Volcano weekly ledger., 1856-04-19
NO. AMADoR COUNTY cA SATURDAY MORNING APRIL 49, 1856
"Thar she Blows

Some days since we fell in with kind of
nondescript on the wharf, whose vocation
we were at a loss to fix, as he had the min
gled appearance of sailor and landsman
combined. 1t would be hard to describe our
hero, (for such he turned ont to be, so that
our readers would recognize the picture as
we saw it,
Imagine tall brawny, Pike county man,
with hiekorydyed linsey-woolsey pants oc-
casionally patched with blue dungaree, a
broad-collared sailor shirt turned over a split
tailed coat, and the whole capped with a
raced black tile,p and you will have some
idea of the figure we wish to describe. His
| toni ensemble was a complete mixture Of the
sailor and landsman-the Yankee and Back
woodsman
Struck by his singular appearance, we ac-
costed him with the remark, " Y GU are q
sailor | supposed" He replied
oval, | reckon | ought to be by this
time"
You have followed the sea long timer
we ventured, in the hope of drawing him
out
Not so long nor | followed the whale" f"
he replied, laconically
You are a inhaler, them" we timidly
inquired, anxious to engage him in conyersa-
ton.
At this his countenance frightened up,
and faint smile played over his rough fea-
lures causing kind of earthquake tremor to
agitate his whole frame, when he proudly
answered.;
If / know myself, I an a chalcr," and,
taking cne or two strides up and down the
wharf, he continued;
Do you see that old blubbcr-hunter, yon-
der? Wal, Pve been more nor three years in
her, cruSin' arter ilc She is one of the old
craft, and has butted her head agin all the
tropics, and every iceberg in the Arctic
Ocean"
This effort brought him to stand-still ;
when we suggested that whaling must be a
dangerous pursuit, and intmated desire to
hear of his last cruise, and the reason he did
not continue in his ship, as we saw the vessel
heaying up her anchor and about to sail.
I'll tell you, stranger, that's darned I'M
lucky ship-and | knowed il when we tuck
aboard that cargo of Missionaries for the Fee
Jees-and signed the articles that no grog
should be used on board; but howsomeyer, l
cum in her, and shipped TO do my duty. The
Captng said there must be no swearing on
board that voyage, and told him whaling
couldn't be carried on without il. How
could do ships duty without cussing the
men? We had been out six months and
never broke black skin, when | begin to
swear This caused a coolnesS between me
and the Capting for some weeks, because you
see be thought more Of Missionaries nor he
did of whales Wal, one morning, when it
was blowing a close-reefed top-slil breeze, the
| Capting cum on dcck-he looked at me- and
| looked at him--he said nothing to me- and
| said nothing to hin-cause | was kind a
| hurt at not being able to carry on ships duty
the old way lie looked kind of Tiled too,
when the man at the mast head cried out
Thar she blows" "Whar away" said l.
Two points on the lee low" said he. look
ed at the Capting, and he said nothing to me,
and said nothing to him. BY and bye, the
man sings out" Thar she Jloios agin.'-
Says Capting, Shall lower boat and &c
arter him| Says he to me, you see fitting
can lower boat and be id" | told the
boys to lower the waste boat--causc | know
ed | was goin' to strike whale. BY the re
mark the Capting made wanted to encour
age the boys leetle, and says /: Gin teag
boys, lies rising"-and they did gin way
The first iron made him spout blood.
lanced him, and tuck him in tow-and as we
were going longsidc seed the Capting lean
ing over the rail, looking at us, aud felt
a proud. Says |, Capting, got an eighty
barrel sperm under new dicipling." When
went aboard, says the Capting to me: "Mr
Oakum, you're leetle the smartest man ever
druve harpoon, or tuck lunar in these
southern seas, and you seeing fitting, car
smoke my pipe the remainder of the voyage
Says |, "Capting Tabor all axes is cirwii
ties, and them of the eommonest kind"
/" | thought the Capting had come to rca
son agn but when the mast was struck by
Tightening he forbid suearing agin and we
haint had no luck since. So l made up my
mind, when | got to home port, I'd leave
the old hulk It's no use talking whales and
Missionaries don't run together; and you
can't whale without cussing"
With this remark, he stridcd off toward
the end of the wharf, straining his eyes for a
last sight of the old blubber-hunter, as
she moved off under her patched sails to
"vex the sea with her fisheries" again
1own Talk
TRuE III HApPINFss He who confines his