Cooper's Clarksburg register. [volume] (Clarksburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1851-1861, 1855-06-06
A NIGHT on A WHALE.
4 TRUE ANp TuRILL1NG NARRATIYR

! The King Harold, whaler, was Crul-
sing on the Kings Mill group of Islands,
in the Pacific, for sperm fish, with the in
tention Of passing the winters months
there, and in the spring going further north
10 capture the real whale. Thus far they
had not captured fish. At last their et
forts were destined to be crowned with
success, and one of the crew met with the
adventure which forms the subject of this
narrative.
He was an lriShman, named Pat-an
active, strong hand, who had been promo
ted to perform the important duty Of
boats header, or harpooner. At first
summons, four boats left the side Of the
King Harold, eXerting their utmost
strength to outstrip each other. An eN-
! traordinary zeal prevails on such occasions
| by those who n an the different beats, as
ii becomes d pcint OF honor which shall
throw the first successful harpoon and
on this duy, all the others had shot ahead
| Of that commanded by Pat, when, Just to
the right of him, but at considerable
distance, another whale was seen to blow,
and he at once turned towards it, and
pulled away from his companions.
The other boats had too much work on
their hands TO pay any attention to him !;
and as the whales which they were in pur-
suit Of Just then rose within thirty feet,
one OF the harpooners Immediately drove
! his iron Lone. The two others were ais
SO " fast" soon after but as the irons Of
= the second boat came out again, and the
whale sank TO n great depth, it was com
PEELED to follow the third, and help TO
capture lis fish. This they eventually
succeeded in doing, though the struck le
viathans set off al full speed, in a noElher
Is direction, tearing the boats after them.
and dashinE the water turlOusly over their
bows. However, after much trouble thev
secured two, and then lay on their oars
to await the ship, as 1t wOuid have been
Impossible for them to row with such a
tremendous mass in tow.
| While waiting for their vessel, which
was at 4 great distance. they had leisure
TO look round for the fourth-that Of our
friend Pat-but they searched in vain Tor
its glistening sail. 1t had disappeared,
ana their consolation was in the hope that
, it had been kept in sight from the m ast
head. The Hing Harold, however, was
by no means q quick saller, and the after
noon was spent ere she reached them.
and secured the fish alongside. A man
was Immediately sent atOtt to discover
where the fourth boat was, but nothing
could be seen OF il, and at length the
skipper and several Of the crew followed
to the same position lor a similar purpose,
but all in vain. Once or twice tney fan
cied they could see a dark spot on the
water TO the southwest, but on looking
closer it disappeared. The watch was
kept up until dark, but not the slightest
trace of il could be discovered.
AS the captain could no; cruise about,
on account of the fish alongside, even had
he known in what direction to steer, he
determined to cut them up during the
night as far as possible, and in the morn
ing the remainder with flag hoisted on
them, seek the missing boat and Its crew.
He still had chance OF finding them to
leeward, and the ship was drifting N that
direction with the trade wind aud the
equatorial current. 1t was most proba~
BILE that wounded spermaceti had de-
stroyed the boat. and that the man had
not been able to keep SO long above wa
ter. The sea was certainly calm enough,
but the fearful shark speedily scents the
blood of a struck hsh : and, as at the pre-
sent moment five or six Of these greedy
brutes were swimming round the vessel
and making unavai,Iug efforts 10 tear of
a piece OF the tou5 IA and elastic hide. it
would only be too certain that they
would find the spot where the other boa
had sunk, woe be 10 the unfortunate mer
who were exposed to their rapacious, in'
exorabie jaws
But there was still possibility that the
boat had dIitted SO far to the !eeward ths
it could not pull up again, and two Ian
!. terms where hoisted TO the lore and maiy
tops. in order that they might no: in an,
event pull past in the gloom. After dark
at midnight, and before the dogwatch, tht
skipper mad The gun fred but the nigh
passed away without anything beins
seen or heard of the lost ones. The cut,
ting up of the whale went on actively il
the meanwhile. and the boiling out wa
Immediately commenced. Large torches
fed with strips OF blubber, hung overheard
IN fire basket, a net made Of iron hoops
and lit up the dark ocean, giving the dan
cling waves sIugulariy transparent view
AT daybreak, two Of the harpoOner
! were sent to the tops, armed with goot
glasses, TO again look for the missing boat
In vain had they searched the whole no
rIzon, without being able to discover any
s thing, when the eyes Of one were attrac
ted by dark spot, which he closely ex
amlned. The distance vas too great /
allow anything to be clearly distinguished