Plymouth advertiser. [volume] (Plymouth, Ohio) 1853-1988, 1855-05-11
4 NIGHT ON A WHALE.
AIRuE 81 InRLLIlNG NARRArIyr

/ The Ming Harold, whalc-. was cruising
on the Kings Mil group ofislandS, in the
. Pacific, for sperm fish, with the intention
of passing the winter months there. anl
in the spring going further north TO catch
the real whale. Thus far they had not
captured fish. At last, however. their
efforts were destined to be ccrown,lwith sue
cess, AMI one OF the crew met with the all
venture which forms the subject Of his pa
per.
lie was an lriShman, nlmcd Pat-an
active, strong hand, who had been promo
tel to perform the important duty Of boats $
header, or harpooner. At the first sum
mons, four boats left the side of the King
Harold, eXerting their utmost strength to
outstrip each other. An extraordinary
zeal prevails on suck occasions by those
who man the different boats, as it becomes
point of honor which shall throw the
( first successful harpoon and on this day,
all the others had shot ahead oi that COM
mandcl by Pat, when, just to the right of
him, but Il considerable distance, another
whale was seen to blow. and hc at once
turned towards it, and pulled away from
his companions.
The other boats had to mu,h work on
their hands topay any attention to him
and as the whales which they wer, in pur-
suit of just then rose again within thirty
feet, one of the harpooners Immediately
drove his iron home, The two Others were
nICn GToCt' nft I,,4 al, &
the second boat came out again, and the
whale sank to great depth, it was COM
PEELED to follow the third, and hsl lip in cap
turing its fish. This they eventually y sue
cccdcd in doing, though the struck lcva-
thans set off at full speed, in northerly
direction, tearing Tic boats after them and
dashing the water furiously over their
bows. However, after much trouble they
sccur.l two, and then lay on their oars TO
await the ship, as it woud have been i'm
possible for them to row with such trc-
mcndouS mass in tow.
While waiting for their vessel, which
was at a great distance, they hal leisure too
look round for the ioulth--that Of oul
friend pat-but they searched in vain for
its ,gliotoning sail. 1t had disappeared
and their consolation was in the hope that
it had been kept in sight from, the mast
head. The King Iiairold, however wa,
by no means qricI SaiIcr, and the after
noon was spent ere she reached them, and
, secured the two fish alongside. A MAJ
was Immediately sent aiott to .discovo
) where the fourth boat was, but nothing
: could be seen of it, and at length the skip
per and several of the crew followed to til,
, same position for similar purpose; bu
: all in vain. Once or twice they ianciel
s they could see dark spot on the water t,
t the southwest, but on looking closer it dis
appeared. The watch was kept up unit
| dark, butnot the slightest trace of it cou!t
a be discovered.
Y AS the captain could not cruise about; o!
+ account Of the fish alongside, even had h
= known in what direction to steer, he deter
mined to cut them up during the night 4
6 lar as possible, and in the morning ,cavin!
, the remainder with llag hoisted on them
q seek the missing boat and its crew. lie stil
!, had chance OF finding them 10 lceward
and the ship was drifting in that objection
with the trade wind and the equatorial cur
: rent. 1t was most probable that Il wound
ed spelmaceti had destroyed the oat, an,
that the men had not been able to keep )
. long above water. The sea was ccrtaiul
:, balm enough, but the fearful sha!k speed
/, lily scents the blood of struck fish; and
as at the present moment five or sin OF thcS
: greedy hrutcs were swimming round thci
vessel, and making unavaiIiny efforts t
J. tear off q piece Of the tough and elastic hid
= it would only be too ccrtaiu that the
% would find the spot where the other DO;
" had sunk, and woe be to the Unfortunat
o men who were exposed to their rapaciou
incxorable jaws
J. But there was still possibility th2
is the boat had drilted SO far to lecwartl tn;
v it could not pull up again, and two lar
l. terms were hoiStcd to the fore and maj
t. tops, in order that they might not i'll an
v event pull past in the gloom, After darI
;, at midnight, and before the dogwatch. Il
,t skipper had the gun fired ; but the nigl
rs passed away without anything being sc(
10 ul heart of the lost ones. 1'hc cutting L
rt Of tho whale went on actively in the mcal
ne while, and the boiling out was immc
ri atcy commenced. Large torches fed Wi
60 strips of blubbcr, hung overheard in ii
10 basket, net made OF iron hoops, and
ct up the dark ocean, giving the danciI
n waves a singularly transparent view.
n At daybrcak, two Of the harpooncrs we
lis sent to the tops, armed with the two glas
* es, to again look for the missing boat
he In vain had they searched the whole hoI
is zon, without being able to discover an
" thing, when the eyes of one was attract
IL by q dark spot, which he closely eNami
in ed. The distance was to great toallc
ad anything to be clearly distinguished, b
at for all that the skipper was immediate
rh informed of the circumstance, and speed
nv Joined them. 1t was certain somethi
yf- was floating on the water there, whatc,
: it may be, but it lay to windward. Th
must have drilted past it in the night, 4
the second harpooner was ordered of W
We u boat to discover what it was. Even i
me n, werc not the missing boat--and it did l
III, at all look like tit might possibly b
MT dead whale, and woald not only repay
ost trouble oflooking aitor it, but would su
inc ly putthem on the trailoft the missingm
ian as the fish, if struck, wculd atany i