Butte record., 1854-01-21
A REMARKARLY VICIOUS WHALE

Z y
New Bedford, furnished by Capt. Thom-
as A. Norton, who was the first mate of
the Hector at the time.
''1n October, 1892, when in lat. II s.
lon. so W, the ship ninety days from
port We raised large whale The
joyful cry was given Of there she blowsr
and everything on board at once assum ed
an aspect of busy preparation for the
capture. The boats were lowered, and
the chase commenced When we got
within about three ships length of him,
he turned, and rushed furiously upon US.
He struck Us at the same moment that
we fastened to him. He stove the boat
bndly, but with the assistance of sails,
which We placed under her bottom, and
constant bailing, she was kept above
water. The Captain-John O. Morse
came to our assistance Told him he
had better keep clear of the wha e but
he said he had very long lance, and
wanted to try IL upon the rascal. Cap
tam Morse went up to the whale, when
all at once he turned upon the boat,
which he took in his mouth, and beld
right up on end out Of the water, and
shook 1t all to pieces in a moment The
men were thrown in every direction, and
Captain Morse fell from a distance of at
least thirty feet into the water. Not
being tisiied with the total destruction
of the boat, he set to work and 'chewed
up the boat kegs and lantern kegs, and
whatever fragments of the boat he could
find floating on the water. At this stage
of the fight, | told Captain Morse that
II he would give me the choice Of the
ships company | would try him again
1t was desperate work to all appearance,
and up to this time the yicions fellow had
had it all his own way. The Captain
was in favor of trying him from the ship,
but finally consented for US to attack him
again from boat With picked crew
We again approached the whale, now
lying perfectly still, apparently ready for
another attack, as the event proved
Seeing our approach, he darted towards
us with his mouth wide open, his huge
jaws coming together every moment with
tremendous energy. We gave the word
to stern all, which was obeyed in good
earnest. As we passed the ship, | heard
the Captain exclaim, there goes another
boatn She did 90, to be sure through
the water, with all speed, but fortunately
not to destruction. The monster chased
US in this way for half a mile or more,
du ring most of which time his jaws were
within six or eight inches of the head of
this boat. Every time lie brought them
together, the conclusion could be heard
at the distance Of at least mile | Told
Mr.. Mayhem, the third mate, who held
the stearing oar, that the whale would
turn over soon to spout, and that then
would be our time to kill him. After
becoming exhausted he turned over to
spout, and. at the same instant we stopped
the boat and buried our lances deep in
''his life" One tremendous CONFUSION
of his frame followed, and all was still.
He never troubled us more. We towed
him to the ship, tried him out, and took
ninety barrels of oil from him,
When We were cutting him in, we found
two irons in his body, marked with the
name of the ship Barcloy, and belonged
to the mates boat. We afterwards
learned that three months before, when
the same whale was in lat 5 s., lon l05
W he was attacked by the mate OF the
ship Barclay, who had a desperate strug-
gle with him, in which he fuaIly lost bis
life.n
Capt Norton, at the time of the ad-
venture with this whale, had "seen some
SERVICE" but he freely conlesses that
never before nor since, Though he has
had the buttons bitten off his shirt by
whale, has he come in contact with such
a customer as this "rogue whale" as he
was termed in sailor paralance. He
seemed possessed ola demon, and looked
as savage as hungry hyena. Our rea-
ders may imagine the effect such an en-
counter would have upon a crew of
green hands" During the frightful
chase of the boat by the VII: lie, their
faces were of livid white, and their hair
Stood erect. On their arrival at the first
port, they all took to the mountains, and
few, if any Of them, have ever been seen
since.
Capt Norton informs us that a whale
was never before known to attack boat
before being struck. In this case the