Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1849-1856, 1853-11-24


iack upon and GraI cal ture OF AN ugly
whale by boats crew from The ship
Hector, tf New Eediord, furnished by
Capt. Thos. A. Norton, who Was ihe
fret mnrc of The Hrc'or al The time -
IL Ocioher, 1852, when IN lai. IL s..
lon. 50 W. llc ship ninety days from
port, wc raised IA large whale. The
joy tai cry wGs given OF "Ihcfe she
blows ! and ey.iytl nc on hoard NJ
once assumed an nsI ect OF busy prefar-
alton for Tie capture. Tie b. ats were
lowered and ihe chase commerced.-
When Ne got willing about three
ships length of him. he TUNED and
rushed iurlously upon Us. lie struck us
at the same moment we fastened 10 him.
He stove HE boat badly, but with the
assistance oi sails, which we placed un-
der her bottom, and constant bailing,
she VAS kept above water. The cap
tain, John O. Morse, came 10 our as.
sstance. Told him he had better Keep
clear Of the whale, hut he said he ad
a very l'ng lance, and wanted to try il
upon the rascal. Captain Nj. went up
to the whale, when al! at once he turn
cd upon the boat, which he took in his
mouth, AMI held right up eli end" out
OF The water, and shook ii all to pieces
III Il moment. The men were thrown
in every direction, aud CAPITA Morse
fell from distance oil at least thirty
leel Inlo the water. Not being satisfied
with lhe total destruction Of the boat, he
sci 10 work and "clewcd up the boat
kegs and lantern kegs, and whatever
iragu ents OF the boat he could find
floating Oh the water.
AL lhls stage OF 'he fight told Capt.
Morse that il he would give me The
choice OF the ships company | would
try him again. 1t was desperate work
10 all appearance, aud up 10 this lime
the vicious i.lIow had had II all his own
wy. The captain was III favor OF try.
ing him from the ship, but finally con-
boat. With Iicked crew we again
approached the whale, now lying per-
iectly stll,apparentIy waiting for anoth-
e. attack, us the event proved. Seeing
our approach, he darted towards Us
with his mouth wide open, his ponder.
Gus jaws coming together every mo-
menl with tremendous energy. We
gave the word 10 stern all, which was
obeyed IN good ernest. As we passed
the ship, heard the captain exclain,,
there goes another Loatn She did 90,
to be sure, through the water, with all
speed, bu, fortunately not 10 desiruc-
ZION. The monster chased us in this
way for half mile or more, during
most OF which time his Jaws were with
III six or eight inches Of he h,au OF the
boat. Every time he brought them TO-
gethcr the conclusion could be heard
AT the distance OF at least mile. ! in
tended 10 jump overheard il he caught
the boat. Told Mr.. Mayhew, the third
mate, who held the steering oar, that
The whale would turn over soon TO spou,
and that then would be our time
to Mil him. After becoming ex-
hausted he turned over 10 spout, and
At a "a a stn In Ip.
and tuied our lances deep in his lIie'.
One tremendous convulsion Of his frame
followed, and all Was sill. H. never
troubled us more. We towed him to
the ship, lried him out, and took ninety
barrels OF oil from him.
" hen we were cutting him in, we
found two irons in his body marked
with the name Of the ship Barclay, aud
belonging 10 the mates boat. We al-
terwarts learned that three months be-
fore when the same whale was in lall-
tude lO5 W., he was attacked by the
mate Of the ship Barclay, who hat a
desperate struggle with him, IN which
lie finally lost his life.
Capt. Norton, at the time of the ad
venture with this whale, had seen some
SERVICE but he freely conlesses that
never before or since (though he has
! had the buttons bitten of his shirt by Il
whaIe) has he come in contact with
such an ugly customer us lhls rogue
whale as he was termed in sailor par
I lance. He seemed possessed of spirit
OF Il demon, and looked aa savage as a
hungry hyena. Our readers may i'm.
l aglne the effect such an encounter
would have upon a crew of green
hands, Duling the lrIghtiul chase OF
the boat by the whale, their faces were
L OF livid white, and their halr stood
erect. On tleir arrival 1t the first por,
they took to the mountains and few il
any OF them have ever been seen since.
Capt. Norton informs us that whale
was never before known 10 attack a
boat before being struck. In this case
the whale had evidently experienced
much trouble from the irons left in his
body, and took The first opportunity
which presented for revenge. Taken
altogether, we think this will rank high
among the whaling stories Of our day.