Monmouth weekly herald. [volume] (Freehold, N.J.) 1854-1860, 1857-04-02


and leaving in his wake track of foam
that his fiukes dashed into a breadth Of
many feet. aa ovtassb,
Il Hes making for the bloody waterl''
cried the men; and onward he cleft his
way to the very spot where the calf had
been killed. ..-..... .t.......,
Here harpooner," exclaimed the mate,
come aft and steer the boat and let me
dart he shall not dodge us this time
though he were Satan himself! Pull for
red waterl e ali ia 1915 5s silglaI
While yet he spoke the anger of the
animal appeared to abate, for he rested
passively on the heavily -heaving waves,
his arched, black back thrown up like the
ridge of mountain seen on. a clear night.
The old soy's lying to-" called aloud
with exultation. p = gas
:" Crikey! what a hump!' exclaimed a
second man only look at the irons in
his back"
;" No don't look, pull,p answered the
mate, who was standing, harpoon in hand.
ON the head-thwarts. Now, my sons, if
gon love Old England, if yon love me.
pull ahead that's all. Now then to the
thwarts- down, down. Lay back, my
s1uls! | feel you, my hearties! Give her
the touch? Only one sea off? not one sea
off! One minute half minute more!--
So-softly-no noise-softly softly
with your oars; that'll do" adt 80
"Even as the words were uttered, the
harpoon was raised, poised above his head
and a rapid, yet no less certain aim sent
it whistling deep, deep into the thick sa.
BILE of the fish. The steel quivered in his
body ee 5or 81, ....,-f
Stern all, for your liyes!" shouted The
mate. Plunging his head beneath thu
water, the stricken leviathen wheeled
round with rapidly, and IN convulsiv,
agony and rage smote the sea violentl,
with fin and nnke. The seething vorte,
nearly swamped our little boat The fsl
now started to run. The line rasped
smoking, through the checks; but a turl
or so round the logger-head soon secure,
it. Leaping onward in the wake of tn
| tcthered monster, we went with oar
apeak and bows tilted to the sea; but i
vain were his efforts to break from GU
hold; the strands were strong and tn
barbed iron feshed too deeply; so that t
drive, or breach, or madly. to dash for
ward was only to let the frantic creatur
for we held him still in check. Now il
impotent rage rearing his blunt head, Gov
cred with barnacles, high above the surge
his jaws fell together with a crash tina
made me shudder; then gliding through
showers Of sparkling spray, the upper enc
of his mighty form was dimly seen; while
on the white surf that boiled and frothec
in his path, streaks of crimson gore show
ed how the shaft had been driven home
The leviathan at length began to lessen
his impetuous struggles. 2 A8 ar
- Now, my sons" cried the mate, haul
on! Wet the line as it comes in. Haul
away, you second oarsmen; why the devil
don't you haul! Port side-port | tell
you. Don't you know how to haul in a
whale?" frg
Gradually the whale reached the sur
face, and remained perfectly quiet on the
water; but, suddenly as if goaded by some
iercer pang, he started from his lethargy
into exertion with augmented power7-
Tossing and plunging like maddened
devilon the chafng sea, and spouting the
water from his vast spiracle with din
that almost deafened us. he made leap
towards the boat, then shot perpendicu-
larly downward, hurting helmsman over
the quarter as he struck and shattered to
atoms the long steering oar in his descent.
With his head forward, just above the
hukes of the whale as ne vanished, the un-
happy seaman fell; and. drawn by the
suction of the closing waters as if he had
been a feather, sank; but, although car
ried to considerable depth as we con
jectured from the lapse of time he remain
ed under water, he came up, and was
dragged quite exhausted, ON board by
his comrades. as saas bsa g7
as."" Coil after coil, more than 200 fa-
thoms of the line went over, spinning
through the chocks with force that re-
turned in steam the water thrown on the
boats gunwale, and till with the speed
Of a cannon ball the great creature bored
its downward way. Three fakes remain
ed in the tub. . Cut!" cried the mate:
"cut quick, or we shall be carried DOWN.
Scarcely had the officer given utterance
to this command than the knife of the
boatswain was applied to the heated
strands; but the kissing line few with
tripled velosity through the smoking
wood, and jerked the blade from its ham
die, At the moment when the boat rose
on end, and the bows were half buried in
the surge, the whizzing chord -unexpect-
ed mercyl-lost its tension, and our frail
bark, almost filled with water, fell back
and righted to level keel. For an es-
cape SO miraculous every heart beat with
gratitude. Returning upward by compul-
sion, for the purpose of respiration, i'm
imense fish showed that, exhausted by his
sexertions and overpowered by his wounds,
life was almost at an end; but as if by the
final spasm of departing strength, or by
the wonderous impulse of his ascent, his
gigantic frame shot twenty feet above the
surface Of the sea. Before we had finish
ed bailing out our, sinking boat, he darted
away again with redoubled vigor. Sever