Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1852-03-26
A Whale Chase.


can. under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, be admitted
Whale Chase.
! "October 13th.-There she blows!n was sung out
from the mast head. ... #-..
Where away q demanded the captain. ..-
Three points off the lee bow. sr''
" Raise up your wheel Steady"
Steady, sir' s1s..t- -
"Mast head ahoy Do you see that whale now q
"Ay ay, sir! ! school of sperm whales There
she blowsl There she breaches -
Sing out! Sing out every time ~
"Ay ay, sir! There she blows There-there
thar she blows-bowes-bo-o-os S -
" How far off "
"Two miles and half!1
" Thunder and lightning! so near. Call all hands,
Clew up the fore tgaant sail--t there Delay Hard
down your wheel Haul aback the main yard -
Get your tubs in your boats. Bear hand Clear
your falls Stand by all hands to lower! All rea-
dy?'
< All ready, sr'
''Lnwer away!' .r.
Down went the boats with a splash Each boats
crew sprang the rail- and in an instant the lar
board, starboard and waist boats were manned
There was great rivalry in getting the start. The
waist boat got Oft in pretty good time: and away
went all three, dashing the water high over their
bows Nothing could be more exciting than the
chase The arboard boat commanded by the mate
and the waist boat by the second mate were head
and head
" Give way, my lads, give way" shouted p,
our headSman; we gain them; give way
long steady stroke! That's the way to tell itl'
"Ay, ay!" cried Tabor, boat-steerer What
dye say boys? Shall we lick EN- q
Pull pull like vcngeancel' echoed the crew
and we danced the waves scarcely seeming TO
| touch them.
The chase was now truly soul stirring Some
times the larboard then the starboard then the waist
boat took the lead 1t was a trial of skill and
muscle. After we had run two miles at this rate,
the whales turned fukes going dead to windward.
Now for it, my lads n cried P. We'll
have them the next rising. Now pile it on a long
steady pull That's it that's the way! Those
whales belong to u.s. Don't give out Half an hour
more and they're our whales !"
The other boats had veered off at either side of u.s.
and continued the chase with renewed ardor. in
about half an hour we lay en- to look round
for the whales
There she blows! right ahead! !" shouted Tabor,
fairly dancing with delight
There she blows There she blows
"Oh, Lord, boys spring !" cried P.
"Spring it is What dye say, now chummles?
Shall we take those whales q
To this general appeal every man replied by put
ting his weight on his oar and exertng his utmost
strength The boat flew through the walar with in
credible swiftness, scarcely rising to the waves. y
large bull whale lay about quarter of mile ahead
/ OF US, lazy rolling in the trough of the The
lIrboard and starboard boats far to eeward Gf
u.s. tugging hard to get chance at the other whales
which were now blowing in every direction"
"GlVe way! give way my hearties !" cried p,
|
love gin! bottle Of gin to the best man Oh,
pile it on while you have breath ! pile it on -
':On with the beef, chummes! Smash every oar!
double 'em up: or break en- !"
Every devils imp of you pull No talking, Law
back to it now never!n
On dashed the boat, cleaving its way through the
rough sea as if tie briny clement were blue smoke.
The whale, however, turned fukes before could
reach him. When he appeared again above the
face of the water, it evident that he had milled
! e had 01i on uS
nearly mile. The chase was now almost hopeless
as he was making to windward rapidly A heavy
black cloud was on the horizon porendng an ar-
preaching squal and the bark was fast fading from
sight Still we were not to be bafiled by dscour-
aging circumstances of this kind and we braced our
sinews for grand and final effort
| Never give up my lads !" said the helmsman I'M
cheering voice. = Mark my words, we'll have that
whale yet Only think he's ours, and there's no
mistake about it, he will be Now Cor a hard,
steady pull Give way !"
Give way, sir Give way all -
There she blows! Oh pull my lively lads on
| ly mile off! There she blows!n
| The wind had by this time increased almost to Il
gale, and the heavy black clouds were scattering
over far and wide. Part of the squall had pass
ed off to lecward, and entirely concealed the bark.
Our situation was rather unpleasant; in Il rough
sea, the other boats out of sight, and each moment
the wind increasing.
We continued to strain every muscle till we were
hard upon the whale. Tabor sprang to the bow,
and stood by with the harpoon.
'Softy, softly, my lads, said the headsman.
:Ay, ay STRIP
{" Hush h-h softly Now's your time, Tabor :"
Tabor let fly the harpoon, and buried the iron.
Give him another !"
'Ay, ay! Stern all -
Stern all - thundercd P
Stern all ~
And as we rapidly backed from the whale he flung
his tremendous flakes high in the air, covering Us
with cloud of spray. He then sounded, making
| the line whz as it passed the chocks. When lie
rose to the surface again, we hauled up, and the
cond mate stood ready in the bow to dispatch him
with lances
Spoutng blood !" said Tabor {: He's dead
whale! He wont need much lancing" 1t true
enough for, before the officer could get within dart
of him. he commenced his dying struggles The
crmsoned with his blood. By the time we hal
reached him. he WAS belly up. We lay upon our
oars moment to witness his last throcs, and when
he had turned his head towards the SUM- a loud
simultaneous cheer burst from every lip."-F From
Brown'S Wha}ing Cruise.
A Coon SHUT.-A bear for some time past carry
ing on an improper intimacy with the young hogs
belonging to the settlers in the Queens Bush closed
his career last week in rather Il singular manner
From litter of nine in industrious mans hog
sty, the bear had at times abstracted four AMI one
night on repeating his visit. the hogs screamed SD
fur.ous the abstraction of of their brethren
that the settler became alarmed and loading his Gun
in all trepdation, hastened the sty and seeing
the grizzly monster few PAGES from him, with the
porker in bis mouth, he let fy with the mu<ket and
the recoil violent that it threw him several
hack Yard b;Sb hood h. D..