  stomach  also,  are 
being  vomited  at  the  mouth.  The  sea,  too, 
will  be  lashed  by  its  mighty  tail  with  a  sound 
that  may  be  heard  in  calm  weather,  for  some 
miles  distance. 

It  is  painful  to  witness  the  death-agony  of 

' 

any  creature,  even  the  smallest  that  God  has 
given  life  to,  much  more  that  of  one  in  which 
life  is  so  lively  and  tenacious,  and  animating  so 
vast  a  bulk.  And  though  it  might  be  true  what 
the  dramatic  poet  said, 

"  The  sense  of  death  is  most  in  apprehension, 
And  the  poor  beetle  that  we  tread  upon, 


94          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

In  corporal  sufferance  feels  a  pang  as  great 
As  when  a  giant  dies ;" 

yet  I  am  not  one  that  can  coolly  observe  the 
last  agony  of  so  mighty  an  organized  creature 
as  the  whale,  with  as  little  emotion  as  some 
persons  feel  at  the  crushing  of  a  reptile  or  the 
writhing  of  a  worm ;  nor  do  I  believe  that  the 
suffering  in  the  one  case  is  as  great  as  that  in 
the  other.  But  it  is  painful  enough  to  see  any- 
thing forcibly  bereft  of  the  boon  of  life,  the  gift 
of  Him  that  made  us  all, 

"  Who  gives  its  lustre  to  the  insect's  wing, 
And  wheels  his  throne  upon  the  rolling  worlds." 

Cowper's  principle  in  regard  to  animals  and 
insects  is  the  right  one  : — 

"  The  sum  is  this :  if  man's  convenience,  health, 
Or  safety  interfere,  his  rights  and  claims 
Are  paramount,  and  must  extinguish  theirs. 
Else  they  are  all — the  meanest  things  that  are — 
As  free  to  live,  and  to  enjoy  that  life, 
As  God  was  free  to  form  them  at  the  first, 
Who  in  His  sovereign  wisdom  made  them  all." 

The  substance  called  ambergris,  and  highly 
prized  in  perfumery,  is  obtained  from  the  sperm 
whale,  being  formed,  it  is  thought,  in  that  state 


AMBERGRIS.  95 

of  the  system  which  calls  for  a  cathartic.  From 
the  Materia  Medica,  we  learn  that,  in  Asia  and 
parts  of  Africa,  ambergris  is  not  only  used  as  a 
medicine  and  a  perfume,  hut  considerable  use 
also  is  made  of  it  in  cooking,  by  adding  it  to 
several  dishes  as  a  spice.  A  great  quantity  of 
it  also  is  constantly  bought  by  the  pilgrims  who 
travel  to  Mecca,  probably  to  offer  it  there  in 
fumigations,  as  frankincense  is  in  the  worship 
of  the  Church  of  Home. 

Suffering  from  the  state  of  disease  which 
causes  the  accumulation  of  this  secretion,  a 
whale,  when  struck  by  the  harpoon,  will  often 
throw  up  or  discharge  the  substance,  and  it  will 
be  found  floating  about  him.  It  is  said  to  have 
been  a  Nantucket  whaler  that  thus  accidentally 
ascertained  the  origin  of  a  substance  which  had 
been  known  before  vaguely  as  an  unaccountable 
product  of  the  sea.  Pieces  have  been  picked  up 
by  sailors  about  a  dying  whale  worth  nearly  five 
pounds  ;  and  masses  of  it  have  been  found  of 
from  sixty  to  two  hundred  and  twenty-five 
pounds'  weight,  floating  on  the  surface  of  the 
ocean,  in  regions  much  frequented  by  the  sperm 


96          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES, 

whale.  We  were  not  so  fortunate  as  to  light 
upon  any. 

The  gigantic  denizens  of  the  deep  are  sub- 
ject both  to  disease  and  deformity,  some  having 
been  taken  that  were  entirely 'blind,  both  eyes 
being  completely  disorganized,  and  the  orbits 
occupied  by  fungous  masses  protruding  con- 
siderably; rendering  it  certain  that  the  whale 
must  have  been  deprived  of  vision  for  a  con- 
siderable space  of  time,  yet  not  so  as  to  inca- 
pacitate him  for  feeding,  blind  whales  being 
found  as  fat  as  the  seeing  ones. 

The  deformity  referred  to  is  a  crookedness 
of  the  lower  jaw,  which  old  whalers  say  is  caused 
by  fighting.  Sperm  whales  have  been  seen  to 
light  by  rushing,  head  first,  one  upon  the  other, 
their  mouths  at  the  same  time  wide  open,  their 
object  appearing  to  be  to  seize  their  opponent 
by  the  lower  jaw.  For  this  purpose  they  fre- 
quently turn  themselves  on  the  side,  and  become, 
as  it  were  locked  together,  their  jaws  crossing  each 
other,  and  in  this  manner  they  strive  vehemently 
for  the  mastery,  with  a  force  compared  to  which 
not  even  Milton's  wars  of  the  angels 


SIZE  OF  WHALE'S  CALF.  97 

"  Could  merit  more  than  that  small  infantry 
Warred  on  by  cranes ;  though  all  the  giant  brood 
Of  Phlegra  with  the  heroic  race  were  joined 
That  fought  at  Thebes  and  Ilium,  on  each  side 
Mixed  with  auxiliar  gods  ;  and  what  resounds 
In  fable  or  romance,  of  Uther's  son, 
Begirt  with  British  and  Armoric  knights." 

The  size  of  a  sixty  foot  right  whale,  which 
is,  perhaps,  that  of  the  average,  can  be  some- 
what clearly  apprehended  by  Captain  Scoresby's 
estimate  of  its  weight  at  seventy  tons,  or  equi- 
valent to  the  weight  of  near  two  hundred  fat 
oxen,  of  which  the  blubber  in  a  fat  subject  will 
be  nearly  thirty  tons.  Some  whalemen  judge 
it  does  not  attain  its  full  size  until  twenty-five 
years,  by  certain  notches  which  they  think  they 
can  observe  in  the  slabs  of  whalebone.  But 
this  cannot  be  clearly  ascertained.  The  natural 
life  of  the  animal  is  undoubtedly  much  longer. 
Analogy  would  lead  to  the  inference  that  it 
might  be  as  long  lived  as  the  elephant,  to  which 
it  bears  a  resemblance  in  certain  other  parti- 
culars besides  its  size. 

The  calf  of  a  large  right  whale  at  birth  is 
about  fourteen  feet  long,  and  weighs  a  ton.  The 
milk  of  the  cow  is  then  very  abundant.  I  have 

H 


98          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

heard  those  who  have  seen  it  say,  that,  when 
the  mammae  of  a  nursing  cow  whale  are  cut,  the 
flow  of  milk  will  whiten  the  ocean.  The  ascer- 
tained fact  that  it  brings  forth  its  young  only 
one  at  a  time,  or  at  most  two,  and  probably 
once  a  year,  or  after  a  period  of  nine  or  ten 
months'  gestation,  together  with  the  rapid  de- 
crease of  the  numbers  by  slaughter  of  these 
animals,  on  every  cruising  ground  in  the 
ocean  where  whalers  have  found  them,  would 
seem  to  be  evidence  of  a  slow  growth  and 
long  life. 

The  only  natural  enemies  it  is  known  to  have 
are  the  sword-fish,  thrasher,  and  killer.  This 
latter  is  itself  a  species  of  whale  that  has  sharp 
teeth,  and  is  exceedingly  swift  in  the  water,  and 
will  bite  and  worry  a  whale  until  quite  dead. 
When  one  of  them  gets  among  a  gam  or  school 
of  whales,  he  spreads  great  consternation,  and 
the  timid  creatures  fly  every  way  like  deer  chased 
by  the  hounds,  and  fall  an  easy  prey  to  whale- 
boats  that  may  be  near  enough  to  avail  them- 
selves of  the  opportunity.  I  have  heard  a 
captain  detail  with  great  interest  a  scene  of  this 


FIGHT   WITH    A    KILLER.  99 

kind,  in  which  the  killers  and  harpooners  were 
together  against  the  poor  whales,  and  the 
killers  actually  succeeded  in  pulling  under  and 
making  off  with  one  prize  which  the  whalemen 
thought  themselves  sure  of. 

In  the  United  States'  exploring  squadron,  on 
board  the  Peacock,  as  we  learn  from  the  narra- 
tive of  Commander  Wilkes,  they  witnessed  a 
sea-fight  between  a  whale  and  one  of  these 
enemies.  The  sea  was  quite  smooth,  and 
offered  the  best  possible  view  of  the  combat. 
First,  at  a  distance  from  the  ship,  a  whale  was 
seen  floundering  in  a  most  extraordinary  way, 
lashing  the  smooth  sea  into  perfect  foam,  and 
endeavouring  apparently  to  extricate  himself 
from  some  annoyance.  As  he  approached  the 
ship,  the  struggle  continuing  and  becoming 
more  violent,  it  was  perceived  that  a  fish,  about 
twenty  feet  long,  held  him  by  the  jaw,  his 

ulings,  contortions,  and  throes  all  betokening 
the  agony  of  the  huge  monster. 

The  whale  now  threw  himself  at  full  length 
upon  (he  water,  with  open  mouth,  his  pursuer 
btill  hanging  to  his  under  jaw,  the  blood  issuing 

II  ';> 


ioo          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

from  the  wound,  and  dyeing  the  sea  for  a  long 
distance  around.  But  all  his  flounderings  were 
of  no  avail ;  his  pertinacious  enemy  still  main- 
tained his  hold,  and  was  evidently  getting  the 
advantage  of  him.  Much  alarm  seemed  to  be 
felt  by  the  many  other  whales  about.  These 
"  killers"  are  of  a  brownish  colour  on  the  back, 
and  white  on  the  belly,  with  a  long  dorsal 
fin.  Such  was  the  turbulence  with  which  they 
passed,  that  a  good  view  could  not  be  had  of 
them  to  make  out  more  nearly  the  description. 
These  fish  attack  a  whale  in  the  same  way  that 
a  dog  baits  a  bull,  and  worry  him  to  death. 
They  are  endowed  with  immense  strength,  armed 
with  strong,  sharp  teeth,  and  generally  seize  the 
whale  by  the  lower  jaw.  It  is  said  the  only 
part  they  eat  of  them  is  the  tongue. 

The  sword-fish  and  thrasher  have  been  also 
seen  to  attack  the  whale  together,  the  sword- 
fish  driving  his  tremendous  weapon  into  the 
belly  of  the  whale  from  beneath  upward,  and 
the  thrasher  fastened  to  his  back,  and  giving 
him  terrific  blows  with  his  flail.  The  thrasher 
not  having  any  power  to  strike  through  the 


SWORD-FISH   AND    THRASHER.  101 

water,  it  has  been  observed  by  all  who  have 
witnessed  these  strange  combats,  that  it  seems 
to  be  the  instinctive  war  policy  of  the  sword-fish 
to  make  his  attack  from  below,  thus  causing  the 
whale  to  rise  above  the  surface,  which,  under  the 
prick  of  the  cruel  sword  of  his  enemy,  he  has 
been  known  to  do  to  a  great  height,  the  unre- 
lenting thrasher  meanwhile  holding  on  like  a 
leech,  and  dealing  his  blows  unsparingly  through 
the  air  with  all  the  force  of  his  lengthy  frame, 
sometimes  twenty  feet. 

In  a  statement  made  by  a  Kennebec  ship- 
master in  1818,  and  sworn  to  before  a  justice  of 
the  peace  in  Kennebec  county,  Maine,  it  was 
asserted  that  the  notable  sea  serpent  and  whale 
are  sometimes  found  in  conflict.  At  six  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon  of  June  21st,  in  the  packet 
Delia,  plying  between  Boston  and  Hallowell, 
when  Cape  Ann  bore  west  southwest  about  two 
miles,  steering  north  north-east,  Captain  Shubael 
West,  and  fifteen  others  on  board  with  him,  saw 
an  object  directly  ahead  which  he  had  no  doubt 
was  the  sea  serpent,  or  the  creature  so  often 
described  under  that  name,  engaged  in  fight 


102          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

with  a  large  hump-back  wha]e  that  was  endea- 
vouring to  elude  the  attack. 

The  serpent  threw  up  his  tail  from  twenty- 
five  to  thirty  feet  in  a  perpendicular  direction, 
striking  the  whale  by  it  with  tremendous  blows 
rapidly  repeated,  which  were  distinctly  heard  and 
very  loud  for  two  or  three  minutes.  They  then 
both  disappeared,  moving  in  a  west  southwest 
direction,  but  after  a  few  minutes  reappeared  in- 
shore of  the  packet,  and  about  under  the  sun, 
the  reflection  of  which  was  so  strong  as  to  pre- 
vent their  seeing  so  distinctly  as  at  first,  when 
the  serpent's  fearful  blows  with  his  tail  were  re- 
peated, and  clearly  heard  as  before. 

They  again  went  down  for  a  short  time,  and 
then  came  up  to  the  surface  under  the  packet's 
larboard  quarter,  the  whale  appearing  first  and 
the  serpent  in  pursuit,  who  was  again  seen  to 
shoot  up  his  tail  as  before,  which  he  held  out  of 
water  some  time,  waving  it  in  the  air  before 
striking,  and  at  the  same  time,  while  his  tail 
remained  in  this  position,  he  raised  his  head 
fifteen  or  twenty  feet,  as  if  taking  a  view  of  the 
surface  of  the  sea.  After  being  seen  in  this 


SEA    SERPENT    AND    WHALE.  103 

position  a  few  minutes,  the  serpent  and  whale 
again  sunk  and  disappeared,  and  neither  were 
seen  after  by  any  on  board.  It  was  Captain 
West's  opinion  that  the  whale  was  trying  to 
escape,  as  he  spouted  but  once  at  a  time  on 
coming  to  the  surface,  and  the  last  time  he 
appeared  he  went  down  before  the  serpent 
came  up. 

Between  all  these  natural  foes  and  its  preda- 
tory human  enemy,  the  great  mammoth  of 
ocean  seems  doomed  to  extinction.  But  I  have 
no  scruple  at  confessing  that,  since  I  have  be- 
come closely  acquainted  with  the  habits  of  the 
great  right  whale,  how  quietly  it  grazes  through 
the  great  pasture- ground  which  God  has  or- 
dained for  it  and  fitted  so  well  to  be  its  home ; 
and  since  I  have  observed  the  hazards  that  have 
to  be  encountered  and  the  perils  to  be  sur- 
mounted in  its  capture  by  men,  and  have 
coupled  with  this  the  consideration  of  the 
various  other  sources  from  which  the  human 
family  can  now  be  supplied  with  oil,  whether 
for  burning  or  the  arts, — I  begin  to  be  somewhat 
doubtful  about  the  lawfulness  and  expediency 


104          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

of  the  whale  fishery.  As  an  old  whaleman  once 
said  in  his  own  way,  "  Whales  has  feelings  as 
well  as  anybody.  They  do'nt  like  to  be  stuck 
in  the  gizzards,  and  hauled  alongside,  and  cut 
in,  and  tried  out  in  them  'ere  boilers  no  more 
than  I  do/' 

This  may  seem  foolish,  and  let  it  go  for 
what  it  is  worth.  But  if  the  business  cannot 
be  successfully  pursued  without  the  flagrant 
violation  of  the  Sabbath  now  caused  by  it,  and 
the  consequent  disastrous  effect  upon  the  moral 
and  religious  characters  of  those  engaged  in  it, 
no  well-grounded  Christian  will  be  in  doubt  as 
to  its  ^lawfulness  and  mmorality.  Whale 
ships,  almost  without  exception,  desecrate  the 
Lord's  day,  by  taking  their  game  and  making 
way  with  it  just  as  on  any  common  day.  They 
pay  no  practical  regard  whatever  to  the  great 
law  of  the  Sabbath,  seeming  utterly  to  forget 
the  combined  prophecy  and  principle, 

"  Who  resteth  not  one  day  in  seven, 
That  soul  shall  never  rest  in  heaven !" 

But  of  this  more  hereafter.  Meanwhile,  let  me 
say  to  any  seamen  that  may  chance  to  read  these 


SABBATH   DESECRATION.  lOo 

pages — hold  fast  to  the  Sabbath  ;  claim  it  of 
your  employers  as  a  right ;  stipulate  before- 
hand that  it  shall  be  yours  for  rest,  religious 
reflection,  and  worship,  and  refuse  on  principle 
to  desecrate  it  by  any  other  labour  than  may  be 
necessary  for  the  safety  and  proper  working  of 
the  ship. 

"  Wanderers  on  the  dark  blue  sea ! 

As  your  bark  rides  gallantly, 

Prayer  and  praise  become  ye  well, 

Though  ye  hear  no  temple  bell. 

The  Sabbath  hours  which  God  has  given, 

Give  ye  to  worship,  rest,  and  heaven  !" 


106          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 


CHAPTEK    VIII. 

ATLANTIC    OCEAN    MAMMOTHS    AND    MONSTERS. 

"  In  the  free  element  beneath  me  swam, 
Flounder'd,  and  dived,  in  play,  in  chase,  in  battle, 
Fishes  of  every  colour,  form,  and  kind ; 
Which  language  cannot  paint,  and  mariner 
Had  never  seen ;  from  dread  leviathan 
To  insect  millions  peopling  every  wave  : 
Gather'd  in  shoals  immense,  like  floating  islands, 
Led  by  mysterious  instinct  through  that  waste 
And  trackless  region,  though  on  every  side 
Assaulted  by  voracious  enemies, 
Whales,  sharks,  and  monsters,  arm'd  in  front  or  jaw, 
With  swords,  saws,  spiral  horns,  or  hooked  fangs." 

The  World  before  the  Flood. 


Cape  Horn — A  shoal  of  Sperm  "Whales — Capture  of  a  "Whale's 
calf — Dimensions  of  a  "Whale's  calf — A  Sun-fish — Varieties 
of  fortune — Sperm  "Whale  lost — Concord  of  "Whales. 

False  Banks,  Atlantic  Ocean,  lat.  36°  £.,  Ion.  46°  W. 

AFTER   doubling   Cape    Horn,   Providence 
was  propitious,  as  to  our  enterprise,  in  the 
offer  of  whales.     We  lowered  off  the  notable 
Cape  itself,  when  in  sight  of  the  islands  called 
Diego    Ramirez.      Although   so   near   to   that 


A    SHOAL   OF    SPERM    WHALES.  107 

formidable  out-jutting  barrier  of  Nature,  be- 
tween two  great  oceans,  which  the  reports  of 
weather-beaten  mariners  have  made  the  abiding- 
place  of  storms,  it  was  the  loveliest  day  we  had 
known  since  leaving  the  southern  tropic ;  the 
sky  cloudless,  the  sun  genially  warm,  its  place 
in  the  heavens  away  off  to  the  north  of  us,  and 
the  ocean  nearly  calm.  The  short  night,  too, 
was  one  of  surpassing  splendour,  the  whole 
southern  hemisphere  lit  up  with  all  the  glorious 
lamps  of  heaven,  never  seen  by  those  who  dwell 
at  the  north,  the  Magellanic  clouds,  and  the 
sightly  constellation  of  the  southern  cross,  and 
a  brilliant  though  small  comet  visible  in  the 
south-west,  its  tail  pointing  upward  to  the 
zenith,  and  about  twice  as  long  as  the  belt  of 
Orion. 

In  the  afternoon  a  shoal  or  "  school"  of  sperm 
whales  passed  us,  making  for  the  Pacific  with  all 
the  speed  of  flukes  and  fins.  They  showed  them- 
selves, for  a  few  minutes,  about  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  off,  and  three  boats  were  soon  lowered  in 
pursuit ;  but  they  never  let  us  see  them  again, 
it  being  the  habit  of  the  sperm  whale  to  stay 


108          TPIE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

under  water  much  longer  than  the  common 
whale,  Poor  fellows !  they  would  find  keen 
human  enemies  enough  where  they  were  going, 
and  not  unlikely  the  blubber  sides  of  one  or 
more  of  them  would  soon  be  headed  up  in  the 
hold  of  some  whaler,  and  biding  their  time  to 
fill  honourable  lamps  with  light  ten  thousand 
miles  off. 

We  felt  the  cold  on  this  side  the  American 
continent,  in  the  rude  Atlantic,  more  than  ever 
we  did  in  that  other  ocean,  which  does  not  belie 
its  name,  or  even  than  at  the  pitch  of  the  Cape, 
in  sixty  degrees  south.  One  morning,  just  after 
breakfast,  I  had  the  pleasure  of  climbing  the 
mizzen  rigging  to  witness  the  capture  of  our 
first  Atlantic  whale.  The  ocean  was  in  its 
stillest,  loveliest  mood,  its  breast  heaving  only 
like  a  sleeping  infant's ;  the  morning  sun  most 
glorious;  the  sky  without  a  cloud,  and  that 
glimmer  of  reflection  from  the  molten  steel 
mirror  beneath,  which  I  remember  being  so 
much  struck  with  the  first  time  I  ever  saw  the 
sublime  sight  when  a  boy. 

There  were  two  whales,  which  proved,  as 


CAPTURE    OF   A    WHALE'S    CALF.  100 

•was  thought,  to  be  a  cow  and  a  yearling  calf. 
They  were  putting  their  heads  together  as  in 
love,  or  to  rub  off  the  crab-lice  and  barnacles 
that  adhere  by  millions  to  the  top  and  sides  of 
their  heads.  The  calf  was  soon  struck,  and 
made  little  ado  of  being  killed — not  going  into 
a  flurry,  or  sounding  long,  or  making  the  water 
foam,  fly,  or  splintering  the  cedar  with  strokes 
of  his  tail,  and  "spilling  the  men,"  as  they 
sometimes  do. 

The  one  thought  to  be  the  dam  prudently 
made  off  a  mile  and  a  half  to  windward,  whilst 
we  got  the  cub  alongside  the  ship  about  eleven 
o'clock.  His  proportions  were  respectable  for 
a  youngling — thirty-nine  feet  long  and  nineteen 
feet  round  ;  his  head  seven  feet  from  its  tip  to 
the  spout-holes,  and  three  feet  wide  just  behind 
the  same,  and  three  feet  thick  to  the  inside 
roof.  The  thickest  of  the  blubber  was  eight 
inches.  His  fins  were  each  five  feet  long,  and 
he  was  six  feet  across  the  throat.  They  rifled 
him  of  his  blubber  and  bone  in  the  way  already 

rribed,  and  some  time  before  evening  the 
refuse  scrap-mutter  of  his  blubber  was  burning 


no          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

brightly  under  the  try-works,  and  affording  all 
the  fuel  for  trying  jout. 

Just  after  sundown  that  evening,  while  we 
were  lying  to,  and  the  try-works  were  blazing, 
there  was  seen  going  slowly  by  the  ship,  a  rod 
or  two  off,  a  large  sun- fish.  The  captain  cau- 
tiously lowered  his  boat,  and,  paddling  lightly, 
came  up  to  him,  and  had  effectually  darted  his 
cruel  iron  before  danger  was  suspected.  Find- 
ing it  impossible  to  hoist  him  into  the  boat  or 
warp  him  along,  they  made  fast  another  iron, 
and  came  to  the  ship  with  the  tow-line,  which 
the  men  at  once  reeved  in  a  block,  and  soon 
merrily  hauled  him  in,  singing  the  while  a 
sailor's  song. 

We  found  our  prize  a  singular- looking  ich- 
thyological  wonder  as  ever  was  seen.  His  form 
is  that  of  an  ellipse,  or  like  an  elliptical  shield, 
about  four  and  a  half  feet  in  the  longest  diame- 
ter, three  feet  across,  and  one  foot  thick.  His 
mouth  is  small  and  round,  like  a  sea-porcupine's, 
and  sucking  constantly  with  great  force  like  a 
sucker.  His  eye  is  large  as  a  bullock's,  and 
very  prominent.  He  has  two  curious  fins  to 


SUN-FISH.  Ill 

scull  with — one  on  his  belly,  or  on  one  rim  of 
the  ellipse,  the  other  on  his  back,  or  the  other 
rim  of  the  ellipse — and  a  sort  of  steering  oar  in 
the  middle  of  one  of  the  sides.  He  moves  edge- 
wise through  the  water.  He  is  covered  to  the 
depth  of  three  or  four  inches  on  both  sides  with 
a  white  elastic  case,  like  the  meat  of  a  cocoa- 
nut,  and  very  much  resembling  the  sturgeon's 
nose  that  boys  put  into  balls  to  make  them 
bounce  well. 

Under  this  case  lies  some  excellent  white 
meat,  which  was  dug  out,  and  supplied  all  hands 
fore  and  aft,  with  several  excellent  meals,  re- 
lishing as  nobody  can  tell  how  who  has  not 
been  as  long  at  sea  as  we  had  been,  without 
anything  fresh.  The  liver  of  the  sun-fish  con- 
tains a  large  quantity  of  yellow  oil,  which  is 
thought  to  be  excellent  as  an  external  unguent 
or  embrocation  for  the  rheumatism. 

The  next  morning  our  captain  made  fast  to 
another  much  larger  right  whale  than  our  for- 
mer capture,  turned  him  up  dead  about  half  past 
ten,  after  a  hard  fight,  but  in  less  than  twenty 
minutes  thu  huge  carcass  sunk  bodily,  with  all 


112          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

the  irons  in  it — a  dead  loss  of  more  than  a 
thousand  dollars,  which  could  easily  have  been 
prevented,  had  there  heen  buoys  or  floats  to 
have  bent  on  to  harpoons,  and  darted  into  him 
as  soon  as  dead. 

A  few  days  after  this  mortifying  event,  we 
had  much  better  success  in  the  capture  of  a 
large  whale,  of  the  sperm  kind,  worth  to  the 
ship  at  least  twenty-five  hundred  dollars.  The 
captain's  boat  was  also  fast  to  another,  that  ran 
off  very  swiftly  upon  being  struck,  along  with  the 
rest  of  the  school,  making  the  deep  boil  like  a 
pot  and  terrifying  all  his  comrades  by  the  ex- 
travagant and  mad  antics  which  the  prickings  of 
those  cruel  irons  naturally  goaded  him  to. 
They  would  have  been  glad  enough,  I  have  no 
doubt,  to  help  their  brother  whale  in  his  distress, 
and  as  it  was  they  greatly  endangered  the  lives 
of  all  his  pursuers.  But  after  being  lanced 
several  times,  and  dragging  the  lone  boat  quite 
out  of  sight  from  the  mast-head,  and  tiring 
them  all  out,  he  was  cut  loose  from,  and  left 
with  two  harpoons  buried  in  his  blubber. 
They  would  probably  prove  the  death  of  him  in 


SPERM    WHALE    LOST.  113 

a  few  days,  and  waste  his  oil  upon  the  ocean 
like  that  of  thousands  before. 

I  felt  not  a  little  anxiety  for  the  captain  and 
boat's  crew,  engaged  thus  alone  and  out  of  sight 
amid  a  horde  of  infuriated  and  frightened 
whales,  all  the  time  fastened  to  one  of  them  by 
his  harpoons,  and  momently  liable  to  be  struck 
and  upset.  It  was  a  pleasurable  relief  to  hear 
them  announced  from  the  masthead  as  returning, 
though  I  could  not  help  regretting  that  they 
should  have  to  come  back  with  only  their  labour 
for  their  pains;  and,  when  seemingly  in  the 
very  arms  of  victory,  after  all  the  hazard  and 
toil  of  the  chase,  to  be  compelled  to  abandon 
the  lawful  prize,  which  perhaps  an  hour's  lon- 
ger holding  to  would  have  made  their  own. 
But  such,  time  and  again,  is  a  whaleman's 
fortune.  To  him,  emphatically, 

"  There 's  many  a  slip 
'Tween  the  cup  and  the  lip." 

From  the  conduct  of  those  whales,  from  what 
I  before  observed,  and  from  what  others,  well  in- 
formed, have  told  me,  it  was  evident  to  me  that 
the  societies  of  these  great  sea  monsters  seldom 

i 


114          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

go  to  war,  but  live  together  in  cordial  and  happy 
amity,  and  render  each  other  all  the  help  in  their 
power  when  in  distress.  They  read  to  predatory 
and  contentious  man  the  same  lesson  that 
Milton  derives  from  the  concord  of  the  fallen 
angels  : 

"  0  shame  to  men !  devil  with  devil  damn'd 

Firm  concord  holds  ;  men  only  disagree 

Of  creatures  rational,  though  under  hope 

Of  heavenly  grace  ;  and,  God  proclaiming  peace, 

Yet  live  in  hatred,  enmity,  and  strife 

Among  themselves,  and  levy  cruel  "wars, 

Wasting  the  earth,  each  other  to  destroy  : 

As  if  (which  might  induce  us  to  accord) 

Man  had  not  hellish  foes  enow  "besides, 

That,  day  and  night,  for  his  destruction  wait." 


(,\M    OF   WHALES.  H5 


CHAPTEK  IX. 

EPISODES   IN   THE    FORTUNES    OF   WHALEMEN. 

"  There  she  lies !  there  she  lies ! 
Like  an  isle  on  ocean's  breast ; 
'  Where  away  ?'  West  south-west, 
Where  the  billows  meet  the  skies. 
Port  the  helm !  trim  the  sail ! 
Let  us  chase  this  mighty  whale." 

Whaler's  Song. 

Gam  of  Whales — Grounding  on  a  Whale's  back — Captain 
overboard — His  narrow  escape — The  Captain's  story — 
Accidents  by  boat-lines — Dangerous  progress — Fruitless 
perils — Whaler's  Journal — Fatal  result — The  heart  under 
the  Pea-jacket. 

THE  mortifying  event  referred  to  in  the  last 
chapter,  of  loosing  our  whale  by  sinking, 
after  all  the  toil  and  hazard  incurred  in  its  cap- 
ture, is  paralleled  only  by  a  like  occurrence  in 
the  fortunes  of  another  whale  ship  on  these  very 
False  Banks,  some  two  or  three  years  ago,  which 
I  will  give,  partly  in  the  words  of  one  who  was 
himself  an  actor  in  the  scene  described, 
one  of  the  hands  in  the  captain's  boat. 

I  2 


116          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

Upon  getting  into  a  "  gam"  of  whales,  this 
boat,  together  with  that  of  one  of  the  mates, 
pulled  for  a  single  whale  that  was  seen  at  a  dis- 
tance from  the  others,  and  succeeded  in  getting 
square  up  to  their  victim  unperceived.  In  a 
twinkling  the  boat-steerer  sprang  to  his  feet,  and 
as  he  darted  his  second  harpoon,  the  bow  of  the 
boat  grounded  on  the  body  of  the  whale,  but 
was  instantly  "  sterned  off,"  and  before  the 
whale  had  sufficiently  recovered  from  his  sur- 
prise to  show  fight,  the  "cedar,"  (viz.  the  boat, 
so  technically  called  from  the  material  of  which 
it  is  usually  built,)  was  out  of  the  reach  of  his 
flukes. 

The  captain,  who  now  took  his  place  in  the 
bow  of  the  boat,  seized  his  lance,  and  the  oars- 
men again  shot  the  boat  ahead,  but  before  he 
could  plunge  the  lance  the  whale  pitched  down 
and  disappeared.  The  line  attached  to  the  har- 
poon, being  of  great  length,  is  coiled  very  care- 
fully and  compactly  in  a  large  tub  in  the  centre 
of  the  boat ;  from  thence  it  passes  to  the  stern, 
and  around  a  post  called  the  loggerhead,  firmly 
secured  to  the  frame  of  the  boat ;  and  it  is  used 


CAPTAIN    OVERBOARD.  117 

for  checking  the  line  by  friction  as  it  runs  out, 
a  "  round  turn"  being  taken  for  that  purpose. 
From  the  loggerhead  the  line  passes  along  the 
whole  length  of  the  boat  between  the  men,  and 
leads  out  through  a  notch  in  the  bow  to  the 
harpoons,  two  of  which  are  always  attached  to 
the  line's  end. 

As  soon  as  the  whale  disappeared,  the  line 
commenced  running  out  of  the  tub  so  rapidly, 
that,  as  it  rubbed  around  the  loggerhead,  sparks 
of  fire  flew  from  it  in  a  stream.  As  the  different 
coils  run  from  the  tub,  they  sometimes,  when 
not  well  laid  down,  get  "  foul"  or  tangled,  in 
which  case  there  is  great  danger,  for,  in  attempt- 
ing to  clear  the  line,  a  turn  may  get  by  accident 
around  an  arm  or  a  leg.  As  any  one  can  see, 
there  is  little  hope  for  the  unhappy  man  thus 
entangled,  for,  unless  the  line  be  cut  instantly, 
either  the  limb  is  lost  or  the  man  goes  over- 
board. 

A  few  years  since,  one  of  the  most  active  and 
energetic  of  our  whaling  captains  was  thus  taken 
overboard  by  the  line,  and  had  the  singular 
good  fortune  to  survive  to  tell  the  story.  The 


118          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

whale  was  sounding  very  swiftly  when  the  line 
became  entangled.  The  boat-steerer,  who  was 
at  his  post  in  the  stern  of  the  boat,  tending 
the  line,  instantly  threw  the  turn  off  the  log- 
gerhead, and  the  tangled  part  ran  forward  and 
caught  in  the  bow.  The  captain  was  seen  to 
stoop  to  clear  it,  and  then  at  once  disappeared. 
The  boat-steerer  seized  the  hatchet,  which  is 
always  at  hand,  and  chopped  the  line,  with  the 
faint  hope,  that,  when  it  slackened,  the  captain 
could  extricate  himself. 

The  accident  being  so  sudden  and  dreadful 
as  almost  to  stupify  the  amazed  crew,  none  of 
them  spake  a  word,  but  each  eye  was  fixed  upon 
the  sea  with  fearful  interest.  Several  minutes 
had  elapsed,  and  the  last  hope  was  expiring, 
when  an  object  was  seen  to  rise  to  the  surface 
a  short  way  from  the  boat,  which,  though  ex- 
hibiting no  sign  of  animation,  was  speedily 
reached,  and  the  body  of  the  captain,  apparently 
lifeless,  was  lifted  into  the  boat.  It  was  evi- 
dent, however,  that  vitality  was  not  extinct,  and, 
to  the  joy  of  the  little  crew,  symptoms  of  con- 
sciousness became  visible  in  a  few  minutes,  and 


CAPTAIN'S  NARROW  ESCAPE.  119 

the  oars  were  lustily  plied  to  reach  the  ship. 
By  means  of  the  usual  remedies,  the  resusci- 
tated captain  was,  in  a  few  days,  in  his  own 
words,  "  as  good  as  new." 

In  giving  an  account  of  the  accident  and 
his  singular  escape,  he  said  that,  as  soon  as  he 
discovered  that  the  line  had  caught  in  the  bow 
of  the  boat,  he  stooped  to  clear  it,  and  attempted 
to  throw  it  out  from  the  "  chock,"  so  that  it 
might  run  free.  In  doing  this  he  was  caught 
by  a  turn  round  his  left  wrist,  and  felt  himself 
dragged  overboard.  He  was  perfectly  conscious 
while  he  was  rushing  down,  down,  with  un- 
known force  and  swiftness ;  and  it  appeared  to 
him  that  his  arm  would  be  torn  from  his  body, 
so  great  was  the  resistance  of  the  water.  He 
was  well  aware  of  his  perilous  condition,  and 
that  his  only  chance  of  life  was  to  cut  the  line. 
But  he  could  not  remove  his  right  arm  from  his 
side,  to  which  it  was  pressed  by  the  force  of  the 
element  through  which  he  was  drawn. 

When  he  first  opened  his  eyes,  it  appeared 
as  if  a  stream  of  fire  was  passing  before  them  ; 
but  as  he  descended  it  grew  dark,  and  he  felt  a 


120          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

terrible  pressure  on  his  brain,  and  a  roaring  as 
of  thunder  in  his  ears.  Yet  he  was  conscious 
of  his  situation,  and  made  several  efforts  to 
reach  the  knife  that  was  in  his  belt.  At  last, 
as  he  felt  his  strength  failing,  and  his  brain 
reeling,  the  line  for  an  instant  slackened ;  he 
reached  his  knife,  and  instantly  that  the  line 
again  became  taut,  its  edge  was  upon  it,  and  by 
a  desperate  effort,  of  his  exhausted  energies  he 
freed  himself.  After  this  he  only  remembered 
a  feeling  of  suffocation,  a  gurgling  spasm,  and 
all  was  over,  until  he  awoke  to  an  agonizing 
sense  of  pain  in  the  boat. 

Eut  to  come  back  from  this  digression ; — 
the  whale  to  which  our  hero's  boat  was  now  fast 
took  out  a  large  portion  of  the  line  with  great 
rapidity  before  it  was  deemed  prudent  to  check 
it;  then  an  extra  turn  was  taken  around  the 
loggerhead,  and  the  strain  upon  it  became  very 
great;  for  the  whale  continuing  to  descend, 
would  bring  the  bow  of  the  boat  down,  till  the 
water  was  just  about  to  rush  over  the  gunwale 
and  fill  it,  when  the  line  would  be  "surged," 
or  slacked  out. 


ACCIDENTS    BY    BOAT-LINES.  121 

Sometimes,  when  the  line  is  nearly  spent, 
and  there  is  great  danger  of  losing  the  whale 
by  having  it  all  run  out,  the  disposition  to  hold 
on  has  been  fatally  indulged  too  far,  and  the 
boat  taken  down.  I  have  heard  of  one  boat 
being  thus  lost  on  the  "False  Banks,"  and  her 
whole  crew  drowned.  And  very  lately  the 
whaling  bark,  Janet,  of  Westport,  lost  her  cap- 
tain and  a  boat's  crew  of  five  men,  they  being 
all  carried  down  and  drowned  by  the  boat-line 
getting  foul  while  they  were  fast  to  a  whale. 

In  the  present  instance,  before  taking  all 
their  line,  the  whale  began  to  ascend,  and  as 
it  became  slackened,  the  line  was  hauled  in 
"hand  over  hand,"  by  the  boat's  crew,  and 
coiled  away  by  the  boat-steerer.  The  moment 
the  whale  came  to  the  surface,  "he  went  smok- 
ing off  like  a  locomotive  with  an  express." 
They  held  manfully  to  the  line,  and  with  oars 
peaked,  ready  to  be  seized  in  a  moment,  they 
dashed  along  in  the  track  of  the  whale.  Had 
they  been  fast  yoked  to  a  team  of  wild  horses 
on  a  plank  road,  their  rate  of  travelling  could 
hardly  have  been  quicker.  Mile-stones,  trees, 


122          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

and  rails  were  all  one  in  their  Gilpin  race ;  and 
Mazeppa-like,  as  they  dashed  along  at  the  rear 
of  the  monster,  they  could  only  see  one  white 
bank  of  foam,  which  rolled  up  before  them 
higher  than  the  bow  of  the  boat,  as  if  it  would 
momently  rush  aboard. 

The  whale,  in  this  instance,  decided  that 
their  ride  should  not  be  altogether  barren  of 
variety,  for  they  soon  found  themselves  rushing 
into  the  midst  of  loose  whales,  which,  having 
been  disturbed  by  the  other  boats,  were  merrily 
fluking  and  snorting  all  around,  and  playing  their 
mad  antics  and  gambols.  The  other  boats  had 
also  fastened,  and  as  their  whale,  too,  seemed  to 
have  a  fondness  for  company,  they  all  became 
congregated  in  one  wild  and  excited  troop. 

At  length,  as  the  first  whale  slackened  his 
speed,  they  hauled  up  to  him,  and  the  captain 
darted  his  lance  adroitly,  which  took  effect. 
The  second  mate,  who  had  kept  as  near  as 
possible  during  the  chase,  now  fastened  with 
his  barbed  irons,  and  whichsoever  way  the  har- 
assed whale  turned,  he  met  an  enemy.  Weak- 
ened with  the  loss  of  blood,  which  was  now 


FRUITLESS   PERILS.  123 

jetted  forth  from  his  huge  nostrils  in  torrents, 
the  subdued  monster  soon  became  passive,  and 
his-  captors  lay  off  at  a  safe  distance  to  wait  the 
last  struggle.  This  was  speedily  over;  for, 
after  a  few  moments  of  convulsive  writhing, 
there  came  the  final  spasm,  which  is  always 
terrible  to  see.  The  surrounding  waters  were 
lashed  into  foam,  and  all  previous  exhibitions  of 
power  were  as  nothing  compared  with  the  in- 
credible strength  put  forth  in  the  flurry. 

At  last,  leaping  almost  clear  from  the  water, 
the  whale  pitched  down  head  foremost,  and 
before  their  lines  tautened,  they  commenced 
hauling  in  hand  over  hand,  expecting  that  an 
impulse  to  the  surface  would  begin,  should  he 
die  under  water,  so  that  the  body  would  rise 
directly  ;  but  in  this  they  were  deceived.  The 
strain  upon  the  lines  soon  indicated  that  the 
whale  was  sinking,  and  it  was  all  in  vain  they 
endeavoured  to  check  its  downward  tendency. 
It  would  sink  like  lead  in  spite  of  all  their 
efforts,  and  they  were  obliged  at  last  to  cut  the 
lines  in  order  to  keep  the  boats  from  going 
down  with  it.  Thus  they  lost  not  only  the 


124          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

fruits  of  many  hours  of  severe  toil,  but  a  large 
quantity  of  line  and  the  harpoons  also,  besides 
realizing  the  moral  detriment  and  loss  of  spirits 
necessarily  connected  with  such  a  disappoint- 
ment. 

Bad  as  this  luck  was,  it  was  not  attended 
with  loss  of  life  like  the  following  case  I  have 
met  with  in  "Fragments  of  a  Sailor's  Journal" — 
being  a  contribution  to  "  The  Sheet  Anchor  :" 
We  were  cruising,  says  the  author,  somewhere 
between  the  latitude  of  thirty-six  and  thirty-seven 
degrees  south,  and  the  longitude  of  sixty-eight 
degrees  east,  in  search  of  right  whales.  It  was  in 
the  afternoon,  and  the  ship  was  moving  along 
under  her  top-gallan  tsails  at  the  rate  of  about 
five  knots  the  hour.  The  most  hardened  grum- 
bler could  not  find  fault  with  the  day.  At  the 
fore  and  main  top-gallant  cross-trees  were  two 
men  on  the  look-out  for  whales.  It  was  now 
nearly  four  o'clock,  when  the  man  at  the  main 
sung  out,  "  There  she  blows !"  He  repeated 
the  cry  regularly  five  or  six  times.  All  was 
now  excitement  among  the  officers  and  men. 
Every  one  was  anxious  to  know  if  it  was  the 


WHALER'S  JOURNAL.  125 

kind  of  whale  we  wanted.  The  mate  hailed 
the  man  at  the  mast-head,  "  Where  away  is  that 
whale  ?  What  do  you  call  her  ?" 

"  Eight  whale,  sir,  on  the  lee  beam,  two 
miles  off;  look  out  sharp  for  her  !" 

"  Sing  out  when  the  ship  heads  for  her  !" 
"  Ay,  ay,  sir." 

"  Keep  her  away  !"  said  the  captain  to  the 
man  at  the  helm.  "Boy,  hand  me  the  spy- glass." 
"  Steady  !"  sung  out  the  man  at  the  mast-head. 
"  Steady  it  is  !"  answered  the  wheel.  The  cap- 
tain then  started  to  go  aloft.  "  Mr.  A.  (to  the 
mate),  you  may  square  in  the  after  yards,  and 
then  call  all  hands." 

"Forward,  there !"  shouted  the  mate.  "Haul 
the  main- sail  up  and  square  the  yards  !  Bill !" 
(to  an  old  sailor).  "  Sir  ?"  "  Call  all  hands  !" 
"  Ay,  ay,  sir.  All  hands,  ahoy  !"  shouted  old 
Hill,  in  a  voice  like  a  tempest.  "  Stand  by  the 
boats !"  In  less  than  no  time  the  deck  was 
alive  with  men. 

"  Boat-steerers,  get  your  boats  ready  !"     In 

a  moment,  as  it  were,  the  boats  were  in  readi- 

B,  the  tubs  put  in,  the  lines  bent  on  to  the 


126          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

harpoons,  and  the  crews  standing  by,  ready 
to  follow  the  boats  down  to  the  water,  when 
the  word  came  from  the  captain  to  lower 
away. 

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

"Down  helm  !"  shouted  the  captain.  "Mr. 
A.,  brace  up  the  mizen  top-sail.  Hoist  and 
swing  the  boats !  Lower  away  !"  Down  went 
the  boats,  and  down  followed  the  crews.  As 
the  boats  struck  the  water,  every  man  was  on 
his  thwart,  with  his  hand  on  the  loom  of  his 
oar,  and  all  at  once  the  three  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  fastest  puller,  so  that, 
although  we  all  left  the  ship  together,  and  for 
a  few  rods  kept  nearly  head  and  head  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  not  fret  ourselves,  but  kept  cool  for  a 
tight  pull  when  the  whale  should  show  himself 


WHALER'S  JOURNAL.  127 

on  the  surface  of  the  water  again,  which  he  did 
the  moment  after. 

"  Here  she  is  !"  cried  the  mate  ;  "  and  not 
over  ten  rods  from  the  boat.  Now,  my  dear 
fellows,  lay  back  hard  !  Spring  hard,  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  liked  to  fasten  to  a 
whale. 

"  Stand  up  !"  shouted  the  mate ;  and  in  a 
moment  I  was  on  my  feet,  and  in  the  next 
moment  I  had  two  harpoons  to  the  hitches 
into  her.  "  Stern !  stern  all !"  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  !"  said  the  mate  ;  and  away 


128          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

we  shot  after  her,  like  an  arrow  from  the  bow. 
The  mate  by  this  time  had  his  lance  ready. 
"  Haul  me  on  to  that  whale  !"  he  shouted ;  and 
all  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  sound- 
ing, 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 
about,  shot  up  out  of  the  water  nearly  her  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  heard  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  long  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 


FATAL    RESULT.  129 

I  succeeded ;  but  what  a  sight  was  that  on  which 
I  gazed  when  I  found  myself  on  the  surface  of 
the  water  !  About  a  rod  off  was  the  whale  that 
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  came  up  one  after 
another,  catching  at  anything  they  could  see  to 
help  to  keep  them  afloat.  One  poor  fellow 
came  paddling  along  with  two  or  three  oars  un- 
der him,  crying  out  that  his  back  was  broken. 
Another  of  the  crew  and  myself  got  him  on  a 

•«•  of  the  boat  that  we  had  hold  of.  His 
thiicli  was  broken,  and  he  could  not  move  his 
legs  at  all. 

The  second  mate  soon  after  picked  us  up  in 

j 


130        THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

his  boat,  and  so  much  had  we  been  engaged  in 
looking  out  for  ourselves,  that  we  did  not  per- 
ceive one  of  our  number  was  missing.  But 
alas !  it  was  too  soon  found  out.  He  was  a 
young  man,  about  seventeen  years  old,  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  stove,  un- 
willing to  believe,  even  after  we  knew  there  was 
no  hope,  that  our  shipmate  was  gone,  never 
more  to  return !  How  silently  we  glided  along- 
side of  the  ship,  and  hoisted  in  our  other  poor 
shipmate,  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  is  not  always  the  polished 
and  educated,  the  smooth-faced  and  handsome 


THE  HEART  UNDER  THE  PEA-JACKET.   131 

man,  that  has  the  warmest  heart  or  the  most 
generous  feelings/' 

How  true  is  all  this,  and  how  often  has  it 
been  proved  in  my  own  intercourse  with  seamen. 
Under  many  a  rough  pea-jacket  bosom  there 
beats  a  heart,  which  you  will  be  feeling  long 
for,  and  be  slow  in  finding  under  the  pur- 
ple, and  silks,  and  satins  of  fashion  and  frivol- 
ity. The  poet  Burns  knew  it  when  he  sang  so 
sweetly: — 

"The  heart  aye's  the  part,  ay, 

That  makes  us  right  or  wrang : 
Nae  treasures,  nor  pleasures, 

Could  make  us  happy  lang. 
It's  no  in  titles  nor  in  rank ; 
It's  no  in  wealth  like  Lon'on  bank, 

To  purchase  peace  and  rest : 
It's  no  in  making  rnuckle  mair  ; 
It 's  no  in  books ;  it 's  no  in  lair, 

To  make  us  truly  bless' d. 
If  happiness  hae  not  her  seat 

And  centre  in  the  breast, 
We  may  be  wise,  or  rich,  or  great, 

But  never  can  be  bless' d." 


J  2 


132         THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 
CHAPTEE     X. 

CONQUEST   AND    DISPOSAL    OF   A    SPERM   WHALE. 

"  Ye  gentlemen  of  England,  that  live  at  home  at  ease, 
Ah,  little  do  you  think  upon  the  dangers  of  the  seas !" 

Ocean  Song. 

"  I  love  thee— when  I  see  thee  stand, 

The  Hope  of  every  other  land  : 

A  sea-mark  in  the  tide  of  Time, 

Rearing  to  heaven  thy  brows  sublime. 

I  love  thee — when  I  contemplate 

The  full-orb'd  grandeur  of  thy  state ; 

Thy  laws  and  liberties,  that  rise, 

Man's  noblest  works  beneath  the  skies  ; 

To  which  the  Pyramids  are  tame, 

And  Grecian  temples  bow  their  fame." 

Montgomery. 

Large  Spermaceti  captured — Description  of  Sperm  Whale — 
Cutting-in — Spermaceti — Sharks  —  Tenacity  of  life  of 
Sharks  —  Sperm  Candle  manufactories — New  England 
enterprise — Hopeful  future. 

Brazil  Banks,  Atlantic  Ocean,  off  the  Eio  de  la  Plata. 

IN  this  region  of  fishing  enterprize,  we  cap- 
tured a  large  whale,  a  genuine  makrocepha- 
lus,  which  I  found  by  measurement  to  be   sixty 
feet  long  and  thirty  feet  round..     His  lower  jaw- 
bone was  sixteen  feet  long,  and  it  had  forty-eight 


LARGE    SPERMACETI    CAPTURED.  133 

large  teeth,  some  of  them  a  foot  long,  three  of 
which  were  broken  off,  and  others  much  worn. 
There  were  also  several  very  large  scars  on  the 
outside  of  the  jaw,  and  sundry  other  marks  upon 
his  body,  that  showed  him  to  have  been  in  the 
wars.  All  these  things,  and  the  way  in  which 
he  slued  his  flukes  whenever  the  boat  came  near, 
were  thought  by  his  captors  to  prove  him  an 
old  cruiser  in  these  seas,  and  to  have  known  a 
whale-boat,  and,  not  unlikely,  to  have  had  a 
taste  of  cold  iron  before.  It  would  seem,  in- 
deed, as  if  there  could  be  very  few  of  the  full 
grown,  or  aged  sperm  whales  in  the  ocean,  that 
have  not  been,  some  time  or  other,  chased  by  a 
whaler ;  and  their  numbers  are  getting  so  greatly 
reduced,  that  the  sperm  whale-fishing  alone  will 
not  be  much  longer  attempted. 

What  goes  under  the  name  of  the  sperm 
whale's  head,  is  nearly  one  third  of  the  mon- 
ster's length.  It  is  customary  to  sever  this 
entirely  at  first,  and  let  it  tow  astern,  while  the 
rest  of  the  carcase  is  being  stripped  of  its  very 
valuable  blubber.  Utterly  unlike  the  right 
whale,  which  has  no  teeth,  the  head  of  a  sperm 


134         THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

whale  is  square,  the  end  of  it  something  like 
the  largest  timber-log  ever  seen,  sawed  off 
straight.  It  is  truly  a  prodigious  mass  of  or- 
ganised, compact  matter,  with  which  this  animal 
has  been  known  sometimes,  to  butt  like  a  ram 
against  the  sides  of  a  ship,  and  break  it  in. 
They  often  go  in  this  way  "head  on"  to  boats, 
but  are  generally  pricked  off  and  turned  with  a 
lance,  or  dexterously  avoided. 

From  what  may  be  called  the  top  of  the 
forehead,  to  the  roof  of  the  mouth  of  this 
square-faced  sui  generis  monster,  it  measured 
nine  feet  in  a  straight  line,  and  there  was  a  cor- 
responding breadth  and  depth  of  forehead  ;  so 
that,  with  its  prodigious  volume  of  brain,  (head 
matter),  and  so  large  a  facial  angle,  the  bust  of 
this  creature  is  most  favourably  commended  to 
the  fingers  of  phrenologists.  Is  it  not  a  little 
surprising,  that  in  the  researches  of  comparative 
phrenology,  the  cranium  of  the  great  sperm 
whale  should  be  overlooked  ? 

For  the  matter  of  room  or  space,  a  phreno- 
logist might  keep  shop  in  it,  and  light  it  up,  if  he 
chose,  with  its  own  brains,  and  there  point  out 


CUTTING-IN    OF    SPERM   WHALE.  135 

to  visitors,  by  the  self-maintained  light,  the 
places  in  the  walls  and  ceiling,  where  the  differ- 
ent organs  lay.  It  would  be  like  a  painter  at 
Rome  who  should  open  his  studio  in  the  Par- 
thenon ;  the  celestial  gods  would  be  eyeing  him 
from  the  ceiling ;  deified  men  and  the  infernals 
would  be  looking  on  him  from  all  around.  And 
if  the  aforesaid  phrenologist  and  favoured  artist 
should  not  alike  become  masters  under  circum- 
stances so  imposing,  it  would  be  nobody's  fault 
but  their  own. 

But  to  finish  the  disposal  of  our  present 
prize  : — The  lower  jaw,  with  the  teeth  all  in  it, 
was  first  separated  by  the  sharp  spades  in  the 
hands  of  the  officers,  from  the  head,  and  hoisted 
in  upon  deck  ;  then  the  upper  jaw  was  separated 
from  the  mass  of  crown,  forehead,  and  head- 
matter,  or  spermaceti;  and  then  what  whalers 
call  the  junk,  or  the  mighty  mass  of  blubber, 
was  separated  from  the  case,  which  is  the  name 
they  give  to  the  brain-pan,  white  horse,  integu- 
ments, and  flesh  of  the  head.  The  junk  was 
hoisted  in  on  deck,  weighing,  I  will  not  say 
how  many  thousand  pounds.  The  former  cap- 


136         THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

tain  of  this  ship  on  another  voyage,  found  a 
large  barnacle  in  the  centre  of  a  sperm  whale's 
junk,  which  must  have  got  there  in  the  same  way 
that  stones,  and  deers'  horns,  and  toads,  get  into 
the  solid  heart  of  trees,  by  being  lodged  in  the 
bark,  and  then  overgrown  by  it. 

When  old  Captain  Bunker,  of  New  Bedford, 
of  whom  almost  everybody  in  America  has 
heard,  was  on  a  cruise  in  the  ship  Howard,  in 
north  latitude  thirty  degrees  thirty  minutes,  and 
east  longitude  one  hundred  and  fifty-four  de- 
grees, he  threw  a  harpooon  into  a  large  whale, 
but  the  whale  was  not  captured,  and  the  har- 
poon of  course  lost.  It  was  about  five  years 
afterwards,  that,  being  precisely  in  the  same  lati- 
tude, and  east  longitude  one  hundred  and  forty, 
he  made  fast  to  a  noble  whale,  and,  after  a  hard 
struggle,  succeeded  in  getting  him  alongside. 
And  lo  !  when  cutting  him  up,  a  harpoon, 
rusted  off  at  the  shank,  was  found  fast  anchored 
in  the  old  fellow's  "  cut- water."  "Hallo !"  said 
Captain  Bunker,  jesting,  "  here  is  my  missing 
old  iron."  What  he  said  in  joke  proved  to  be 
very  truth,  for  the  blubber-kept  harpoon  was 


SPERMACETI.  137 

the  identical  one  he  had  lost  five  years  before, 
having  on  it  the  ship's  name,  and  his  own  pri- 
vate mark. 

But  to  come  back  to  our  great  subject  of  dis- 
section now  in  hand  : — The  case  was  raised  par- 
tially out  of  the  water,  so  as  to  keep  the  waves 
from  washing  into  it,  and  an  incision  was  then 
made  through  the  membrane  of  one  of  the  ven- 
tricles of  the  head,  into  which  they  let  down 
great  buckets,  as  into  a  well,  dipping  them  full 
of  pure  sperm,  and  pouring  it,  as  whipped  up, 
into  hogsheads.  It  has  a  slight  rose  tint,  and 
looks  like  ice  cream,  or  white  butter  half  churned. 
There  was  about  sixteen  barrels  of  these  brains(?) 
alone,  and  ninety,  or  ninety-five  barrels  of  oil 
in  all.  The  sea  became  all  white  on  the  cutting 
in  side  of  the  ship,  with  the  spermaceti  and 
blubber  that  escaped.  Thousands  of  albatrosses, 
gulls,  and  haglets  more  than  got  their  fill,  so 
tluit  they  flew  heavily,  and  with  difficulty,  and 
probably  might  have  to  spend  three  or  four 
d.i ys,  if  not  weeks,  in  digestion,  like  the  sloth. 
Sperm  whalers  are  provided  with  large  scoops, 
by  which,  in  good  weather,  they  save  a  great 


138         THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

deal  of  what  we  lost,  some  of  the  boys  being 
sent  out  in  a  boat  to  dip  it  up. 

The  boat  steerers  were  down  upon  the  car- 
case four  times,  to  secure  hooks  and  hawsers 
into  the  great  holes  they  cut  in  the  blubber 
from  above.  Eight  or  ten  sharks  were  seen 
prowling  round,  of  the  piked-nose  kind,  some 
of  them  eight  or  nine  feet  long.  They  will 
come  right  upon  the  whale's  body  with  a  wave, 
bite  out  great  pieces  of  flesh,  turn  over  on  their 
bellies,  and  roll  off.  Several  of  them  were  har- 
pooned, and  two  went  off  with  irons  in  their 
backs,  which  seemed  as  little  to  annoy  them, 
as  a  small  splinter  in  the  thumb  of  a  wood 
sawyer. 

The  tenacity  with  which  the  shark  holds  to 
life,  or,  rather,  life  to  the  shark,  is  astonishing, 
and  hardly  to  be  credited  by  one  who  has  not 
himself  observed  it.  We  caught  a  number  on 
this  passage  for  their  skin,  which,  cleansed  and 
dried,  is  an  excellent  substitute  for  sand-paper, 
and  is  much  used  in  whale  ships  to  smooth  and 
polish  the  various  things  they  make  up  out  of 
whale's  bone  and  teeth.  One  that  we  hauled 


TENACITY   OF   LIFE    IN   THE    SHARK.         139 

upon  deck,  after  it  was  cut  open,  and  the  heart 
and  all  the  internal  viscera  were  removed,  still 
continued  to  flap  and  thrash  with  its  tail,  and 
seemed  to  try  to  bite  it  off.  The  heart  kept 
contracting  for  twenty  minutes  after  it  was  taken 
out  and  pierced  with  the  knife.  And,  from 
what  I  have  myself  seen,  I  could  not  ridicule  or 
deny  a  story  that  was  told  me  of  a  shark's  being 
known  to  swim  off,  upon  being  thrown  overboard, 
after  it  was  opened,  gutted,  and  had  its  tail 
chopped  off.  Sailors  don't  like  them  a  bit,  but 
kill  them  whenever  they  can ;  and  there  is  little 
wonder,  considering  they  are  so  likely  to  be 
themselves  eaten  by  these  greedy  rangers  through 
the  paths  of  the  sea. 

But  to  have  done  with  our  whale : — It  re- 
mains to  finish  "  bailing"  the  case,  and  to  cut 
out  the  blubber  of  the  junk  from  the  part  of  it 
called  " white  horse"  which  is  a  tough,  stringy, 
and  slightly  elastic  substance  interposed  with  it, 
that  contains  little  or  no  oil,  and  is  as  good  as  a 
cotton  bale  to  shield  a  sperm  whale's  head  from 
blows.  Then  follow  the  trying-out,  stowing 
down,  overhauling,  and  coopering  again  the 


140         THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

hogsheads  of  this  valuable  fluid  of  which  they 
on  land,  who  are  turning  night  into  day  by 
means  of  its  clear  light,  little  know  the  hazard 
and  labour  of  American  whalemen  in  procuring. 
At  the  completion  of  the  voyage  this  oil  will  be 
drawn  from  the  casks,  and  after  a  process  of 
boiling  and  cooling,  will  be  put  into  vats  with  a 
strainer  which  detains  the  spermaceti  mixed 
with  oil. 

This  valuable  residue  is  then  a  yellow  viscous 
substance,  which  is  afterward  put  into  strong 
canvas  bags,  and  subjected  to  a  screw  press, 
and  next  to  the  pressure  of  the  hydraulic  engine, 
whereby  the  oily  matter  is  all  expelled,  leaving 
the  spermaceti  in  -hard,  concrete  masses.  This, 
after  boiling  with  potash,  and  purifying,  is  mould- 
ed into  those  beautiful  oilless  candles  which  are 
sold  under  the  name  of  spermaceti. 

The  first  manufactory  of  sperm  candles  in 
America  was  started  in  Ehode  Island,  in  1750, 
by  one  Benjamin  Crab,  an  Englishman.  By 
the  year  1761  there  were  eight  in  New  England, 
and  one  in  Philadelphia.  Owing  to  the  in- 
creased influx  of  sperm,  by  reason  of  the  ener- 


NEW    ENGLAND    ENTERPRISE.  141 

getic  and  widely  extended  prosecution  of  the 
sperm  whale  fishery,  the  number  of  spermaceti 
candle  manufactories  is  now  greatly  increased. 
In  1834  it  was  estimated  that  there  were  sixty 
of  them  constantly  in  operation,  and  the  quan- 
tity of  sperm  candles  in  that  year  made  was 
three  millions  of  pounds. 

For  the  well-deserved  commendation  of  this 
branch  of  American  industry,  all  persons  in 
any  way  connected  with  it  will  be  as  pleased, 
as  we  in  the  Commodore  Preble  were,  at  the 
way  in  which  New  England  enterprise  was 
toasted  at  the  New  England  Society's  dinner 
of  1848,  in  New  York.  We  had  an  account  of 
the  Anniversary  of  the  Pilgrims'  Landing,  and 
the  festivities  of  the  occasion,  in  a  paper  to 
which  we  were  treated  by  an  outward-bound 
whale  ship  which  we  fell  in  with.  How 
greedily  we  devoured  it,  none  but  a  news- 
hungry  whaleman  knows.  The  toast  was — 
'  Now  England  enterprise:  It  grapples  with 
tlu'  monsters  of  the  Pacific  to  illuminate  our 
1  lings,  and  with  the  problems  of  science  to 
-ii  our  minds." 


H2         THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

Now,  if  the  lines  of  commercial  enterprise 
can  be  only  kept  from  parting  with  the  recti- 
linear of  moral  propriety  and  the  law  of  God, 
our  career  of  greatness  as  a  nation  is  clear  and 
glorious.  The  great  future  is  before  us,  full  of 
hope,  if  old  Puritan  principles  be  only  at  the 
head  with  modern  New  England  enterprise. 

"  Far,  like  the  comet's  way  through  infinite  space, 
Stretches  the  long,  untravelled  path  of  light 
Into  the  depth  of  ages ;  we  may  trace,  afar, 
The  brightening  glories  of  its  flight, 
Till  the  receding  rays  are  lost  to  human  sight." 


"  I  love  thee,  next  to  heaven  above, 
Land  of  my  fathers  !  thee  I  love ; 
And  rail  thy  slanderers  as  they  will, 
"With  all  tiny  faults,  I  love  thee  still. 

I  love  thee  when  I  hear  thy  voice 
Bid  a  despairing  world  rejoice, 
And  loud  from  shore  to  shore  proclaim, 
In  every  tongue,  Messiah's  name ; 
That  name  at  which,  from  sea  to  sea, 
All  nations  yet  shall  bow  the  knee." 


A    MOVING    INCIDENT.  143 


CHAPTEK    XL 

AUTHENTIC    TRAGEDIES    AND    PERILS   OF   THE 
WHALING    SERVICE. 

"  At  length  his  comrades,  who  before 
Had  heard  his  voice  in  every  blast, 
Could  catch  the  sound  no  more. 
For  then,  by  toil  subdued,  he  drank 
The  stifling  wave,  and  then  he  sank. 
And  he,  they  knew,  nor  ship  nor  shore, 
Whate'er  they  did,  should  visit  more." 

Cowper's  "  Castaway.' 


A  moving  incident — Whale  harpooned — Boats  dragged  far 
away — Boats  out  of  sight — A  man  overboard — Seaman  lost 
— Search  for  missing  boats — Joy  out  of  Despair — Story  of 
Captain  Warrens — The  ancient  mariners. 

IN  this  Daguerreotype  gallery  of  Life  and  Ad- 
ventures in  a  Whale  Ship,  it  is  but  fair  that 
our  late  experience  of  the  bright  side  of  whale- 
men's fortune,  in  the  safe  capture  and  stowing 
down  of  a  noble  hundred -barrel  spermaceti,  as 
told  in  the  last  chapter,  should  be  set  off  by 
incidents  of  another  character  that  are  by  no 
means  uncommon.  A  writer  in  the  London 


144         THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

Quarterly,  a  few  years  ago,  described  an  adven- 
ture in  the  pursuit  of  a  whale,  which,  given 
here  for  substance  with  some  additions,  will  be 
read  with  deep  interest  by  all  who  are  in  any- 
wise familiar  with  the  "  hair-breadth  'scapes  and 
moving  accidents"  in  the  ordinary  career  of 
whalemen. 

One  of  a  ship's  company  or  officers  in  the 
North  Pacific,  near  the  close  of  a  day  that  had 
been  rather  stormy,  says,  that  a  school  of  young 
bull  whales  made  their  appearance  close  to  the 
ship,  and  the  weather  having  cleared  up  a  little, 
the  captain  immediately  ordered  the  mate  to 
lower  his  boat,  while  he  did  the  same  with  his 
own,  in  order  to  go  in  pursuit  of  them. 

The  two  boats  were  instantly  lowered,  for 
they  were  unable  to  send  more,  having  had  two 
others  ( '  stove "  the  day  before.  They  soon  got 
near  the  whales,  but  were  unfortunately  seen  by 
them  before  they  could  dart  the  harpoon  with 
any  chance  of  success,  and  the  consequence  was, 
that  the  school  of  whales  separated,  and  went 
off  with  great  swiftness,  in  different  directions. 
One,  however,  after  making  several  turns,  came 


BOATS    DRAGGED    AFAR   AWAY.  145 

at  length  right  toward  the  captain's  boat,  which, 
li«  observing,  waited  in  silence  for  his  approach, 
without  moving  an  oar,  so  that  the  "young 
bull"  came  close  by  his  boat,  and  received  the 
blow  of  the  harpoon  some  distance  behind  his 
"  hump,"  and  so  near  to  the  ship  as  to  be  seen 
by  all  on  board. 

The  whale  appeared  quite  terror-struck  for 
a  few  seconds,  and  then,  suddenly  recovering 
itself,  darted  off  like  the  wind,  and  spun  the 
boat  so  quickly  round  when  the  tug  came 
upon  the  line,  that  she  was  within  a  miracle 
of  being  upset.  But  away  they  went,  "  dead 
to  windward,"  at  the  rate  of  twelve  or  fifteen 
miles  an  hour,  right  against  a  "  head  sea,"  which 
flew  against  and  over  the  bows  of  the  boat  with 
uncommon  force,  so  that  she  at  times  appeared 
to  be  ploughing  through  it,  making  a  high  bank 
of  surf  on  each  side. 

The  second  mate  having  observed  the  course 
of  the  whale  and  boat,  managed  to  waylay 
them;  and  when  they  came  near  to  him,  which 
they  speedily  did,  "a  short  warp"  was  thrown, 
and  both  boats  were  soon  towed  at  nearly  the 

K 


146         THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

same    rate    as    the    captain's   boat    had   been 
before. 

The  captain  was  now  seen  darting  the  lance 
at  the  whale  as  it  almost  flew  along,  but  he  did 
not  seem  to  do  so  with  any  kind  of  effect,  as 
the  speed  of  the  whale  did  not  appear  in  the 
least  diminished,  and  in  a  very  short  time  they 
all  disappeared  together,  being  at  too  great  a 
distance  to  be  seen  with  the  naked  eye  from 
the  deck.  The  officer  ran  aloft,  and,  by  the  aid 
of  a  telescope,  could  just  discern  from  the  mast- 
head, the  three  objects  like  specks  upon  the 
surface  of  the  ocean.  At  an  alarming  distance 
he  could  just  observe  the  two  boats,  with  the 
whale's  head  occasionally  darting  out  before 
them,  with  a  good  deal  of  "  white  water,"  or 
foam,  which  convinced  him  that  the  whale  was 
still  running.  He  watched  with  the  glass  un- 
til he  could  no  longer  trace  them,  even  in  the 
most  indistinct  manner,  and  then  called  to  those 
on  deck,  that  they  might  take  the  bearing,  by 
the  compass,  of  the  direction  in  which  he  had 
lost  sight  of  them,  so  that  they  might  continue 
to  '"beat"  the  ship  up  to  that  quarter. 


A    MAN    OVERBOARD.  147 

It  was  now,  says  the  story,  within  half  an 
hour  of  sunset,  and  there  was  every  appearance 
of  the  coming  on  of  an  "  ugly  night ;"  indeed, 
the  wind  began  to  freshen  every  moment,  and 
an  "awkward  bubble"  of  a  sea  soon  to  make. 
I  remained  aloft  until  I  saw  the  sun  dip,  angry 
and  red,  below  the  troubled  horizon,  and  was 
just  about  to  descend,  when  I  was  dreadfully 
shocked  at  hearing  the  loud  cry  of  "a  man 
overboard  ! "  from  all  upon  deck.  I  looked 
astern,  and  saw  with  horror  one  of  our  men,  by 
the  name  of  Berry,  grappling  with  the  waves, 
and  calling  loudly  for  help. 

The  ship  was  soon  brought  round,  but,  in 
doing  so,  she  unavoidably  passed  a  long  way 
from  the  poor  fellow,  who  still  supported  him- 
self by  beating  the  water  with  his  hands,  al- 
though he  was  quite  unacquainted  with  the 
proper  art  of  swimming.  Several  oars  were 
thrown  overboard  the  moment  after  he  fell,  but 
he  could  not  reach  them,  though  they  u 
near  to  him ;  and  directly  the  ship  brought  up, 
a  Sandwich  Islander,  who  formed  one  of  the 
crew,  K'aprd  overboard,  and  swam  toward  him. 


148         THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

while  at  the  same  time  the  people  on  deck 
were  lowering  a  spare  boat,  which  is  always 
kept  for  such  emergencies.  I  could  be  of  no 
service,  except  to  urge  their  expedition  by 
many  calls,  for  it  was  only  the  work  of  a  few 
minutes. 

The  good  Sandwich  Islander  struck  out  most 
bravely  at  first,  but,  finding  that  he  was  some 
distance  from  the  ship,  and  being  unable  to  see 
Berry  on  account  of  the  agitated  surface  of  the 
sea,   actually  turned  back  through  fear— find- 
ing, as  he  said,  that  the  "  sea  caps"  went  over 
his  head.     The  men  in  the  boat  now  plied  their 
oars  with  all  their  strength,   and  were  making 
rapidly  towards  the  drowning  young  man,  who 
now  and  then  disappeared  entirely  from  view 
under  the  seas,  which  were  beginning  to  roll. 
A    sickening    anxiety    pervaded    me,    as    my 
thoughts  seemed  to  press  the  boat  onward  to 
the  spot  where  the  poor  fellow  still  grappled, 
but  convulsively,  with  the  yielding  waters. 

The  boat  urged  by  man's  utmost  strength, 
sprang  over  the  boisterous  waves  with  consid- 
erable speed,  but  they  arrived  half  a  minute 


SEAMAN    LOST.  149 

too  late  to  save  our  poor  shipmate  from  his 
watery  grave.  I  saw  him  struggle  with  the 
waves  until  the  last,  when  the  foam  of  a  broken 
sea  roared  over  him,  and  caused  him  to  disap- 
pear for  ever  !  The  boat  was  rowed  round  and 
round  the  fatal  spot  again  and  again,  until 
night  fell,  and  then  she  was  slowly  and  reluct- 
antly pulled  to  the  ship  by  her  melancholy 
crew.  As  they  returned,  the  turbulent  waves 
tossed  them  about  as  if  in  sport,  making  the 
boat  rebound  from  the  beating  and  dashing 
waters  which  flew  against  her  bow. 

The  moment  the  unfortunate  seaman  dis- 
appeared, a  large  bird  of  the  albatross  kind  came 
careering  along,  and  alighted  on  the  water  at 
the  very  spot  where  the  poor  fellow  was  last 
seen.  It  was  a  curious  circumstance,  and  only 
served  to  heighten  our  horror,  when  we  saw  the 
carnivorous  bird  set  itself  proudly  over  the  head 
of  our  companion ;  and  which  also  served  to 
remind  us  of  the  number  of  sharks  that  we  had 
so  frequently  seen  of  late,  and  of  the  horrible 
propensities  of  which  we  could  not  dare  to 
think. 


150          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

By  the  time  we  had  hoisted  in  the  boat  it 
was  quite  dark  ;  the  wind,  too,  had  increased  to 
half  a  gale,  with  heavy  squalls  at  times,  so  that 
we  were  obliged  to  double  reef  our  topsails.  We 
had  lost  one  of  our  men  who  had  sailed  with  us 
from  England,  the  bare  thought  of  which,  in 
our  circumstances,  aroused  a  crowd  of  heart- 
rending ideas.  Our  captain  and  second  mate, 
with  ten  of  the  crew,  had  disappeared,  and  were 
by  that  time  all  lost  or  likely  to  be  so,  in  the 
stormy  night  which  had  set  in  :  being,  too,  sev- 
eral hundred  miles  away  from  land.  We,  how- 
ever, kept  beating  the  ship  to  windward  con- 
stantly, carrying  all  the  sail  she  could  bear, 
making  "  short  boards,"  or  putting  about  every 
twenty  minutes.  We  had  also,  since  night  fell, 
continued  to  burn  lights ;  and  we  had  likewise 
a  large  vessel,  containing  oil  and  unravelled 
rope,  burning  over  the  stern  rail  of  the  ship, 
as  a  beacon  for  them,  which  threw  out  great 
light. 

But  although  all  eyes  were  employed  in 
every  direction,  searching  for  the  boats,  no 
vestige  of  them  could  be  seen ;  and,  therefore, 


SEARCH    FOR   MISSING   BOATS.  151 

when  half-past  nine  P.M.  came,  we  made  up  our 
minds  they  were  all  lost;  and,  as  the  wind 
howled  hoarsely  through  the  rigging,  and  the 
waves  beat  savagely  against  our  ship,  some  of 
us  thought  we  could  hear  the  shrieks  of  poor 
Berry  above  the  roaring  storm ;  others  ima- 
gined, in  their  melancholy,  that  they  could 
occasionally  hear  the  captain's  voice  ordering  to 
"bear  up;"  while  the  boats  had  been  seen 
more  than  fifteen  times  by  anxious  spirits,  who 
had  strained  their  eyes  through  the  gloom, 
until  fancy  robbed  them  of  their  true  specu- 
lation, and  left  her  phantasmagoria  in  ex- 
change. 

There  were  not  many  on  board  who  did 
not  think  of  home  on  that  dreadful  night ; 
there  were  not  many  among  us  who  did  not 
curse  the  sea,  and  all  the  sea-going  avocations, 
while  with  the  same  breath  they  blessed  the 
cheerful  fireside  of  their  parents,  which,  at  that 
moment,  they  would  have  given  all  they  pos- 
sessed to  see.  But  at  the  moment  despair 
was  firmly  settling  upon  us,  a  man  from  aloft 
cried  out  that  he  could  see  a  light  right  ahead 


152         THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

of  the  ship,  just  as  we  were  "  going  about/'  by 
which  we  should  have  gone  from  it. 

We  all  looked  in  that  direction,  and  in  a 
few  minutes  we  could  plainly  perceive  it ;  in  a 
short  time  we  were  close  up  with  it,  when,  to 
our  great  joy,  we  found  the  captain  and  all  the 
men  in  the  boats,  lying  to  the  leeward  of  the 
dead  whale,  which  had  in  some  measure  saved 
them  from  the  violence  of  the  sea.  They  had 
only  just  been  able  to  procure  a  light,  having 
unfortunately  upset  all  their  tinder  through  the 
violent  motion  of  the  boats,  by  which  it  became 
wet,  but  which  they  succeeded  in  igniting  after 
.  immense  application  of  the  flint  and  steel,  or  their 
lantern  would  have  been  suspended  from  an  oar 
directly  after  sunset,  which  is  the  usual  practice 
when  boats  are  placed  under  such  circumstances. 

After  securing  the  whale  alongside,  which  it 
was  feared  they  would  lose  during  the  night, 
from  the  roughness  of  the  weather,  they  all  came 
on  board,  when  the  sudden  end  of  poor  Berry 
was  spoken  of  with  sorrow  from  all  hands,  while 
their  own  deliverance  served  to  throw  a  ray  of 
light  amid  the  gloom. 


STORY   OF    CAPTAIN    WARRENS.  153 

"  They  thought  of  his  worth,  but  no  words  found  birth, 

To  tell  of  the  love  they  bore  him ; 
But  the  sea-bird's  wail,  and  the  stormy  gale, 

And  the  roar  of  the  ocean  wave, 
Sung  deep  and  long  the  funeral  song 

O'er  the  seaman's  traceless  grave." 

In  this  connection,  it  is  not  unsuitable  to 
give  place  to  what  an  accredited  writer  in  the 
Westminster  Review  relates  of  an  incident,  or 
rather  a  dread  tragedy,  in  the  Greenland  whale- 
fishery,  which  is  almost  too  appalling  and  un- 
paralleled, not  to  say  impossible,  to  be  be- 
lieved : — 

One  serene  evening  in  the  middle  of  August, 
1775,  Captain  Warrens,  the  master  of  a  Green- 
land whale  ship,  found  himself  becalmed  among 
an  immense  number  of  icebergs,  in  about  77° 
of  north  latitude.  On  one  side,  and  within  a 
mile  of  his  vessel,  these  were  of  immense  height, 
and  closely  wedged  together,  and  a  succession 
of  snow-covered  peaks  appeared  behind  each 
other  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach,  showing 
that  the  ocean  was  completely  blocked  up  in 
that  quarter,  and  that  it  had  probably  been  so 
for  a  long  period  of  time.  Captain  Warrens 


154         THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

did  not  feel  altogether  satisfied  with  his  situa- 
tion ;  but,  there  being  no  wind,  he  could  not 
move  one  way  or  the  other,  and  he  therefore 
kept  a  strict  watch,  knowing  that  he  would  be 
safe  as  long  as  the  icebergs  continued  in  their 
respective  places.  About  midnight  the  wind 
rose  to  a  gale,  accompanied  by  thick  showers  of 
snow,  while  a  succession  of  thundering,  grind- 
ing, and  crashing  noises  gave  fearful  evidence 
that  the  ice  was  in  motion. 

The  vessel  received  violent  shocks  every 
moment,  for  the  haziness  of  the  atmosphere 
prevented  those  on  board  from  discovering  in 
what  direction  the  open  water  lay,  or  if  there 
actually  was  any  at  all  on  either  side  of  them. 
The  night  was  spent  in  tacking  as  often  as  any 
case  of  danger  happened  to  present  itself,  and 
in  the  morning  the  storm  abated,  and  Captain 
Warrens  found,  to  his  great  joy,  that  his  ship 
had  not  sustained  any  serious  injury.  He  re- 
marked with  surprise  that  the  accumulated  ice- 
bergs, which  had  the  preceding  evening  formed 
an  impenetrable  barrier,  had  been  separated  and 
disengaged  by  the  wind,  and  that  in  one  place  a 


STORY    OF    CAPTAIN    WARRENS.  155 

canal  of  open  sea  wound  its  course  among  them 
as  far  as  the  eye  could  discern. 

It  was  two  miles  beyond  the  entrance  of 
this  canal  that  a  ship  made  its  appearance 
about  noon.  The  sun  shone  brightly  at  the 
time,  and  a  gentle  breeze  blew  from  the  north. 
At  first  some  intervening  icebergs  prevented 
Captain  Warrens  from  distinctly  seeing  any- 
thing but  her  mast ;  but  he  was  struck  with  the 
strange  manner  in  which  her  sails  were  dis- 
posed, and  with  the  dismantled  aspect  of  her 
yards  and  rigging.  She  continued  to  go  before 
the  wind  for  a  few  furlongs,  and  then,  ground- 
ing upon  the  low  icebergs,  remained  motionless, 
Captain  Warrens's  curiosity  was  so  much  ex- 
cited that  he  immediately  leaped  into  his  boat 
with  several  seamen,  and  rowed  toward  her. 

On  approaching,  he  observed  that  her  hull 
was  miserably  weather-beaten,  and  not  a  soul 
appeared  on  the  deck,  which  was  covered  with 
snow  to  a  considerable  depth.  He  hailed  her 
crew  several  times,  but  no  answer  was  returned. 
Previous  to  stepping  on  board,  an  open  port- 
hole near  the  main-chains  caught  his  eye,  and, 


156         THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

on  looking  into  it,  he  perceived  a  man  reclining 
back  in  a  chair,  with  writing  materials  on  a 
table  before  him,  but  the  feebleness  of  the  light 
made  everything  very  indistinct.  The  party 
went  upon  deck,  and  having  removed  the  hatch- 
way, which  they  found  closed,  they  descended 
to  the  cabin. 

They  first  came  to  the  apartment  which 
Captain  Warrens  viewed  through  the  port-hole. 
A  tremour  seized  him  as  he  entered  it.  Its  in- 
mate retained  its  former  position,  and  seemed 
to  be  insensible  to  strangers.  He  was  found 
to  be  a  corpse,  and  a  green  damp  mould  had 
covered  his  cheeks  and  forehead,  and  veiled  his 
eye-balls.  He  had  a  pen  in  his  hand,  and  a 
log  book  lay  before  him,  the  last  sentence  in 
whose  unfinished  page  ran  thus  : — "  November 
J  1th,  1762.  We  have  now  been  inclosed  in  the 
ice  seventeen  days.  The  fire  went  out  yester- 
day, and  our  master  has  been  trying  ever  since 
to  kindle  it  again  without  success.  His  wife 
died  this  morning.  There  is  no  relief." 

Captain  Warrens  and   his   seamen   hurried 
from  the  spot  without   uttering   a  word.     On 


STORY    OF    CAPTAIN    WARRENS.  157 

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  counte- 
nance retained  the  freshness  of  life,  and  a  con- 
traction of  the  limbs  alone  showed  that  her 
form  was  inanimate.  Seated  on  the  floor  was 
the  corpse  of  an  apparently  young  man,  hold- 
ing a  steel  in  one  hand  and  a  flint  in  the 
other,  as  if  in  the  act  of  striking  fire  upon 
some  tinder  which  lay  beside  him.  In  the  fore 
part  of  the  vessel  several  sailors  were  found 
lying  dead  in  their  berths,  and  the  body  of  a 
boy  was  crouched  at  the  bottom  of  the  gang- 
way stairs. 

Neither  provisions  nor  fuel  could  be  dis- 
covered anywhere  ;  but  Captain  Warrens  was 
prevented,  by  the  superstitious  prejudices  of  his 
seamen,  from  examining  the  vessel  as  minutely 
as  he  wished  to  have  done.  He  therefore  car- 
ried away  the  log-book  already  mentioned,  and, 
returning  to  his  own  ship,  immediately  steered 
to  the  southward,  deeply  impressed  with  the 
awful  example  which  he  had  just  witnessed  of 


158          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

the  danger  of  navigating  the  polar  seas  in  high 
northern  latitudes. 

On  returning  to  England,  he  made  various 
inquiries  respecting  vessels  that  had  disappeared 
in  an  unknown  way,  and,  by  comparing  these 
results  with  the  information  which  was  afforded 
by  the  written  documents  in  his  possession, 
he  ascertained  the  name  and  history  of  the  im- 
prisoned ship  and  of  her  unfortunate  master, 
and  found  that  she  had  been  frozen  in  thirteen 
years  previous  to  the  time  of  his  discovering  her 
imprisoned  in  the  ice. 

If  this  strange  tale  be  true,  we  see  that 
Coleridge's  wonderful  Rime  of  the  Ancient 
Mariner  may  not  be  all  fancy,  but  may  have 
a  substantial  basis  of  fact.  Witness  the  fol- 
lowing verses,  eliminated  from  it  here  and 
there  . — 

"  And  now  there  came  both  mist  and  snow, 

And  it  grew  wondrous  cold ; 
And  ice,  mast  high,  came  floating  by, 

As  green  as  emerald. 

"  And  through  the  drifts  the  snowy  clifts 

Did  send  a  dismal  sheen ; 
Nor  shapes  of  men,  nor  beasts  we  ken — 

The  ice  was  all  between. 


THE    ANCIENT    MARINER.  159 

"  The  ice  was  here,  the  ice  was  there, 

The  ice  was  all  around ; 
It  cracked  and  growled,  and  roared  and  howled, 

Like  noises  in  a  s  wound  ! 

"  Alone,  alone,  all,  all  alone, 

Alone  on  a  wide,  wide  sea ! 
And  never  a  saint  took  pity  on 

My  soul  in  agony. 

"  I  closed  my  lips,  and  kept  them  close, 

And  the  balls  like  pulses  beat ; 
For  the  sky  and  the  sea,  and  the  sea  and  the  sky, 
Lay  like  a  load  on  my  weary  eye, 

And  the  dead  were  at  my  feet. 

"  The  cold  sweat  melted  from  their  limbs, 

Nor  rot  nor  reck  did  they  ; 
The  look  with  which  they  looked  on  me 

Had  never  passed  away. 

"  All  stood  together  on  the  deck, 

For  a  charnel  dungeon  fitter ; 
All  fixed  on  me  their  stony  eyes, 

That  in  the  moon  did  glitter. 

*'  But  soon  I  heard  the  dash  of  oars, 

I  heard  the  pilot's  cheer; 
My  head  was  turned  perforce  away, 

And  I  saw  a  boat  appear. 

44  The  pilot  and  the  pilot's  boy, 

I  heard  them  coming  fast ! 
I  )i -ar  Lord  in  heaven  !  it  was  a  joy 

The  dead  men  could  not  bl 


160          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

"  The  boat  came  closer  to  the  ship, 
But  I  nor  spake  nor  stirred  ; 

The  boat  came  close  beneath  the  ship, 
And  straight  a  sound  was  heard. 

"  Stunned  by  that  loud  and  dreadful  sound, 
Which  sky  and  ocean  smote, 

Like  one  that  hath  been  seven  days  drown*  d 
My  body  lay  afloat, 

But  swift  as  dreams,  myself  I  found 
Within  the  pilot's  boat. 

"  0  wedding  guest !  this  soul  hath  been 

Alone  on  a  wide,  wide  sea  : 
So  lonely  'twas,  that  God  himself 

Scarce  seemed  there  to  be. 

"  Farewell,  farewell !  but  this  I  tell 
To  thee,  thou  wedding  guest ! 

He  prayeth  well  who  loveth  well 
Both  man,  and  bird,  and  beast. 

"  He  prayeth  best  who  loveth  best 
All  things  both  great  and  small ; 

For  the  dear  God  who  loveth  us, 
He  made  and  loveth  all." 


WHALING  SAILORS'  YARNS. 


CHAPTEK    XII. 

YARNS    FROM   THE    EXPERIENCE    OF    OLD 
WHALEMEN. 


"  Row  !  row  !  row  ! 

In  our  vessel  she  must  go, 

Over  the  broad  Pacific's  swell, 

Round  Cape  Horn,  where  tempests  dwell ; 

Many  a  night  and  many  a  day, 

Hence  with  us  she  must  away, 

Till  we  joyful  hail  once  more 

Old  Nantucket's  treeless  shore." 

Whaler's  Song. 


Whaling  Sailors'  Yarns— Dead  Whale— Competition  for  dead 
Whale — Successful  Stratagem — Recovery  of  sunk  Whales — 
Chase  by  rival  Whalemen— John  Bull  and  Brother  Jona- 
than— Romance  of  rival  Whaling — Dashing  exploit  of  a 
Yankee. 

Brazil  Banks,  lat.  24°  £.,  Ion.  40°  W. 

SOME  few  years  ago,  in  the  same  region  of 
ocean  where  we  were  now  cruising,  and 
about  the  same  month  of  the  year,  an  old 
weather-worn  and  barnacled  whale  ship  was 
working  slowly  along  on  a  wind,  homeward 
bound,  or  after  another  sperm  whale,  'if  one 
should  heave  in  sight.  Her  try-works  were 

L 


162          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

sending  up  a  smoke  black  as  night  in  huge  vol- 
umes, for  they  were  trying  out  an  eighty-barreler 
not  long  taken. 

The  deck  was  lined  with  casks,  and  the  main 
hatches  off;  men  were  engaged  in  the  blubber- 
room  cutting  up  the  blanket  pieces  into  horse 
pieces,  ready  for  mincing ;  others  piking  the 
pieces  from  one  tub  to  another,  ready  for  the 
mincers;  some  tending  the  fires,  some  filling 
up  casks  with  hot  oil  from  the  cooler ;  every 
man  busy,  and  each  at  his  place,  but  the  decks 
confusedly  strown  with  barrels,  and  tubs,  and 
whaling  gear,  like  a  street  with  goods  in  it  after 
a  fire. 

All  at  once,  says  an  old  whaler,  in  a  yarn  of 
random  recollections  of  his  youth,  all  at  once, 
a  voice  clear  as  the  lark,  and  to  the  ear  of  the 
whaleman  far  sweeter,  rang  through  the  ship, 
"  There  she  blows  !  "  Again  and  again  it  is 
repeated,  at  regular  intervals.  Now  the  captain 
hails  the  mast  head :  "  Where  away  is  that 
whale,  and  what  do  you  call  her  ?" 

"  Sperm  whale,  sir,  three  points  on  the 
weather  bow,  not  over  two  miles  off" 


WHALING  SAILORS'  YARNS.  163 

"  Get  your  boats  ready ;  slack  down  the  fires ; 
and  stand  by  to  lower  away  !  " 

The  boats'  crews  each  stand  by  their  own 
boat,  some  of  the  men  help  to  put  in  the  tub  of 
line,  others  lay  down  the  boat- tackle  falls,  in 
such  a  way  that  they  will  run  clear.  The  boat- 
steerer  bends  on  his  harpoons,  the  gripes  are 
cast  clear  of  the  boats,  and  now  comes  the  word, 
"  Hoist  and  swing ! "  In  a  moment  the  boats 
are  hanging  by  their  tackles,  and  clear  of  the 
cranes,  ready  for  the  word  "  Lower  away ! "' 
The  mates,  in  the  mean  time,  were  aloft,  watch- 
ing the  movements  of  the  whale,  in  order  to 
judge  how  to  pull  for  her. 

Now  comes  the  word,  "  Lower  away !  "  In  a 
moment  all  the  boats  are  off,  and  in  chase  at  a 
good  speed,  in  order  to  see  who  will  be  up 
with  the  whale  first.  However,  at  this  time,  it 
did  not  make  so  much  difference  which  boat 
pulled  the  best,  as  the  whale  peaked  her  flukes 
and  went  down  before  any  boat  came  up  with 
her.  Now  each  boat-header  uses  his  own 
judgment  as  to  where  the  whale  will  come  up 
next,  for  a  sperm  whale  is  almost  always  shifting 

L  2 


164          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

her  ground  when  she  is  down  or  under  water. 
The  whale  was  gone  an  hour,  when  we  caught 
sight  of  the  signal  at  the  main,  which  said 
plainly  that  the  whale  was  up.  All  eyes  gaze 
eagerly  around  in  all  directions  for  the  whale. 

"  There  she  is,"  cries  one  of  the  men,  "  not 
twenty  rods  from  the  chief  mate's  boat!  There, 
he  sees  her!" 

"Down  to  your  oars,  lads!"  said  the  captain, 
in  whose  boat  I  was.  "  Give  way  hard  ! "  Now, 
then,  the  little  boat  jumps  again,  sending  the 
spray  in  rainbows  from  the  bows.  "  Spring  hard, 
my  dear  fellows ;  if  she  blows  a  dozen  times 
more,  the  mate  will  fasten.  There  she  blows  ! 
Oh,  she  *s  a  beauty !  A  regular  old  sog !  A 
hundred-barreler !  There  she  lays  like  a  log  ! 
Oh,  what  a  hump  !  There  she  blows !  Stand 
up,  David !  (the  name  of  the  mate's  boat- 
steerer.)  There  goes  one  iron  into  her,  and 
there  he  gives  her  the  second  one ;  he  is  fast 
solid.  Now,  then,  my  boys,  let  us  be  up  among 
the  suds.  Stand  up  ! "  shouted  the  captain  to 
me,  as  he  laid  his  boat  square  on  to  her.  In 
goes  two  more  harpoons,  and  our  boat  is  fast. 


WHALING  SAILORS'  YARNS.  165 

I  thought  I  had  seen  large  sperm  whales, 
but  this  old  chap  beat  them  all;  he  cut  and 
thrashed  with  his  flukes  a  while,  but  did  not 
take  to  sounding  or  running,  as  some  whales 
do,  The  mate  pulled  up  to  lance  him ;  but. 
let  him  go  on  as  he  would,  the  whale  would 
head  for  his  boat,  and  prevent  his  getting  a 
chance  at  her  with  his  lance. 

"  Now,  then,  Mr. ,"  said  the  captain  to 

me,  "  you  must  kill  that  whale."  The  captain 
steered  me  this  day,  as  he  had  done  several 
times  before,  as  we  were  short  of  a  boat-steerer. 
We  pulled  up  to  her,  and  I  set  my  lance  into 
her  life,  as  I  thought,  the  whole  length ;  she 
spouted  a  little  thin  blood.  "  You  are  not  low 
enough,"  said  the  captain  ;  "  set  your  lance 
lower  down ;  this  fellow  is  deep,  and  you  must 
lance  lower." 

The  whale  settled  away  under  water  after 
she  felt  the  lance,  and  I  kept  a  look-out  for  her, 
expecting  she  would  break  water  near  the  head 
of  the  boat.  Pretty  soon  I  saw  her  whiten 
under  water,  and  got  my  lance  ready  as  soon 
as  she  should  come  to  the  surface  ;  the  next 


166          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

moment  I  was  flying  in  the  air,  and  a  moment 
after  was  several  fathoms  under  water.  The 
whale  came  up  head  foremost,  hitting  the  boat 
a  tremendous  knock  under  my  feet,  sending  me 
all  flying.  The  captain  at  the  same  time 
seized  his  steering  oar,  and  overboard  he  went 
also. 

Fortunately  I  could  swim  well,  and  soon 
came  up  to  blow ;  but  I  had  hardly  time  to 
spout,  before  I  found  that  I  was  in  a  very  dis- 
agreeable situation.  Putting  out  my  arm  to 
swim,  I  hit  the  whale  on  his  head,  and  at  the 
same  time  saw  the  boat  three  or  four  rods  from 
me.  I  confess  I  did  not  feel  exactly  right;  but 
it  was  no  use  for  me  to  lie  still,  and  be  picked 
up  like  a  squid ;  so  I  made  a  regular  shove 
off  with  my  feet  against  the  whale's  head,  and 
struck  out  for  the  boat.  I  saw  that  all  was 
confusion  in  the  boat,  and  that  the  men  did  not 
notice  me  at  all.  I  had  on  thick  clothes,  and 
found  it  hard  swimming.  Finally,  one  of  the 
men  saw  me,  and  stopped  the  boat,  which  some 
of  them  were  steering  away  from  me  as  fast  as 
they  could. 


WHALING  SAILORS'  YARNS.  167 

As  I  got  in  at  the  bow,  I  saw  the  captain 
come  over  the  stern.  "  Hallo  ! "  said  he,  "  where 
have  you  been  to  ? "  "  After  the  whale/'  said 
I.  "  And  I  have  been  after  you/'  said  the  cap- 
tain. We  had  a  good  laugh,  wrung  our  hair, 
and  started  for  the  whale  again.  She  lay  still, 
with  her  jaws  open,  and  head  towards  the  boat; 
the  rest  of  her  body  was  under  water,  so  that 
she  gave  no  chance  to  kill.  We  lay  still,  watch- 
ing her  motions.  All  at  once  she  let  her  jaws 
fly  back,  striking  the  boat  in  the  bow,  and 
smashing  a  hole  through  her.  The  boat  began 
to  fill;  but,  fortunately,  we  had  a  jacket  ready, 
and  stopped  the  hole  up,  and  so  we  kept  from 
filling,  and  pulled  up  to  the  whale  again. 

This  time  she  headed  the  mate,  and  lay  her 
whole  length  broadside  toward  us.  We  had 
nothing  to  do  but  to  pull  up  and  in  lance,  the 
whale  lying  perfectly  still  all  the  time.  In 
twenty  minutes  she  went  into  her  flurry,  and 
soon  after  lay  fin  out.  We  took  her  alongside 
the  ship,  and  commenced  cutting  her  in ;  but 
it  took  all  the  next  day  to  get  her  all  in.  She 
measured  over  seventy-five  feet  in  length,  and 


168          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

between  fifty  and  sixty  feet  round  the  largest 
part  of  the  body ;  her  jaw  was  seventeen  and 
a  half  feet  long,  and  her  flukes  seventeen  feet 
broad.  She  stowed  us  down  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  barrels  of  sperm  oil. 

In  the  vicissitudes  of  whaling  fortune,  a  prize 
like  this  now  and  then  offers  itself  to  a  ship,  in 
the  form  of  a  dead  whale  afloat.  Such  a  for- 
tunate wind-fall  once  came  to  the  Cremona  of 
New  Bedford,  in  1839,  while  cruising  on  the 
coast  of  Peru,  in  the  latitude  of  three  degrees 
south.  Her  master  there  fell  in  with  two  whal- 
ing ships  belonging  to  the  same  port.  Being 
old  acquaintances,  they  were  happy  to  see  each 
other — compared  notes — talked  of  old  times  ; 
and  whales  being  in  sight  all  around,  although 
rather  shy,  they  agreed  to  keep  company  for 
the  night,  hoping  for  good  luck  on  the  morrow. 

At  early  dawn  the  mast  heads  were  manned, 
and  the  horizon  carefully  scanned  in  every  di- 
rection ;  and  the  survey  increased  in  interest 
and  care  as  the  hour  of  sunrise  drew  nigh.  But 
no  whales  were  in  sight. 

The  wind  was  light,  and  they  packed  on  all 


DEAD   WHALE.  169 

sail,  steering  to  the  northward,  in  company  with 
the  ships  they  had  fallen  in  with  the  day  be- 
fore— the  Orion  being  about  five  miles  distant, 
broad  off  on  the  weather  bow,  and  the  Lupin 
about  three  points  under  the  lee — not  more  than 
two  or  three  miles  off.  Being  in  the  north-east 
trade  winds,  and  standing  along  to  the  north- 
ward, they  all,  of  course,  had  the  starboard 
tacks  on  board. 

On  board  the  Cremona,  said  her  Captain,  in 
giving  this  account,  we  had  our  mast  heads 
doubly  manned  ;  and  at  the  main- top -gallant- 
head  was  stationed  Webquish,  a  smart,  active 
Gay  Head  Indian,  who  was  a  faithful  sentinel  on 
such  occasions,  with  a  restless  eye,  and  a  keen- 
ness of  vision  seldom  surpassed  by  any  of  his 
race.  All  hands  were  on  deck,  and  expectation 
was  exhibited  in  the  grave  demeanor  and  semi- 
smiling  countenances  of  the  crew. 

It  was  about  nine  o'clock  in  the  forenoon 
that  Webquish,  the  Indian,  who  had  been  look- 
ing steadily  in  one  direction  for  some  minutes, 
called  out  that  he  saw  some  object  afloat  away 
to  windward.  It  was  bobbing  up  and  down, 


170          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

arid  looked  something  like  a  boat,  but  he  could 
not  tell  what  it  was. 

This  excited  the  curiosity  of  every  man  on 
board ;  and,  as  is  usual  in  such  cases,  all  made 
a  spring  into  the  rigging,  with  a  view  to  run 
aloft,  and  get  a  squint  at  the  mysterious  object 
reported  by  Webquish.  But  I  ordered  them  to 
remain  on  deck,  and  sent  up  my  first  mate — a 
man  of  good  judgment  and  sharp  eyes — with  a 
spy- glass,  to  the  fore- top-mast-head.  He  soon 
got  sight  of  the  object,  and  immediately  reported 
that  it  was  a  large  dead  spermaceti  whale.  , 

This  was  an  event,  the  announcement  of 
which  created  quite  a  sensation  on  board  the 
Cremona;  and  the  question  asked  of  each  other 
was,  whether  we  could  secure  it  for  ourselves  ? 
In  order  to  do  this,  it  was  necessary,  not  only  to 
see  it  first,  but  to  get  fast  to  it  first !  From 
the  favourable  position  of  the  Orion,  being  to 
windward,  it  was  clear  that  the  whale  would 
inevitably  fall  a  prize  to  her,  if  it  should  be  seen 
by  the  look-out  before  it  could  be  reached  by 
our  boats.  It  was  a  matter  which  required  a 
little  management. 


COMPETITION    FOR   DEAD    WHALE.  171 

I  directed  my  mate,  Mr.  Hopkins,  to  come 
down  to  leeward,  and  keep  the  mast  between 
him  and  the  Orion,  that  he  might  not  be  seen 
from  that  ship,  which  might  excite  suspicions 
that  something  was  in  the  wind ;  and,  in  the 
same  manner,  I  went  myself  aloft  to  take  a 
look  at  the  object  to  windward — an  object  of 
much  interest  to  us,  as  it  was  probably  of  great 
value. 

The  other  ships  quietly  kept  on  their  course. 
The  Lupin,  being  to  leeward,  could  not  possibly 
see  the  whale;  and  on  board  the  Orion,  the 
look-out  aloft  seemed  to  be  taking  a  nap,  for 
no  indications  were  given  that  the  whale  was 
seen  from  the  ship.  This  gave  us  hopes  that 
we  might  secure  the  prize  ;  and  all  was  anima- 
tion on  board  the  Cremona.  The  mate's  boat, 
being  the  fastest,  was  got  in  readiness,  and  a 
good  coat  of  tallow  was  applied  to  her  bottom — 
a  set  of  the  best  oars  was  selected — and  all  due 
preparation  made  for  a  race. 

For  nearly  an  hour  we  kept  on  our  course, 
occasionally  going  a  little  to  windward,  but  not 
in  a  manner  to  excite  observation.  By  this 


172          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

time  the  dead  whale  was  abaft  the  weather 
beam.  And  now,  without  heaving  to  or  alter- 
ing the  ship's  course,  the  boat  was  lowered  to 
leeward.  Mr.  Hopkins  and  his  stalwart  and 
eager  crew  stepped  into  it,  seized  their  oars — 
the  word  was  given — and  hurrah,  whiz  !  away 
they  darted  toward  the  whale  with  the  swiftness 
of  an  arrow. 

We  watched  the  boat  with  much  interest 
and  no  little  anxiety ;  for  even  now,  if  the  prize 
should  be  discovered  from  the  Orion,  that  ship 
would  be  filled  away,  and,  running  down  before 
the  wind,  would  be  able  to  reach  it  before  Mr. 
Hopkins  could  get  fast  to  it  with  his  harpoon. 
And  this  reflection  seemed  to  add  vigour  to  the 
arms  of  the  boat's  crew,  for  they  pulled  away 
heartily — with  a  right  good  will — and  forced 
the  boat  merrily  through  the  water.  But  their 
fears  were  groundless.  For  nearly  half  an  hour 
they  pulled  with  a  degree  of  strength  and  skill 
seldom  equalled,  and  were  close  on  board  the 
whale,  and  still  neither  the  whale  nor  the  boat 
was  seen  by  the  sleepy  look-out  on  board  the 
Orion  ! 


SUCCESSFUL    STRATAGEM.  173 

Under  these  circumstances,  I  considered 
that  manoeuvring  was  no  longer  necessary,  and 
gave  the  orders  to  tack  ship,  which  enabled  us 
to  steer  almost  directly  for  the  whale  !  This 
opened  the  eyes  of  the  Orion ;  for  our  yards 
were  hardly  trimmed  before  that  ship  squared 
her  yards,  and  came  running  down  directly 
across  our  track,  and  in  a  few  minutes  the 
Lupin  hauled  her  wind,  and  came  creeping  up 
to  windward. 

But  it  was  of  no  use.  The  Orion  was  just 
in  time  to  see  Mr.  Hopkins  strike  his  harpoon 
into  the  whale,  and  take  possession  of  the  prize 
in  the  name  of  the  good  ship  Cremona,  of  New 
Bedford  !  And  it  was  not  long  before  we  had 
the  whale  alongside,  and  forthwith  commenced 
"  cutting-in "  upon  this  noble  specimen  of  the 
class  Mammalia,  which  proved  to  be  an  eighty - 
barrel  whale,  and  was  worth  to  us  twenty-four 
hundred  dollars,  about  £500  sterling. 

By  the  time  we  had  made  fast  to  our  prize, 
the  Orion  was  within  speaking  distance.  Evi- 
dently chagrined  at  the  success  of  our  ma- 
noeuvre, she  lavished  no  compliments  upon  our 


174          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

enterprise,  and  soon  resumed  her  former  course. 
In  about  an  hour  or  so  the  Lupin  came  up  to 
inquire  the  news,  but  soon  made  sail  after  the 
Orion  ;  and  before  night  both  were  out  of  sight 
to  leeward,  and  our  oil  was  mostly  boiled  out 
and  cooling  to  stow  away  below. 

The  fortunate  captain  of  the  Cremona  thinks 
that,  in  this  instance,  and  others  like  it,  the 
whale,  having  been  harpooned  and  deprived  of 
life,  sunk,  we  know  not  why,  and  remained 
below  the  surface  until  its  specific  gravity  had 
diminished,  by  the  generation  of  gases  within 
the  animal  tissues,  to  such  a  degree  that  it  rose 
from  indefinite  depths  below. 

Multitudes  of  the  right  whale  sink  immedi- 
ately after  capture,  as  we  have  already  learned, 
and  are  a  dead  loss ;  but  this  is  seldom  the 
case  with  the  sperm ;  and  the  Cremona's  lucky 
prize  in  this  instance  may  have  been  a  sperm 
whale  that  had  to  be  abandoned  by  some  other 
ship,  after  being  mortally  wounded  and  dying 
on  the  surface  without  ever  sinking. 

In  what  is  called  shore  whaling,  where  there 
are  soundings,  they  fasten  buoys,  like  as  to  an 


CHASE    BY    RIVAL   WHALEMEN.  175 

anchor,  to  the  sinking  right  whales,  and  then 
watch  the  spot  or  the  buoy,  till  the  dead  animal 
rises  after  the  expiration  of  two  or  three  days. 
It  is  probable  that  old  age,  reducing  the  whale 
to  leanness,  or  any  other  cause  that  diminishes 
the  animal's  adipose  or  oily  matter,  tends  to 
increase  his  specific  gravity,  and,  consequently, 
the  tendency  to  sink  when  killed. 

A  chase  similar  to  that  described  above,  but 
for  a  living  whale,  once  came  off  in  the  South 
Pacific  between  four  ships  of  different  nations, 
becalmed  together  within  the  neighbourhood  of 
a  mile,  English,  French,  Portuguese,  and  Ameri 
can.  The  officers  of  the  American  ship  were 
making  preparations  to  visit  their  English  neigh- 
bours. The  men  were  amusing  themselves  be- 
low, or  loitering  about  the  decks,  when  the  look- 
out on  the  mast  head  gave  intelligence  of  a  whale 
by  the  exciting  and  familiar  cry  of  "  There  she 
blows!"  "There  she  blows!"  "Oh,  she  's  a 
beauty  ! "  "  There  she  blows  again  ! " 

"Where  away?"  hailed   the  officer  of  the 
deck. 

"  West  of  south,  heading  < 


176          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

"  How  far,  and  what  is  she'?" 

"  Three  miles — a  real  sperm/'  was  the  reply. 

The  men  of  the  American  had  not  been  idle 
during  this  dialogue.  As  soon  as  the  first 
"There  she  blows"  was  heard,  each  man  had 
sprung  to  his  station  in  the  boat.  Stopping 
for  a  moment  to  have  a  keg  of  water  placed  in 
the  stern  sheets,  the  boat-steerer,  who  gives  the 
account,  sprung  into  the  boat,  and,  casting  all 
clear,  they  were  soon  under  weigh.  "  Our 
neighbours  had  also  been  on  the  alert.  A  well- 
manned  boat  from  each  ship  was  in  the  chase. 

"  These  ships  laying  somewhat  in  advance, 
we  found  they  had  the  advantage  of  from  fifteen 
to  forty  rods  the  start  of  us.  Speaking  a  few 
words  of  encouragement  to  the  men,  we  were 
soon  passing  over  the  water  with  a  velocity 
which  is  hardly  conceivable  to  a  landsman. 
The  American  whaleman  is  the  only  man  who 
never  turns  his  head  to  look  while  in  the  chase 
of  a  whale — that  part  belongs  to  the  boat-steer- 
er. They  are  thus  enabled  to  give  their  whole 
energy  to  the  oar,  laying  themselves  to  the 
work  with  a  hearty  good  will.  Placing  the 


RIVAL   WHALEMEN.  177 

palm  of  my  left  hand  under  the  abaft  oar,  while 
with  my  right  I  guided  the  boat,  and  at  each 
stroke  threw  a  part  of  my  weight  against  it, 
our  boat  would  '  skim  the  water  like  a  thing  of 
life/ 

"  A  few  moments  from  the  start  brought  us 
up  with  the  Portuguese.  The  crews  of  the  dif- 
ferent ships  witnessing  the  chase,  the  excite- 
ment was  tremendous.  Our  shipmates  cheer- 
ed us  as  we  came  up  with  the  first  boat,  and  as 
we  passed,  the  whale  again  made  its  appear- 
ance. Singing  out  to  the  men,  '  There  she 
blows  !  She  's  an  eighty-barrel — right  ahead. 
Give  way  my  boys  ! '  &c.,  we  were  soon  along- 
side the  Frenchman.  The  Frenchman  was  too 
polite  to  oppose  us,  and  we  passed  him  with 
ease. 

"  The  English  boat  was  now  about  ten  rods 
in  advance,  and  the  whale  about  one  and  three 
fourths  of  a  mile.  Now  came  the  trial.  The 
English  boat  was  manned  by  the  same  number 
of  stout,  active  hands  as  our  own,  and  seeing 
us  pass  the  other  boats,  their  whole  strength 
and  force  were  put  to  the  oar.  We  gained  on 

M 


178      THE  WHALEMAN  S  ADVENTURES. 

them  but  slowly ;  and  such  was  the  excitement 
of  the  race,  that  we  were  in  danger  of  passing 
over  where  the  whale  had  last  'blowed.'  At 
this  moment  the  English  boat-steerer  noticed 
the  manner  in  which  I  had  placed  my  left  hand 
and  weight  against  the  oar.  Instantly  laying 
hold  of  his  own  in  like  manner,  his  first  effort 
broke  it  short  at  the  lock.  Thus  disabled,  he 
gave  us  a  hearty  curse,  and  we  shot  past  him 
like  a  meteor. 

"  We  had  been  so  excited  with  the  race  that 
we  had  lost  sight  of  the  whale.  As  luck  would 
have  it,  at  this  instant  she  'blowed'  but  a  few 
rods  ahead.  In  a  moment  we  were  fast,  and 
( all  hands  stern/  Soon  she  was  in  a  f  flurry, 
and  in  the  course  of  an  hour  we  were  slowly 
returning  to  our  ship.  That  whale  stowed  us 
down  eighty- five  barrels  of  oil,  and  shortened 
our  voyage  two  months." 

It  is  easy  to  see  that  there  must  be  a  thrilling 
excitement,  in  the  adventurous  chase  of  game 
like  this,  that  has  a  tinge  of  the  romantic  to 
young  and  eager  minds.  There  was  romance 
surely,  as  well  as  reality,  in  a  whaling  feat  I 


DASHING    EXPLOIT    OF    A    YANKEE.  179 

have  read  of,  that  came  off  in  Delego  Bay,  South 
Africa,  a  smooth  nook  of  ocean  much  frequent- 
ed a  few  years  ago,  by  whalers,  and  ships  from 
different  nations.  A  mammoth  whale  rose,  and 
was  observed  in  those  still  waters  at  the  same 
moment,  and  about  equi- distant  from  an  Amer- 
ican and  an  English  ship.  From  both,  the  boats 
were  lowered,  manned,  and  off  in  an  instant 
with  the  speed  of  the  wind. 

The  English,  at  first  ahead,  perceiving  their 
rivals  gaining  on  them,  wisely  bore  wide  off 
from  their  common  game,  in  order  to  keep  the 
Americans  out  of  reach  of  the  whale.  But  when 
the  two  boats  were  nearly  abreast,  the  English 
of  course  inside,  one  of  the  American  sailors 
sprang  from  his  seat,  and  with  extraordinary 
agility  hurled  his  ponderous  harpoon  right  over 
the  English  boat.  Thrown  with  unwonted  force 
and  precision,  it  struck  the  monster  in  a  vital 
part,  and  was  buried  to  the  socket. 

The  English  boat,  thus  strangely  intercepted, 
and  balked  of  its  prize,  shrunk  back  under  the 
warp  of  its  Yankee  rival.  The  waves  were  soon 
crimsoned  with  blood,  and  the  daring  American 

M2 


180          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

took  possession  of  the  mastered  Leviathan, 
while  Delego  Bay  echoed  and  re-echoed  with 
shouts  of  applause. 

All  honour  to  whalemen,  bold  and  brave 
We  will  sing  for  them,  in  passing,  Park  Ben- 
jamin's song : — 

"  How  cheery  are  the  mariners — 

Those  lovers  of  the  sea ! 
Their  hearts  are  like  its  yeasty  waves, 

As  bounding  and  as  free. 
They  whistle  when  the  storm-bird  wheels 

In  circles  round  the  mast ; 
And  sing  when,  deep  in  foam,  the  ship 

Ploughs  onward  to  the  blast. 

"  What  care  the  mariners  for  gales  ? 

There's  music  in  their  roar, 
When  wide  the  berth  along  the  lee, 

And  leagues  of  room  before. 
Let  billows  toss  to  mountain  heights, 

Or  sink  to  chasms  low, 
The  vessel  stout  will  ride  it  out, 

Nor  reel  beneath  the  blow. 

"  GOD  keep  those  cheery  mariners  ! 

And  temper  all  the  gales 
That  sweep  against  the  rocky  coast 

To  their  storm-shattered  sails ; 
And  men  on  shore  will  bless  the  ship 

That  could  so  guided  be, 
Safe  in  the  hollow  of  His  hand, 

To  brave  the  mighty  sea  ! " 


LEISURE    OCCUPATIONS.  181 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

PECULIAR   VOCABULARY   AND    HAZARDS    OF 
WHALEMEN. 

"  A  perilous  life,  and  hard  as  life  may  be, 
Hath  the  brave  whaleman  on  the  lonely  sea ; 
On  the  wide  water  labouring,  far  from  home, 
For  a  bleak  pittance  still  compelled  to  roam ; 
Few  friends  to  cheer  him  through  his  dangerous  life, 
Or  strong  to  aid  him  in  the  stormy  strife ; 
Companion  of  the  Sea  and  silent  air, 
The  hardy  whaleman  has  no  envied  fare. 

Anon. 


Leisure  occupations — Matter  for  the  Dictionary — Material 
for  Illustration — Treatise  on  Gamming — Appalling  Forms 
of  Danger— Fatal  Incident — Reflections. 

Midway  between  the  False  and  Main  Banks,  Atlantic  Ocean 
lat.  34°  W  S.,  Ion.  47°  W.    Homeward  Bound. 

I  LIKE  the  eagerness  and  activity,  and  can 
very  well  put  up  with  the  smell  and   dirt 
which  having  dead  whales  alongside  makes  in  a 
whale  ship.     When  in  the  position  just  noted, 
we  had  a  good  measure  of  these  contingents  of 


182      THE  WHALEMAN  S  ADVENTURES. 

successful  enterprise.  Though  not  myself  head 
and  ears  over  in  blubber-juice  like  all  the  rest, 
nor  in  for  any  share  of  the  profits,  I  ever  took, 
perhaps,  as  curious  and  eager  an  interest  in  the 
processes  going  on  as  any  one  on  board.  All 
the  ordinary  muxing  and  skimshander  with 
which  active  ones  keep  themselves  busy  on  board 
whale  ships  when  there  is  no  work  to  do,  are 
laid  aside  now.  The  cooper's  driver  is  merry  a- 
going  on  the  great  oil  casks;  the  decks  are 
lumbered,  and  full  of  gurry  and  dirt ;  and  every 
body  and  everything  is  besmeared  with  oil,  and 
will  be  so  until  a  strong  ley  they  make  from  the 
ashes  of  the  scraps  has  washed  all  clean. 

It  is  almost  worth  taking  one  cruise  in  a 
whale  ship  to  see  how  they  capture  and  dispose 
of  their  gigantic  game,  and  to  learn  some  odd 
things  a  man  can  never  know  otherwise.  Had 
Noah  Webster  ever  gone  a  whaling,  he  would 
have  been  able  to  add  some  five  or  six  notable 
and  genuine  English  words  to  his  Dictionary, 
which  may  never  be  known  off  salt  water  unless 
we  record  them  here. 

Mux  and  skimshander  are  the  general  names 


MATERIAL    FOR   ILLUSTRATION.  183 

by  which  they  express  the  ways  in  which  whale- 
men busy  themselves  when  making  passages, 
and  in  the  intervals  of  taking  whales,  in  working 
up  sperm  whales'  jaws  and  teeth  and  right  whale 
bone  into  boxes,  swifts,  reels,  canes,  whips,  fol- 
ders, stamps,  and  all  sorts  of  things,  according 
to  their  ingenuity. 

Gurry  is  the  term  by  which  they  call  the 
combined  water,  oil,  and  dirt  that  "  cutting-in  " 
a  whale  leaves  on  deck  and  below.  The  yellow- 
ish stuff 

"That  creams  and  mantles  on  a  standing  pool, " 

and  affords  such  a  favourite,  nice  comparison, 
ready  to  hand,  and  hackneyed,  for  writers  that 
want  to  express  the  odiousness  of  moral  putres- 
cence and  stagnation,  is  nothing  to  this  sui 
generis  composition  elaborated  on  board  a 
whale  ship.  Hereafter,  if  any  one  should  wish 
to  illustrate  morals  by  physicals  in  a  way  par- 
ticularly new  and  original,  let  him  say  that  the 
filth  and  foulness  of  Mr.  So-and-so's  mind,  or 
the  daily  scum  and  dregs  of  Mr.  Slabbering 
Editor  Such  a  One,  or  the  hebdomadal  black 


184          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

vomit  of  this  and  that  member  of  the  "  Satanic 
Press/'  look  and  smell  like  gurry. 

Gaily,  or  Gallow,  as  it  is  found  in  Shakes- 
peare, is  the  term  by  which  they  express  a 
whale's  being  frightened.  Thus  you  often  hear 
"  that  whale's  gallied,"  as  they  pronounce  it. 

Gam  is  the  word  by  which  they  designate 
the  meeting,  exchanging  visits,  and  keeping 
company  of  two  or  more  whale  ships,  or  a 
sociable  family  of  whales.  Thus  we  gammed 
two  days  on  the  New  Zealand  whaling  ground 
with  the  Niantic  of  Sag  Harbor.  One  day  the 
captain  of  the  Niantic  spent  with  us,  the  next 
our  captain  spent  on  board  the  Niantic,  the 
boats'  crews  gamming  together  at  the  same  time 
in  the  forecastle,  and  the  mates  of  the  ships 
meeting  and  having  a  gam  in  the  ship  that  was 
left  by  her  captain. 

These  gams  are  very  pleasant  interludes  in 
a  whaleman's  life,  when  abroad  upon  the  desert 
ocean,  without  change  of  society  or  scene,  a 
thousand  miles  from  land.  It  is  peculiarly 
grateful  for  a  rusty  and  barnacled  old  ship,  that 
has  been  absent  thirty  or  more  months,  to  have 


APPALLING    FORMS   OF  DANGER.  185 

a  gam  of  a  day  with  a  fresh  competitor  just  ar- 
rived out  with  all  the  news  from  home.  Such 
a  gam  gives  matter  of  talk  and  old  newspaper 
reading  for  a  month,  and  nobody  can  tell  how 
pleasant  it  is  but  one  that  has  experienced  it. 
A  shipmaster  has  a  chance  to  exchange  counsel, 
and  tell  stories,  and  let  himself  be  familiar  with 
somebody  that's  new,  and  he  is  always  the 
milder,  and  better  pleased  with  himself,  and  all 
about  him,  for  some  days  after  such  a  gam. 

The  use  of  these  words  is  not  a  little  amus- 
ing at  first  to  a  stranger ;  but  I  have  come  to 
believe  them  as  good  and  veritable  English,  and 
to  have  as  fair  a  claim  to  be  placed  in  our 
dictionaries  as  a  thousand  words  that  are  spoken 
oftener  in  ears  polite. 

I  like  to  talk  with  old  whalemen  upon  the 
hair-breadth  escapes  and  perilous  adventures  of 
iln-ir  hazardous  warfare  upon  the  monsters  of 
die  deep.  It  is  a  marvel  that  death,  in  its 
most  appalling  forms,  is  not  oftener  met  with. 
Whalers,  I  think,  have  to  look  danger  more  full 
and  steadily  in  the  face  than  any  other  class  of 
men,  except  soldiers. 


186          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES, 

"  Danger,  whose  limbs  of  giant  mould, 
What  mortal  eye  can  fix'd  behold  ?" 

Besides  the  multifarious  ordinary  perils  of 
the  sea,  there  is  that  incurred  in  lowering  boats 
so  often  ;  then  the  risk  of  being  run  under  and 
swamped  in  the  lightning-like  speed  and  evolu- 
tions of  a  seventy  foot  whale,  immediately  upon 
being  struck  ;  then  the  danger  from  a  whale's 
flukes  and  fins,  as  the  monster  slues  and  slats 
them  round,  and  makes  the  deep  boil  like  a 
pot,  to  the  slightest  tap  of  which  a  whale-boat 
is  hardly  more  than  a  bubble.  Sometimes  the 
mammoth  brute  comes  up  from  the  depths 
right  under  the  boat,  and  takes  it,  with  all  on 
board,  transversely  into  his  huge  mouth,  that  can 
be  opened  sixteen  and  twenty  feet.  To  be  sure, 
the  monster  does  not  swallow  it,  but  he  crushes 
it  to  pieces  as  if  it  were  an  egg  shell,  and,  per- 
haps, some  of  its  crew  at  the  same  time — a  catas- 
trophe, at  least,  always  to  be  apprehended. 

Sometimes  a  sperm  whale  will  drive  "  head 
on "  to  his  captors  with  such  a  speed  and  force 
that  they  can  neither  prick  him  off  with  the 
lance  nor  have  time  to  sheer  away.  A  blow 


APPALLING   DANGERS.  187 

that  would  beat  in  the  oak  ribs  of  a  stout  ship 
would  hardly,  I  suppose,  give  a  bull  whale  the 
headache.  There  are  two  cases  I  have  heard 
of,  one  in  the  Atlantic  and  one  in  the  Pacific, 
in  which  an  enormous  sperm  whale,  with  malice 
aforethought,  did  thus  run  three  several  times 
full  tilt  against  a  whale-ship,  until  his  butting 
had  battered  in  her  sides,  and  the  men  had  to 
abandon  the  ships  a  thousand  miles  from  land. 
But  three  or  four  survived  the  peril  in  each 
case,  and  got  safe  to  land.  One  of  them,  then 
a  boy,  is  now  master  of  a  whale- ship,  still 
grappling  with  dangers,  and  successfully  prose- 
cuting this  adventurous  trade. 

I  have  known  of  one  captain  who  was  killed 
instantly  in  the  bow  of  his  boat,  by  the  tap  of 
a  whale's  fin  upon  his  skull,  when  no  one  else 
was  at  all  injured.  To  have  legs  and  arms 
broken,  or  ribs  knocked  in,  to  be  drawn  over- 
board and  under  water  by  entanglements  of  the 
line,  or  to  have  a  whole  boat's  crew  scrambling 
together  in  the  water,  is,  as  we  have  already 
seen,  very  common. 

Captain  Scoresby,  in  his  voyage  of  research 


188          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

and  whaling  on  the  eastern  coast  of  Greenland, 
in  1822,  gives  a  touching  and  characteristic 
incident  respecting  one  of  those  sources  of 
peril  to  the  whaleman.  The  story  is  to  this 
effect : — 

All  the  boats  of  the  ship  (the  Baffin  of 
Liverpool)  had  been  sent  out  in  pursuit  of 
some  whales,  which  had  been  discovered  by  the 
glass  at  the  distance  of  about  a  league.  After  a 
fruitless  pursuit  of  some  hours,  several  of  the 
boats  returned,  but  two,  which  had  separated 
out  of  sight,  were  still  abroad.  As  the  ship,  by 
reason  of  calm  weather,  could  not  make  the 
requisite  search,  four  of  the  boats,  after  their 
crews  had  been  refreshed,  were  sent  out  to  look 
for  their  missing  comrades.  But,  after  four 
hours  spent  in  this  anxious  duty,  they  returned 
unsuccessful. 

Captain  Scoresby  then  renewed  his  exami- 
nation, by  the  telescope,  of  the  ice  and  sea 
around,  from  the  elevated  post  of  the  "  crow's 
nest;"  and  was  at  length  rejoiced  by  the  sight 
of  the  boats  in  the  eastern  quarter,  pulling 
towards  the  ship. 


FATAL   INCIDENT.  189 

"  On  their  approach,"  he  says,  "  we  were  a 
little  surprised  by  some  unusual  appearances, 
particularly  by  the  obvious  want  of  the  proper 
complement  of  oars,  and  the  solemn  counte- 
nances of  the  rowerss;  but  a  deficiency  in  the 
number  of  men  was  neither  observed  nor  sus- 
pected. As  soon  as  they  came  within  hail,  my 
anxiety  induced  me  to  call  out,  and  inquire 
what  had  happened.  "  A  bad  misfortune,  in- 
deed," replied  the  officer  commanding  the  first 
boat;  "  we  have  lost  Carr!"  This  awful  in- 
telligence, for  which  we  were  altogether  unpre- 
pared, shocked  me  exceedingly,  and  it  was  some 
time  before  I  was  able  to  inquire  into  the  par- 
ticulars of  the  accident,  which  had  deprived  us 
of  one  of  our  shipmates.  As  far  as  could  be 
collected  from  the  confused  accounts  of  the 
crew  of  the  boat,  of  which  he  went  out  in 
charge,  the  circumstances  were  as  follow  : — 
The  two  boats  that  had  been  so  long  absent 
had,  on  the  outset,  separated  from  their  com- 
panions, and,  allured  by  the  chase  of  a  whale, 
and  the  fineness  of  the  weather,  they  proceeded 
until  they  were  far  out  of  sight  of  the  ship. 


190          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

The  whale  they  pursued  led  them  into  a  vast 
shoal  of  the  species ;  they  were,  indeed,  so 
numerous,  that  their  "  blowing"  was  incessant, 
and  they  believed  they  could  not  have  seen  less 
than  a  hundred.  Fearful  of  alarming  them 
without  striking  any,  they  remained  for  some 
time  motionless,  watching  for  a  favourable  op- 
portunity to  commence  an  attack.  One  of 
them  at  length  arose  so  near  the  boat  of  which 
William  Carr  was  harpooner,  that  he  ventured 
to  pull  towards  it,  though  it  was  meeting  him, 
and  afforded  but  an  indifferent  chance  of  suc- 
cess. He,  however,  fatally  for  himself,  succeeded 
in  harpooning  it.  The  boat  and  fish  passing 
each  other  with  great  rapidity  after  the  stroke, 
the  line  was  jerked  out  of  its  place,  and  instead 
of  "running"  over  the  stern,  was  thrown  over 
the  gunwale ;  its  pressure  in  this  unfavourable 
position  so  careened  the  boat,  that  the  side  sank 
below  the  water,  and  it  began  to  fill.  In  this 
emergency  the  harpooner,  who  was  a  fine  active 
fellow,  seized  the  bight  of  the  line,  and  at- 
tempted to  relieve  the  boat,  by  restoring  it  to  its 
place ;  but  by  some  singular  circumstance, 


FATAL   INCIDENT.  191 

which  could  not  be  accounted  for,  a  turn  of  the 
line  flew  over  his  arm,  in  an  instant  dragged 
him  overboard,  and  plunged  him  under  the 
water,  to  rise  no  more  !  So  sudden  was  the 
accident,  that  only  one  man,  who  had  his  eye 
upon  him  at  the  time,  was  aware  of  what  had 
happened  ;  so  that  when  the  boat  righted,  which 
it  immediately  did,  though  half  full  of  water,  they 
all  at  once,  on  looking  round  at  an  exclamation 
from  the  man  who  had  seen  him  launched  over- 
board, inquired  what  had  got  Carr !  It  is 
scarcely  possible  to  imagine  a  death  more 
awfully  sudden  and  unexpected.  The  murder- 
ous bullet,  when  it  makes  its  way  through  the 
air  with  a  velocity  that  renders  it  invisible,  and 
seems  not  to  require  a  moment  for  its  flight, 
rarely  produces  so  instantaneous  destruction. 
The  velocity  of  the  whale  on  its  first  descent,  is 
usually  (as  I  have  proved  by  experiment)  about 
eight  or  nine  miles  per  hour,  or  thirteen  to  fifteen 
feet  per  second.  Now,  as  this  unfortunate  man 
was  occupied  in  adjusting  the  line  at  the  very 
water's  edge,  when  it  must  have  been  perfectly 
tight,  in  consequence  of  the  obstruction  to  its 


192         THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

running  out  of  the  boat,  the  interval  between 
the  fastening  of  the  line  about  him  and  his 
disappearance,  could  not  have  exceeded  the 
third  part  of  a  second  of  time ;  for  in  one 
second  only,  he  must  have  been  dragged  to  the 
depth  of  ten  or  twelve  feet !  The  accident  was, 
indeed,  so  instantaneous,  that  he  had  not  time 
for  the  least  exclamation  ;  and  the  person  who 
witnessed  his  extraordinary  removal,  observed, 
that  it  was  so  exceedingly  quick,  that,  although 
his  eye  was  upon  him  at  the  instant,  he  could 
scarcely  distinguish  the  object  as  it  disappeared. 
As  soon  as  the  crew  of  the  boat  recovered 
from  their  consternation,  they  applied  them- 
selves to  the  needful  attention  which  the  lines 
required.  From  the  accompanying  boat,  on 
the  rising  of  the  fish  to  the  surface,  a  second 
harpoon  was  struck,  and  some  lances  applied ; 
but  the  melancholy  providence  that  had  occurred, 
had  cast  such  a  damp  upon  all  the  men  employed  in 
this  business,  that  they  became  timid,  cautious,  and 
inactive  in  their  subsequent  duties.  The  fish, 
when  nearly  exhausted,  was,  in  consequence  of 
this,  allowed  to  remain  for  some  minutes  un- 


REFLECTIONS.  193 

molested  on  the  water,  until,  having  recovered 
some  degree  of  energy,  it  made  a  violent  effort, 
and  disengaged  itself  from  both  the  harpoons. 

Such  is  a  characteristic  specimen  of  the 
whalemen's  adventurous  experience  in  the  far 
north ;  whilst  those  pursuing  the  commerce  in 
other  regions  meet  with  similar,  and,  perhaps, 
more  numerous  perils.  For  there  are  few  that 
have  been  long  in  the  service  but  have  been 
banged  and  broken  in  some  way,  and  snatched 
often  from  the  gaping  jaws  of  destruction. 
They  can  tell  of  marvellous  escapes,  and  provi- 
dential deliverances  from  the  very  throat  of 
death,  that  make  you  think  a  whaler,  of  all  men, 
ought  to  be  living  with  his  will  made,  and  ready 
for  a  sudden  summons.  They  can  tell  too  of 
fearful  incidents  of  fatal  adventure  to  their  com- 
rades, when  they  themselves  were  privileged 
to  escape  unscathed. 

We  should  naturally  think  that  a  man's  con- 
stant exposedness  to  sudden  death  would  give  a 
serious  turn  to  his  mind,  and  induce  a  cast  of 
reflection  and  thoughtful  regard  to  his  latter  end. 
But  it  is  now  long  time  since  the  practical  ob- 

N 


194         THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

servation  of  men  has  taught  me,  that  familiarity 
with  danger  and  death  seldom  produces  a  soften- 
ing, monitory  effect,  except  upon  the  mind  of  a 
Christian,  but  rather  induces  a  moral  hardness 
and  effrontery  that  steels  the  mind  against  les- 
sons of  mortality,  and  sheds  an  ominous  gloom 
upon  the  prospects  of  the  soul.  I  have  talked 
with  a  good  many  whalemen  and  common 
sailors,  and  have  observed  the  conduct  of  irre- 
ligious men  in  times  of  fatal  epidemics  and 
more  than  ordinary  dangers ;  but  I  never  yet 
have  met  with  one  permanently  reformed  and 
brought  to  repentance  by  seeing  others  drowned 
and  die  before  his  eyes,  and  by  what  would  seem 
to  be  the  natural  consideration  of  danger  in  his 
own  case. 

So  true  it  is,  in  the  words  of  the  preacher, 
The  heart  of  the  sons  of  men  is  full  of  evil ; 
madness  is  in  their  hearts  while  they  live,  and 
after  that  they  go  to  the  dead.  As  the  jishes 
that  are  taken  in  an  evil  net,  and  as  the  birds 
that  are  caught  in  the  snare,  so  are  the  sons  of 
men  snared  in  an  evil  time,  when  it  cometh  sud- 
denly upon  them.  As  an  old  poet  hath  it : — 


REFLECTIONS.  195 

"  Such  is  the  state  of  every  mortal  wight ! 

In  health  our  glories  and  our  lusts  we  show ; 

We  fill  ourselves  with  every  vain  delight, 

And  will  least  think  of  that  which  may  ensue. 

But  let  us  learn  to  heed  as  well  as  know, 

That  spring  doth  pass,  that  summer  steals  away, 

And  that  the  flower  which  makes  the  fairest  show, 

Ere  many  weeks  may  wither  and  decay. 

The  stoutest  form  that  walks  the  earth  to-day, 

To-morrow  with  the  dead  may  senseless  lay." 


196         THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 


CHAPTEK    XIV. 

REMARKABLE    EVENTS    IN    THE    ANNALS    OF 
WHALING. 

"  O'er  the  deep,  o'er  the  deep  ! 

Where  the  whale,  and  the  shark,  and  the  sword-fish  sleep  : 

On  the  craggy  ice,  in  the  frozen  air, 

Heedless  of  dangers  if  game  be  hut  there, 

Encountering  all  the  great  whale  to  snare," 

Anon. 


Remarkable  events— Loss  of  the  Essex  by  a  Whale — Ships 
destroyed  by  Whales— Other  Incidents— Fearful  Enterprise 
— Incidents  of  Whaling — Dangers  of  the  Fishery. 

rjlHE  prodigious  speed  and  strength  of  the 
-*-  gigantic  whale,  and  the  resulting  danger 
to  his  captors  referred  to,  and  exemplified  in  the 
]ast  chapter,  are  practically  illustrated  by  two 
remarkable  incidents,  occurring,  the  one  in  the 
English,  and  the  other  in  the  American  whale 
fishery.  The  record  of  the  former  is  derived 
from  Captain  Scoresby's  account  of  "  The  Arctic 
Eegions  and  Northern  Whale  Fishery." 


REMARKABLE    EVENTS.  197 

On  the  28th  of  May,  1817,  the  Koyal 
Bounty,  an  English  ship,  fell  in  with  a  great 
number  of  whales  in  70°  25'  north  latitude, 
and  longitude  5°  east.  There  was  neither  ice  nor 
land  in  sight.  The  boats  were  manned  and  sent 
in  pursuit,  and  after  a  chase  of  five  hours,  one 
of  them,  which  had  rowed  out  of  sight  of  the 
ship,  struck  one  of  the  whales.  This  was 
about  four  o'clock  in  the  morning.  The  captain 
directed  the  course  of  the  ship  to  the  point 
where  he  had  last  seen  the  boats,  and  about 
eight  o'clock  got  sight  of  one,  which  displayed 
the  signal  of  being  fast.  Soon  after,  another 
boat  approached  the  first,  and  struck  a  second 
harpoon ;  and  by  mid-day  two  more  harpoons 
were  made  fast. 

But  such  was  the  astonishing  vigour  of  this 
whale,  that  although  it  constantly  dragged 
through  the  water  from  four  to  six  boats,  to- 
gether with  sixteen  hundred  fathoms  of  line, 
yet  it  pursued  its  flight  nearly  as  fast  as  a  boat 
could  row,  and  whenever  one  passed  beyond  its 
tail  it  would  dive.  All  endeavours  to  lance  it 
were  therefore  vain,  and  the  crews  of  the  loose 


198          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

boats  moored  to  those  that  were  fast,  the  whale 
all  the  time  steadily  towing  them  on. 

At  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening  a  line  was 
taken  to  the  ship,  with  a  view  of  retarding  its 
flight,  and  topsails  were  lowered,  but  the  har- 
poon drew.  In  three  hours  another  line  was 
taken  on  board,  which  immediately  snapped. 
At  four  in  the  afternoon  of  the  next  day,  thirty- 
six  hours  after  the  whale  was  first  struck,  two  of 
the  fast  lines  were  taken  on  board  the  ship. 

The  wind  blowing  a  moderately  brisk  breeze, 
the  top- gallant- sails  were  taken  in,  the  courses 
hauled  up,  and  the  top-sails  clewed  down ;  yet 
in  this  situation  she  was  towed  directly  to  wind- 
ward, for  an  hour  and  a-half,  with  the  velocity 
of  one  and  a-half  to  two  knots  an  hour,  the 
whale  all  the  while  beating  the  water  with  its 
fins  and  tail,  so  that  the  sea  around  was  in  a 
continual  foam.  At  length,  near  eight  o'clock, 
after  forty  hours  of  incessant  exertion,  this  ten- 
acious assertor  of  his  vast  animal  vigour  and 
territorial  rights  was  killed. 

There  is  also  an  instance  given  by  Captain 
Scoresby,  which  occurred  in  his  own  experience 


REMARKABLE    EVENTS.  199 

in  the  fishing,  where  a  Greenland  whale  was  at 
last  killed  which  had  drawn  out  ten  thousand 
four  hundred  and  forty  yards,  or  about  six  miles 
of  line,  attached  to  eight  harpoons,  besides 
taking  one  boat  entirely  under  water,  which  took 
above  three  thousand  yards  of  line,  disappeared 
and  was  never  again  seen, — the  harpoon  by 
which  it  was  held  to  the  whale  probably  drawing 
out  under  the  immense  pressure,  and  leaving  it 
to  sink. 

But  the  most  dreadful  display  of  the  whale's 
strength  and  prowess,  yet  authentically  recorded, 
was  that  made  upon  the  American  whale-ship 
Essex,  Captain  Pollard,  which  sailed  from 
Nantucket  for  the  Pacific  Ocean  in  August, 
1819.  Late  in  the  fall  of  the  same  year,  when 
in  latitude  40°  of  the  South  Pacific,  a  school 
of  sperm  whales  were  discovered,  and  three 
boats  were  manned  and  sent  in  pursuit.  The 
mate's  boat  was  struck  by  one  of  them,  and  he 
was  obliged  to  return  to  the  ship  in  order  to  re- 
pair the  damage. 

While  he  was  engaged  in  that  work,  a  sperm 
whale,  judged  to  be  eighty-five  feet  long,  broke 


200         THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

water  about  twenty  rods  from  the  ship,  on  her 
weather  bow.  He  was  going  at  the  rate  of 
about  three  knots  an  hour,  and  the  ship  at  nearly 
the  same  rate,  when  he  struck  the  bows  of  the 
vessel  just  forward  of  her  chains. 

At  the  shock  produced  by  the  collision  of 
two  such  mighty  masses  of  matter  in  motion, 
the  ship  shook  like  a  leaf.  The  seemingly 
malicious  whale  dived  and  passed  under  the 
ship,  grazing  her  keel,  and  then  appeared  at  a- 
bout  the  distance  of  a  ship's  length,  lashing  the 
sea  with  fins  and  tail,  as  if  suffering  the  most 
horrible  agony.  He  was  evidently  hurt  by  the 
collision,  and  blindly  frantic  with  instinctive 
rage. 

In  a  few  minutes  he  seemed  to  recover  him- 
self, and  started  with  great  speed  directly  across 
the  vessel's  course  to  windward.  Mean  time 
the  hands  on  board  discovered  the  ship  to  be 
gradually  settling  down  at  the  bows,  and  the 
pumps  were  ordered  to  be  rigged.  While 
working  at  them,  one  of  the  men  cried  out, 
"  God  have  mercy  !  he  comes  again  ! " 

The  whale  had  turned  at  about  one  hun- 


LOSS    OF   THE    ESSEX   BY   A.   WHALE.         201 

dred  rods  from  the  ship,  and  was  making  for 
her  with  double  his  former  speed,  his  pathway 
white  with  foam.  Bushing  head  on,  he  struck 
her  again  at  the  bow,  and  the  tremendous  blow 
stove  her  in.  The  whale  dived  under  again  and 
disappeared,  and  the  ship  filled  and  fell  over  on 
her  broadside,  in  ten  minutes  from  the  first 
collision. 

After  incredible  hardships  and  sufferings  in 
their  open  boats,  on  the  20th  of  December  the 
survivors  of  this  catastrophe  reached  the  low 
Island  called  Ducies,  in  latitude  24°  40'  south, 
longitude  124°  40'  west.  It  was  a  mere  sand- 
bank, nearly  barren,  which  supplied  them  only 
with  water  and,  very  scantily,  sea-fowl.  On 
this  uninhabited  island,  dreary  as  it  was,  three 
of  the  men  chose  to  remain,  rather  than  again 
commit  themselves  to  the  uncertainties  of  the 
sea.  They  have  never  since  been  heard  from, 
the  island  being  seldom  visited. 

On  the  27th  of  December,  the  three  boats, 
with  the  remainder  of  the  men,  put  away  to- 
gether for  the  Island  of  Juan  Fernandez,  at  a 
distance  of  two  thousand  miles.  The  mate's 


202         THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

boat  was  taken  up  by  the  Indian,  of  London, 
on  the  J9th  of  February;  ninety-three  days 
from  the  time  of  the  catastrophe,  with  only 
three  survivors. 

The  captain's  boat  was  fallen  in  with  by  the 
Dauphin,  of  Nantucket,  on  the  23rd  of  the 
same  month,  having  only  two  men  living, 
whose  lives  had  been  eked  out  only  through  that 
last  resort  of  hunger  in  the  wretched,  which 
words  shudder  to  relate !  Out  of  a  crew  of 
twenty,  five  only  survived  to  make  the  ear  of  the 
world  tingle  at  their  strange,  eventful  story.* 

*  The  "narrative"  of  this  extraordinary  shipwreck  was 
published  at  New  York  in  1821 ;  a  copy  of  it  is  now  in  my 
hand.  It  is  deeply  and  painfully  interesting,  and  bears  every 
indication  of  accuracy,  as  well  as  general  authenticity.  In 
one  particular,  however,  I  have  come  to  a  different  conclusion 
from  that  arrived  at  by  the  author  of  the  present  work,  and 
that  of  the  original  "  narrative,"  this  is,  as  to  the  first  collision 
of  the  whale  with  the  Essex  being  a  designed  attack.  I  do  not 
myself  believe  that  a  whale,  not  being  itself  attacked,  would 
wilfully  drive  its  head  against  so  huge  an  object  as  a  ship. 
All  that  I  have  myself  ever  seen  or  heard  of  the  habits  of 
whales,  indicates  the  disposition  to  flee  from  any  unusual  ob- 
ject, whether  ship  or  boat,  which  might  approach  them,  or  lie  in 
their  path.  I  have  frequently  seen  the  Mysticetus  pass  under 
the  bottom  of  my  own  ship,  or  of  boats  in  which  I  have  been 
embarked ;  and  some  of  the  whale  tribe  I  have  seen,  when 
deep  under  water  (as  they  may  sometimes  be  so  discovered  by 


SHIPS    DESTROYED    BY   WHALES.  203 

There  is  another  instance  of  the  immediate 
shipwreck  of  a  whaler  by  the  shock  of  one  of 
those  mighty  leviathans,  that  of  the  Union,  of 
Nantucket,  Captain  Gardner,  which  was  totally 
lost,  in  the  year  1807,  between  Nantucket  and 

an  observer  placed  almost  perpendicularly  above  them  at  the 
mast-head),  to  turn  on  their  side  in  passing  below  the  keel, 
evidently  with  the  purpose  of  viewing  the  strange  object  float- 
ing on  the  surface.  In  such  case,  where  the  ship  was  lying 
te,  or  tolerably  quiescent,  the  whale  would  go  on  its  track  but 
little,  if  at  all  disturbed,  and  might  be  seen  quietly  to  rise  for 
respiration  at  no  very  great  distance  from  the  object  which  had 
engaged  its  attention. 

The  collision  of  the  whale  with  the  Essex,  therefore,  I 
believe,  in  the  first  instance,  to  have  been  purely  accidental. 
The  vessel  was  going  moderately  ahead,  when  the  whale,  ad- 
vancing obliquely  across  her  track,  came  into  contact  with  her 
on  the  weather  bow.  The  succeeding  stroke,  not  inconsis- 
tently with  the  habits  of  the  sperm  whale,  to  give  battle  when 
attacked  or  hurt,  might  be  designed.  The  fatal  result  of  the 
double  collision  is  very  intelligible,  when  the  class  and  build 
of  the  vessel  are  considered.  From  the  small  number  of  her 
boats,  and  comparative  fewness  of  her  crew,  the  ship  appears 
not  to  have  been  of  large  tonnage,  and,  probably,  was  but 
slightly  built.  The  southern  fishery,  indeed,  does  not  require 
the  strength  and  solidity  of  ships  which  the  formidable  ices  of 
the  north  call  for.  A  stroke  from  a  whale,  such  as  that  des- 
cribed in  the  narrative  referred  to,  would,  I  am  well  persuaded, 
have  produced  no  serious  effects  upon  an  Arctic  whaler,  strength- 
ened and  fortified  as  these  ships  always  are,  which  are  perpet- 
ually subject  to  heavy  blows,  and  hard  nips  whilst  navigating 
the  icy  seas  of  the  north. — ED. 


204         THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

the  Azores,  by  a  similar  concussion.  A  merchant 
brig  also,  plying  between  Panama  and  one  of 
the  ports  of  Western  Mexico,  lately  met  with  the 
same  disaster,  but  without  loss  of  life,  the  pas- 
sengers and  crew  being  all  rescued  by  an  Ameri- 
can whale  ship. 

Another  form  of  the  perils  of  whaling  is 
illustrated  in  the  following  incidents,  taken  from 
an  authentic  communication  in  one  of  the  re- 
ligious newspapers  of  the  day,  which  we  insert 
here  in  order  to  complete  this  Daguerreotype 
Gallery  of  Life  and  Adventures  in  a  Whale 
Ship. 

A  few  years  ago,  the  captain  of  a  whale  ship 
was  on  a  cruise  in  the  Pacific  Ocean.  There 
were  three  boats  attached  to  the  ship.  Early 
one  morning  a  whale  appeared.  Two  boats 
were  sent  to  capture  it.  They  fastened  to  the 
whale,  and  were  soon  drawn  by  this  monster  of 
the  deep  out  of  sight  of  the  ship.  An  hour  or 
two  passed  along,  when,  suddenly,  another 
whale  rose  in  the  water,  but  a  few  rods  from  the 
vessel.  The  temptation  to  attempt  its  capture 
was  too  strong  to  be  resisted.  The  captain 


FEARFUL    ENTERPRISE.  205 

ordered  the  remaining  boat  to  be  lowered,  and, 
leaving  but  one  man  and  two  boys  to  take  care 
of  the  ship,  sprang  into  the  boat  with  the  rest 
of  the  crew. 

Soon  the  harpoon  was  plunged  into  the 
whale,  and  they  were  carried,  with  almost  the 
speed  of  the  wind,  about  fifteen  miles  from  the 
ship.  Then  the  whale  plunged  perpendicularly 
down  into  the  depths  of  the  ocean.  It  was  not 
long  ere  they  saw  him,  fathoms  deep  in  the 
crystal  waters,  rushing  up,  with  open  jaws,  to 
destroy  the  boat.  By  skilfully  sheering  the 
boat,  the  whale  missed  his  aim,  and,  thrusting 
his  mammoth  head  some  fifteen  or  twenty  feet 
into  the  air,  he  fell  over  upon  his  side,  and 
again  disappeared  in  the  fathomless  sea.  Soon 
he  reappeared  in  the  almost  transparent  abyss, 
again  rushing  upward  to  attack  the  boat. 
Again  he  was  foiled. 

The   third  time   he  descended,  and  as  he 

arose,  with  invigorated  fury,  he  struck  the  boat 

in  the  centre  of  the  keel,  threw  it  some  fifteen 

into  the  air,  and,  scattering  the  crew  and 

fragments  of  the  boat  over  the   waves,   again 


206         THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

plunged  into  the  deep  and  disappeared.  The 
captain  and  the  crew  were  now  in  the  water, 
clinging  to  the  pieces  of  the  demolished  boat. 
They  were  fifteen  miles  from  the  ship,  and  could 
not  be  seen  from  its  mast-head.  The  other  boats 
were  gone,  they  knew  not  where.  Apparently, 
every  chance  of  rescue  was  cut  off,  and  nothing 
awaited  them  but  a  watery  grave.  It  was  twelve 
o'clock  at  noon.  The  hours  of  one,  two,  three, 
four,  five,  and  six  passed  slowly  away,  and  still 
they  were  floating,  almost  exhausted,  upon  the 
heaving  billows  of  the  Pacific,  when  the  ship 
rose  on  the  swelling  seas,  so  that  they  could 
just  catch  a  glimpse  of  her  rolling  spars. 

"  Oh  !  how  fervently  I  prayed,"  said  one  of 
these  mariners,  when  afterward  relating  the 
scene,  "  that  God  would  in  some  way  providen- 
tially interpose  and  save  our  lives  !  I  thought 
of  my  wife,  of  my  little  children,  of  my  prayer- 
less  life,  of  the  awful  account  I  had  to  render 
at  the  bar  of  God  for  grieving  the  Spirit  and 
neglecting  the  Saviour.  All  the  horrors  of  this 
dreadful  death  were  forgotten  in  the  thought 
that  in  one  short  hour  T  was  to  render  up  an 


INCIDENTS    OF   WHALING.  207 

account  to  God  for  years  of  ingratitude  and  dis- 
obedience. Oh  !  thought  I,  if  I  were  only  a 
Christian,  what  a  solace  would  it  be  to  me  as 
I  sink  into  this  watery  grave  ! " 

The  sun  had  now  disappeared  behind  the  dis- 
tant waves,  and  the  darkening  shades  of  a  dreary 
night  were  settling  down  over  the  ocean.  Just 
then  they  descried,  dim  in  the  dusky  distance, 
one  of  the  absent  boats  returning  to  the  ship. 
It  was,  however,  far  off,  apparently  beyond  the 
reach  of  their  loudest  outcries.  Impelled  by  the 
energies  of  despair,  they  simultaneously  raised 
a  shout,  which  blended  with  the  wash  of  the 
waves  and  sighing  of  the  breeze,  and  the  boat 
continued  on  its  way.  Again  they  raised  an- 
other shout,  and  it  was  also  unavailing. 

The  shades  of  the  night  were  deepening,  the 
boat  rapidly  passing  by  them.  Almost  phrenzied 
at  their  terrible  condition,  they  raised  another 
cry.  The  sound  of  that  distant  shriek  fell 
faintly  upon  the  ears  of  the  boatmen,  and  they 
rested  on  their  oars.  Another  shout,  which 
almost  lacerated  their  throats,  was  raised,  and 
the  boat  turned  in  pursuit.  They  were  taken 


208         THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

from  the  water,  and  carried  almost  lifeless  to 
the  ship  ! 

In  another  authentic  instance,  when  a  boat 
was  chasing  a  whale,  he  suddenly  turned  to 
windward,  and  made  directly  for  his  pursuers, 
who  were  so  excited  hy  the  chase  as  to  be  blind 
to  danger.  On,  therefore,  they  madly  rushed, 
without  trying  to  avoid  the  infuriated  monster, 
so  eager  were  they  to  plunge  into  him  their 
irons,  till  the  boat  struck  with  such  force  upon 
the  whale's  head,  as  to  throw  the  oarsmen  from 
their  thwarts.  At  the  same  moment  the  boat- 
steerer  let  fly  his  two  harpoons  into  the  animal, 
which  then  rolled  over  on  its  back,  and,  before 
the  boat  could  get  clear  of  the  danger,  being  to 
windward,  a  heavy  sea  struck  it,  and  threw  boat 
and  men  into  the  whale's  mouth  !  All,  of  course, 
sprang  for  their  lives,  and  they  had  barely  time 
to  throw  themselves  clear  of  the  boat,  before  it 
was  crushed  to  pieces  by  those  ponderous  jaws, 
and  its  ejected  crew  were  providentially  all 
picked  up  by  another  boat. 

But  other  cases,  some  with  like  happy  es- 
capes, and  some  with  fatal  results  may  be  here 


INCIDENTS    OF   WHALING.  209 

adduced  as  illustrations  of  the  perils  encountered 
by  the  whalers. 

An  instance  has  come  to  the  knowledge  of 
the  writer,  of  a  ship  in  the  North  Pacific,  from 
which  there  was  lost  a  boat  and  crew  of  six  men, 
under  the  following  circumstances.  They  had 
been  lowered  after  a  whale,  and  had  succeeded  in 
fastening  the  harpoon,  but  he  had  darted  off 
with  them  at  railroad  speed,  out  of  sight  of  the 
ship,  which  was  sailing  after  them  at  what  rate 
they  could.  Suddenly  a  fog  began  to  rise,  and 
enveloped  both  the  ship  and  her  lone  boat,  in- 
ducing a  danger  of  very  frequent  occurrence  to 
whalemen  in  high  latitudes. 

It  was  impossible  to  see  any  object  at  the 
distance  of  a  ship's  length ;  and  there  was  an 
open  whale-boat,  with  six  men  in  it,  perhaps 
fifteen  miles  from  the  ship,  with  food  and  water 
for  but  a  few  hours'  consumption,  and  utterly 
bewildered  in  the  dense  fog.  The  darkness  of 
night  soon  came  on ;  the  wind  began  to  rise, 
and  the  billows  to  swell.  Every  effort  was  made 
by  firing  guns  and  showing  lights,  to  attract  the 
lost  boat.  The  long  hours  of  the  night  rolled 


210         THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

away,  a  stormy  morning  dawned,  and  still  no 
boat  appeared. 

For  several  days  they  sailed  in  circles  round 
the  spot,  but  all  in  vain.  The  boat  was  either 
destroyed  by  the  whale,  or  swamped  by  the  bil- 
lows of  the  stormy  night,  or,  as  it  floated  day  after 
day  upon  the  desert  waste  of  the  Pacific,  one 
after  another  of  the  crew,  emaciated  with  thirst 
and  famine,  dropped  down  and  died. 

Another,  a  sperm  whaler,  the  bark  Harriet, 
of  Freetown,  Captain  Durfee,  when  cruising  on 
the  line,  lowered  her  boats  one  day  for  sperm 
whales.  The  first  and  third  mates  had  each 
secured  a  whale,  and  made  them  fast  alongside, 
when  they  returned  to  assist  the  second  mate, 
who  was  fast  to  another.  They  came  up  with  him 
about  nine  o'clock  at  night,  and  succeeded  in 
killing  the  whale.  They  could  then  see  the 
ship ;  but  it  soon  began  to  blow,  and  they  were 
obliged  to  lay  by  the  whale  all  night.  In  the 
morning  the  ship  was  not  in  sight,  it  still  blow- 
ing a  gale,  and  raining  hard.  They  lay  by  the 
whale  three  days,  when  they  ventured  to  stand 
off  to  the  westward,  in  hopes  of  falling  in  with 


INCIDENTS   OF   WHALING.  211 

some  ship.  On  the  seventh  day  they  caught  a 
shark,  which  they  ate  with  a  good  relish.  They 
were  then  standing  for  the  King's  Mill  group  of 
islands ;  but  a  new  gale  coming  on,  they  were 
obliged  to  reef  down  and  stand  to  the  eastward, 
and  finally  to  heave  to,  where  they  lay  for 
thirty- six  hours,  in  a  gale  unusual  for  those 
latitudes.  On  the  morning  of  the  tenth  day 
they  again  stood  to  the  west.  On  the  eleventh 
they  discovered  a  sail,*and  stood  for  her,  which 
proved  to  be  the  bark  Han  seat,  of  Hamburg. 
They  were  taken  on  board  and  treated  with 
great  kindness,  having  had  nothing  to  eat 
during  the  eleven  days,  excepting  the  shark 
they  had  caught  and  one  or  two  flying-fish,  and 
no  water  except  what  they  had  caught  in  the 
line-tubs.  Some  of  them  had  lain  down  to  die 
two  days  before  they  saw  the  ship,  and  all  of 
them  were  so  weak  that  they  could  scarcely 
support  their  weight.  Captain  Durfee,  after 
cruising  for  several  days  in  the  vicinity,  was 
making  the  best  of  his  way  to  Oahu  with  the 
remnant  of  his  crew,  having  given  up  all  hopes 
of  ever  seeing  any  of  his  officers  or  crew  again, 

o  2 


212          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTUHES. 

when  the  barque  Hanseat  spoke  him,  January 
20th.  He  was  not  more  surprised  than  de- 
lighted to  find  his  men  all  safe,  and  receiving 
all  attention  possible,  as  the  third  mate  was  a 
brother. 

We  add  a  further  example  of  perils  to  whale- 
men of  another  description,  illustrative,  at  the 
same  time,  of  the  danger  and  inexpediency  of 
the  captain's  going  in  the  boats.  Witness  the 
recent  narrative,  from  the  New  Bedford  Mer- 
cury, of  the  sufferings  of  Captain  Hosmer  and  a 
boat's  crew,  of  the  whaling  barque  Janet,  who 
were  separated  from  their  vessel  while  on  the 
coast  of  Peru.  The  account,  furnished  by  the 
captain,  is  substantially  as  follows  : — 

On  the  coast  of  Peru,  23d  June,  1849,  in 
latitude  3°  S.,  longitude  104°  W.,  while  cruis- 
ing for  whales,  a  shoal  of  sperm  whales  appeared 
in  sight  from  the  Janet,  and  three  boats,  with 
Captain  Hosmer  in  one  of  them,  lowered  in 
pursuit.  It  blowing  fresh  at  the  time,  the  boats 
soon  separated,  each  having  made  fast  to  a 
whale.  After  Captain  Hosmer  had  succeeded 
in  "  turning  up"  his  whale,  and  was  towing 


INCIDENTS    OF   WHALING.  213 

him  to  the  ship,  from  some  inadvertence  on  the 
part  of  the  third  mate  in  putting  about,  the 
boat  capsized,  with  loss  of  boat-keg,  lantern- 
keg,  boat-bucket,  compass,  paddles,  &c.  The 
crew  succeeded  in  righting  the  boat,  and  lashed 
the  oars  to  the  thwarts  across  the  boat,  to  pre- 
vent her  from  overturning,  she  being  filled  with 
water,  and  the  sea  continually  breaking  over 
her. 

Two  waifs,  or  flags,  were  immediately  set  as 
a  signal  of  distress,  the  other  two  boats  being  in 
sight,  at  a  distance  of  about  one  and  a  half 
miles.  Captain  Hosmer  saw  the  other  two  boats 
take  their  whales  alongside  of  the  barque,  which 
was  then  kept  off  in  the  direction  for  his  boat ; 
but,  to  his  surprise  and  horror,  when  within 
about  one  mile  of  him,  they  kept  off  on  another 
course  until  sundown.  The  crew  of  the  cap- 
tain's boat  then  got  upon  the  whale  alongside, 
and  tried  to  bail  the  boat,  but  could  not  suc- 
ceed. They  then  cut  the  line  attached  to  the 
whale,  and  succeeded  in  setting  some  pieces  of 
the  boat-sail,  and  steered  toward  the  barque, 
then  about  three  miles  distant. 


214          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

During  the  night  they  saw  a  light  at  in- 
tervals, but  in  the  morning  the  barque  was  at 
about  the  same  distance  off.  Every  expedient 
was  resorted  to,  by  making  signals,  to  attract 
the  attention  of  those  on  board  the  barque,  but 
in  vain.  They  saw  them  cutting  in  the  whales, 
and  apparently  indifferent  to  the  fate  of  their 
comrades.  In  this  perilous  condition,  the  un- 
fortunate boat's  crew  made  another  attempt  to 
bail  the  water  from  the  boat,  but,  owing  to 
their  consternation,  they  did  not  succeed.  They 
then  continued  on  their  course  as  above,  hoping 
to  regain  the  barque,  but  soon  found  that  she 
receded  from  them,  and  it  was  then  determined 
to  put  about  to  the  wind,  and  remain,  whatever 
the  consequence  might  be. 

On  the  second  morning,  the  weather  being 
more  favourable,  all  the  whale  craft  was  thrown 
overboard,  and  another  attempt  was  made  to 
bail  the  boat,  which  resulted  in  the  loss  of  one 
man,  without  accomplishing  the  purpose.  The 
effort  was  again  renewed  in  the  afternoon,  the 
weather  being  yet  more  favourable,  and  they 
finally  succeeded  in  freeing  the  boat  from  water, 


PERILS    AND    INCIDENTS.  215 

but  with  the  loss  of  another  of  her  crew,  all  on 
board  having  been  up  to  their  arms  in  the 
water  during  the  last  forty-eight  hours.  Two 
of  the  survivors  were  seized  with  delirium,  all 
of  them  having  been  without  a  morsel  of  food 
or  drink,  and  suffering  painfully  from  thirst. 

Thus  disabled,  no  one  on  board  being  able 
to  ply  at  the  oars,  and  with  only  a  small  frag- 
ment of  the  boat's  sail  remaining,  it  was  deter- 
mined to  make  for  Cocus  Island,  on  the  Peru- 
vian coast,  a  distance  of  about  one  thousand 
miles,  as  the  nearest  land.  Accordingly,  the 
piece  of  the  sail  was  used  to  the  best  advantage, 
and  the  ceiling  of  the  boat  was  torn  up,  and 
also  employed  as  a  wind-propeller,  and  steering 
in  a  north-easterly  direction. 

Captain  Hosmer  says,  nothing  occurred  wor- 
thy of  remark  until  the  seventh  day,  the  crew 
having,  in  the  mean  time,  been  without  a  particle 
of  food  or  drink,  and  not  a  drop  of  rain  having 
fallen.  In  this  dreadful  state  of  suffering,  it 
was  mutually  agreed  to  cast  lots  as  to  which  of 
the  number  should  be  sacrificed  to  prolong  the 
lives  of  his  companions;  and  the  unfortunate 


216  THE   WHALEMAN  S   ADVENTURES. 

victim  upon  whom  the  lot  fell  met  his  fate  with 
perfect  resignation  and  willingness.  At  the 
close  of  the  day,  a  shower  of  rain  afforded  a 
very  grateful  additional  relief. 

Being  without  compass  or  instruments  of 
any  kind,  Captain  Hosmer  was  compelled  to  rely 
entirely  upon  his  judgment  respecting  the  course, 
aided  only  by  an  occasional  glimpse  of  the 
north  star  and  the  rolling  swell  of  the  sea  from 
the  south.  On  the  eighth  day  another  of  the 
number  died  from  exhaustion.  It  was  found 
necessary  to  pursue  a  more  northerly  course  in 
hope  of  rain,  none  having  fallen  during  the 
last  four  days. 

On  the  next  day  they  were  favoured  with 
another  shower,  and  this  benefaction  was  fol- 
lowed up  by  the  remarkable  circumstance  of  a 
dolphin  leaping  from  among  its  finny  com- 
panions directly  into  the  boat.  Several  birds, 
also,  approached  so  near  to  the  boat  as  to  fall  a 
prey  to  the  necessities  of  the  crew,  administering 
greatly  to  their  relief.  On  the  thirteenth  of 
July,  land  was  discovered  in  an  easterly  direc- 
tion, which  proved  to  be  Cocus  Island  (un- 


PERILS   AND    INCIDENTS.  217 

inhabited),  lying  in  latitude  5°  27'  N.  longitude 
87°  15' W. 

Captain  Hosmer  and  the  other  survivors 
succeeded  in  reaching  it,  but  in  an  almost  help- 
less condition.  They,  however,  secured  a  pig, 
and  drank  its  blood,  which  revived  their  ex- 
hausted strength,  and  also  obtained  a  plentiful 
supply  of  birds  and  fresh  water.  After  remaining 
two  days  upon  the  island,  they  were  overjoyed 
by  seeing  the  approach  of  a  boat,  which  proved 
to  belong  to  the  ship  Leonidas  (whaler),  Cap- 
tain Swift,  of  New  Bedford,  then  lying  in  Chat- 
ham Bay,  for  the  purpose  of  procuring  wood 
and  water,  and  were  relieved  from  their  dreadful 
sufferings  by  being  taken  on  board  the  ship 
and  treated  with  every  possible  attention  and 
kindness. 

The  mate  of  the  Janet  explained  his  apparent 
neglect  of  the  captain,  in  a  letter  to  his  owners, 
as  follows.  After  mentioning  the  fact  of  three 
boats  putting  off  for  whales,  as  stated  above, 
he  adds : — 

"  At  three  P.M.  I  had  my  whale  alongside, 
and  soon  the  ship  came  to  me ;  and  when  I 


218          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

got  on  board  there  was  but  one  boat  in  sight, 
and  that  was  five  miles  to  the  leeward  of  the 
ship.  I  went  down  to  it  with  the  ship,  and 
found  that  it  was  the  second  mate's  boat.  He 
had  seen  Captain  Hosmer  two  hours  previously, 
fast  to  a  whale,  and  went  to  the  leeward  of 
him  when  last  seen  from  the  boat. 

"We  proceeded  in  the  direction  in  which 
the  captain's  boat  had  been  last  seen,  and  lay 
to  all  night,  with  all  sails  set,  and  with  all  our 
lights  fixed.  In  the  morning  saw  nothing  of 
the  boat.  We  cruised  three  days,  but,  unfor- 
tunately, without  meeting  any  trace  of  her. 
In  the  meantime,  four  of  our  hands  were  sick 
from  fatigue,  and  we  were  under  the  necessity  of 
making  the  best  of  our  way  to  this  port  (Payta). 

"We  had  taken  100  barrels  of  oil  for  the 
last  ten  days  previously,  and  lost  200  barrels 
during  the  same  time  by  losing  lines.  I  expect 
the  captain's  boat  was  taken  down  by  a  foul 
line,  as  he  had  a  new  line  in  his  boat,  coiled 
two  days  previous  to  the  accident ;  we  saved 
one  whale  the  day  the  accident  happened,  and 
lost  another  that  night." 


DANGERS    OF   THE    FISHERY.  219 

Such  are  the  dangers  which  are  continually 
incurred  in  the  whale  fishery,  equal  almost  to 
those  of  the  field  of  battle.  We  often  wonder 
that  so  many  escape  with  their  lives  from  a 
battle  field  ;  and  we  equally  wonder  that,  com- 
paratively, so  few  perish  in  this  most  hazardous 
pursuit.  A  boat,  almost  as  frail  as  a  bubble, 
approaches  the  side  of  a  whale,  slumbering  upon 
the  ocean,  fifty  or  sixty  feet  in  length,  and  a 
harpoon  is  plunged  into  his  body.  His  efforts 
to  destroy  his  tormentors  or  escape  from  them, 
as  we  have  again  and  again  learned,  are  terrific. 
The  ocean  is  lashed  into  foam  by  blows  from 
his  enormous  flukes,  which  would  almost  dash 
in  the  ribs  of  a  man-of-war.  Often  he  rushes  at 
the  boat  with  lightning  speed  and  with  open  jaws, 
and  it  is  crushed  like  an  egg-shell  in  his  mouth. 

In  this  frightful  warfare  many  are  maimed, 
and  many  lives  are  annually  lost.  But  some 
whales  are  worth  between  two  and  three  thou- 
sand dollars,  and  this  is  majestic  game  to  hunt. 
He,  however,  who  earns  his  bread  through  the 
pi'rils  and  hardships  of  this  pursuit,  has  truly  a 
hard  lot  in  life.  He  is  but  a  transient  visitor 


220         THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

at  his  home.  Amid  the  solitude  of  the  ocean 
he  passes  the  greater  portion  of  his  days  ;  and  if 
he  survives  the  perils  of  his  adventurous  pur- 
suit, the  storms  of  the  ocean,  and  the  pestilence 
of  different  climes,  he  usually  finds  that  the 
friends  of  his  youth  are  all  gone,  and  that  he  is 
almost  a  stranger  at  his  own  fireside.  And  yet 
this  mode  of  life  has  its  own  joys  and  emolu- 
ments ;  for,  if  ordinarily  successful,  in  the  course 
of  fifteen  or  twenty  years,  a  whaleman  will  lay 
up  a  moderate  competence  for  the  rest  of  his 
days,  and  meanwhile,  notwithstanding  the  un- 
favourable influences  which  are  often  at  work 
in  the  whale  ship,  many  are  forming  noble 
characters. 

Although  it  is  no  genial  soil,  yet  virtue, 
humanity,  true  nobility,  and  the  fear  of  God, 
can  live  and  grow  in  a  whale  ship,  both  fore  and 
aft.  I  have  met  them  on  this  present  voyage, 
and  in  some  signal  instances  elsewhere,  which 
it  would  be  base  ingratitude  and  a  denying  of 
God's  grace,  not  to  acknowledge  and  give  credit 
for.  But  who  that  knows  it,  as  I  do,  would 
choose  a  life  in  a  whale  ship,  or  life  anywhere 


WHALEMAN'S  HARD  LOT.  221 

at  sea !     Who  does  not  rather  say,  with  one 
that  knew  whereof  he  spake, 

"  Eternal  ocean !  old  majestic  sea ! 
Ever  1  love  from  shore  to  look  on  thee, 
And  sometimes  on  thy  billowy  back  to  ride, 
And  sometimes  o'er  thy  summer  breast  to  glide ; 
But  let  me  live  on  land,  where  rivers  run, 
Where  shady  trees  may  screen  me  from  the  sun ; 
Where  I  may  feel,  secure,  the  fragrant  air ; 
Where,  whate'er  toil  or  wearying  pains  I  bear, 

Those  Eyes  which  look  away  all  human  ill, 
May  shed  on  me  their  still,  sweet,  constant  light, 
And  the  hearts  I  love  may,  day  and  night, 

Be  found  beside  and  safe  and  clustering  still." 


222         THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 


CHAPTEK    XV. 

CLAIMS  AND  ADVANTAGES  OF  THE  SABBATH  IN 
A  WHALE  SHIP. 


"  When  the  Sabbath's  peaceful  ray 
O'er  the  ocean's  breast  doth  play, 
Though  no  throngs  assemble  there, 
No  sweet  church-bells  call  to  prayer, 
Spirit !  let  thy  presence  be 
Sabbath  to  the  mustering  sea." 

Mrs.  Sigourney. 


Sabbath  for  a  Whale  Ship— Whale  Ship  Sabbath-breaking— 
Pretexts  for — Pretexts  answered — False  Pleas  refuted — In- 
consistent Profession — Experience  of  a  Pious  Sailor — Testi- 
mony as  to  the  Sabbath — A  Word  to  the  Sabbath  Keeper. 

Atlantic  Ocean,  Commodore  Prefile,  latitude  32°  N.,  longitude 
64  J°  W.     Off  the  Bermudas. 

,A  LEADINGr  end  in  the  preceding  sketches 
-OL  of  whaling  life  has  been  to  prepare  the  way, 
and  secure  attention,  for  certain  considerations 
upon  the  wholesale  violation  of  the  Sabbath  in 
this  business.  By  the  Whalemen's  Shipping 
List,  at  the  commencement  of  1 844,  or  there- 


SABBATH   FOR   A   WHALE    SHIP.  223 

abouts,  there  were  employed  in  the  whale  fish- 
ery, from  the  ports  of  the  United  States,  six 
hundred  and  seventy-four  vessels,  five  hundred 
and  ninety- three  of  them  then  at  sea,  chiefly 
from  New  Bedford,  Nan  tucket,  Sag  Harbor, 
New  London,  Stonington,  and  Newport. 

Allowing,  for  the  average,  thirty  souls  to  a 
ship,  which  is  a  moderate  computation,  there 
were  then  more  than  twenty  thousand  persons 
prosecuting  this  trade.  The  number  has  not 
diminished  since,  but  has  rather  increased,  until 
the  year  1849;  and  it  is  an  estimate  much 
within  bounds,  that  there  are  now  actually  em- 
ployed in  this  business,  from  the  ports  of  the 
United  States,  eighteen  or  twenty  thousand  men. 
Among  them  are  men  of  divers  trades  and 
nations,  but  a  large  majority  are  citizens  of  the 
United  States  from  remote  inland  and  sea-port 
towns. 

Their  characters  and  relative  degrees  of  in- 
telligence and  moral  worth  are  different,  as  are 
their  origin  and  education.  Some  are  of  vicious 
low  stock,  vicious  education,  and  an  incurable 
addictedness  to  vice.  Others  are  of  good  fami- 


224         THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

lies,  from  religious  communities,  sons  of  Christ- 
ians, and  have  been  taught  to  fear  God  and  keep 
his  commandments.  A  few  of  them  profess 
godliness.  All  of  them  are  alike  in  this,  that 
they  are  rational,  accountable  men,  under 
obligation  to  keep  God's  law,  and  having  man's 
natural  right  to,  and  need  of,  the  Sabbath  for 
rest  and  religious  worship.* 

But  what  is  the  law  to  which  they  are  all 
alike  subjected  in  whale  ships  ?  With  very  few 
exceptions,  to  be  stated  in  their  place,  it  is  a  law 
that  acknowledges  no  Sabbath,  but  compels  them 
to  labour  alike  on  the  seventh  day  and  all  days, 
in  order  to  capture  whales  and  fill  their  ship.  I 
repeat  it,  for  the  information  of  those  whom  it 
may  concern,  there  is  no  Sabbath  known  in  the 
whale  fishery. 

As  generally  conducted,  it  makes  eighteen 
or  twenty  thousand  habitual  Sabbath-breakers. 
Men  are  kept  at  the  fore  and  main  mast  heads, 
boats  are  lowered,  whales  are  taken  and  "  cut- 
in/'  and  all  the  work  incident  thereto  is  done 
on  the  Sabbath  just  as  much  as  on  any  day, 
*  See  Note  C. 


WHALE-SHIP   SABBATH    BREAKING.  225 

and  this  without  the  pretence  of  a  plea  of  neces- 
sity, as  in  working  a  ship,  but  solely  in  order  to 
"  fill  up  "  as  soon  as  possible,  and  return  to  port 
with  a  cargo,  taken  as  it  comes,  it  matters  not 
how,  whether  in  those  sacred  hours  which  the 
easy  owner  ashore  has  been  spending  at  church, 
or  in  the  busy  week  days  which  he  devotes  to 
the  counting-room,  or  farm,  or  workshop. 

Owners,  too,  know  this  when  their  ships  go 
from  port,  are  generally  willing  it  should  be  so, 
and  are  averse  to  have  it  otherwise.  Owners, 
captains,  officers,  and  men  are  alike  the  willing 
participators  in  this  gross  violation  of  the  Lord's 
day,  for  the  sake  of  the  gain  they  think  it  brings 
them;  else  either  of  these  parties,  by  asserting 
their  right  to  the  Sabbath,  and  refusing  to  own 
or  sail  in  ships  that  violate  it,  could  easily  pre- 
vent it. 

But  while  there  is  an  individual  participa- 
tion in  this  sin,  the  guilt  of  it  rests  especially 
upon  owners  and  captains ;  and  it  is  they  who 
are  chargeable  with  it,  and  who  are  to  be 
arraigned  at  the  bar  of  public  opinion,  as  tln-y 
will  be  at  the  tribunal  of  Almighty  God.  It 

p 


226          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

is  they  whom  we  charge  with  being  at  the 
bottom  of  a  systematic  and  most  gross  violation 
of  one  of  the  plainest  commands  of  the  Deca- 
logue, and  with  wilfully  involving  a  great  many 
others,  willingly  or  not,  in  the  same  sin. 

The  only  pretexts  of  reason  we  have  ever 
heard  urged  to  defend  it  are — "  This  is  the  busi- 
ness by  which  I  get  a  livelihood  for  myself  and 
family.  If  I  neglect  to  take  whales  when  God 
offers  them,  my  family  and  employers  will  be 
likely  to  suffer  for  it.  I  am  necessarily  absent 
a  long  time  from  home,  and  I  ought  to  use 
every  means  in  my  power  to  shorten  that  time, 
and  secure  a  voyage  for  myself  and  owners. 
If  I  do  not  lower  for  whales  when  they  are  in 
sight,  the  Sabbath  will  be  more  desecrated  by 
the  men's  grumbling  than  it  would  be  by 
cheerful  labour  in  taking  whales.  The  busi- 
ness of  whaling  is  of  such  a  precarious  nature, 
that,  unless  all  chances  are  seized,  successful 
voyages  will  not  be  made  ;  therefore  it  is  neces- 
sary also  to  use  the  Sabbath  in  this  work  when 
Providence  presents  the  game.  No  one  regards 
the  Sabbath  more  than  I  do  when  ashore,  but 


PRETEXTS    ANSWERED.  227 

my  business  exempts  me  from  the  obligation 
of  such  a  strict  observance  of  it  at  sea." 

Now  to  all  these  specious  efforts  at  self- 
justification,  which  we  have  heard  put  forth  at 
different  times,  and  by  different  persons,  and  to 
every  other  of  a  similar  sort,  it  is  enough  to 
reply  : — 

1 .  That  there  is  no  lawful  worldly  calling, 
except  that  whose  immediate  end  is  to  relieve 
human  suffering,  or  minister  instruction  and 
comfort  to  the  soul,  which  it  is  right  to  pursue 
on  the  Sabbath.  Six  days  shalt  tJwu  labour 
and  do  all  thy  work.  But  the  seventh  is  the 
Sabbath  of  the  Lord  thy  God  :  in  it  thou  shalt 
not  do  any  work,  thou,  nor  thy  son,  nor  thy 
daughter,  thy  man-servant,  nor  thy  maid- 
servant, nor  thy  cattle,  nor  thy  stranger  that 
is  within  thy  gates.  For  in  six  days  the  Lord 
made  heaven  and  earth,  and  all  that  in  them 
is,  and  rested  the  seventh  day  :  wherefore  the 
Lord  blessed  the  Sabbath  day,  and  hallowed  it. 

'•l.  God  has  revealed  no  indulgence  in  favour 
of  Sabbath  whaling,  any  more  than  to  Sabbath- 
breaking  railroad  companies,  steamboat,  canal, 

r  •> 


228          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

or  stage  lines,  or  Sunday  manufactories.  Show 
us  a  single  Divine  statute  of  limitation  yielding 
the  privilege  of  Sabbath  violation  in  but  one 
clear  case,  and  we  will  yield  the  argument. 

3.  The  assertion,  that  if  the  Sabbath  is  not 
improved  for   getting  whales,   the  voyage  will 
be  likely  to  prove  a  failure,  is  a  mere  assump- 
tion;   for  prosperous  voyages   have  been  and 
may  be  made,  and  ships  filled  without  a  whale 
being  struck   on    the   Lord's  day.     What  has 
proved  true  in  one  instance,  other  things  being 
equal,  there  is  reason  to  believe  would  prove 
true  in  all. 

4.  The  obligation  of  the  Sabbath  is  univer- 
sal, and  extends  to  all  men  alike,  on  the  sea 
and  land.     The  Sabbath  was   made   for   man 
universally,  as  a  worker,  under  all  circumstances- 
By  man,  therefore,  it  is  to  be  always  kept.     It 
was  given  to  the  race  by  God,  for  rest  and  holy 
worship,   and  every   individual  of   the  human 
family,  to  whom  the  law  comes,  is  bound  so  to 
use  it. 

5.  The  man  who  conscientiously  takes  care 
to  have  the  Sabbath  sanctified  by  himself,  and 


PRETEXTS   ANSWERED.  229 

family,  and  dependents,  will  be  likely  to  have 
his  family  blessed,  and  taken  eare  of  by  the 
Sabbath's  Almighty  Lord.  Godliness  is  profit- 
able for  all  things,  having  promise  of  the  life 
that  now  is,  and  of  that  which  is  to  come.  In 
keeping  God's  commandments,  there  is  exceed- 
ing great  reward. 

6.  It  is  better  to  obey  God  and  please  HIM, 
than  to  attempt  to  please  men,  and  get  the 
favour  of  owners,  by  taking  oil  for  them  on  the 
Sabbath,  in  direct  violation  of  a  positive  law  of 
God,  made  for  the  good  of  all  men,  and  in  har- 
mony with  the  human  constitution. 

7.  It  were  better,  if  need  be,  to  have  a  voy- 
age prolonged,  and  then  come  back  with  a  clear 
conscience  and  God's  blessing,  than  to  return 
sooner  a  Sabbath  breaker,  with  the  ill-gotten 
gains  of  Sabbath  whaling,   and   a   conscience 
defiled  or  seared  by  sin. 

8.  If  men  grumble,   and  swear,  and  sin  be- 
cause I  do  not  order  boats  to  be  lowered  on 
the  Sabbath  day,  it  is  their  look-out  and  blame. 
If  /  have  boats  lowered,  it  is  mine,  and    God 
will  not  hold  me  guiltless. 


230          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

9.  It  is  an  unfounded  presumption,  that  a 
steady  and  well-grounded  refusal  to  have  nothing 
to  do  with  Sabbath  whaling  will  produce  dis- 
content among  the  men.    Experience  has  proved 
that  they  like  the  rest  of  the  Sabbath  as  well  as 
any  other  men,  and  are  glad  enough  to  have  it 
theirs  for  a  constancy,  though  they  would  like 
now  and  then  to  improve  any  rare  chance  offered 
on  that  day  as  well  as  on  any  other. 

10.  If  no  look-out  is  kept  for  whales  on  the 
Sabbath,  but  the  day  is  devoted  to  rest,  they 
will  not  often  be  seen  that  day,  so  as  to  be  an 
occasion  of  discontent.     These  two  last  propo- 
sitions are  drawn  from  the  experience  of  this 
ship,  the  Commodore  Preble,  during  its  present 
Sabbath-keeping  voyage,  and  will,   I   am  well 
convinced,  be  found  true  of  every  ship  that  shall 
try  the  experiment.     The  captain  became  per- 
suaded at  the  Sandwich  Islands  that  he  would 
be  wrong,  and  without  excuse,  to  whale  any  more 
on  the  Sabbath,  and,  with  a  new  heart,  he  re- 
solved to  do  so  no  more. 

He  took  one  season  afterward  on  the  North- 
west, but,   for  reasons  which  it  were   easy  to 


FALSE    PLEAS    REFUTED.  231 

mention,  not  the  least  of  which  was  not  being 
well  officered  or  manned  for  North-west  whaling, 
the  ship  did  not  succeed  so  well  as  many  others. 
Several  boats  were  stove  early  in  the  season, 
some  of  the  men  got  upset  and  frightened,  tow- 
lines  parted,  and  many  things  went  ill ;  but, 
so  far  from  repenting  of  his  purpose  to  keep  the 
Sabbath,  he  is  more  strong  in  it  than  ever,  well 
persuaded  and  well  content  that,  if  God  do  not 
pay  him  in  oil  here,  durable  riches  and  right- 
eousness are  his  in  heaven. 

It  should  be  mentioned,  in  passing,  to  the 
honour  of  Lynn,  that  the  only  two  whale  ships, 
of  which  this  is  one,  that  hail  from  that  port, 
now  keep  the  Sabbath.  The  heaviest  owner  in 
them  is  a  religious  man,  who  says  he  does  not 
want  any  oil  taken  on  the  Sabbath.  There  is 
another  from  New  London,  the  Nantasket,  Cap- 
tain Smith,  and  others,  it  is  to  be  supposed, 
with  which  the  writer  is  not  acquainted. 

It  is  painful  to  have  to  record  the  pitifully 
different  course  of  another  captain  from  New 
Bedford,  a  professor  of  religion,  and  esteemed  a 
good  man.  He  was  convinced,  and  felt  that 


232          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

it  was  wrong  to  whale  on  the  Sabbath ;  and 
when  he  last  went  from  the  Sandwich  Islands  to 
the  North-west  Coast,  he  proposed  in  his  mind 
not  to  do  so.  For  two  Sabbaths  he  held  out, 
and  on  one  of  them  saw  whales.  By  the  time 
the  next  Sabbath  came  round  they  had  done 
but  little ;  he  felt  uneasy,  could  not  stay  below 
or  on  deck  with  any  comfort,  his  mind  running 
upon  whales. 

At  length,  to  get  relief,  instead  of  betaking 
himself  more  earnestly  to  prayer  and  the  Word 
of  God,  he  ordered  his  mate  to  send  a  couple 
of  men  aloft,  and  when  they  sang  out  for  whales, 
he  lowered  his  boats  and  his  purpose  to  keep 
the  Sabbath  at  the  same  time.  Blubber  came 
in  in  abundance,  and  with  it  came  occupation 
and  content,  purchased,  I  need  not  say,  how 
poorly.  He  soon  filled  up  and  went  home, 
even  throwing  overboard  some  provisions  to 
give  place  to  oil. 

This  story  of  his  experience  he  told  himself, 
while  all  the  time  acknowledging  it  was  not 
right,  his  principle  and  conscience  not  being 
strong  enough  to  carry  out  his  convictions  of 


A    PIOUS    SAILOR — A    LOOSE    PROFESSOR.      233 

duty,  and  keep  him  from  acknowledged  sin. 
On  the  other  hand,  a  pious  sailor,  recently 
returned  from  a  two  years'  voyage,  says  that 
thirty  whales  were  taken  by  his  ship's  crew 
during  their  absence,  Three  of  these,  to  his 
sorrow,  were  taken  on  the  Sabbath.  But  in 
taking  these  three,  five  boats  were  destroyed 
and  five  men  were  seriously  wounded,  two  hav- 
ing their  limbs  broken,  and  one  his  scull  frac- 
tured. In  taking  the  remaining  twenty-seven 
whales  on  the  other  days  of  the  week,  only  four 
boats  were  injured,  and  one  man  slightly  hurt. 

Now  it  needs  not  that  we  say  positively,  of 
so  easy  a  professor  and  loose  a  conscience  as 
that  of  the  New  Bedford  captain  just  now  re- 
referred  to,  that  such  a  man  cannot  be  a  Chris- 
tian, or  to  deny  that  he  may  be  saved  so  as  by 
fire.  But  certain  it  is,  it  were  a  pity  for  the 
world  if  the  goodness  in  it,  and  fear  of  God, 
and  practical  regard  to  principle  and  duty,  were 
no  stronger  than  this  man's.  The  devil  might 
keep  it,  for  all  such  Christians,  a  thousand 
years  longer,  and  we  don't  know  that  he  would 
want  any  better  agents  than  such  pliable  pro- 


234          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

fessors,  that  seem  to  take  gain  for  godliness, 
and  make  a  "  gospel  of  their  maw." 

Such  men  will  do  well  to  read  and  ponder 
the  following  extract  from  the  Narrative  of  an 
Expedition  to  the  Sources  of  the  Mississippi, 
by  Henry  Schoolcraft : — "  No  Sabbath  day  was 
employed  in  travelling.  It  was  laid  down  as  a 
principle  to  rest  on  that  day,  and  whenever  it 
overtook  us,  whether  on  land  or  on  water,  the 
men  knew  that  their  labour  would  cease,  and 
that  the  day  would  be  given  them  for  rest. 
Such  of  them  as  felt  an  inclination,  had  the 
further  privilege  of  hearing  a  portion  of  the 
Scriptures  read  or  expounded,  or  uniting  in 
other  devotional  rites.  There  were  but  a  few 
hours  of  a  single  morning  and  a  few  hours  of  a 
single  evening,  of  separate  Sabbaths,  at  distant 
points,  which  were  necessarily  employed  in 
reaching  particular  places  ;  and  the  use  of  these 
appeared  to  be  unavoidable,  under  the  peculiar 
circumstances  of  our  local  position. 

"  It  may,  perhaps,  be  thought,  that  the  giv- 
ing up  one  seventh  part  of  the  whole  time  em- 
ployed on  a  public  expedition,  in  a  very  remote 


TESTIMONY    AS    TO   THE    SABBATH.          235 

region,  and  with  many  men  to  subsist,  must 
have,  in  this  ratio,  increased  the  time  devoted 
to  the  route.  But  the  result  was  far  otherwise. 
The  time  devoted  to  recruit  the  men  not  only 
gave  the  surgeon  of  the  party  an  opportunity  to 
heal  up  the  bruises  and  chafings  they  complained 
of,  but  it  replenished  them  with  strength ; 
they  commenced  the  week's  labour  with  renewed 
zest,  and  this  zest  was  in  a  measure  kept  up 
by  the  reflection  that  the  ensuing  Sabbath 
would  be  a  day  of  rest.  It  was  found,  by  com- 
puting the  whole  route,  and  comparing  the  time 
employed  with  that  which  had  been  devoted  on 
similar  routes  in  this  part  of  the  world,  that  an 
equal  space  had  been  gone  over  in  less  time  than 
it  had  ever  been  known  to  be  performed  by  loaded 
canoes  or  (as  the  fact  is)  by  light  canoes  before. 
And  the  whole  expedition — its  incidents  and 
results — has  been  of  a  character  furnishing 
strong  reasons  for  uniting  in  ascriptions  of 
praise  to  that  Eternal  Power  who  hath  been 
our  shield  from  the  pestilence  that  walketh  in 
darkness,  and  from  the  destruction  that  wasteth 
at  noon  day" 


236          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

We  have  become  acquainted  with  the  names 
or  persons  of  nine  men  belonging  to  the  Church, 
masters  of  whale  ships,  and  but  three  of  these 
keep  the  Sabbath.  Some  of  the  reasons  for 
this  desecration  of  the  Lord's  day  by  whale 
ships,  or  the  causes  of  it,  we  will  endeavour  to 
give  in  another  chapter ;  and  we  close  this  with 
a  voice  of  good  cheer  to  upright  Sabbath-keep- 
ing whalemen,  as  heard  in  the  stirring  Mariner's 
Hymn  by  Mrs.  Southey : — 

"  Launch  thy  bark,  mariner  ! 

Christian,  GOD  speed  thee ! 
Let  loose  the  rudder  bands — 

Good  angels  lead  thee  ! 
Set  thy  sails  warily, 

Tempests  will  come ; 
Steer  thy  course  steadily, 

Christian,  steer  home ! 

"  Slacken  not  sail  yet 

At  inlet  or  island  ; 
Straight  to  the  beacon  steer, 

Straight  for  the  highland  : 
Crowd  all  the  canvas  on, 

Cut  through  the  foam — 
Christian  !  cast  anchor  now — 

Heaven  is  thy  home  ! " 


PLEA  FOR  WHALEMEN'S  SABBATH.       237 


CHAPTEK    XVI. 

A    PLEA   IN   BEHALF    OF   THE    SABBATH    FOR 
WHALEMEN. 

"  What  says  the  prophet  ?  let  that  day  be  bless'd 

With  holiness  and  consecrated  rest. 

Pastime  and  business  both  it  should  exclude, 

And  bar  the  door  the  moment  they  intrude ; 

Nobly  distinguished  above  all  the  six, 

By  deeds  in  which  the  world  must  never  mix. 

Hear  him  again  !  he  calls  it  a  delight, 

A  day  of  luxury,  observed  aright ; 

When  the  glad  soul,  made  heaven's  own  willing  guest, 

Sits  banqueting,  and  God  provides  the  feast." 

Cowper. 


Plea  for  Whalemen's  Sabbath — Religion  and  Sabbath  Whaling 
— Responsibilities  on  Sabbath  Whaling — New  England 
Sabbath — Scoresby's  experience — Sabbath-keeping  Whaler 
— Providential  testimonies — Rational  conclusions — Hopes 
of  good  times  for  seamen. 

THE  all-inclusive  cause,  which  perpetuates 
and  lies  at  the  bottom  of  Sabbath  whaling, 
is  that  which  upholds  and  furnishes  the  stimulus 
to  almost  all  other  forms  of  Sabbath  breaking, 
the  odious  slave-trade,  &c., — I  mean  the  lust 
of  lucre,  that  deified  greedy  devil  of  gain  that 


238  THE    WHALEMAN  S    ADVENTURES. 

in  the  end  troubleth  his  own  house.  Whaling 
captains  and  owners  are  seldom  willing,  for  the 
honour  of  GOD  or  regard  to  his  law,  to  forego 
the  profits  which  they  think  accrue  from  Sab- 
bath whaling ;  and  therefore,  once  at  sea  on 
whaling  ground,  they  are  unwilling  to  stop  and 
take  breath  for  a  long  Lord's  day. 

Oil  got  on  the  Sabbath  burns  as  well,  sells 
as  well,  and,  they  think,  spends  as  well  as  oil 
got  lawfully  on  week  days.  Not  to  use  the 
Sabbath  in  their  gainful  business,  they  think 
would  be  losing  one  seventh  part  of  their  time, 
neglecting  one  seventh  of  their  chances,  keep- 
ing them  one  seventh  longer  out,  consuming 
one  seventh  more  provisions,  exhausting  one 
seventh  more  of  patience  and  spirits,  and  per- 
haps, in  the  end,  leaving  them  with  one  seventh 
less  of  oil  than  ships  that  use  all  days  alike,  and 
one  seventh  less  of  everything  but  a  good  con- 
science and  the  favour  of  God. 

To  balance  these,  we  have  only  to  offer, 
without  swelling  the  list,  as  might  easily  be 
done,  with  other  items,  that  keeping  the  Sabbath 
would  be  likely  to  make  whalers  three  sevenths 


PLEA  FOR  WHALEMEN'S  SABBATH. 

better  and  more  respectable  men,  three  sevenths 
more  easy  and  peaceful  in  their  minds,  and 
one  seventh  the  longer  lived  than  those  who 
persist  in  profaning  God's  holy  day;  and  it 
would  make  owners  at  home  all  the  better 
Christians,  or  more  likely  subjects  of  the  grace 
of  God  here,  and  with  less  to  answer  for  at  the 
great  bar  of  judgment  hereafter. 

At  present  it  is  said  by  many  whaling  cap- 
tains, that  their  owners  absolutely  require  whal- 
ing on  the  Sabbath,  as  one  of  the  conditions  on 
which  they  give  them  command  of  their  ships. 
It  is  also  said  that  many  of  these  ship-owners 
are  members  of  evangelical  churches  in  Nan- 
tucket,  New  Bedford,  Fair  Haven,  Sag  Harbor, 
New  London,  Warren,  Newport,  Stonington, 
and  other  places.  Some  owners  say  nothing  to 
their  captains  on  the  subject;  but  if  their  ships 
do  but  return  full,  no  inquiries  are  made  how 
or  on  what  days  the  oil  was  obtained. 

Now  and  then  a  shrewd  Yankee  captain 
guesses  that  his  pious  owners  have  no  objections 
to  his  t  ah- ing  oil  n:1icn  lie  can  get  it.  A  full 
ship  iills  the  heart  with  joy,  and  lights  up  the 


240          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

countenance  with  an  approving  and  benignant 
smile ;  while  a  half-filled  ship  often  clouds  the 
brow,  deranges  the  spleen,  obstructs  the  biliary 
ducts,  and  stops  the  joyful  and  generous  action 
of  the  heart.  Especially  would  this  be  so  had 
the  crew  of  the  half-filled  ship  been  permitted 
to  rest  one  day  in  the  seven,  according  to  the 
commandment. 

Occasionally  a  master,  an  officer,  or  a  sailor 
hints  that  he  would  be  glad  to  rest  on  the  Sab- 
bath, according  to  the  dictates  of  his  conscience  ; 
but  this  he  may  not  do,  except  at  the  risk  of 
losing  his  ship  and  being  thrown  out  of  employ- 
ment, and  he  will  therefore  conclude  that  Sab- 
bath whaling  with  him,  at  least,  is  a  work  of 
necessity. 

Kev.  Titus  Coan,  an  honoured  missionary  at 
the  Sandwich  Islands,  who  has  had  much  to  do 
practically  with  whalemen,  says,  with  not  less 
truth  than  with  a  justifiable  irony,  that  there 
are  some  captains  "who  will  consent  to  be  very 
pious,  and  hold  religious  meetings  on  the  Sab- 
bath, when  there  are  no  whales.  Of  course, 
they  always  keep  a  man  at  '  mast  head,'  on  the 


RELIGION   AND    SABBATH   WHALING.         241 

'look-out'  for  the  oil  of  joy  to  the  whalemen, 
while  the  rest  look  up  for  '  an  unction  from  the 
Holy  One  ;'  or,  in  other  words,  one  man  looks 
out  for  worldly,  while  the  rest  look  up  for 
heavenly  good.  Now,  should  it  so  happen  that 
the  prayer  of  this  MAST-HEAD  MINISTER  should 
be  first  granted,  by  raising  a  whale  during 
divine  service,  and  should  he,  from  his  lofty 
pulpit,  cry  out,  '  There  she  blows !'  then  what 
a  thrill  of  joy  electrifies  all  his  hearers !  How 
soon  the  lesser  desire  yields  to  the  greater  ! 
How  quick  and  how  thrilling  the  response  from 
the  quarter  deck,  '  Where  away  ?  Lower  the 
boats !  Bear  a  hand,  boys  !' 

"  Now  the  scene  changes.  Devotion  does 
not  cease,  but  it  is  turned  into  another  channel. 
Prayer,  reading,  sacred  melody,  exhortation,  all 
give  place  to  the  weightier  matter  of  pursuing 
this  MOVING  SEA-GOD  !  The  object  of  devotion 
thus  changed,  interest,  zeal,  fervour,  energy, 
are  all  quickened  and  strongly  developed. 

"  True,  most  irreligious  men  ridicule  this 
kind  of  piety,  and  heartily  despise  its  selfishness 
and  inconsistency  ;  and  Lord's-day  whalemen 

Q 


242          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

often  complain  that  it  is  hard  to  maintain  reli- 
gion, and  especially  so  to  keep  up  divine  serv- 
ice, at  sea.  No  doubt  it  is  hard,  and  perhaps 
it  is  impossible  to  exercise  true  religion  in  con- 
nection with  Sabbath  breaking.*  The  two  can- 
not be  reconciled.  No  man  can  serve  two  mas- 
ters. Ye  cannot  serve  God  and  mammon!' 

Another  reason  why  the  taking  of  whales  is 
prosecuted  so  generally  on  the  Sabbath,  as  well 
as  other  days,  is,  the  neglect  of  ministers,  in 
whaling  ports,  to  apply  God's  law  to  Sabbath 
whaling.  Captains  at  the  Sandwich  Islands, 

*  A  clergyman  was  once  invited  to  preach  on  board  a 
whale  ship.  The  hour  for  service  having  arrived,  Captain 

said  to  the  officer  of  the  deck,  "  Mr. ,  call  all 

hands  aft."  The  crew  were  soon  assembled  in  the  cabin.  An 
"old  salt"  remaining  behind,  the  captain  inquired,  "Where 

is  S •  ?"  "  Down  in  the  hold,  sir  ;  says  he  won't  come 

to  meeting,  sir."  He  was  then  called  again,  but  to  no  effect. 
He  had  gone  down  into  the  blubber-hold,  and  there  intrenched 
himself,  like  a  giant  in  his  castle,  or  a  lion  in  his  lair.  He 
was  reasoned  with,  but  all  to  no  purpose.  He  refused  to  be 
routed.  There  in  his  den  he  sat ;  and  in  his  den  he  growled 
defiance :  "  I  won't  come  up  ! "  On  this  the  officer  left  him, 
and  reported  to  the  captain. 

The  clergyman  now  asked  the  liberty  to  go  himself  and  in- 
vite the  old  man  in  the  blubber-hold.  This  granted,  he  pro- 
ceeded to  the  hatchway,  and  kindly  invited  the  iron-hearted 
tar  to  come  up  and  attend  service.  For  a  moment  the  old 


RELIGION   AND    SABBATH   WHALING.         243 

who  have  been  remonstrated  with  by  faithful 
ministers  there,  have  said,  "We  never  heard 
our  ministers  at  home  preach  so  against  Sab- 
bath whaling."  And  it  has  even  been  intimated 
that  a  clergyman,  who  should  be  faithful  in 
reproving  for  this  sin,  would  not  be  endured 
long  in  any  of  our  whaling  ports. 

Now,  though  a  poor  excuse,  this,  we  believe, 
is  in  fact  true.  Whether,  by  reason  of  mere  ap- 
athy or  inattention,  this  form  of  Sabbath-break- 
ing not  being  before  their  eyes  ;  or  holding,  as 
some  do,  that  we  are  only  to  preach  principles, 

man  was  silent ;  but  it  was  only  the  silence  of  a  dark  cloud 
while  it  gathers  strength  for  a  burst  and  a  roar.  At  length  he 
raised  his  stern  brow,  and,  with  a  look  of  defiance,  brawled 
out,  "  No !  I  won't  go  !" 

A  gentle  effort  was  then  made  to  soften  his  rigid  nerves  ; 
but  Jack  was  not  to  be  taken  either  by  storm  or  by  stratagem. 
Again  he  roared  out,  "  I  tell  you,  no  !  I  won't  go  there  ! "  On 
being  asked  the  reasons  for  his  prejudice  against  religious 
services,  he  again  thundered  out,  "  I  don't  want  any  of  Cap- 
tain —  — 's  religion  !  One  Sunday  it  is  all  preach  and  pray, 
and  the  next  Sunday  it  is  work  !  work  !  Catch  whales  !  catch 
whales!  No  !  I  won't  go  aft  to  meeting,  and  that's  all  about 
it."  The  result  of  this  interview  was  reported  to  the  captain, 
the  services  proceeded,  and  old  Jack  remained  in  the  blubber- 
room.—  TJie  Sailor's  Sabbath  :  a  Tract.  By  Rev.  Titus  Coan. 
Honolulu,  Onhu.  Published  by  the  Hawaiian  Tract  Society. 

Q2 


24-1          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

and  let  them  apply  themselves ;  or,  as  fearing 
to  offend  wealthy  parishioners,  whose  support 
the  Church  cannot  well  spare — from  one  or  all 
of  these  reasons  combined,  ministers  in  whaling 
ports  (unless  we  have  been  greatly  misinformed) 
have  had  little  or  nothing  to  say  upon  the  sin 
of  Sabbath  whaling ;  and  their  parishioners 
have,  consequently,  kept  on  owning  and  sailing 
in  Sabbath-breaking  ships,  kept  in  countenance 
by  their  own  ministers'  silence,  which  has  (em- 
phatically to  them)  spoken  consent. 

I  can  hardly  help  reflecting  upon  the  fidelity 
of  clergymen  at  whaling  ports,  in  some  of  which 
there  have  been  of  late  years  powerful  revivals 
of  religion,  that  ship-masters,  officers,  and  men, 
converted  in  those  very  revivals,  have  gone  out 
upon  the  high  seas,  organized  companies  of 
Sabbath  breakers.  Surely,  if  there  be  the  least 
propriety  in  speaking  of  a  slave-holding  Christ- 
ianity, this  may  as  well  be  called  a  Sabbath- 
breaking  Christianity.  But  no  !  there  is  no 
propriety  in  either,  when  we  call  things  by  their 
right  names.  There  can  be  such  a  strange  ano- 
maly as  slave-holding,  Sabbath-breaking  Christ- 


RELIGION    AND    SABBATH   WHALING.         245 

ians,  but  there  is  no  slave-holding,  or  Sabbath- 
breaking  Christianity.  She  alike  eschews  both, 
as  utterly  at  war  with  her  doctrines  and  requisi- 
tions. They  are  both  alike  an  incubus  upon 
her,  not  her  offspring. 

At  the  best,  they  are  but  temporary  moles 
and  blemishes  upon  her  fair  person,  which  time, 
together  with  her  own  internal  purity  and  energy 
of  constitution,  will  soon  wash  off  and  make 
to  disappear.  They  are  deforming  excrescences 
upon  the  noble  tree  of  the  American  Church, 
which,  unless  they  be  soon  cut  off,  may  produce 
the  vegetable  gangrene  or  dry  rot.  But  never 
call  them  her  limbs  or  leaves,  for  she  indig- 
nantly denies  the  parentage,  and  asserts  that  they 
have  fastened  on  her  like  leeches,  but  are  not 
of  her ;  and  she  protests  that  it  would  be  as  unfair 
to  call  the  monarch  oak  by  the  name  of  some 
parasitical  vine  that  now  and  then  coils  over  it, 
as  to  give  herself  epithets  from  the  heresies  and 
misdeeds  that  have  so  struck  their  roots  into 
her  bark  as  to  be  nourished  by  her  juices. 

Rather  let  it  be  our  business  to  pull  off  the 
unnatural  growth,  or  purge  it  with  the  physic 


246          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

of  truth  till  it  dies  and  drops  away  of  itself, 
than  to  derive  epithets  to  Christianity  from 
slave-holders  or  Sabbath  breakers,  or  any  other 
class  of  sinners  that  contrive  to  shelter  them- 
selves under  its  lee.  It  is  the  duty  especially 
of  ministers,  in  the  ports  where  whalers  are  fitted 
out,  to  bring  the  law  of  God  to  bear  upon  this 
form  of  Sabbath  breaking;  to  apply  it  point- 
edly and  plainly  to  this  sin,  and  to  preach  and 
pray  against  it  till  it  shall  cease  to  be  allowed 
by  owners  in  their  congregations,  or  committed 
by  persons  going  forth  from  their  communities. 
Let  them,  as  the  constituted  expounders  of 
the  law  of  God,  and  the  guardians  of  public 
morals  and  religion,  boldly  attack  this  sin,  and 
show  its  contrariety  to  the  Divine  law  and  the 
Gospel  of  Christ.  Let  ministerial  associations 
and  societies,  formed  to  promote  the  better  ob- 
servance of  the  Lord's  day,  pass  resolutions  ex- 
pressing their  sense  of  this  sin.  Let  fathers, 
whose  sons  go  down  upon  the  sea  in  ships,  pro- 
test against  a  practice  by  which  those  sons  are 
rendered  Sabbath  breakers,  and  the  high,  home- 
bred estimate  in  which  they  have  been  taught 


RESPONSIBILITIES    OF    SABBATH   WHALING.  247 

to  hold  that  sacred  day  obliterated,  and  the  way 
opened  for  any  and  all  degrees  of  moral  depra- 
vation to  which  that  sin  is  the  natural  ini- 
tiation. 

Let  ship-owners,  as  they  fear  God  and  have 
a  regard  to  the  judgment,  separate  themselves 
from  this  iniquity  by  positively  instructing  their 
agents  not  to  whale  on  the  Sabbath  day.  We 
call  upon  captains  and  officers  to  exercise  the 
manly  independence  and  regard  for  their  rights, 
to  say  that  they  will  not  sail  except  in  Sabbath- 
keeping  ships;  and  we  call  upon  the  men  to 
stipulate  beforehand  that  they  shall  be  allowed 
the  rest  of  the  Sabbath.  We  call  upon  the 
editors  of  respectable  journals,  in  whaling  ports 
and  elsewhere,  to  discuss  the  propriety  of  this 
practice.  We  ask  religious  men  and  good  citi- 
zens there  to  express,  in  the  intercourse  of 
private  life,  their  sense  of  the  wrongfulness  of 
so  plain  a  desecration  of  the  Christian  Sabbath. 

It  is  everywhere  popular,  at  this  day,  to 
praise  our  Puritan  ancestry,  and,  under  God,  to 
ascribe  our  liberty,  and  everything  that  is  dear 
to  us,  to  their  high  principles,  and  their  consci- 


248          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES, 

entious  practical  regard  to  right.  But  with 
how  many,  it  is  to  be  feared,  is  it  like  the  Jews 
building  the  sepulchres  of  the  prophets,  or 
like  the  base  Athenians  giving  the  hemlock  to 
the  virtuous  living  Socrates,  and  decreeing  a 
statue  and  panegyric  to  upright  Phocion,  whom 
they  had  themselves  put  to  death. 

For  it  has  come  to  pass  that  an  institution 
which  our  fathers  held  in  highest  reverence,  and 
kept  with  strictest  care,  is  now,  both  by  precept 
and  political  statute  and  example,  sadly  dese- 
crated ;  and  that,  too,  with  a  boldness  and  pub- 
licity that  prove  how  wide  arid  general  is  our 
departure,  both  from  their  stern  principles  and 
severe  Christian  morals.  A  noble  New  England 
ancestry  is  justly  a  nation's  boast ;  nor  can  the 
praise  of  our  pious  forefathers  ever  become  too 
popular,  or  their  memory  be  held  in  too  high 
regard ;  but  we  would  like  better  to  witness  a 
revival  of  their  grave  manners,  and  to  see  a 
holier  regard  paid  to  that  sacred  institution 
which  they  prized  and  guarded  above  all  others, 
and  therefore  have  we  endeavoured  to  draw  at- 
tention to  one  form  of  its  desecration,  which  is 


NEW   ENGLAND    SABBATH.  249 

doing  not  a  little  to  vitiate  public  morals,  and 
impair  that  high  sense  of  the  Sabbath's  sacred- 
ness  which  it  is  of  vital  importance  to  have 
maintained. 

If  the  spirits  of  some  of  those  upright  old 
Puritans  were  now  again  to  come  among  us, 
and  see  the  whale  ships  of  New  England 
unscrupulously  profaning  God's  holy  day,  steam- 
boats and  locomotives  running,  and  stage-coaches 
carrying  the  Sabbath  mail,  would  they  not  be 
likely  to  reproach  us  in  accommodated  language 
like  this  ?  "  In  vain  we  made  ourselves  exiles, 
for  conscience  and  the  love  of  God,  from  the 
servile  kingdoms  of  Europe.  In  vain  we  crossed 
the  boisterous  ocean,  found  a  new  world,  and 
prepared  it  for  the  happy  residence  of  civil  and 
religious  liberty.  In  vain  we  toiled ;  we  bled 
in  vain,  if  you,  our  offspring,  thus  need  prin- 
ciple and  purpose  to  maintain  inviolate  the 
sanctity  of  the  Sabbath,  and  to  defend  the 
observance  of  that  hallowed  institution,  which 
we  kept  so  strictly,  against  the  encroachments 
of  hurrying  worldliness  and  greedy  gain.  The 
blessed  institutions  we  transmitted  you  cannot 


250          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

long  survive  the  desecration  of  that  holy  day ; 
when,  too,  the  penitentiaries  and  pauper-houses 
of  Europe  are  disgorging  upon  your  fair  domain. 
Up,  and  rescue  it  from  profanation,  or  your 
precious  patrimony  of  liberty  is  gone  !" 

The  veteran  Captain  Scoresby,  who,  by  age, 
and  experience,  and  judgment,  is  entitled  to 
speak  on  this  subject  with  authority  (having 
gone  through  twenty-one  of  those  perilous 
voyages  successfully,  and  killed  some  hundred's 
of  whales),  says  that,  in  the  Greenland  whale 
fishery,  much  more  perplexing,  and  more  sub- 
ject to  sudden  embarrassments,  and  far  more 
dangerous  than  the  voyages  commonly  pur- 
sued, ef  I  have  known  public  worship  to  be 
carried  on  so  regularly  that  never  a  Sabbath 
passed  over,  for  several  years  together,  without 
one  or  more  full  services  being  performed. 
During  these  voyages  severe  gales  have  com- 
menced on  the  Sunday;  dangers  from  rocks, 
ice,  and  lee  shores  have  threatened ;  frequent 
embarrassments  from  thick  weather  have  oc- 
curred ;  yet  time  and  opportunity  were  always 
found  for  the  worship  of  God.  The  success 


SCORESBY'S  EXPERIENCE.  251 

of  the  voyage  often  seemed  to  be  in  the  way, 
duty  to  the  owners  of  the  ship  seemed  to  forbid, 
yet  we  persevered  in  waiting  upon  God,  and 
certain  I  am  that  we  found  his  blessing. 

"At  three  bells  (half  past  nine  A.M.)  every 
Sabbath  morning,  the  hands  were  '  turned  up,' 
to  prepare  themselves  for  the  forenoon  service  ; 
then,  according  to  the  state  of  the  weather,  or 
the  accomodations  we  had  in  the  ship,  the 
church  was  either  '  rigged'  upon  deck,  or  ar- 
rangements made  for  divine  worship  below. 
At  eleven  the  service  commenced,  and  generally 
concluded  a  few  minutes  after  twelve.  From 
the  calling  of  all  hands  until  this  time,  every 
man  was  on  Sabbath-day  duty;  and,  although 
no  man  was  made  to  join  in  the  prayers  against 
his  will,  yet  he  had  only  this  option,  either  to 
watch  or  to  pray. 

"  Before  each  of  our  services,  whenever  the 
weather  was  at  all  unsettled,  the  ship  was  put 
under  a  somewhat  snug  sail,  and,  the  deck 
being  left  to  the  charge  of  the  proper  officer  of 
the  watch,  with  the  assistance  of  the  helmsman, 
all  the  rest  of  the  crew,  or  nearly  all,  could 


252          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

generally  be  spared  to  join  the  public  prayers. 
When,  indeed,  there  was  any  probability  of 
squalls,  or  of  any  change  being  requisite  in  the 
sails,  some  few  of  the  proper  watch  were  placed 
within  observation  of  the  officer  on  deck,  so  as 
to  be  easily  called  up  without  disturbing  their 
comrades.  But,  if  circumstances  required, 
though  for  several  years  no  such  case  occurred, 
the  officer  had  orders  to  call  up  all  hands  to 
assist  him." 

The  same  author,  now  a  clergyman  of  the 
Church  of  England,  in  An  Address  to  Sea 
Captains,  published  when  he  occupied  the  in- 
teresting post  of  Chaplain  of  the  Liverpool 
Mariners'  Church,  gives  the  following  practical 
suggestions  on  the  same  subject : — 

"  To  the  end  of  furthering  the  important 
object  of  sanctifying  the  Sabbath,  it  is  good  to 
remember  it  before  it  arrives.  Prepare  for  the 
day  of  rest,  as  far  as  you  can,  on  the  Saturday. 
Let  your  men  have  time  on  Saturday  evening 
for  those  needful  acts  of  personal  cleanliness 
which  are  better  performed  then  than  in  the 
morning,  so  that  the  Lord's  day  be  not  unne- 


SUGGESTIONS    FOR   SABBATH-KEEPING.        253 

cessarily  broken  in  upon  by  these  preparations. 
In  every  nautical  duty  which  requires  attention 
on  Sunday  morning,  bear  in  mind  the  hours 
fixed  for  divine  worship,  that  every  work  which 
can  possibly  be  anticipated  may  be  completed. 
If  your  flying  sails  be  taken  in,  your  retirement 
will  be  more*  comfortable  and  secure,  and  you 
will  seldom  or  never  find  the  loss  in  your  voyage. 
The  Lord's  blessing  will  abundantly  recompense 
this  and  every  sacrifice  made  for  his  sake. 

"  Then  call  your  men  together,  as  far  as 
possible,  at  the  appointed  hour,  either  in  the 
cabin  or  on  the  deck,  as  may  be  most  comfort- 
able. Again,  in  the  afternoon,  let  your  crew 
and  passengers,  if  any,  have  the  opportunity 
of  worshipping  the  Most  High  God,  who  made 
the  heavens,  the  earth,  and  the  wide  sea ;  and 
whether  it  be  convenient  to  have  any  other  ser- 
vice for  the  benefit  of  your  apprentices  or  not, 
you  will  feel  it  a  good  thing  thus  to  wait  upon 
tho  Lord.  You  will  experience  a  benefit  tem- 
porally as  well  as  spiritually ;  your  people  will 
be  more  orderly  and  respectful,  and  Almighty 
God  will  be  your  shield  and  exceeding  great  re- 


254         THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

ward.  Yea,  if  thou  acquaintest  thyself  with 
Him,  and  return  unto  Him,  the  Almighty  shall 
be  thy  defence,  for  then  shalt  thou  delight  thy- 
self in  the  Almighty,  and  shalt  lift  up  thy  face 
unto  God ;  and  thou  shalt  make  thy  prayer 
unto  Him,  and  He  shall  hear  thee." 

But  having  referred  to  this  "testimony  and 
experience  of  one  who  so  long  and  so  well  put 
the  principles  we  now  advocate  to  the  strictest 
test,  we  will  here  adduce  an  illustrative  example 
or  two,  taken  from  Sabbaths  in  the  Arctic  Regions- 
being  a  portion  of  Dr.  Scoresby's  work  entitled 
Memorials  of  the  Sea. 

Preliminary  to  the  narratives  referred  to, 
the  author  remarks : — "  It  was  in  the  last  four 
voyages,  wherein  my  personal  interest  in  the 
fishing,  from  holding  a  considerable  share  in 
the  concern,  was  the  greatest,  that  the  Provi- 
dential testimonies  to  Sabbath  observance  were 
the  most  striking.  During  this  period,  the 
pecuniary  interest  to  myself  alone,  in  the  cap- 
ture of  a  large  whale,  was,  not  unfrequently, 
near  £300,  whilst  a  single  day's  successful  fish- 
ing might  afford  a  personal  advantage,  as  in 


SABBATH-KEEPING   WHALER.  255 

one  instance  or  more  it  did,  of  upwards  of  £800. 
Consequently,  every  motive  of  self-interest  with 
myself,  was  in  favour  of  unceasing  exertions 
during  the  whole  seven  days  of  the  week,  for 
promoting  the  success  of  our  undertaking.  The 
practice,  moreover,  among  the  northern  whalers, 
at  that  time,  was  almost  universal, — with  the 
exception  of  one  revered  individual,  now  no 
more,  and  occasionally,  perhaps,  of  another 
honourable  example  of  forbearance, — to  pursue 
.  the  fishery  equally  on  the  Lord's  day,  as  at  any 
other  time,  whenever  whales  were  astir.  Works 
connected  with  the  fishery,  indeed,  but  con- 
sidered of  less  importance,  were,  for  the  most 
part,  suspended  in  honour  of  the  Sabbath  ;  but 
the  capture  of  whales,  if  opportunity  offered, 
was  considered  as  such  a  kind  of  necessity,  as 
to  justify  a  departure  from  the  ordinary  rest  of 
the  day.  For  it  was  argued,  and  that  with  rea- 
son, that  the  whales  which  were  seen  on  the 
Sabbath  might  not  remain  till  another  day  ; 
and,  therefore,  it  was  inferred,  though  by  no 
means  with  the  same  strictness  of  truth,  that 
it  was  a  necessary  duty  to  pursue  the  objects 


256          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

of  the   fishery  whenever    whales   were   within 
reach. 

"  Through  the  goodness  of  God,  however, 
I  felt  the  line  of  duty,  personally,  to  be  other- 
wise. The  strict  command  concerning  the  Sab- 
bath, rendered,  in  my  apprehension,  the  duty 
imperative, — to  refrain  from  labouring  in  a 
worldly  calling,  for  worldly  advantage,  on  that 
holy  day  ;  and  this,  for  several  of  the  latter 
voyages  in  which  I  was  engaged,  became  our 
undeviating  rule  of  conduct.  And  here  it  is 
but  justice  to  those  who  were  at  different  times 
united  with  me  in  the  adventure,  to  mention,  that 
they  all  either  accorded  on  the  same  principle  of 
reverence  to  the  Divine  command,  as  myself,  in 
the  practice  I  adopted,  or  cheerfully  acceded  to 
the  plan,  leaving  me  fully  at  liberty  to  deviate 
from  the  usual  practice,  in  order  to  sanctify  the 
Lord's  day.  But  we  go  on  to  one  of  the  various 
illustrative  incidents  given  in  these  Memorials 
of  the  Sea  : — 

"On  the  13th  of  July,  blowing  hard,  with  rain 
or  sleet,  we  moored  to  a  large  and  heavy  floe  (a 
sheet  of  ice  about  three  orfour  milesin  diameter), 


PROVIDENTIAL   TESTIMONIES.  257 

in  order,  the  more  commodiously,  to  enjoy  the 
Sabbath  day's  repose.  A  ship  from  Peterhead, 
which  had  for  some  days  been  accompanying  us 
in  our  progress  through  the  western  ices,  fol- 
lowed our  example,  and  a  considerable  number 
of  her  officers  and  crew  joined  us  in  our  usual 
Sabbath  devotions.  An  evening  service,  de- 
signed chiefly  for  the  instruction  and  benefit  of 
the  apprentices,  had  been  concluded,  the  sacred 
day  of  the  Lord  was  drawing  to  a  close,  and  our 
visitors  were  preparing  to  return  to  their  ship, 
when  a  large  whale  was  descried  by  one  of  our 
own  seamen  in  a  situation  very  inviting  for  at- 
tempting its  capture. 

"No  doubt  it  was  contemplated  by  many 
with  an  ardent  and  longing  gaze  ;  but  the  orders 
for  sanctifying  the  Sabbath  being  quite  peremp- 
tory, no  attempt,  on  the  part  of  any  of  our 
people,  was  made  to  pursue  the  tempting  object. 
Our  fellow- worshippers,  however,  being  less 
scrupulous,  instantly  manned  the  boat  which 
had  brought  them  on  board  of  the  Baffin,  and  set 
forth,  along  with  some  others  from  their  own 
ship,  in  eager  pursuit.  Nor  were  their  ardent 

R 


258         THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

hopes  disappointed  ;  for  in  a  short  time,  the 
usual  quietness  of  the  day,  with  us,  was  broken 
in  upon  by  the  shout  of  success  from  the  pur- 
suing boats,  followed  by  vehement  respondings 
from  the  contiguous  ship.  The  attack,  being 
followed  up  with  the  wonted  vigour,  was  suc- 
cessful, and  the  prize,  which  proved  a  valuable 
one,  was  fully  secured  by  the  middle  of  the  night. 

"  That  such  a  result  should  not  be  exceed- 
ingly trying  to  the  feelings  of  our  people,  who 
saw  that  their  competitors  had  won  the  prize 
which  we  had  first  declined,  was  more  than 
could  be  expected.  Nevertheless,  both  the  trial 
of  their  obedience,  and  the  exercise  of  their 
patience,  were  so  sustained  as  to  be  at  once 
satisfactory  to  me,  and  highly  creditable  to 
themselves.  Their  minds,  in  general,  seemed 
disposed  to  admit  the  principle  on  which  we 
acted ;  for,  in  addition  to  the  religious  sanctions, 
their  repeated  experiences  had  testified  that  the 
principle  was  acknowledged  of  heaven. 

"  It  was  my  intention  to  have  '  cast  off, '  in 
the  morning  of  Monday,  to  explore  the  navi- 
gable spaces  of  the  ice  to  the  westward,  with  a 


PROVIDENTIAL   TESTIMONIES.  2o9 

view  to  the  furtherance  of  our  voyage  ;  but  the 
day  being  still  stormy,  with  constant  thick 
weather  from  snow,  sleet,  or  rain,  we  found  it 
expedient  to  remain  in  somewhat  anxious  idle- 
ness, whilst  our  successful  comrades  were  joy- 
ously and  usefully  occupied  in  flensing  the 
valuable  fish  obtained  almost  under  our  stern. 
This  was  doubtless  an  additional  trial  of  the 
good  feelings  of  our  crew ;  but,  whatever  might 
be  the  regrets  of  any  in  yielding  up,  for  con- 
science* sake,  our  chance  of  so  fine  a  prize,  I 
heard  of  no  other  dissatisfaction  than  the  mere 
expression  of  a  natural  anxiety  to  be  '  under- 
way/ that  we  might  find  a  fish  for  ourselves. 

"  The  state  of  the  weather,  however,  in- 
duced us  to  continue  at  our  moorings,  till  forced 
off  by  the  movements  of  the  contiguous  ices, 
which  threatened  the  safety  of  the  ship.  Soon 
afterwards  we  set  forth  on  our  object ;  and,  hav- 
ing made  a  stretch  to  the  westward,  all  hands 
were  speedily  called  into  exhilarating  action  by 
the  discovery  of  several  whales.  The  eagerness 
of  the  men,  indeed,  was,  in  the  first  instance, 
against  us  ;  more  than  one  of  the  objects  of  their 

n  M 


260         THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTUKES. 

anxiety  being  unnecessarily  scared,  for  want  of 
that  wise  and  considerate  prudence  which,  under 
the  circumstances,  was  peculiarly  needed  to 
temper  and  direct  their  excited  zeal.  At  length, 
however,  after  a  variety  of  mortifying  failures,  a 
harpoon  was  ably  struck;  and,  though  the 
boat  received  a  desperate  heave,  and  some  of  its 
oars  were  projected  high  into  the  air,  happily  no 
accident  ensued. 

"  The  excess  of  ardour  among  the  men  was 
now  in  full  demand,  being  appropriately  drawn 
off  by  the  vigour  with  which  the  wounded 
monster  vainly  struggled  for  its  liberty  and  life. 
Outstripping  the  utmost  speed  of  its  pursuers, 
in  the  beginning  of  the  chase,  it  obtained  shelter 
amid  a  compact  accumulation  of  numerous 
masses  of  ice,  where  it  was  most  difficult  to 
reach,  and  from  whence  it  seemed  next  to  im- 
practicable to  be  dislodged.  After  encountering 
however,  a  variety  of  little  adventures,  as  well 
as  some  very  threatening  obstacles,  all  of  which 
were  safely  overcome,  or  spontaneously  gave 
way,  as  the  pursuit  and  lancing  advanced,  we 
succeeded  in  subduing  the  powerful  animal; 


PROVIDENTIAL   TESTIMONIES.  261 

and  no  sooner  was  it  clear  of  the  lines,  and  in 
a  condition  to  be  removed,  than  the  compact 
aggregation  of  ices  by  which  it  was  enveloped, 
began  to  relax,  so  that,  with  little  further  em- 
barrassment, a  channel  was  cleared  out,  and  the 
prize  effectually  secured.  Thus,  before  the  very 
first  day  available  for  the  fishery,  after  the  Sab- 
bath had  come  to  a  close,  all  our  anxieties  were 
relieved,  our  forbearance  compensated,  and  our 
efforts  crowned  with  the  desired  success. 

"  After  a  careful  examination  of  the  journals 
of  my  four  last  voyages  in  the  whale  fishery, 
being  the  same  to  which  the  foregoing  records 
chiefly  refer,  I  can  only  discover  three  instances 
wherein,  after  resisting  the  pursuit  of  whales 
seen  on  the  Sabbath,  we  were  not  successful  in 
the  fishery  of  the  ensuing  week. 

"  As  to  those  who  may  yet  question  the  re- 
sult of  our  argument — that  the  statements  here 
presented  afford  decisive  evidence  of  a  providen- 
tial blessing  on  the  endeavour  to  keep  the  Lord's 
day  holy — we  would  claim,  at  least,  this  fair 
and  candid  admission,  that  our  refraining  from 
Sabbath  violation,  when  urged  to  it  by  the  pros- 


262         THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

pect  of  great  worldly  gain,  was  not  the  occasion 
of  either  loss  or  disadvantage  in  the  ultimate 
result  of  our  labours.  Could,  however,  the  con- 
victions of  those  who  accompanied  me  in  the 
voyages  referred  to — consisting,  probably,  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty  different  men — be  conveyed  to 
their  minds,  an  impression  of  a  much  more  de- 
cisive and  satisfactory  character,  methinks,  would 
naturally  and  generally  follow ;  for,  on  occa- 
sions when  we  refrained  from  fishing  on  the 
Sunday,  whilst  others  were  successfully  engaged 
in  that  object,  our  subsequent  labours,  as  has 
been  seen,  often  succeeded  under  circumstances 
so  peculiarly  striking,  that  there  was  scarcely  a 
man  in  the  amount  of  our  crew  who  did  not 
seem  to  consider  it  as  the  effect  of  the  Divine 
blessing ! 

"  Independently,  indeed,  of  the  positive  duty 
of  sanctifying  the  Sabbath,  and  of  the  blessing 
of  Providence  connected  therewith,  we  ourselves 
oft-times  realized  the  wisdom  of  the  institution, 
in  the  mere  physical  benefits  resulting  from 
its  observance ;  for  when  the  preceding  week 
happened  to  have  been  laboriously  employed, 


PROVIDENTIAL   TESTIMONIES.  263 

the  day  of  rest  became  sweetly  welcome,  and 
obviously  beneficial  in  its  restoring  influ- 
ence upon  the  energies  of  the  people,  fitting 
them  for  a  renewal  of  their  arduous  duties; 
whilst  the  temporary  restraint  thus  put  upon 
the  ardour  of  the  seamen,  operated,  no  doubt, 
with  no  small  measure  of  advantage,  by  stimu- 
lating to  additional  energy  in  their  subsequent 
labours;  so  that,  in  every  point  of  view,  and  in 
every  relation  to  the  well-being  of  man,  spiritual 
and  temporal,  this  sacred  appointment  stands, 
we  conceive,  eminently  commended,  both  for  its 
wisdom  and  its  goodness." 

Now  what  rational  subject  of  Almighty  God 
can  doubt  these  conclusions,  having  for  them 
His  own  WORD  ?  And  what  ship-master  or 
common  mariner  will  turn  a  leaden  ear  to  this 
testimony  and  expostulation  of  one  of  their  own 
craft,  to  whom  a  long  and  varied  experience 
gives  a  right  to  be  heard  and  regarded.  Consi- 
derations like  these,  we  fully  believe,  will  yet 
have  their  weight  upon  owners,  officers,  and 
men.  The  sea  shall  yet  have  its  Sabbath ;  the 


264         THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

holy  Lord's  day  shall  be  rescued  from  profana- 
tion by  the  great  whaling  and  merchant  fleets ; 
the  abundance  of  the  seas  shall  be  converted 
to  God,  and  to  the  observance  especially  of  this 
great  ordinance  of  creation's  Lord,  THOU  SHALT 

REMEMBER  THE  SABBATH  DAY  TO  KEEP  IT 
HOLY. 

There  's  a  good  time  coming  for  seamen, 
and  that,  we  trust,  not  far  off.  We  thankfully 
recognise  the  law  of  progress  and  reform  as 
true  of  them,  and  already  remarkably  developed 
in  this  day.  We  gladly  share  in  the  cheering 
faith  of  Dr.  Bushnell,  that  the  time  is  at  hand 
when  all  that  pertains  to  commerce  is  to  be 
sanctified  by  virtue  and  religion,  as  of  right  it 
should  be ;  ' '  when  commerce  itself  shall  become 
religious,  and  religion  commercial;  when  the 
mariners  will  be  blended  with  all  the  other  wor- 
shippers on  shore,  in  the  exercise  of  common 
privileges,  and  as  members  of  a  common  bro- 
therhood ;  when  the  ships  will  have  their  Sab- 
bath, and  become  temples  of  praise  on  the 
deep  ;  when  habits  of  temperance  and  banks  for 
saving  will  secure  them  in  thrift,  and  assist  to 


HOPES  OF  A  GOOD  TIME  FOR  SEAMEN.   265 

give  them  character ;  when  they  will  no  more 
live  an  unconnected,  isolated,  and  therefore 
reckless  life,  but  will  have  their  wives  and  chil- 
dren vested  here  and  there,  in  some  neat  cottage 
among  the  hills,  to  be  to  them,  when  abroad, 
the  anchor  of  their  affections,  and  the  security  of 
their  virtue ;  when  they  will  go  forth  also  to  dis- 
tant climes  and  barbarous  shores,  with  all  their 
noble  and  generous  traits  sanctified  by  religion, 
to  represent  the  beauty  of  Christ  to  men,  and 
become  examples  of  all  that  is  good  and  bene- 
ficent in  his  Gospel.  Be  it  ours  to  aid  a  pur- 
pose so  desirable,  theirs  to  realize  it  in  their 
conduct  and  character." 

Realized,  we  believe,  it  will  be  in  the  world's 
cheering  progress,  and  that  ere  long,  when  MAR- 
INERS shall  be  missionaries  from  shore  to  shore, 
from  the  river  to  the  ends  of  the  earth  ;  when 
die  isles  shall  wait  God's  laws  at  their  hands, 
and  continents,  long  wrapped  in  the  darkness  of 
Paganism,  shall  be  thrown  wide  open  to  mes- 
sengers of  salvation,  borne  and  backed  by  those 
that  go  down  to  the  sea  in  ships,  and  do  busi- 
ness in  the  great  icaters  ! 


266         THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

"  Lord !  for  those  days  we  wait ;  those  days 

Are  in  thy  word  foretold. 
Fly  swifter,  sun  and  stars,  and  bring, 

This  promised  age  of  gold. 

"  Peace,  with  her  olive  crown,  shall  stretch 
Her  wings  from  shore  to  shore  ; 

The  nations  of  the  earth  shall  hear 
The  sound  of  war  no  more. 

"  Beneath  the  influence  of  HIS  grace, 

The  barren  waste  shall  rise, 
With  sudden  green  and  fruits  array' d — 

A  blooming  Paradise. 

"  Then  shall  bless' d  seamen  sing  and  tell 

Of  all  Emanuel's  love  ! 
AND  SEA.  AND  LAND,  IN  SABBATH  LIGHT, 

SHALL  SHINE  LIKE  HEAVEN  ABOVE  !" 


NEARING    HOME.  267 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

NEARING  HOME  AND  ANALOGIES  FROM  THE  SEA. 

"  When  one  returneth  from  a  distant  land, 

Where  he  hath  been  in  pilgrimage  afar, 
And  seeks  once  more,  his  wanderings  done,  to  stand 

Beneath  the  brightness  of  his  country's  star, 
It  is  with  beating  heart  and  joyful  eyes 

He  views  the  long-remember'd  scenes  again, 
The  mountains  far,  ascending  to  the  skies, 

The  verdant  hills  more  near,  the  flowering  plain, 

The  willow-shaded  stream,  the  fields  of  golden  grain." 

T.  C.  U. 


Hopes  and  Fears  on  nearing  Home — Dangers  of  the  Coast — 
Religious  Exercises  and  Fruits — Spiritual  Lessons. 

Inside  Nantucket  Shoals. 

IF  a  man  be  coming  off  a  long  voyage,  or  from 
a  lengthened  absence  in  any  foreign  land, 
without  having  been  so  fixed  as  to  allow  of  a 
frequent  interchange  of  letters  with  those  that 
are  dear  to  him,  he  must  be  singularly  stupid 
not  to  find  thickly  thronging  into  his  mind  many 
thoughts,  hopes,  and  fears,  imaginations  and 
apprehensions  as  he  nears  his  native  shores. 


268         THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

There  are  few  so  alone  in  the  world  as  not  to 
have  some  dear  friends  to  love  and  be  anxious 
about ;  and  two  or  three  years  will  often  make 
sad  ravages  in  even  the  smallest  circles.  All 
this  every  one,  that  has  had  much  experience 
of  life's  realities,  thinks  about,  and  hopes,  and 
fears;  and  the  flutter  of  blended  anxiety  and 
joy  increases,  the  nearer  one  gets  to  his  father- 
land. 

Moreover,  it  is  true,  as  matter  of  fact,  that 
dangers  actually  multiply  as  you  make  the  land  ; 
and  you  think  how  many  events  may  step  yet 
between  you  and  home ;  and  you  remember 
how  many  that  have  braved  the  dangers  of 
foreign  travel,  and  remote,  inhospitable  seas, 
have  been  lost  in  returning,  on  the  rocks  and 
breakers  of  their  own  rude  coast.  You  call  to 
mind  those  lines  of  Dante  : 

"  For  I  have  seen  the  bark,  that  all  day  long 
Sail'd  straight  and  steady,  perish  at  last, 
Even  in  the  haven's  mouth  !" 

There  is  not  a  captain  out  of  Massachusetts 
Bay,  coming  in  from  the  southward  and  east- 
ward, from  a  long  voyage,  a  little  in  doubt,  per- 


DANGERS    ON    NEARING   HOME.  269 

haps,  about  his  chronometer,  that  does  not  dread 
to  cross  that  fog-covered  George's  Bank,  between 
a  Scylla  on  one  side  and  a  Charybdis  on  the 
other,  the  George's  Shoal  on  the  right,  and  that 
fatal  Nantucket  South  Shoal  on  the  left. 

We  suddenly  emerged  from  the  warm  water 
of  the  Gulf  Stream  right  into  the  mist  and  cold 
of  George's  Bank,  and  a  heavy  north-east  gale, 
in  which  we  had  to  lay- to  during  a  most 
tempestuous  night,  and  were  drifted  a  long  way 
to  leeward,  so  as  to  be  in  no  little  danger,  un- 
certain as  we  needs  must  be  of  our  whereabouts, 
and  our  sails  being  so  old  and  rotten  that  it 
would  have  been  impossible  to  beat  off  a  lee 
shore.  (Another  ship  and  two  schooners  were 
wrecked  upon  the  shoal  in  this  same  gale.)  Two 
days  before  we  attained  to.  this  position,  there 
were  occasional  glimpses  of  the  sun,  just 
enough  to  give  us  doubtful  observations,  as  his 
disc  could  be  caught  behind  the  dense  flying  scud, 

"  Dim  through  the  horizontal  misty  air, 
Shorn  of  his  heams." 

But  the  clear  blue  sky  had  only  once  been 
visible  since  getting  out  of  the  Gulf.  It  was  ;i 


270         THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

dense  Scotch  mist,  or  else  a  downright  rain  all 
the  time,  and  quite  as  cold  when  we  were  here 
in  May,  as  off  Cape  Horn  in  January. 

On  the  Sabbath  night,  however,  after  a  day  of 
almost  entire  calm, 

"  Sounding  on  our  dim  and  perilous  way," 

through  fog  and  cold,  a  favourable  breeze  sprang 
up,  by  favour  of  which  we  passed  safely  those 
dangerous  shoals  when  we  could  not  see  them, 
trusting  only  to  lead  and  line.  From  our  posi- 
tion at  that  time  we  steered  first  north-east, 
then  north- north- east,  then  north,  then  north - 
north-west,  then  north-west,  so  rounded  those 
obscure  and  formidable  dangers,  sounding  every 
hour. 

The  morning  light  broke  clear  and  cold,  and 
it  was  a  glorious  day.  We  made  the  dear  land 
of  New  England  about  three  in  the  afternoon. 
Not  long  after  we  discovered  Chatham  light- 
house, all  as  we  desired ;  and  then,  gladly  run- 
ning up  Pilgrim  Land  until  nine  o'clock,  the 
noble,  large,  and  steady  light  of  Cape  Cod  bore 
about  west. 


NEARING    HOME.  271 

The  weary,  weather-worn  company  in  the 
May  Flower,  had  no  such  friendly  beacons  as 
this  to  shed  light  on  their  way  when  they  came 
as  pilgrims  to  a  rock-hound  and  rude  land.  It 
was  spring,  too,  with  us,  but  we  remember, 

"  That  through  her  chafed  and  moaning  shrouds  Decembers 

breezes  wailed. 

Yet,  on  that  icy  deck,  behold !  a  meek  but  dauntless  band, 
Who,  for  the  right  to  worship  God,  have  left  their  native  land." 

I  now  preached  for  the  last  time  at  sea,  in 
the  afternoon.  In  the  evening  we  had  a  very 
happy  prayer-meeting,  our  final  one  on  ship- 
board. The  captain,  a  boat-steerer,  one  of 
the  fore-mast  hands,  and  myself,  led  each  suc- 
cessively in  fervent  supplication  and  thanks  to 
the  throne  of  grace.  The  two  first,  receiving 
the  Gospel  in  the  power  of  it,  during  this  ab- 
sence from  home,  returned  evidently  regenerated 
by  the  grace  of  God.  Would  that  every  pro- 
fessing ship -master  gave  as  good  evidence  of 
possessing  the  reality  of  religion  as  ours. 

When,  during  our  voyage,  we  were  in  the 
midst  of  a  herd  of  sperm  whales,  it  was  my  in- 
ward earnest  prayer  that  God  would  give  him 


272          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

good  success  in  their  capture,  in  order  that  he 
might  yet  realize  a  profitable  voyage  for  his 
owners  at  its  close,  and  enter  port  with  a  full 
ship,  after  all  its  first  losses  and  misfortunes. 
Through  no  fault  of  his,  however,  this  was  not 
so  to  be.  But  the  voyage  was  productive  to 
him,  personally,  of  a  better  portion  than  many 
ship-loads  of  spermaceti,  for  he  found,  during 
the  course  of  it,  and  partly  through  the  very 
discipline  of  disappointment,  the  pearl  of  great 
price,  which  he  would  not  now  part  with  for  the 
wealth  of  the  Indies  or  all  California's  gold. 
May  he  only  keep  it  always,  and  find  it  to  yield 
him  a  constant  revenue  of  peace  and  joy  ! 

We  prayed  and  laboured  long  in  hope  of  a 
work  of  grace  in  the  forecastle :  but  the  power 
and  mercy  of  God  were  not  shown  that  way — 
men  and  officers,  too,  apparently  remaining 
dead  in  trespasses  and  sins  /  hardened,  I  fear, 
by  the  very  means  of  grace  they  slighted,  and  the 
invitations  and  pleadings  they  neglected  or 
scorned.  Alas  !  it  is  they  only  that  will  be  the 
sufferers,  as  it  is  they  only  who  are  to  blame  for 
neglecting  so  great  salvation  ! 


NEARING    HOME.  273 

We  were  now,  in  God's  good  providence, 
expecting  to  hail  Boston  Light  by  another 
evening,  rejoicing  and  thankful  to  say  once 
more, 

"This  is  my  own,  my  native  land !" 

To  God  be  our  grateful  acknowledgments  for 
all  the  mercies  of  this  pleasant  voyage,  two 
hundred  and  thirty-six  days  from  the  Sandwich 
Islands,  and  eighty  from  Kio  de  Janeiro,  where 
we  put  in  for  supplies. 

The  engrossing  earnestness  with  which  our 
captain,  for  the  few  previous  days,  had  studied 
the  chart  and  watched  the  soundings,  in  order 
to  make  his  way  safely  to  port,  might  teach  a 
lesson,  I  have  thought,  of  the  way  in  which  we 
should  all  study  and  watch  the  answers  of  God's 
word  and  prayer  as  we  prosecute  the  voyage  of 
life,  having  to  steer  by  a  thousand  rocks,  and 
shoals,  and  quicksands,  before  we  can  make  the 
port  of  peace.  He  would  himself  carefully  put 
the  tallow  or  soap  into  the  hollow  end  of  the 
lead,  then  heave  it  himself,  or  hold  the  line,  and 
carefully  ascertain  when  it  reached  the  bottom ; 
then  he  would  scrutinize  it  closely  when  hauled 

s 


274          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

up,  to  see  what  report  it  brought  from  the 
bottom,  whether  it  was  sand,  or  gravel,  or  mud, 
or  ooze  adhering  to  the  end,  or  whether  it  were 
dented,  as  if  it  had  fallen  on  rocks. 

Then  he  would  go  and  sit  down  to  his  chart, 
with  compass,  and  slate,  and  slide,  to  compare 
what  he  had  found  with  what  he  was  told  there, 
in  order  to  fix,  if  possible,  upon  his  position  on 
the  great  shoal,  and  shape  his  course  accord- 
ingly for  the  next  hour.  Then  he  would  lie 
down  on  the  transom,  in  his  great  watch-coat, 
to  catch  half  an  hour's  sleep,  with  the  chart 
unrolled  before  him  on  the  cabin  table,  and  a 
lantern  swinging  over  it  with  a  sperm  candle,  a 
thing  we  had  not  had  before  for  the  voyage. 

Now  with  the  same  carefulness,  it  has  seemed 
to  me,  should  we  all  ponder  the  Word  of  God, 
that  we  may  be  shaping  our  course  aright  over 
the  tempestuous  sea  of  life,  where 

Dangers  of  every  shape  and  name 
Attend  the  followers  of  the  Lamb. 

Yea,  not  only  when  we  are  exceedingly  tossed 
with  a  tempest,  and  neither  sun  nor  stars  for 
many  days  do  appear,  but  in  the  clearest  weather 


SPIRITUAL   LESSONS.  275 

and  the  best  of  times,  how  seldom  is  it,  in  our 
navigation  for  eternity,  that  we  are  not  in  peril 
from  some  out-jutting  reef,  or  shoal,  or  sunken 
rock,  or  moving  quicksand  ;  to  avoid  which  we 
must  heave  the  lead  and  watch  our  soundings, 
and  study  well  the  Chart,  and  trim  our  sails, 
and  keep  a  good  look-out.  I  thank  God  that 
our  captain,  Lafayette  Ludlow,  has  done  both 
on  the  present  voyage. 

With  the  same  steadiness  and  absorption 
that  he  now  studied  his  chart,  and  worked  and 
re-worked  his  observations,  and  compared  and 
reviewed  his  results,  he  used  to  study  and  pray 
over  the  divine  Word,  till  God  showed  him  the 
way  of  salvation  by  faith  in  Christ,  and  he  got 
his  anchor  on  the  promises,  that  proved  good 
holding  ground.  I  trust  he  will  keep  fast  to 
them  for  life,  be  buoyed  up  by  them  in  death, 
and  afterwards  be  received  up  into  glory,  where 
faith  is  met  with  fruition,  and  the  ransomed  of 
the  Lord  return,  and  come  to  Zion  with  songs 
of  everlasting  joy.  May  he  and  I,  and  those 
who  are  dear  to  me,  and  many  that  have  followed 
us,  it  may  be  with  interest,  through  this  gallery 

s  2 


276          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

of  Daguerreotypes,  be   found   in    that  blessed 
company  when  the  voyage  of  life  is  up  ! 

When,  soon  or  late,  we  reach  that  coast, 

O'er  life's  rough  ocean  driven, 
May  we  rejoice,  no  wanderer  lost, 

BLESS' D  WORSHIPPERS    IN   HEAVEN  ! 


LESSONS    AND    REFLECTIONS.  277 


CHAPTEE  XVIII. 

KNITTING    UP   THE    LESSONS  OF  THE   VOYAGE  AT 
ITS    CLOSE. 

"  I  saw  a  wreck  upon  the  ocean  flood. 

How  sad  and  desolate  ?    No  man  was  there ; 
No  living  thing  was  on  it.    There  it  stood ; 

Its  sails  all  gone  ;  its  masts  were  standing  bare : 
Toss'd  on  the  wide,  the  boundless,  howling  sea ! 

The  very  sea-birds  scream'd,  and  pass'd  it  by. 
And  as  I  look'd,  the  ocean  seemed  to  be 

A  sign  and  figure  of  Eternity. 
THE  WRECK  AN  EMBLEM  SEEM'D  of  those  that  sail 

Without  the  pilot,  Jesus,  on  its  tide. 
Thus,  thought  I,  when  the  final  storms  prevail, 

Shall  rope,  and  sail,  and  mast  be  scatter'd  wide ! 
And  they,  with  helm  and  anchor  lost,  be  driven, 
In  endless  exile  sad,  far  from  the  port  oi  Heaven ! ' ' 

T.  C.  Upham. 


Lessons    and    reflections — Spiritual  illustrations — News    of 
Sorrow — Birthdays  of  Eternity. 

Rounding  Cape  Cod,  Massachusetts  Bay. 

IN  all  probability,  this  beautiful  sonnet  must 
have  been  written  somewhere  at  sea,  just 
after  passing  such  a  wreck  as  we  met  with  in 
our   progress  in  the  Gulf  Stream.     Such  sad 
things  (and  they  are  melancholy  objects,  indeed, 


278         THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

to  behold  at  sea)  are  often  fallen  in  with  there. 
Perhaps  more  wrecks  are  made  within,  and  at 
the  edges  of  the  Gulf  Stream,  than  in  any  other 
part  of  the  ocean ;  squalls  are  so  violent  there, 
the  lightning  so  terrific,  and  the  wind  and 
current  so  often  opposed,  as  to  raise  an  ugly, 
chopping,  "  head-beat"  sea,  that,  if  long  con- 
tinued, may  beat  to  pieces,  or  start  dangerous 
leaks  in  the  very  best  of  ships. 

Wrecks,  too,  once  made  there,  and  ships 
abandoned  without  foundering,  will  stay  for  a 
long  time  in  the  course  of  the  stream,  being 
carried  along  and  kept  within  it  by  the  force  of 
the  current.  Some  captains  think  that  the 
same  wreck  may  sometimes  go  the  whole  round 
of  the  stream,  being  kept  along  in  it  to  where  it 
is  lost,  or  turns  southward  by  the  Western 
Islands,  then  taken  by  the  current  from  the 
north,  and  borne  to  the  south  and  west  by  the 
north-east  trades,  until  it  falls  into  the  identical 
Gulf  Stream  again,  or  a  current  setting  into  it 
off  the  Windward  Islands  of  the  West  Indies. 

Just  so  in  the  political,  religious,  and  philo- 
sophical world,  you  will  see  the  wrecks  of  certain 


SPIRITUAL    ILLUSTRATIONS.  279 

errors  and  fallacies  exploded,  dismasted,  water- 
logged, or  quite  foundered  in  one  age,  reappear 
in  another  on  the  revolving  current  of  opinion. 
After  having  floated  off  into  obscurity,  and  been 
quite  lost  sight  of  for  a  time,  they  will  come 
round  again,  and  perhaps  be  taken  up  and 
towed  into  port  by  some  political  novice  or 
demagogue,  or  transcendental  speculator,  pre- 
tending to  great  originality  of  genius,  or  by 
some  novelty-hunter  in  religion  ;  by  them  re- 
ribbed,  calked,  and  coppered,  perhaps  razeed, 
and  set  afloat  anew  upon  the  tide  of  speculation, 
with  a  great  boast  of  newness,  and  a  mighty 
press  of  canvas. 

As  I  happen  to  be  in  the  mood  for  illus- 
trations, I  cannot  help  writing  out  one  that 
occurred  to  me  while  observing  the  behaviour 
and  management  of  our  ship  in  the  last  severe 
gale.  The  conclusion  we  all  came  to  was,  that 
a  ship  in  a  storm  or  heavy  sea  must  have  sail 
enough  on  to  run  away  from  the  waves,  and 
surmount  them,  or  she  will  be  buried  by  them, 
broaching  to  and  being  boarded  by  some  disas- 
terous  wave. 


280         THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

So  with  the  religious  mind  in  the  great 
waves  of  affliction,  when  the  waters  roar  and  are 
troubled — mens'  hearts  failing  them  for  fear  and 
for  looking  after  those  things  which  are  coming — 
it  is  often  not  so  well  and  safe  to  lie  to  and  wait 
for  a  lull,  brooding  meanwhile  upon  one's 
trouble,  and  anxiously  casting  eyes  over  what 
seems  to  be  a  great,  heaving  waste  of  impending 
adversity,  as  to  keep  busy,  if  possible,  with 
carrying  sail,  and  trying  to  scud  before  the 
gale. 

I  have  learned,  too,  in  the  course  of  this 
voyage,  that  a  ship's  sails  or  rigging  wear  out 
more  in  a  calm  than  in  a  gale.  So  the  mind 
wears  out  faster  in  indolence  or  inglorious  rest, 
than  in  well-braced  nervous  activity  and  produc- 
tiveness. 

Here  also  is  an  illustration  of  the  workings 
of  faith  gathered  from  the  experience  of  a  young 
shipmaster.  In  first  navigating  a  ship  by  chro- 
nometer and  lunars,  until  he  has  learned  to  live 
by  faith  in  his  observations,  and  the  few  figures 
he  makes  daily  on  his  slate,  with  the  tables  of 
the  Nautical  Almanac,  he  is  uneasy,  doubtful, 


SPIRITUAL   ILLUSTRATIONS.  281 

anxious,  and  will  work  his  longitude  over  and 
over  again,  though  sure  there  is  no  mistake,  so 
hard  is  it  practically  to  live  on  faith — on  that 
which  is  unseen,  and  for  which  we  have  no  evi- 
dence of  the  senses,  until  a  habit  is  formed  :  so 
strange  is  it  to  be  steering  one's  way  straight  over 
the  trackless  ocean,  without  any  way-marks,  or 
sign-posts,  or  mile- stones,  or  anything  by  which 
we  can  see  that  we  are  right  or  wrong.  It  is 
not  until  a  captain  has  made  three  or  four  good 
land-falls,  at  wide  intervals,  and  just  according 
to  his  calculations,  that  the  living  by  faith  in 
his  chronometer  and  observations,  and  the  re- 
sults upon  his  slate  begin  to  come  easy. 

Even  so,  I  have  thought,  in  the  very  nature 
of  things,  it  is  the  experienced  Christian  only 
that  can  live  perfectly  the  life  of  faith.  Use 
must  have  practically  convinced  him  of  the  re- 
liability of  things  unseen  and  eternal,  before  it 
can  become  the  habit  of  his  mind  to  navigate 
confidently  the  ocean  of  life,  independent  of 
sense. 

While  thinking  much,  lately,  of  life  as  a  voy- 
age, and  every  Christian  the  voyager  that  will 


282         THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

soon  be  as  close  to  the  port  of  heaven  as  we 
now  were  to  our  desired  haven  in  Massachusetts 
Bay,  it  has  seemed  to  my  mind  that  the  pro- 
mises are  to  the  Christian  voyager  what  "  life- 
lines" are  to  the  sailor,  for  him  to  hold  by  to  the 
yard  when  reefing  or  taking  in  sail,  and  to  keep 
him  from  falling  off.  Yet,  strange  to  say,  many 
ships'  yards  are  left  without  this  protection  for 
the  exposed  sailor,  by  reason  of  which  many  a 
poor  fellow  in  a  storm  is  shaken  off  that  might 
have  clung  to  the  "  life-line"  had  it  been  in  its 
place  at  hand. 

So  Christians  sometimes  attempt  the  course 
of  a  Christian,  and  go  to  sailing  over  the 
troubled  sea  of  life  without  being  provided  with 
the  promises,  without  having  learned  how,  or 
having  them  at  hand,  hidden  in  their  hearts,  to 
use  and  cling  to  in  a  storm.  In  good  weather 
and  ordinary  times  they  get  along  without  them, 
and  do  not  feel  the  want ;  but  let  a  storm  arise, 
the  wind  blow  fiercely,  the  sails  be  flapping, 
then  it  is  they  want  the  "life-lines,"  and  are 
distressed  and  lost  without  them.  Yea,  it  is 
not  possible  for  the  oldest  and  most  experienced 


SPIRITUAL   ILLUSTRATIONS.  283 

Christian  to  live  without  a  constant  clinging  to 
the  promises,  still  less  is  it  for  younger  and 
more  recent  pilgrims :  like  a  young  sailor-boy, 
they  must  hold  fast  to  the  life-line  of  God's 
word,  or  they  are  sure  to  fall. 

Sometimes  there  happens,  even  to  praying, 
faithful  Christians,  what  is  true  of  large  sea- 
birds.  When  in  the  Pacific,  we  used  sometimes, 
by  hook  and  line  thrown  astern,  to  catch  that 
most  majestic  and  beautiful  of  all  birds  on  the 
wing,  the  superb  white- winged  albatross.  I 
observed  that  of  itself  it  could  never  rise  from 
the  even  surface  of  the  deck  and  soar  aloft, 
though  unconfined  and  at  liberty ;  but  we  must 
toss  the  noble  bird  overboard,  and  lift  him  quite 
clear  of  the  ship's  rail,  before  he  could  use  his 
glorious  pinions  and  mount  aloft  into  the  air. 
Then  he  would  stretch  those  ample  wings,  and 
sail  away  through  the  ocean  of  space  as  easily 
as  one  breathes,  and  as  if  the  elastic  element 
of  air  and  the  bird  were  one,  making  the  gazer 
wonder,  and  fairly  long  to  be  taking  the  same 
aerial  flight. 

Even  so  is  it,  in  the  economy  of  grace,  now 


284         THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

and  then  with  the  real  Christian.  He  is  brought 
by  Providence  into  straits  and  perplexities 
whence  he  cannot  rise  and  extricate  himself 
alone ;  where  the  wings  of  faith  and  love  seem 
to  be  of  no  avail  to  him,  until  a  friendly  hand 
lifts  him  up  and  throws  him  out  upon  the  deep, 
where  he  must  say,  with  Peter,  Lord,  save  ;  I 
perish.  Then  he  loses  despair;  he  surmounts 
the  difficulty;  he  breaks  his  prison  ;  he  mounts 
up  as  on  eagle's  wings ;  the  pinions  of  faith 
and  love  sustain  him,  and  bear  him  away  aloft ; 
and  he  wonders  now  at  the  nightmare  of  doubt 
and  fear  that  kept  him  from  using  them  be- 
fore. 

He  is  ashamed  of  the  wrong  thoughts  of 
God,  that  had  begun  to  gather  and  darken  in 
his  mind  like  gloomy  clouds.  He  sees  that  God 
was  infinitely  wise  and  good  in  appointing  the 
discipline  to  which  he  has  been  subjected;  and 
those  un uttered,  perhaps,  but  felt  murmurs 
against  the  dispensations  of  Providence,  now 
fill  him  with  sorrow  and  shame.  Peculiar  and 
trying  as  his  case  may  have  been,  he  now  dis- 
covers many  blessings  and  beneficial  conse- 


SPIRITUAL    ILLUSTRATIONS.  285 

quences  to  flow  from  it,  which  he  could  not  see 
before.  How  happy  the  man  whose  sight  is 
thus  cleared,  and  his  heart  enlarged  to  trace 
the  manifold  wisdom  and  mercy  of  God  in  dis- 
pensations that  once  seemed  dark  and  unac- 
countable ! 

We  noticed  in  the  late  gale,  and  it  is  often 
observed  by  mariners  in  the  beginning  of  bad 
weather,  before  the  storm  is  fairly  set  in  and 
fixed  in  its  course,  that  the  needle  in  the  com- 
pass-box was  considerably  affected,  and  there 
was  unusual  oscillation,  probably  through  the 
changing  or  disturbance  of  the  atmosphere's 
electric  forces;  but  after  the  gale  was  fairly 
formed  or  at  its  height,  the  needle  became  true 
again  to  its  polarity. 

There  is  an  analogy  to  this  in  the  mind  of  a 
Christian  under  a  storm  of  trial — a  mind  that 
has  been  once  thoroughly  magnetized  by  the 
grace  of  God,  and  stamped  with  the  law  of 
DIVINE  POLARITY,  making  it  to  turn  always  to 
that  POLE-STAR  OF  BETHLEHEM,  the  great  mag- 
net of  the  regenerated  soul.  Though  ordinarily 
true  to  his  pole,  yet  in  sudden  emergencies,  on 


286         THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

the  first  storm-burst  of  trouble,  it  is  seldom  or 
never  that  the  Christian  can  at  once  repress  the 
flutter  and  agitation  of  nature,  controul,  or  un- 
derstand its  deviations,  collect  his  energies,  and 
repose  calmly  on  God. 

It  is  rare  that  Faith,  taken  by  surprise,  does 
at  once  steady  the  soul,  and  lift  a  man  in  a  mo- 
ment clear  above  hostile  infirmities  and  fears. 
Be  it  true  that,  when  once  magnetized  by  the 
love  of  Christ,  the  soul  does  always  point  up- 
ward by  kindred  strong  attraction,  as  the  com- 
pass needle  to  the  north,  yet,  like  that  same 
needle,  suddenly  acted  upon  by  a  disturbing 
force,  you  must  give  it  time  to  recover  its  ba- 
lance, and,  its  oscillations  done,  to  fasten  upon 
the  central  point  of  rest. 

I  have  sometimes  known  God's  own  dear 
children,  when  calamities  came  suddenly  in  pro- 
spect, when  huge  billows  seemed  ready  to  go 
over  them,  and  a  black  cloud  of  sorrows  was 
about  to  burst  upon  their  heads,  at  first  trem- 
bling and  anxious,  swinging  a  little  with  trepi- 
dation to  this  side  and  that  of  the  central  point 
of  rest ;  but  as  the  trial  became  more  distinctlv 


SPIRITUAL    ILLUSTRATIONS.  287 

defined,  the  cloud's  lightning  began  to  flash 
and  its  big  drops  to  fall,  the  palpitating  heart 
would  be  still,  the  vibrations  of  the  will  would 
cease,  faith  gather  strength,  and  the  eye  of  the 
soul  be  upturned  and  fastened  on  a  faithful 
God,  and  its  hand  grasp  firmly  the  promises, 
which  neither  death  nor  life,  nor  angels,  nor 
principalities,  nor  powers,  nor  things  present, 
nor  things  to  come,  nor  height,  nor  depth,  nor 
any  other  creature,  can  ever  loosen. 

With  an  extract,  now,  from  the  old  poet 
George  Chapman,  lately  met  with  in  my  sea- 
reading,  somewhat  accommodated  and  made 
pertinent  to  our  present  estate  on  shipboard,  on 
the  look-out  for  a  pilot,  these  chapters  of  expe- 
rience and  observation  in  a  whale  ship  must 
come  to  an  end.  The  composition  of  them  in 
the  leaves  of  my  journal  has  been  a  fitting  em- 
ployment for  some  of  the  hours  of  a  long  but 
every  way  profitable  voyage.  May  they  prove 
to  have  ministered  a  portion  of  entertaining 
knowledge  and  pleasure  to  some  on  the  land, 
whom  neither  duty  nor  decaying  health  shall 
ever  reduce  to  a  like  necessity  with  the  writer, 


288          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

of  being  an  exile  so  long  from  country  and  home. 
But  if  such  a  necessity  do  exist  in  the  general 
prostration  of  health,  without  organic  disease,  I 
know  of  no  means  so  feasible  and  hopeful  for 
its  restoration  as  a  cruise  in  a  whale  ship,  under 
as  favourable  circumstances  as  those  with  which 
I  have  tried  it. 

"  Man  is  a  torch  borne  in  the  wind ;  a  dream 

But  of  a  shadow,  sumni'd  with  all  his  substance ; 

And  as  great  seamen,  using  all  their  wealth 

And  skills  in  Neptune's  deep  invisible  paths, 

In  tall  ships  richly  built  and  ribb'd  with  brass, 

To  put  a  girdle  round  about  the  world, 

When  they  have  done  it  (coming  near  their  haven), 

Are  fain  to  give  a  warning-piece,  and  call 

A.  poor  stayed  fisher  man,  that  never  pass' d 

His  country's  sight,  to  waft  and  guide  them  in  : 

So,  when  we  wander  farthest  through  the  waves 

Of  glassy  glory,  and  the  gulfs  of  state, 

Topp'd  with  all  titles,  spreading  all  our  reaches, 

As  if  each  private  arm  would  sphere  the  earth, 

WE  MUST  TO  JESUS  FOR  HIS  GUIDE  RESORT, 

OR  WE  SHALL  SHIPWRECK  IN  OUR  SAFEST  PORT." 


I  did  not  think  to  have  added  more,  but  the 
news  that  awaited  me  in  Boston  of  Death's  visit 
to  one  inexpressibly  dear,  and  that,  too,  on  the 


NEWS    OF    SORROW.  289 

very  ocean  which  I  had  passed  over  in  peace, 
and  with  greatly  renovated  health, 

"  Through  the  dear  might  of  HIM  that  walk'd  the  waves," 

induces  me  to  venture  a  word  upon  the  natural 
and  Christian  graces  of  that  beloved  brother, 
whose  mortal  remains  now  lie  treasured  in  the 
deep,  till  the  sea  give  up  its  dead. 

"  His  was  a  lovely  soul,  formed  to  be  bless' d  and  bless." 

He  struggled  long,  even  from  early  boyhood, 
with  sickness  and  pain,  but  all  the  while  pa- 
tiently, even  cheerfully,  such  was  the  buoyant 
energy  of  his  natural  temper,  and  so  early  was 
his  trial  sanctified  by  the  grace  of  Christ. 

"  0,  precious  grace !  that  made  him  wise, 
And  proved  affliction,  rightly  used, 
Was  mercy  in  disguise  !" 

His  disposition  was  so  innately  cheerful  and 
lively,  so  irrepressibly  buoyant  and  genial,  that 
no  weight  of  either  maladies  or  misfortunes 
could  keep  him  under.  But  still  would  he  carry 
his  head  above  the  waves,  and  keep  his  eye 
cheerfully  aloft  in  the  saddest  times,  when  the 
spirits  of  others  were  fainting.  If,  now  and 

T 


290          THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

then,  his  cheerfulness  seemed  to  suffer  a  tem- 
porary eclipse,  it  was  only  like  the  sun  drifting 
through  vapours  that  scattered  as  fast  as  they 
gathered,  and  it  was  but  a  moment  before  we 
would  see  again,  through  some  open  cloud-rift, 
the  clear  beams  of  his  sunny  face. 

"  If  a  sweet  social  temper,  gushing  love 

For  kindred  and  for  kind,  spirits  for  ever 

Sparkling  and  buoyant  as  a  spring's  light  bubbles  : 

Mirth,  candour,  frankness,  and  a  love  to  give 

Pleasure  to  friends,  and  good  to  every  one  ; 

And,  more  than  all,  true  love  for  Christ  and  souls — 

If  these  be  traits  that  make  a  blessing  man, 

Beloved  and  form'd  to  bless,  through  God's  rich  grace 

OUR  CHERISH'D  BROTHER  WAS  THAT  HAPPY  MAN. 

"No  more  the  tender  offices  of  love 
We  pay  him  here  on  earth,  but  all  his  virtues 
Still  we  cherish  ;  and  that  radiant  face, 
From  its  calm  sphere  within  the  spirit  world, 
Like  a  bright  star  shall  still  look  down  and  cheer 
Our  life's  sojournings,  till  at  length  we  come 
Where  he  the  promises,  through  patient  faith, 
Inherits,  and  enjoys  the  rest  of  heaven!" 

It  is  all  well  with  him  now  ;  and  though  I 
had  fondly  hoped  to  have  seen  him  yet  once 
more  in  the  flesh,  and  to  have  knelt  again  in 
prayer  with  that  blessed  brother,  and  it  would 
have  been  so  comforting,  if  God's  will,  to  have 


NEWS    OF    SORROW.  291 

ministered  to  him  in  his  last  hours,  I  would  not 
have  it  otherwise  now.  Through  the  mercy  of 
Christ,  may  we  soon  bow  in  praise  around  the 
throne  of  God  !  Some  of  the  hirth-day  lines 
addressed  to  him  years  ago  by  his  elder  brother, 
are,  with  a  slight  accommodation,  equally  ap- 
propriate now  that  he  has  passed  the  solemn 
threshold  and  BIRTH-DAY  of  a  BLESSED  ETER- 
NITY ! 

"How  recollection  paints  anew 

The  times  when,  in  our  own  dear  home, 

We  talk  of  mercies  past,  and  view 
The  heavenly  life  to  come  ! 

"  'Tis  just  in  heaven,  thy  happy  dawn — 
But  ah  !  how  full  the  mingled  scene 

On  memory's  pictured  tablets  drawn — 
Calm  now,  and  all  serene : 

"  Serene  because  a  blessed  faith 
Throws  o'er  each  melancholy  line 

That  marks  affliction's  rugged  path, 
The  gleam  of  love  divine. 

"  Through  all  it  sees  thy  Father's  form, 
His  gracious,  guiding  hand  beholds  ; 

And  in  the  gloomiest  of  the  storm 
Some  bright  design  unfolds. 

"Amid  the  sufferings  of  years, 

Thou  secst  thou  didst  not  walk  alone  ; 

WluTe  all  was  agony  and  tears, 
There  most  His  mercy  shone. 

T  •> 


THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES. 

u'Twas  thus  he  drew  thy  buoyant  heart 

Up  to  a  holier  world  above, 
And  bade  thee  choose  thy  better  part, 

A  Saviour's  wondrous  love. 

"  For  this  our  fervent  thanks  we  raise, 
That  HE,  whose  love  is  wisdom  too, 

Made  thee  partaker  of  his  grace, 
By  trials  here  below. 

"  CHRIST  held  thee*  in  his  powerful  hand  ; 

Now,  every  foe  and  fear  subdued, 
THY  FEET  DO  PRESS  THE  SHINING  LAND 

BEYOND  DEATH'S  NARROW  FLOOD  !" 

*  To  the  American  consul  of  Trinidad  de  Cuba,  where  he 
had  been  settled  as  a  physician,  he  spake  the  precious  words,  a 
day  or  two  before  his  death  on  shipboard,  u  I  wish  you  to  un- 
derstand, my  faith  is  strong  in  Christ,  my  Redeemer" 


NOTES. 


A,  p.  26. 

WHEN  the  islands  of  the  Pacific  Ocean  were  first  discovered  by 
Europeans,  some  of  the  natives  were  found  very  timid  and 
friendly,  while  others  were  fierce,  treacherous,  and  warlike. 
For  many  years  after  their  discovery,  these  islands  were  visited 
only  by  those  who  were  on  voyages  of  discovery,  or  who  were 
in  the  pursuit  of  gain.  The  natives  were  treated  with  great 
inhumanity ;  and  drunken  seamen,  rioting  through  their  vil- 
lages, and  trampling  upon  all  the  laws  of  right  doing,  soon  in- 
troduced all  the  vices  of  civilized  life  to  be  added  to  those  of 
the  savage  state.  The  natives  generally  became  exasperated, 
and  were  ever  watching  for  opportunities  to  cut  off  the  ships 
and  massacre  the  seamen.  A  Nantucket  whale  ship  was  at 
one  time  wrecked  upon  one  of  the  Feejee  Islands.  The  crew» 
escaped  in  their  boats  to  the  shore,  and,  before  they  were  dis- 
covered by  the  natives,  succeeded  in  constructing  a  fort  for 
their  defence.  The  natives,  however,  soon  found  them  ;  and, 
after  a  long  and  bloody  battle,  all  of  the  sailors  were  slain  ex- 
cept two  little  boys,  whose  lives  were  spared.  One,  after  the 
lapse  of  many  years,  escaped  on  board  a  whale  ship  which 
stopped  at  the  island.  The  other  has  never  been  heard  from. 

Such  was  the  condition  of  these  islands  when  the  English 
missionaries,  taking  their  lives  in  their  hands,  went  among 
them  to  Christianize  the  inhabitants.  The  missionaries  were 
ridiculed,  opposed,  and  traduced  by  thousands  at  home,  and 
they  endured  every  species  of  privation  and  hardship  from  the 
habitations  of  cruelty,  in  the  midst  of  which  they  took  up  their 


294  NOTES. 

abode.  God  smiled,  however,  upon  their  exertions,  and  sooii 
these  wild  men  and  women  turned  from  their  idols  and  their 
sins,  and  cultivated  the  arts  of  peace. 

A  few  years  after  the  missionaries  had  commenced  their 
labours,  an  American  whale  ship  came  in  sight  of  an  unknown 
island  in  the  Pacific  Ocean.  They  had  been  for  six  months 
cruising  in  search  of  their  gigantic  game  without  having  seen 
any  land.  Scurvy,  that  terrible  scourge  of  seamen,  had  seized 
one  after  another  of  the  crew,  till  there  were  not  enough  left 
in  health  to  navigate  the  vessel  in  safety.  Scurvy  is  a  disease 
caused  by  living  a  long  time  upon  salted  provisions,  without 
any  vegetables  ;  and  the  sufferers  are  almost  immediately  re- 
stored to  health  when  they  can  breathe  the  fresh  air  of  the 
land  and  eat  freely  of  fruits  and  herbs.  Here  was  this  ship, 
several  thousand  miles  from  the  South  American  coast.  The 
crew  were  emaciated  and  dying. 

Before  them  rose,  in  all  the  beauty  of  tropical  luxuriance, 
one  of  those  islands  of  the  ocean,  which  appeared  to  the  mari- 
ner, weary  with  gazing  for  months  upon  the  wide  waste  of 
waters,  like  the  Garden  of  Eden.  But  they  dared  not  ap- 
proach those  shores.  A  foe,  more  treacherous  and  dreadful 
than  disease,  they  apprehended  there.  The  club  of  the  savage, 
and  the  demoniacal  revels  of  the  cannibals  dancing  and  shout- 
ing around  their  roasting  victims,  were  more  to  be  dreaded 
than  death  by  slow  and  lingering  approaches  in  the  ship. 
They  dared  not  draw  near  the  shore,  for  they  were  too  feeble 
to  prevent  the  natives,  should  they  come  out  in  large  numbers 
in  their  canoes,  from  climbing  up  the  sides  and  taking  posses- 
sion of  the  ship.  But  with  their  glass  they  could  distinctly 
see  the  clear  streams  of  water  foaming  down  their  channels 
in  the  mountains.  Meadows  faded  away  in  the  distance,  en- 
chanting the  eye  with  their  shady  groves  and  their  rich  verdure. 
The  cocoa-nut  tree  reared  its  graceful  head  upon  the  beach, 
laden  with  its  precious  and  its  life-giving  treasures ;  and  forests 
rich  with  tropical  fruits,  juicy  and  luscious,  were  everywhere 
spread  around. 


NOTES.  295 

These  emaciated  and  dying  men  crawled  from  their  berths, 
and  gazed  with  wistful  eyes  upon  this  tantalizing  scene. 
Slowly  they  were  borne  along  by  a  gentle  breeze,  and  forest- 
crowned  head-lands,  and  luxuriant  valleys  and  groves,  bend- 
ing beneath  the  burden  of  fruit,  glided  by,  like  the  changes 
of  a  kaleidoscope,  and  still  no  canoe  pushed  out  from  the 
shore,  and  no  huts  of  the  natives  were  to  be  seen.  They  be- 
gan to  cherish  the  hope  that  the  island  might  be  uninhabited, 
and  cautiously  approached  it.  But  ere  long  they  saw  canoes 
upon  the  beach,  and  smoke  here  and  there  ascending  from  the 
cocoa-nut  groves  ;  and  still,  to  their  astonishment,  no  natives 
made  their  appearance,  and  no  sound  of  human  voices  reached 
them  from  the  shore. 

As  they  rounded  a  promontory,  which  opened  before  them 
a  quiet  and  lovely  bay,  a  thickly  clustered  village  of  the 
natives  burst  upon  their  view,  and  in  the  centre  of  it  was 
reared  a  Christian  church.  A  simultaneous  shout  of  joy  rang 
through  the  ship  as  the  cry  passed  from  stem  to  stern,  The 
missionaries  are  here  !  It  was  the  Sabbath,  and  the  natives 
had  learned  the  Divine  command,  "  Remember  the  Sabbath 
day,  and  keep  it  holy."  And  the  temptation  of  a  ship  enter- 
ing the  bay  did  not  lure  a  single  canoe  to  leave  the  shore. 
The  crew  were  almost  crazed  with  joy  at  this  sudden  change 
in  their  prospects.  They  speedily  cast  anchor,  furled  their 
sails,  and,  entering  the  ship's  boats,  went  on  shore.  As  soon 
as  the  natives  were  informed  of  their  sick  and  suffering  con- 
dition, they  received  them  with  the  utmost  hospitality,  and 
supplied  them  with  all  the  fresh  fruit  and  vegetables  they 
could  need. 

The  next  day  the  natives  aided  the  emaciated  crew  in  taking 
a  sail  from  the  ship,  and  spreading  a  large  tent  upon  the  green 
grass  on  the  banks  of  a  mountain  stream.  And  here  the  crew 
reposed  in  inexpressible  luxury.  They  bathed  their  limbs  in 
the  pure  waU-r,  and  quaffed  it  in  its  coolness  and  its  freshness, 
like  Elysiuu  nectar.  They  rolled  with  childish  glee  upon  the 
green  grass.  Cocoa-nuts  and  bananas,  and  lemons,  and  oranges, 


296  NOTES. 

and  other  luscious  fruits  of  the  tropics,  were  brought  to  them 
in  great  abundance  by  the  friendly  natives.  In  a  few  days, 
the  disease  which  had  brought  so  many  of  them  to  the  verge 
of  the  grave  began  to  disappear.  The  missionaries,  from 
their  little  stock  of  medicines,  administered  to  their  wants,  and 
treated  them  with  fraternal  kindness. 

In  the  course  of  two  or  three  weeks,  all  were  restored  to 
health  and  vigour.  They  filled  their  casks  with  fresh  water  ; 
laid  in  stores  of  vegetables  ;  supplied  themselves  with  pigs  and 
poultry,  and  then,  with  invigorated  bodies  and  rejoicing  spirits, 
they  raised  their  anchors  and  unfurled  their  sails,  and  departed 
on  their  adventurous  way. 

Thus  is  fulfilled  the  declaration  of  the  Scripture,  that  u  god- 
liness is  profitable  unto  all  things,  having  promise  of  the  life 
that  now  is  and  of  that  which  is  to  come."  The  labours  of 
these  missionaries  were  not  only  instrumental  in  promoting 
the  moral  elevation,  and,  we  hope,  the  final  salvation  of  these 
uncivilized  men,  but  they  also  saved  the  lives  of  these  seamen, 
and  secured  the  success  of  the  voyage  upon  which  they  had 
embarked. 

What  a  different  world  would  this  be,  could  the  spirit  of 
Christian  brotherhood  pervade  the  hearts  of  all  the  inhabitants  ! 
Could  woe,  oppression,  and  injustice  cease,  and  every  man  look 
upon  his  fellow -man  as  a  friend,  the  larger  portion  of  the  sor- 
rows of  humanity  would  disappear  for  ever.  And  none  are 
doing  more  to  hasten  the  advent  of  this  happy  day  than  those 
who  are  aiding  by  their  personal  influence  and  their  purse  to 
extend  throughout  the  world  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ. 

Ye  disciples  of  Voltaire  and  of  Paine,  can  you  show  us  such 
a  triumph  as  this  ?  You  profess  to  be  humane  men,  to  love 
your  brethren,  to  desire  to  promote  their  happiness  here  and 
hereafter.  Can  you  show  us  an  instance  in  which  the  adoption 
of  the  principles  of  infidelity  has  been  promotive  of  the  moral 
or  the  physical  welfare  of  an  individual,  or  of  a  village,  or  of  a 
nation  ?  Have  you  ever  known  a  young  man  to  become  more 
dissolute  by  becoming  a  Christian  ?  Have  you  ever  known  a 


NOTES.  297 

village  to  become  less  thrifty  and  prosperous  in  consequence 
of  the  observance  by  its  inhabitants  of  the  precepts  of  the 
Bible  ?  Is  there,  on  the  surface  of  this  globe,  a  more  intelli- 
gent, virtuous,  prosperous,  and  happy  community  than  is  to  be 
found  in  the  dwellings  of  Xew  England,  and  is  there  any  other 
portion  of  earth's  inhabitants  over  whom  the  religion  of  Jesus 
Christ  has  greater  supremacy  ?  Give,  then,  your  influence  to 
aid  this  cause,  and  your  fellow-men  shall  bless  you,  and  con- 
science shall  reward  you,  and  your  heavenly  Father  shall  wel- 
come you  as  his  co-workers  and  his  sons. 


B,  p.  131. 

A  inAT-STEERER  in  an  American  whaler,  a  man  of  more  than 
ordinary  thoughtfulncss  and  intelligence,  addressed  an  inter- 
esting communication  to  the  "  Honolulu  Seaman's  Friend,"  while 
the  author  of  these  sketches  was  at  the  Sandwich  Islands.  It 
is  feared  that  he  has  since  been  lost,  it  being  a  very  long  time 
since  his  ship  was  heard  of.  The  communication  referred 
to,  being  a  slice  of  a  sailor's  autobiography,  will  be  a  good 
comment  on  the  text  that  there 's  many  a  warm  heart  under  a 
rough  pea-jacket. 

When  I  look  back  (he  says)  upon  my  past  life,  with  all  its 
various  scenes  and  occurrences,  both  by  sea  and  land,  it  is  on 
my  lips  to  say,  what  hair-breadth  escapes  from  death,  what 
deliverances  from  threatening  dangers  have  I  experienced, 
even  from  my  childhood.  Surely  goodness  and  mercy  have  fol- 
lowed me  all  tlie  days  of  my  life. 

When  a  man  is  placed  in  a  situation  where  no  danger  is 
apparent,  where  all  is  cheerful  and  happy,  how  apt  he  is  to 
think  and  talk  lightly  of  death  ;  but  let  him  be  placed  in  the 
midst  of  the  ocean,  in  a  solitary  bark,  at  the  mercy  of  the 
winds  and  waves  ;  let  the  tempest  arise,  and  the  wild  waters 
be  tossed  by  the  howling  winds,  and  we  will  suppose  that  the 
ship  is  trimmed  for  the  storm,  her  sails  furled,  her  top-gallant- 


298  NOTES. 

masts  are  sent  down,  and  when  he  casts  his  eye  aloft,  the 
naked  spars  and  rigging  strike  a  sort  of  chill— an  unusual  sen- 
sation to  his  heart.  He  looks  to  windward  and  to  leeward, 
ahead  and  astern ;  there  is  nothing  to  be  seen  save  the  foam- 
clad  billows  in  wild  commotion. 

Night  comes,  and  no  moon — not  even  a  solitary  star  visible 
to  cheer  his  sight ;  the  land  is  hundreds  of  miles  distant ;  he 
casts  his  eye  upward  to  the  heavens,  the  sky  looks  black  ;  he 
leans  over  the  bulwarks,  and  peers  away  into  the  awful  gloom 
around,  nothing  is  to  be  seen,  nothing  is  to  be  heard  save  the 
howling  blast,  the  surging  waters,  and  the  creaking  of  the 
vessel.  Wave  succeeds  wave,  dashing  with  violence  against 
the  ship's  side,  the  darkness  is  almost  palpable,  he  cannot  dis- 
tinguish a  shipmate  at  the  distance  of  a  few  feet,  the  ship 
labours  heavily,  and  seems  to  struggle  with  the  angry  element 
as  if  conscious  of  the  dread  hour. 

Then  a  man  will  think ,  ay,  and  his  conscience  will  some- 
times  speak;  strange  thoughts,  like  unbidden  guests,  will  at 
such  times  intrude  themselves  into  his  mind,  whether  wel- 
come or  not.  He  goes  to  his  hammock  and  tries  to  sleep,  but 
from  the  pitching  and  rolling  of  the  ship  it  is  almost  impos- 
sible to  rest ;  the  night  passes  slowly  and  uneasily  away  in 
broken  dreams  and  fearful  fancies,  and  at  length,  when  day- 
light comes,  he  discovers  that  the  storm  has  increased  in  vio- 
lence. Few  words  pass  among  his  shipmates  ;  perhaps  a  loud 
oath  from  some  would-be  reckless  companion  salutes  his  ear, 
which,  if  uttered  at  other  times,  would  pass  unheeded,  but 
now,  for  some  reason  which  he  is  at  a  loss  to  explain,  sounds 
strangely  out  of  place.  The  cheeks  of  some  of  the  hardiest 
turn  pale,  and  the  restless  glances  of  others  betray  the  uneasy 
feelings  within. 

He  will  at  such  times  reflect  on  the  past,  the  present,  and 
the  future  ;  what  would  have  been  the  consequence  if,  on  the 
previous  night,  some  other  vessel,  imperceptible  in  the  dark- 
ness, had  come  in  collision  with  his ;  he  shudders  at  the  thought, 
and  perhaps,  at  that  moment,  the  idea  will  suggest  itself  that 


NOTES.  299 

there  is  an  overruling  Providence  who  watches  over  and  pro- 
tects the  poor  mariner. 

Well  do  I  recollect  my  own  feelings  on  several  occasions  of 
this  nature,  one  of  which  happened  on  the  coast  of  California. 
We  were  sailing  in  company  with  another  whale  ship,  when 
a  gale  of  wind  came  on  which  was  favourable  for  the  course 
we  were  steering  toward  Cape  St.  Lucas ;  both  ships  were  kept 
before  the  wind  during  the  day,  but  after  sunset  our  captain 
thought  it  advisable  to  heave  to,  after  which,  from  the  position 
of  our  ship,  it  appeared  probable  that  the  other  vessel,  which 
was  still  kept  on  her  course,  would  pass  quite  close  to  us,  and  a 
good  look-out  was  therefore  ordered  to  be  kept  to  windward. 
In  a  short  time  it  was  very  dark,  the  sea  running  "mountains 
high,"  and  a  gale  blowing  very  hard,  so  that  it  was  impossible 
to  see  any  distance  to  windward. 

When  the  other  ship  was  last  visible,  she  appeared  to  be 
heading  right  for  us ;  and  well  do  I  remember  with  what 
anxiety  I  waited  until  I  thought  sufficent  time  had  elapsed  for 
her  to  pass.  I  know  not  why,  but  the  thought  seemed  at  that 
time  to  press  very  heavily  on  me,  what  the  consequence  would 
be  should  the  other  ship  run  into  ours;  very  probably  we 
should  have  all  gone  to  the  bottom ;  and  my  feelings  were  the 
more  acute  by  the  circumstance  that  the  ship  in  question  be- 
longed to  the  same  owners  as  ours,  and  had  on  board  several 
young  men  who  had  often  been  my  companions  in  pleasant 
parties. 

At  another  time,  while  employed  in  trying  out,  on  the  coast 
of  Kamtschatka,  one  very  dark  night  the  watch  was  busily 
employed  on  deck  ;  we  were  boiling  bur  last  whale,  and  car- 
rying more  sail  than  is  usual  while  boiling,  for  the  purpose  of 
making  a  port,  when  another  vessel  approached  to  leeward 
unseen  by  us ;  at  this  time,  as  it  was  blowing  fresh,  and  the 
ship  had  a  considerable  heel,  the  officer  of  the  deck  ordered  the 
helm  to  be  put  up  to  keep  the  ship  before  the  wind,  and  con- 
sequently on  an  even  keel,  while  the  watch  rolled  a  very  large 
cask  of  oil  away  from  the  cooler.  While  running  off  for  this 


300  NOTES. 

purpose,  we  were  suddenly  hailed  by  a  strange  voice  from  the 
surrounding  gloom,  apparently  close  aboard  of  us ;  at  first  we 
thought  the  sound  came  from  under  the  ship's  bows,  but  for- 
tunately it  was  not  exactly  there,  and  it  turned  out  afterward 
that,  while  running  off  in  the  manner  described,  we  had  uncon- 
sciously (but  for  being  hailed)  passed  quite  close  to  another 
ship. 

At  such  times  as  these,  most  men  will  think,  and  that  se- 
riously ;  but,  alas !  it  soon  passes  away  ;  with  the  recollection 
of  such  dangerous  occurrences  vanishes,  I  may  say,  the  recol- 
lection of  the  superintending  care  of  an  Almighty  God.  Who 
can  tell  how  many  unseen  dangers  are  passed  through  by  a  ship 
during  a  three  years'  voyage  ? 

If  there  be  any  class  of  men  who  ought,  more  than  others, 
to  feel  grateful  to  God,  I  think  that  class  is  sailors,  of  whom 
many  may  well  exclaim,  "  Surely  goodness  and  mercy  have 
followed  me  all  the  days  of  my  life." 


C,  p.  224. 

Or  the  twenty  thousand  men  who  go  in  jeopardy  of  their  lives, 
under  every  accessible  line  of  latitude  and  longitude,  upon  the 
great  highway  of  nations ;  who,  on  an  average,  are  exiles  from 
home  and  country,  from  the  social  delights  and  most  of  the 
comforts  of  life,  for  three  or  four  years  at  a  time,  on  purpose  to 
bring  back  the  means  of  enriching  the  owners  of  the  whale 
ships,  and  of  adding  to  the  comforts  and  embellishments  of  the 
millions  who  are  spared 'these  privations, — what  can  be  said  ? 
what  shall  be  done  for  them  ? 

Very  encouraging  it  is  that,  of  late,  some  attention  is  given 
to  this  class  of  men.  The  fact  that  they  are  human  beings 
begins  to  be  recognised  ;  nor  are  they  altogether  forgotten,  as 
some  notices  of  their  condition  and  wants  clearly  prove.  It 
could  not  be  expected  that  our  stately  and  dignified  quarterlies 
would  notice,  except  in  the  most  general  and  gingerly  manner, 


NOTES.  301 

the  worst  features  of  the  whaleman's  case.  You,  however, 
who  are  fully  committed  to  the  work  of  the  philanthropic  and 
Christian  reforms,  who  do  not  fear  to  speak  out  plainly  and 
boldly,  who  care  more  for  the  groans  and  degradation  of 
humanity  than  for  the  groans  of  its  oppressors  ;  who  love  to 
plead  for  the  dumb,  and  whose  honest  boast  it  is  that  you 
faithfully  hold  up  the  mirror  to  reflect  the  evils  which  require 
to  be  repented  of  and  reformed,  as  well  as  the  good  in  which 
we  may  exult, — surely  of  you  and  in  your  columns  may  be  ex- 
pected the  full  unmasking  of  whatever  abuses  and  perversions 
have  been  allowed  to  spring  up,  and  for  a  long  time  have  been 
tolerated  in  silence  ? 

From  one  whose  position  gives  him  ample  facilities  for  un- 
mistaking  knowledge  of  the  facts  in  this  case ;  who  has  not, 
by  a  long  course  of  familiar  observation  of  flagrant  abuses,  be- 
come indurated  to  a  sense  of  their  turpitude  ;  who,  on  the  one 
hand,  has  no  interest  prompting  him  to  concealment,  or  gloss- 
ing over  frightful  evils,  nor,  on  the  other,  any  feelings  of  goad- 
ing retaliation  for  personal  injuries,  real  or  supposed,  to  cause 
an  exaggerated  picture  ;  surely,  from  such  a  one,  you  ought  to 
be  able  to  rely  on  the  simple  truth.  The  former  position,  the 
subsequent  tendencies,  and  the  present  state  of  the  whalemen, 
in  their  physical  and  intellectual,  their  moral  and  religious 
condition,  shall  pass  in  brief  review ;  and  certain  it  is,  that  in 
more  capable  hands,  it  could  not  fail,  in  a  surpassing  degree, 
to  awaken  the  deepest  concern  of  the  wise  and  good. 

Only  two  or  three  generations  since — at  the  very  time  when 
Burke  poured  forth,  in  the  British  Parliament,  his  splendid 
eulogium  on  the  exploits  of  this  class  of  men — they  were,  for  the 
most  part,  the  sturdy,  intelligent,  and  comparatively  virtuous 
yeomanry  of  New  England.  Not  only  the  officers,  but  the 
crews  of  whale  ships  were  of  this  character.  But  such  is 
not  the  case  now.  Whether  the  deterioration  of  character  in 
the  crews  especially  has  resulted  from  the  hardships  of  the  ser- 
vice, inducing  all  but  the  mentally  imbecile  to  prefer  some 
other  branch  of  marine  adventure,  or  whether  the  falling  off 


302  NOTES. 

has  been  occasioned  by  the  grinding  conditions  as  to  the  re- 
muneration which  the  ship-owner  imposes,  who  is  chiefly 
anxious  to  enrich  himself,  or  perhaps  some  favourite  officer  in 
his  employ,  while  the  poor  seamen  are  left  to  endure  privations, 
and  expose  themselves  to  hazards  of  life  and  limbs  in  bootless 
disinterestedness ;  or  whether  the  rapid  extension  of  this  enter- 
prise has  called  for  men  faster  than  the  good  and  worthy  could 
be  furnished  ;  or,  perhaps,  from  the  joint  influence  of  all  these 
causes  combined,  it  must  be  conceded  that  a  lamentable  dete- 
rioration of  character  in  the  crews  of  whale  ships  has  been 
witnessed. 

They  are  now  made  up  to  a  great  degree,  and,  of  course, 
with  some  honourable  exceptions,  of  the  very  refuse  of  human- 
ity, gathered  from  every  quarter,  escaped  from  poor-houses 
and  prisons,  or  gleaned  from  the  receptacle  of  vagrancy  and 
lazar-house  corruption,  with  a  large  admixture  of  foreigners  of 
all  languages,  complexions,  and  character. 

Such  constitute  the  experienced  portions  of  the  crew.  To 
them  you  may  add  one  third  or  one  quarter  part  more  of  land- 
lubbers, or  raw  hands,  made  up  of  very  heterogeneous  mate- 
rials. Here  will  be  found  the  young,  roving  adventurer,  who 
pants  for  opportunity  to  see  the  world ;  he  has  heard  marvel- 
ous stories  of  the  facilities  of  foreign  observation  furnished  in 
this  service,  while,  at  the  same  time,  visions  of  easily-  acquired 
wealth,  golden  harvests  to  be  here  reaped,  have  filled  his  mind, 
and  he  hurried  from  the  interior  to  ship  himself  on  board  a 
whaleman.  The  reckless  and  impatient,  who  spurn  all  salutary 
control,  are  also  here,  thinking  this  is  just  the  place  to  indulge 
unbounded  license. 

Here  also  you  will  find  the  spoiled  sons  of  over-indulgent 
parents,  who,  having  made  themselves  intolerable  by  their 
vicious  propensities,  and  constantly  in  danger  of  bringing  dis- 
grace on  themselves  and  their  connections  also,  by  their  in- 
temperance, their  fits  of  passion,  or  unbridled  licentiousness, 
are  sent  on  a  whaling  voyage  as  a  school  of  reform  !  To  each 
of  these  a  small  advance  of  cash  is  made,  on  signing  the  ship- 


NOTES.  303 

ping  papers,  for  the  ostensible  purpose  of  paying  their  travelling 
expenses  to  the  port  of  embarkation,  or  their  board  a  few 
weeks  or  days  before  they  are  ready  to  sail,  or  for  their  partial 
outfit;  the  real  object  is  to  tie  the  poor  renegade  as  firmly  as 
possible  to  his  new  engagement. 

With  two-thirds  of  the  required  number  of  men  of  the 
above  description,  the  ship  sails,  relying  on  making  up  her 
complement  in  Portuguese  sailors  at  the  "Western  Islands,  or 
in  Kanakas  from  the  Sandwich  or  other  islands  of  the  Pacific 
Ocean.  Both  these  classes  are  usually  as  unpromising  speci- 
mens of  humanity  as  can  well  be  conceived,  having  this  dif- 
ference, however,  that  the  former  are  perfectly  incorrigible, 
while  the  latter  do  sometimes  improve. 

This  motley  crew  are  at  length  mustered  on  board,  drunk  or 
sober,  though  far  less  intemperance  now  prevails  than  in  former 
years,  thanks  to  the  praiseworthy  endeavour  of  reformers  in 
one  much-needed  department  of  their  endeavours.  Sullen  and 
sad,  or  jovial  and  light-hearted  as  they  may  seem,  they  arc 
now  in  their  quarters  for  several  years.  What  a  home !  Look 
around  for  its  facilities  for  comfort  and  improvement. 

In  that  repulsive  hole  called  the  forecastle,  of  scarce  twelve 
feet  square  capacity,  not  high  enough  to  allow  a  tall  man  to 
stand  upright,  with  little  or  no  light  or  ventilation  but  what 
comes  down  the  narrow  hatchway  (and  even  this  must  be 
closed  in  rough  weather),  here  some  twenty  or  five-and- twenty- 
men  are  to  eat,  and  sleep,  and  live,  if  such  a  state  can  be  called 
living ;  here,  in  sickness  and  in  health,  by  day  and  by  night, 
without  fire  in  the  rigours  of  the  polar  regions,  or  cooling  ap- 
pliances under  the  equator,  theso  men,  with  their  chests  and 
hammocks,  or  bunks,  arc  to  find  stowage.  After  again  and 
again  examining  this  feature  of  their  arrangements,  and  com- 
paring it  with  the  cells  prepared  for  and  enjoyed  by  the  felons 
in  all  our  principal  prisons  in  more  than  half  the  states  of  our 
Union  which  I  have  visited,  the  latter  would  be  pronounced 
princely,  enviable  even  in  all  the  requisites  of  roominess,  light, 
ventilation,  and  facility  for  seclusion ! 


304  NOTES. 

Here,  with  no  possibility  of  classification  and  separate 
quarters,  with,  few  or  no  books,  or  opportunity  to  use  them  if 
they  were  possessed,  with  the  constant  din  of  roystering  dis- 
order and  superabundant  profanity,  with  no  Sabbath,  no 
prayer,  no  words  and  efforts  by  superiors  to  win  them  to  some- 
thing better  and  worthier,  three-fourths  of  their  forty  months' 
absence  are  passed.  "When  they  are  on  shore,  or  lying  in  port 
to  refit,  intemperance,  and  other  abominations,  vary,  while 
they  by  no  means  improve  their  condition. 


r 


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By  the  Editor  of  the  "  Glossary ;"  with  numerous  Illustrations,  4s.  6d.  cl. 

Principles  of  Gothic  Ecclesiastical  Architecture. 

By  M.  H.  BLOXAM.  With  an  Explanation  of  Technical  Terms.  Ninth 
Edition,  enlarged,  with  260  Woodcuts,  6s.  cloth. 

Stuart's  Antiquities  of  Athens, 

And  other  Monuments  of  Greece.  With  Seventy  Plates,  accurately 
reduced  from  the  great  work  of  Stuart  and  Revett ;  and  a  Chronological 
Table,  forming  a  valuable  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  Grecian  Archi- 
tecture. 10s.  6d.  cloth. 

Domestic  Architecture. 

Illustrations  of  the  Ancient  Domestic  Architecture  of  England,  from  the 
Xlth  to  the  XVIIth  Century.  Arranged  by  JOHN  BRITTON,  F.S.A. 
With  an  Historical  and  Descriptive  Essay.  Fcp.  8vo.  5s.  cloth. 

Wild's  English  Cathedrals. 

Twelve  Select  Examples  from  the  Cathedrals  of  England  of  the  Eccle- 
siastical Architecture  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Beautifully  coloured  after  the 
original  Drawings.  By  CHARLES  WILD.  Mounted  on  tinted  card- 
board, £6.  6s.  the  set. 

V  A  more  detailed  CATALOGUE  OF  ARCHITECTURAL  WORKS  may  be 
had  on  application. 


[86,  FLEET  STREET. 


DAVID  BOGUE  S  ANNUAL  CATALOGUE. 


Innks  nf  € 


A  Month  in  Constantinople. 

By  ALBERT  SMITH.  With  numerous  Illustrations  on  Steel  and  Wood. 
Second  edition,  post  8vo.  10s.  6d.  cloth. 

Prince  Adalbert. 

Travels  of  H.R.H.  Prince  Adalbert,  of  Prussia,  in  the  South  of  Europe 
and  in  Brazil;  with  a  Voyage  up  the  Amazon  and  the  Xingu.  Trans- 
lated by  Sir  R.  H.  SCHOMBURGK  and  J.  E.  TAYLOR.  2  vols.  8vo.  Maps 
and  Plates,  24s. 

Travels  in  Peru, 

during  the  years  1838-42,  across  the  Cordilleras  and  the  Andes  into  the 
Primeval  Forests.  By  Dr.  J.  J.  VON  TSCHUDI.  Translated  by  Miss 
Ross.  8vo.  12s. 

Four  Months  among  the  Gold-finders  in  California. 

By  J.  TYRWHITT  BROOKS,  M.D.    Post  8vo.  8s.  6d. 

Notes  of  Eight  Years'  Travels  and  Residence  in 

Europe.  By  GEORGE  CATLIN.  With  numerous  Illustrations.  2  vols, 
8vo.  cloth,  14s. 

Wanderings   and  Fortunes  'of    some    German 

Emigrants.  By  F.  GERST^ICKER.  Translated  by  DAVID  BLACK. 
Crown  8vo.  6s. 

The  Boat  and  the  Caravan : 

a  Family  Tour  in  Egypt  and  Syria.  With  Engravings  on  Steel  from 
Original  Drawings.  Third  Edit.  Fcp.  8vo.  cloth,  7s. ;  morocco,  10s.  6d. 

Tour  on  the  Prairies. 

Narrative  of  an  Expedition  across  the  Great  South  Western  Prairies, 
from  Texas  to  Santa  Fe".  By  GEORGE  W.  KENDALL.  2  vols.  fcp.  8vo. 
with  Map  and  Plates,  12s. 

The  Romance  of  Modern  Travel ; 

or,  Year-book  of  Adventure  ;  containing  the  choicest  Extracts  from  the 
best  Books  of  Travel  published  during  the  Year.  Fcp.  8vo.  Plates,  5s. 


/irtintt  nttit  $nra0nitntt 

Leonard  Lindsay. 

The  Story  of  a  Buccaneer.    By  ANGUS  B.  REACH.   2  vols.  post  8vo.  21s. 


LONDON.] 


DAVID  BOGUS  8  ANNUAL  CATALOGUE. 


Fiction  and  Amusement — continued. 

THE  BROTHERS  MAYHEW. 

The  Greatest  Plague  of  Life  ; 

or,  The  Adventures  of  a  Lady  in  Search  of  a  Servant,  by  One  who  has 
been  almost  Worried  to  Death.  Edited  by  the  Brothers  MAYHEW. 
Illustrated  by  George  Cruikshank.  Crown  8vo.  7s.  cloth. 

Whom  to  Marry,  and  how  to  get  Married ; 

by  One  who  has  refused  "Twenty  excellent  Offers"  at  least.  Edited  by 
the  Brothers  MAYHEW.  Illustrated  by  George  Cruikshank.  7s.  cloth. 

The  Magic  of  Industry ; 

or,  The  Good  Genius  that  turned  Everything  to  Gold :  a  Fairy  Tale.  By 
the  Brothers  MAYHEW.  With  Plates  by  George  Cruikshank.  2s.  6d.  cloth. 


Acting  Charades ; 


or,  Deeds  not  Words.  A  Christmas  game  to  make  a  long  evening  short. 
By  the  Brothers  MAYHEW.  Illustrated  with  many  hundred  woodcuts. 
5s.  cloth. 

The  Pottleton  Legacy : 

a  Story  of  Town  and  Country  Life.  By  ALBERT  SMITH.  With  Illustra- 
tions by  Hablot  K.  Browne.  Crown  8vo.  10s.  6d. 

Christopher  Tadpole : 

his  Struggles  and  Adventures.    By  ALBERT  SMITH.    With  42  Illustra- 
tions on  Steel,  by  JOHN  LEECH,  and  a  Portrait  ot  the  Author.    8s. 
***  See  also  COMIC*NATURAL  HISTORIES,  &c.  page  11. 

Clement  Lorimer ; 

or,  The  Book  with  the  Iron  Clasps.  By  ANGUS  B.  REACH.  Illustrated 
by  George  Cruikshank.  Crown  8vo.  7s.  cloth. 


Gavarni  in  London. 

Scenes  and  Sketches  of  London  Life  and  Manners.  By  Mons.  GAVARNT. 
Beautifully  engraved  and  tinted.  Imp.  8vo.  handsomely  bound,  IDs.  6d. 

The  Pentamerone ; 

or,  Story  of  Stories  :  an  admirable  Collection  of  Fairy  Tales.  By  GIAM. 
BASILE.  Translated  from  the  Neapolitan  by  J.  E.  TAYLOR.  With 
Illustrations  by  George  Cruikshank.  New  Edition  Revised.  Crown  8vo. 
6s.  cloth. 

Village  Tales  from  the  Black  Forest. 

~  r   BERTHOLD   AUERBACH.      Translated  b 
ustrations  by  Absolon.    Post  8vo.  6s.  cloth. 


By   BERTHOLD   AUERBACH.      Translated  by  META  TAYLOR.     With 
Illus 


Pen  and  Ink  Sketches  of  Poets,  Preachers,  and 

Politicians.    Second  Edition.    Post  8vo.  7s.  6d. 

The  Young  Lady's  Oracle  : 

A  Fireside  Amusement,  with  coloured  Plate.    2s-.  6d.  cloth. 


[86,  FLEET  STREET, 


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Cntnir 


GEORGE  CRUIKSHANK'S  WORKS. 

The  Comic  Almanack  for  1851. 

New  Series,  with  coloured  Plate.    Fcp.  8vo.  cloth,  2s.  6d. 


My  Sketch-book ; 


containing  more  than  Two  Hundred  laughable  Sketches.    By  GEORGE 
CRUIKSHANK.    In  9  Numbers,  2s.  6d.  plain ;  3s.  6d.  coloured. 

Scraps  and  Sketches. 

In  4  Parts,  each  8s.  plain ;  12s.  coloured. 

Illustrations  of  Time. 

8s.  plain ;  12s.  coloured. 

Illustrations  of  Phrenology. 

8s.  plain  ;  12s.  coloured. 

The  Bottle. 

In  8  large  Plates,  Is. ;  or  printed  in  tints,  6s. 

The  Drunkard's  Children  :  a  Sequel  to  the  Bottle. 

8  large  Plates,  Is. ;  printed  in  tints,  6s. 

V*  These  two  works  may  be  had  stitched  up  with  Dr.  Charles  Mackay's 
illustrative  Poem,  price  3s.— The  Poem  separate,  Is. 

The  Comic  Alphabet. 

Twenty-six  Humorous  Designs.    In  case,  2s.  6d.  plain ;  4s.  coloured. 

The  Loving  Ballad  of  Lord  Bateman. 

With  Twelve  Humorous  Plates.    Cloth,  2s. 

The  Bachelor's  Own  Book  : 

being  Twenty-four  Passages  in  the  Life  of  Mr.  Lambkin  in  the  Pursuit 
of  Pleasure  and  Amusement.    5s.  sewed ;  coloured,  8s.  6d. 

The  Comic  Almanack,  since  its  commencement 

in  1835  to  1846.    Illustrated  with  upwards  of  150  large  Plates  by  George 
Cruikshank,  and  many  hundred  amusing  Cuts.    3  vols.  neatly  bound  in 
cloth, 18s. 
***  Any  of  the  separate  Years  (except  that  for  1835)  may  be  had  at  One 

Shilling  and  Threepence  each.— The  Third  Volume  may  also  be  had  separately, 

price  6s. 

John  Gilpin : 

Cowper's  humorous  Poem.    With  Six  Illustrations  by  G.  Cruikshank. 
Fcp.  8vo.  Is. 

The  Epping  Hunt. 

Tin-  Poetry  by  THOMAS  HOOD,  the  Illustrations  by  George  Cruikshank. 
New  Edition,  fcp.  8vo.  Is.  6d. 

LONDON.] 


10  DAVID  BOGUE'S  ANNUAL  CATALOGUE. 


Comic  Works — continued. 

Mr.  Bachelor  Butterfly : 

his  Veritable  History ;  showing  how,  after  being;  Married,  he  narrowly 
escaped  Bigamy,  and  became  the  Stepfather  of  Eight  Hopeful  Children. 
By  the  Author  of  "  Mr.  Oldbuck."  5s.  cloth. 

Comic  Adventures  of  Obadiah  Oldbuck  : 

wherein  are  duly  set  forth  the  Crosses,  Chagrins,  Changes,  and  Calamities, 
by  which  his  Courtship  was  attended ;  showing,  also,  the  Issue  of  his  Suit, 
and  his  Espousal  to  his  Ladye-love.  Large  8vo.  with  84  Plates,  7s.  cloth. 

The  History  of  Mr.  Ogleby : 

shewing  how,  by  the  polish  of  his  manners,  the  brilliancy  of  his  repartees, 
and  the  elegance  of  his  attitudes,  he  attained  distinction  in  the  fashionable 
world.  150  Designs,  6s.  cloth. 

The  Comic  Latin  Grammar  : 

A  New  and  Facetious  Introduction  to  the  Latin  Tongue.  Profusely  illus- 
trated with  Humorous  Engravings  by  Leech.  New  Edition,  5s.  cloth. 

"  Without  exception  the  most  richly  comic  work  we  have  ever  seen." — TAIT'S  MAG. 

Whims  and  Oddities. 

By  THOMAS  HOOD.  New  and  cheap  edition,  containing  the  whole  of  the 
Original  Work,  with  80  Plates,  6s. 

New  Readings  from  Old  Authors. 

Illustrations  of  Shakspeare,  by  ROBERT  SEYMOUR.    4s.  cloth. 

Tale  of  a  Tiger. 

With  Six  Illustrations.    By  J.  S.  COTTON.    Fcp.  8vo.  Is. 

Table-Wit,  and  After-dinner  Anecdote. 

By  the  Editor  of  "  Hints  for  the  Table."    Fcp.  8vo.  Is.  6d.  cloth. 


©ottmaltttes. 

The  Toothache,  imagined  by  Horace  Mayhew,  and  realized  by  George 
Cruikshank  :  a  Series  of  Sketches.  In  case,  Is.  6d.  plain ;  3s.  col'd. 

An  Accommodation  Bill,  drawn  by  Watts  Phillips,  which  he  trusts 
will  be  Accepted  by  the  Public.  In  case,  Is.  plain  ;  2s.  6d.  col'd. 

A  Case  in  Bankruptcy,  drawn  and  etched  by  Watts  Phillips.  In 
case,  Is.  plain  ;  2s.  6d.  coloured. 

The  Model  Republic  ;  or,  the  Adventures  of  Mr.  Cato  Potts  in  Paris. 
By  Watts  Phillips.  Case,  Is.  6d.  plain  ;  3s.  coloured. 

The  Queen  in  Ireland ;  or,  Mr.  Smithers'  unsuccessful  attempt  to 
follow  in  the  footsteps  of  Her  Majesty.  By  Watts  Phillips. 
Case,  Is.  plain  ;  2s.  6d.  coloured. 

Also,  stitched  in  wrappers, 

Domestic  Bliss.     Is.  I      Domestic  Miseries.     Is. 

A  Special  Constable.    Is.  Comic  Art  Manufactures.     Is. 

[86,  FJ.EET  STREET, 


DAVID  BOGTJE'S  ANNUAL  CATALOGUE.  11 


atomic  Natural 

By  ALBERT  SMITH,  A.  B.  REACH,  HORACE  MAYHEW,  &c.  &c. 

Profusely  Illustrated  by  the  best  Comic  Artists  of  the  day. 

Price  One  Shilling1  each. 


ALBERT  SMITH. 


The  Gent. 
The  Ballet  Girl. 
Stuck-up  People. 


Idler  upon  Town. 
The  Flirt. 
Evening  Parties. 


A.  B.  REACH. 

Bores.  |        Humbugs. 

Romance  of  a  Mince  Pie. 

HORACE  MAYHEW. 

Model  Men.        |      Model  Women. 

Chang 3  for  a  Shilling. 

Also,  in  same  style, 

Hearts  are  Trumps.     By  James  Hannay. 

Natural  History  of  Tuft-hunters  and  Toadies. 

,,         ,,  the  Hawk  Tribe  (Swindlers,  Blacklegs,  &c.) 

,,         „  a  Bal  Masque.     By  the  Count  Chicard. 


The  Fourth  Estate. 

A  History  of  Newspapers  and  the  Liberty  of  the  Press.    By  F.  K.  HUNT. 
Two  vols.  post  8vo.  21s.  cloth. 

Egeria  ;  or,  the  Spirit  of  Nature. 

By  CHARLES  MACKAY,  LL.D.    Fcp.  8vo.  5s.  cloth. 

Winterslow  :  Essays  and  Characters. 

By  WILLIAM  HAZLITT  ;  edited  by  his  Son.    Fcp.  8vo.  5s. 

Sketches  of  Canadian  Life, 

Lay  and  Ecclesiastical,  illustrative  of  Canada  and  the  Canadian  Church. 
By  a  PRESBYTER  of  the  DIOCESE  of  TORONTO.    Post  8vo.  8s.  6d. 

LONDON.] 


12  DAVID  BOGUE'S  ANNUAL  CATALOGUE. 


Miscellaneous  Books — continued. 


Longfellow's  Poems,  Complete. 

The  Poetical  Works  of  H.  W.  LONGFELLOW.    Complete  Edition,  with 
Essay  by  Gilfillan.    Square,  cloth,  5s.  6d ;  morocco  antique,  12s. 

Narrative  of  Events  in  Vienna, 

from  Latour  to  Windisgratz.    By  BERTHOLD  AUERBACH.    Translated 
by  J.  E.  TAYLOR.  With  an  Introduction  and  Appendix.  Fcp.  8vo.  3s.  6d. 

History  of  the  Year  1848  : 

its  Revolutions  and  Abdications.    By  W.  K.  KELLY.    Fcp.  8vo.  6s. 

The  Happy  Home : 


a  Series  of  Papers  affectionately  ascribed  to  the  Working  People.  By 
the  Author  of  "  Life  in  Earnest."  Sewed,  Is. ;  cloth  gilt,  Is.  6d. 

The  Fountain  of  Living  Waters  : 

2s.  cloth  gilt. 

French  Domestic  Cookery, 

combining  Elegance  with  Economy;  in  1200  Receipts.  With  numerous 
Engravings.  Fcp.  8vo.  4s.  cloth. 

The  Stowe  Catalogue 

Priced  and  Annotated,  by  HENRY  RUMSEY  FORSTER,  of  the  "Morning 
Post"  newspaper.  With  numerous  Illustrations  of  the  principal  Objects. 
4to.  half-morocco,  15s. 

Emma  de  Lissau ; 

or,  Memoirs  of  a  Converted  Jewess.  With  Illustrations  by  Gilbert. 
New  Edition,  7s.  cloth;  10s.  6d.  morocco. 

Miriam  and  Rosette ; 

or,  The  Twin  Sisters :  a  Jewish  Narrative  of  the  XVIIIth  Century.  By 
the  Author  of  "  Emma  de  Lissau."  Illustrated  by  Gilbert.  3s.  6d.  cloth. 

Rev.  Thomas  Dale's  Poetical  Works. 

Including  The  Widow  of  Nain,  The  Daughter  of  Jairus,  &c.  New  and 
Enlarged  Edition,  fcp.  8vo.  7s.  cloth ;  10s.  6d.  morocco. 

Windsor  in  the  Olden  Time  : 

its  Historical  and  Romantic  Annals,  from  the  earliest  Records.  By 
JOHN  STOUGHTON.  Crown  8vo.  6s. 

Margaret  Davidson's  Remains. 

Life  and  Poetical  Remains  of  MARGARET  DAVIDSON.  By  WASHING- 
TON IRVING,  Author  of"TheSketch-Book."  Fcp.  8vo.  Frontispiece,  5s. cl. 

"  Beyond  all  question  one  of  the  most  singular  and  interesting  pieces  of  literary  history  ever 
penned."— BRITANNIA. 

Lucretia  Davidson's  Remains. 

Memoirs  and  Poetical  Remains  of  LUCRETIA  DAVIDSON.  By  Miss 
SEDGWICK.  Uniform  with  the  above.  5s.  cloth. 

[86,  FLEET  STREET, 


DAVID  BOGUE'S  ANNUAL  CATALOGUE.  13 


Miscellaneous  Books — continued. 


The  Maid  of  Honour  ; 


or,  Massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew :  an  Historical  Tale  of  the  Sixteenth 
Century.  With  Illustrations  by  ABSOLON.  Fcp.  8vo.  7s. 

Madame  Guizot's  Young  Student ; 

or,  Ralph  and  Victor:  a  Tale  for  Youth,  by  Madame  GUIZOT.  Trans- 
lated by  SAMUEL  JACKSON.  With  Engravings.  New  Edition,  fcp.  8vo. 
6s.  cloth. 

The  London  Anecdotes  for  all  Readers, 

on  the  Plan  of  the  Percy  Anecdotes.    2  vols.  6s.  cloth. 

The  Marriage  Looking-Glass  : 

a  Manual  for  the  Married,  and  a  Beacon  to  the  Single.  By  the  Rev.  T.  S. 
BOONE,  of  St.  Peter's  College,  Cambridge.  Fcp.  8vo.  6s. 

The  Singing-Book. 

The  art  of  Singing  at  Sight  taught  by  Progressive  Exercises.  By  JAMES 
TURLE,  Organist  of  Westminster  Abbey  ;  and  EDWARD  TAYLOK, 
Gresham  Professor  of  Music.  4s.  6d.  cloth. 

Books  on  Knitting,  Netting,  and  Crochet. 

By  Mrs.  MEE  : — 

MANUAL  OF  KNITTING,  NETTING,  AND  CROCHET.    7th  Edition,  5s.  6d. 
KNITTING  AND  CROCHET  COMPANION.    6d. 
EXKRCISES  IN  KNITTING  AND  NETTING.    6th  Edition,  Is.  6d. 
CROCHET  DOILIES  AND  EDGINGS.    7th  Edition,  Is.  6d. 
CROCHET  EXPLAINED  AND  ILLUSTRATED.    2d  Series,  5s.  Gd. 
CROCHET  COLLARS.    10th  Edition,  6d. 
CROCHET  COUVRETTES  AND  COLLARS.    5th  Edition,  Is. 
POLKA  JACKETS.    6d. 
LACE  EDGINGS.    6d. 

Ewbank's  Hydraulics. 

Historical  and  Descriptive  Account  of  Machines  for  Raising  Water, 
ancient  and  modern,  including  the  progressive  development  of  the 
Steam  Engine.  By  THOMAS  EWBANK.  Illustrated  by  300  Engravings. 
Large  8vo.  18s.  cloth. 

Town  Lyrics. 

By  CHARLES  MACKAY.    Crown  8vo.  sewed,  Is. 

The  Book  of  the  Months, 

and  CIRCLE  of  the  SEASONS.  Embellished  with  Twenty-eight 
Engravings  from  Drawings  by  WILLIAM  HARVEY.  Beautifully  printed 
in  fcp.  8vo.  5s.  cloth  ;  8s.  6d.  morocco. 

Miniature  French  Dictionary, 

in  French  and  English,  and  English  and  French :  comprising  all  the 
words  in  general  use.  The  remarkably  comprehensive  nature  and  com- 
pact size  of  this  little  dictionary  admirably  lit  it  for  the  student  and 
tourist.  Neatly  bound  in  roan,  4s.  morocco,  gilt  edges,  5s.  Cd. 

LONDON.] 


,14       DAVID  BOGUE'S  ANNUAL  CATALOGUE. 


Miscellaneous  Books — continued . 

Sharpe's  Diamond  Dictionary 

of  the  ENGLISH  LANGUAGE.  A  very  small  volume,  beautifully 
printed  in  a  clear  and  legible  type.  Roan  neat,  2s.  6d. ;  morocco,  3s.  6d. 

May  You  Like  It : 

a  Series  of  Tales  and  Sketches.  By  the  Rev.  CHARLES  B.  TAYLEU, 
Author  of  "Records  of  a  Good  Man's  Life."  Fcp.  8vo.  7s.  6d.  cloth; 
10s.  6d.  morocco.  . 

Self  Sacrifice ; 

or,  the  Chancellor's  Chaplain.  By  the  Author  of  "  The  Closing  Scene," 
"  The  Bishop's  Daughter."  &c.  Fcp.  8vo.  7s. 

Panorama  of  Jerusalem 

and  the  surrounding  Scenery,  from  a  Drawing  by  the  Librarian  of  the  Ar- 
menian Convent :  with  Historical  and  Descriptive  Notices  from  the  works 
of  Robinson,  Keith,  Rae  Wilson,  Buckingham,  &c.  In  cloth  case,  2s.  6d. 

Recollections  of  the  Lakes  ; 

and  OTHER  POEMS.  By  the  Author  of  "  Moral  of  Flowers,"  "  Spirit 
of  the  W7oods,"  &c.  Fcp.  8vo.  with  Frontispiece,  7s.  cloth ;  10s.  6d.  mor. 

Year-Book  of  Facts  in  Science  and  Art ; 

exhibiting  the  most  important  Discoveries  and  Improvements  of  the 
Year,  and  a  Literary  and  Scientific  Obituary.    By  the  Editor  of  "  The 
Arcana  of  Science."    Illustrated  with  Engravings,  fcp.  8vo.  5s.  cloth. 
***  This  work  is  published  annually,  and  contains  a  complete  and  con- 
densed view  of  the  progress  of  discovery  during  the  year,  systematically  ar- 
ranged, with  engravings  illustrative  of  novelties  in  the  arts  and  sciences,  &c. 
The  volumes,  from  its  commencement  in  1839,  may  still  be  had,  5s.  each. 

"Ably  and  honestly  compiled." — ATHEN-SUM. 

Life's  Lessons  : 

a  Domestic  Tale.  By  the  Author  of  "  Tales  that  Might  be  True."  New 
Edition,  wth  Frontispiece,  fcp.  8vo.  4s  cloth. 

Williams's  Symbolical  Euclid, 

chiefly  from  the  Text  of  Dr.  Simson.    Adapted  to  the  Use  of  Students  by 
the  Rev.  J.  M.  WILLIAMS,  of  Queen's  College,  Cambridge.   New  Edition, 
6s.  6d.  cloth ;  7s.  roan. — An  8vo.  Edition  may  also  be  had,  7s.  cloth. 
$§t  This  edition  is  in  use  at  many  of  the  Public  Schools. 

King's  Interest  Tables, 

on  Sums  from  One  to  Ten  Thousand  Pounds.  Enlarged  and  improved, 
with  several  useful  Additions.  By  JOSEPH  KING,  of  Liverpool.  In 
1  large  vol.  8vo.  21s. 

Seven  Hundred  Domestic  Hints, 

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objects  of  art,  and  of  fac-similes  of  the  most  remarkable  inscriptions  over 
Christian  Martyrs  found  in  the  Catacombs,  with  Ground  Plans,  Elevations, 
&c.  &c. 

The  copper-plates  of  this  magnificent  work  having  by  mismanagement 
now  become  much  defac  d,  perfect  impressions  are  rarely  to  be  met  with 
even  in  Rome. 

***  In  the  catalogue  f  one  of  the  principal  dealers  in  second-hand  books 
in  London,  a  copy  of  this  work,  bounu  in  morocco,  is  priced  at  .sfe'GO. 

The  Ages  of  Female  Beauty  ; 

or,  Illustrations  of  Woman's  Life.  Ten  Plates,  with  illustrative  Letter- 
press, 4to.  published  at  21s. ;  reduced  to  10s.  6d;  coloured,  21s. 

Authors  of  England : 

Portraits  of  the  Principal  Literary  Characters,  engraved  in  Basso-relievo 
by  Mr.  COLLAS  ;  with  Lives  by  H.  F.  CHORLEY.  Royal  4to.  cloth  gilt, 
published  at  31s.  6d. ;  reduced  to  10s.  6d. 


The  Georgian  Era : 


Modern  British  Biography  since  the  Reign  of  Queen  Anne ;  comprising 
nearly  Two  Thousand  Memoirs  of  the  most  Eminent  Persons  who  have 
flourished  in  Britain  from  that  period  to  the  Demise  of  George  the 
Fourth,  chronologically  arranged.  Handsomely  bound  in  cloth.  Pub- 
lished at  34s.  6d. ;  now  reduced  to  14s. 

The  Noble  Science — Fox-hunting. 

By  F.  P.  DELME  RADCLIFFE,  Esq.  Master  of  the  Hertfordshire  Hounds. 
With  highly-finished  Portraits  of  Hugo  Meynell  and  C.  Loraine  Smith, 
Esqs.  and  beautifully-executed  Illustrations  of  the  Chase,  the  Cover,  and 
the  Kennel,  from  Original  Drawings  by  the  Rev.  C.  D.  RADCLIFFE. 
Royal  8vo.  Originally  published  at  28s. ;  reduced  to  12s. 


Water-colour  Gallery ; 


containing  large  and  highly-finished  Engravings  of  the  Works  of  the  most 
distinguished  I'aiiitrrs  in  Water-colours,  including PROUT,STKPHANOFF, 
IT,  H.VKDING,  CATTIOKMOLK,  FIKLDING,  &c.     18  Plates, 
imperial  4to.  cloth.    Originally  published  at  ^3.  3s. ;  reduced  to  21s. 


LONDON.] 


22  DAVID  BOGUE'S  ANNUAL  CATALOGUE. 


Books  reduced  in  price — continued. 

Museum  of  Painting  and  Sculpture  : 

a  Collection  of  the  principal  Pictures,  Statues,  and  Bas-Reliefs  in  the 
Public  and  Private  Galleries  of  Europe.  Drawn  and  engraved  by  RKVI.I  \.. 
With  Critical  and  Historical  Notices.  This  splendid  work,  which  <:  n- 
tains  Engravings  of  all  the  chief  works  in  the  Itnlian,  German,  Dutch, 
French,  and  English  Schools,  includes  TWELVE  HUNDRED  PLATES,  and 
is  an  indispensable  vade-mecum  to  the  Artist  or  Collector,  In  17  hand- 
some vols.  small  8vo.  neatly  bound,  with  gilt  tops.  Originally  published 
at  ^17. 17s. ;  reduced  to  £5.  5s. 

Laconics ; 

or,  the  Best  Words  of  the  Best  Authors.  3  vols.  cloth,  published  at  12s. ; 
reduced  to  7s.  6d. 

Travels  in  S.  E.  Asia,  Malaya,  Burmah, 

and  HINDUSTAN.  By  the  Rev.  H.  MALCOM.  2  vols.  8vo.  published 
at  16s. ;  reduced  to  8s. 

Puckle's  Club ; 

or,  a  Grey  Cap  for  a  Green  Head.  Many  first-rate  Wood  Engravings, 
cloth.  Published  at  7s.  6d. ;  reduced  to  2s.  6d. 

Retzsch's  Illustrations  of  Faust. 

Faustus:  from  the  German  of  GOETHE,  embellished  with  Retzsch's 
Series  of  Twenty  Outlines,  illustrative  of  the  Tragedy,  engraved  by 
Henry  Moses.  New  Edition,  with  Portrait  of  the  Author.  10s.  6d.  cloth. 

The  English  School  of  Painting  : 

a  Series  of  Engravings  of  the  most  admired  Works  in  Painting  and 
Sculpture  executed  by  British  Artists,  from  the  days  of  Hogarth :  with 
Descriptive  and  Explanatory  Notices,  by  G.  HAMILTON.  Four  volumes, 
containing  nearly  Three  Hundred  Plates,  neatly  bound,  with  gilt  tops. 
Originally  published  at  £3. 12s. ;  reduced  to  28s. 

Martin's  Illustrations  of  the  Bible  ; 

consisting  of  Twenty  large  and  magnificent  Plates,  designed  and  engraved 
by  John  Martin,  Author  of  "  Belshazzar's  Feast,"  &c.  In  a  large  folio 
volume,  cloth.  Originally  published  at  £10. 10s. ;  reduced  to  jfcJ2.  2s. 

Martin's  Milton's  Paradise  Lost. 

Twenty-four  large  Mezzotinto  Plates,  by  John  Martin.  Imperial  Svo. 
Published  at  Six  Guineas,  reduced  to  £1.  2s.  cloth ;  j£2.  15s.  very  neat, 
in  morocco. 

Don  Quixote — Johaniiot^s  Illustrations. 

Beautifully  Illustrated  Edition,  containing  Eight  Hundred  Engravings 
on  Wood  by  Tony  Johannot.  In  Three  large  and  handsome  Volumes, 
neatly  bound  in  cloth.  Published  at  50s. ;  reduced  to  31s. 

Gil  Bias — Gigoux's  Illustrations. 

In  the  same  style  as  the  preceding,  with  Six  Hundred  Engravings,  de- 
signed by  Jean  Gigoux ;  forming  Two  handsome  Vols.  super-royal  Svo. 
bound  in  cloth.  Published  at  32s. ;  reduced  to  21s. 

[86,  FLEET  STREET, 


DAVID  BOGUE'S  ANNUAL  CATALOGUE.  23 


New  Prints  for  Framing,  the  Portfolio,  fyc. 
THE  FOUNDLING. 

Fainted  by  JOHN  HAYTER;  engd.  byW.  H.  MOTE.  Prints.  5s.;  col'd.  7s.6d. 

AMY  ROBSAKT. 

Painted  by  JOHN  H\YTER;  engraved  by  W.  H.  MOTE.    lOby  13£ inches 
high.    Prints,  7s.  Gd. ;  coloured,  15s. ;  India  Proofs,  21s. 

CHANDOS  PORTRAIT  OF  SHAKSPERE. 

Engraved  by  ROBERT  COOPER  for  the  Duke  of  Buckingham  (private 
plate).     12  by  154  inches  high.    10s.  6d. 

FAMILY  DEVOTION-MORNING. 

Painted  by  E.  PRENTIS  ;  engraved  by  JAMES  SCOTT.    222  by  17|  inches 
high.    Prints,  21s. ;  proofs,  31s.  6d. 

FAMILY  DEVOTION-EVENING. 

Companion  to  the  above.    By  the  same  Artists.    Same  size  and  price. 

THE  DEATH-BED  OF  CALVIN. 

Painted  by  JOSEPH  HORNUNG,  of  Geneva;  engraved  by  W.  O.  GELLER. 
27  by  20.    Prints,  £2.  2s. ;  proofs,  ^fcJ3.  3s. ;  proofs  before  letters,  £ 4. 4s. 

KLNG  CHARLES  I.  IN  THE  GUARD-ROOM. 

PAUL  DE  LA  ROCHE.    154  by  114.    8s. 

LORD  STRAFFORD  GOING  TO  EXECUTION. 

By  the  same  Artists.    14  by  114.    Prints,  8s. 

Titles.  Artists.  Size.  Priee 

A  Day's  Pleasure Prentis 23  —  18  ..  21  0 

Jesus  in  the  Temple    Overbeck 14  by  114..   7  6 

Finding  of  Moses C.  H.  Kohler 16—12..  9  0 

Jesus  Christ  ' Paul  de  la  Roche  . .     6  —   8  . .  5  0 

Christ  and  the  Woman  of  Samaria Leloir    12—144..  7  6 

The  Blind  Fiddler Sir  D.  Wilkie 16  —  19  . .  7  6 

John  Anderson  my  Jo    W.  Kidd  12—15..   8  0 

Auld  Robin  Gray W.  Kidd 12  —  15  ..  8  0 

Household  Pets Drumraond 13  — 16..  8  0 

Last  Tribute  of  Affection  Jones 13  —  16  ..  12  0 

The  Widower Penley 14  —  17  ..  12  0 

Widow's  Treasures Penley 14— 17. .12  0 

Search  the  Scriptures Dawe 10—12..  6  0 

Thy  Will  be  Done Dawe 10  —  12  . .  6  0  • 

Ways  of  Pleasantness Dawe 10  —  12  . .  6  0 

My  Own  Fireside Drummond 10  —  12  . .  7  6 

Infant  Samuel   Sir  J.  Reynolds.. ..   10— 12..  5  0 

Christ  Stilling  the  Tempest Sanders 12— 16..  7  6 

Christ  Walking  on  the  Sea    Sanders 12  —  16  ..  7  6 

Falstatf  Tumbled  into  the  River Kidd 8  —  11  . .  6  0 

The  Last  Supper  L.  da  Vinci 15  —   5  . .  10  6 

Raleigh's  First  Pipe Buss 15— 12..   8  0 

Fruits  of  Industry    Prentis 16— 14..  8  0 

Fruits  of  Idleness Prentis 16— 14..  8  0 

Mother's  Grave Hennings 9— 12..  7  6 

The  Recruit    Farrier 12  —  14  . .  2  6 

Tin- Deserter Farrier 12— 14..  2  6 

Tin-  Bachelor Jenkins 13— 11..   7  6 

Bads  of  Promise  Drummond 9 — 12  ..  7  6 

Col  t.-iire  .Musicians   Kidd 12— 15..   8  0 

Juvi-nilr  Toilet Hennings 10— 12..  7  6 

Ilitemftl Affection  Timbrell 9—12..  7  6 

Sir  Walter  Scott    Leslie    10— 13..  10  6 


LONDON.! 


24  DAVID  BOGUE'S  ANNUAL  CATALOGUE. 


©fcofce  Italian  prints. 
THE    LAST    SUPPER; 

ENGRAVED  IN  THE  HIGHEST  STYLE  OF  ROMAN  ART, 

BY  SIGNORE  GIOVANNI  FOLO, 

After  the  celebrated  Fresco  of  LEONARDO  DA  VINCI. 

Size  of  the  Plate,  36  inches  by  17  high,  exclusive  of  margin. 

Mr.  Bog-lie  having  recently  purchased  of  the  executors  of  this  eminent  Roman 
artist,  every  remaining  proof  impression  of  this  noble  print,  which  for  cor- 
rectness of  drawing  and  excellence  of  engraving  rivals  RAPHAEL  MORGHEN'S 
well-known  chef-d'oeuvre, 

They  are  offered  at  the  following  low  Prices: — 

Plain  proofs  ^2    5  0 

Earliest  Proofs  with  THE  WHITE  CUP   3    3  0 

Proofs  before  letters 4    4  0 

India  Proofs  (the  only  7  ever  taken) 5    5  0 


Also  on  Sale, 

CHOICE  ITALIAN   LINE  ENGRAVINGS, 

FROM  THE  BURIN  OF  SIGNORE  IGNATIUS  PA  VON. 

THE  TRANSFIGURATION   Raphael   . ... .  19  in.  by  28  high. .  £%    2    0 

ASSUMPTION  OF  THE  VIRGIN   Titian 17  in.  by  29  high. .  220 

THE  MADONNA  OF  FOLIGNO    Raphael    18in.by25 220 

THE  COMMUNION  OF  ST.  JEROMEDomenichino  18£  in.  by  28£  in..  220 

THE  MADONNA  OF  DRESDEN  ....Raphael    19  in.  by  25 2    2    0 

MATER  AMABILIS Sassoferrato   015    0 

BEATRICE  CENCI  Guido  0    7    6 


CONTENTS  OF  THIS  CATALOGUE. 

Illustrated  Works  1 

Practical  Works  on  Drawing  and  Painting    4 

Architectural  Works 5 

Books  of  Travel  7 

Fiction  and  Amusement  7 

Comic  Works 9 

Natural  Histories 11 

Miscellaneous  Works 11 

Shilling  Manuals 15 

Juvenile  Books    16 

The  European  Library 18 

Miniature  Classics 19 

Drawing-Books    20 

Books  Reduced  in  Price  21 

New  Prints    23 

Choice  Italian  Prints 24 


DAVID  BOGUE,  86,  FLEET  STREET. 


BOUND  BY         £ 

»ONE  A  SON,    I