The Wilmingtonian, and Delaware advertiser., 1827-01-18

who we shall introdue to our readers under
the name of Jonah Coffin. Poising his har-
poon, he firmly awaited the orders of his su-
perior, then seated on the boats stern. Be-
fore him, forcing itself furiously onward,
was huge andupcouth mass, alternately e.
mittng from its glossy protuberances, the
sparkling effulgcnce of a meridian sun, or
partially descending below the temporary
surge, forming little vortices to its wake,
and putting from its nostris the encroaching
brine. Long and patiently did the oarsmen
tug at their stations-"pull away" said the
officer encouragingly, while he drew towards
him the handle ef his steering oar. The We
nv eye of the monster was now in sight
'snow dart" exclaimed the mate; and Jo-
nah, with the effort OF Polyphemus, drove
the weapon. fast into the body of his gigantic
antagonist
It. was an awful moment; and the adven-
turous fishers had made every customary
preparation for its reception. But the OBJ
cct Of their toll. instead of dropping instan-
taneously into the depths beneath, thence a.
gain to emerge, after some moments, tor the
sake ofbrcath--or instead of starting Oft hor-
izontally, as is frequently the case, with the
velocity of lightning, dragging his presump-
tuous pursuers through the disparting wave,
which throws swiftly upon either side OF
their frail pinnance a transparent sheet of
spray, surmounted by gorgeous ranbows-
rolled backward, and with preternatural
frenzy made for the boat-his enormous
laws distcndcd to their utmost limits; and
lis tremendous tail now curvingi upwards,
and vibrating like a light house in an earth
quake, and anon falling with horrid flap up
on the level bosom of the sounding deep
The astonshca sailors we're about to rush
overheard, when, with convulsive sound,
1t was the leap of a mountan--the lace
rated monster sprang entirely over the boat,
his unearthly dimensions striking principal
ly upon the opposite side, and partly upon
the fragile bark itself, spiling its contents
and grinding its frame to splinters.
The men were all good swimmers, and,
save one, betook themselves, without farther
calculation, and with exemplary preciptan-
cy, to the profitable exercise Of their arms
and legs-whereby they soon reached the
boats Of their comrades, and were out of
danger. Not SO with poor Ionah.--In the
tumult of the moment, he had become en-
tangled in the tortuous coil attached to the
harpoon. Not AN instant had been allowed
lin, wherein he might haye seized the
Ratchet, or unsheathed his jacknife, and
freed himself from SO ungracous predica-
meut. He felt himself drawn, by an ire
sstible power, down, down, amidst intermi-
nable cavcrns, and bottomless profundties.
| What greatly surprised him, was his ability
still to breathe and to see. Passing, with
the rapitlity Of thought, along immeasurable
distances, he had opportunities to scan but
few Of the wonders of those vast quits,
| Here lay an extensive forest Of coral, inhab-
! tied BY shapes abe--there moved
an immense mass of gelatnous matter, en-
compasscd by myriads of submarine prodi-
| gies, to piscivorous man hitherto unknown.
| The a-devil, with his emerald horns; the
tartarean crab, with a million claws, each a
furlong in length; the ponderous symmesian
oyster, whose shells open wide enough to
admit a seventy-fOur; the thousand eyed
dragon, whose head, studded with a thou
sand gems, and whose eyes, set in countless
diamonds, may be seen at the depth of five
hundred fathoms; sta-gorgons, hydras, grif-
fins, phnnixes, and all manner Of beau
tiful reptiles, were quietly feeding, or frolc-
ing without any noise, in those unsearchable
regions.
| And here, some philosophers may be dis
posed to obtrude doubt, touching honest
I Jonah's capacity of vision and of respiration
the whilc.-Rut let it be inquired, whether
/ Il
with such outrageous celebrity, may not have
left behind sort of vacuity, aflording me-
dunn wherein the little animal in his rear
might exercise those faculties? And, re-
garding the accelerated progress of this
monster it may be aptly accounted for on
purely philosophical principles: every body
knows how fast dog will run with kettle
|
I But to our tale--iet us hasten to the ca
tastrophe. After being carried to such
lengths, and in such manner, our almost
exhausted hero, found himself on the ascent.
His wild and turbulent conductor was again
mounting to the upper world. Embracing a
moment of respite, while the whale was 10
the act of turning upon his side, he sought
his knife--but III yain--2 new motion dis
turbed him---he was waved to and fro with
an impetuous gularity--his lungs labour-
ed, and his sight grew indistinct--his breatl,
went, and came, and went, to return not
without inhaling also draught Of the saline
fluid. Alas thought he, am drowned =
Foggy images fioated on his brain, and grad
ually faded into otluscatioa. He awoke up
on the quarter deck of his own snip, under
the oepration OF stimula,i,e cordials and
warm towels; having been cast upon the
surface during the whales DIVING struggle
and picked up near the place Of his descent