The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1861-01-17

one being taken in the Pacific which had been
struck seven years before in the Atlantic, with
the irons and ships name still in him. ! was
acquainted with a young chap, whose ships boats
had struck one off Cape Horn, got capsized, and
he was Two hours in the water on an oar, the
other boats chasing and capturing the whale. l
was caIsizeG by i small one, = little south Of the
line, near the Friendly Islands. The bOatsteerer
had fastened TO the calf. which had come up at
the head Of the boat, in a rOughish sea, unknown
u the officer OF crew, and with no one 10 sing out
stern, We lay over the calf a few seconds, when
the whale came and stove "A hole as large as q
bucket under my seat at the bow car. Most of
the men and bOatsteerer swan 70 another boat,
one an Italian, getting tangled in the line, was
taken down q fathOm or 30. and showed the line
of Seeing that the boat must fill, l took hold
OF the gunnel OF side. and let myself down in the
water, when the whale came Il second time, and
hosting it on her head, completely out of the
water, caIslZed US, catching a young man who
could not swim, by the name Of Murray. from
Troy, y. Y, underneath. By great e~xertions |
succeeded in showing clear of the boat. No one
was hurt. The boat was badly smashed. and We
lost 300 fathoms OF line. getting no whales, be-
cause there was but one boat near 10 pick Us up
The only other time | was ever overheard. was
in Margarita bay, Lower California, where ships
90 between seasons or in the winter time, (from
Decembe TO March, when they cannot 20 north.
These are 4 small, iron-gray, spotted whale, with
spots as large as a mans hand, making but forty
or fifty barrels, and called by various names, such
as California gray, deyil-tsh, muscle-diGgers,
scamper-downs, &c. They come down from the
Arctic IN December, along the coast, into the bay
and the gulph, 70 calye in shOal water. and 90
back again the LIST of March. We chase only
cows with small calves on their backs, which have
u breathe so often, that the whale cannot stay
under long, or get along very fast. We had
chased one three hours, the sweat falling off Of
US, and had got him along the shore in two or
three fathOms water, when the boatsteerer struck,
and our boat going swift, and We tired out, were
unable 10 stern off clear. They are probably the
worst whale 10 fight III the world, and she came
at the boat, the officer, bOatsteerer and men,
Except an old m-an-o'-war-man named Brown,
and mysel0 swimming off to another boat. The
whale came several times, breaking oars and pad
dies with her head and fms, but could not inlure
the boat much, as the water was not deep enough
for her 10 90 down and use her fukes, in which
case she would have smashed Us 70 pieces. See
ing the men had left the boat, | jumped out also,
and swan off two or three rods, but in the excite
mcnt had taken the wrong direction for the other
boats, and found by the boiling water, that the
whale was coming up under me. The officers and
men from the boats were singing out for me 70
take care of myself. One of them, a 2nd mate,
named Welles, was next season killed by a whale in
the same bay. He had been iaucing a whale, lost his
balance, and fell out of the boat, the whale saw him,
and the water being deep enough to use her tukes,
swept him down, and he was never seen after. The
COW came up until my feet rested on the calf, and
then settled again to get a better chance, as the calf
was in the way of her striking, and | swan back for
the old boat. | was 80 exhausted | could not get in,
and old Brown helped me up. As | was crawling
over the gunWale, the whale, which bad followed me,
came again at the boat, knocking him out and draw
ing blood on his nose, grazing him with his Inns. l
helpei him in, and the whale came again ten or twelve
times, when, the calf wandering of, the whale follow
ell. She had taken all the line except one coil at the
bottom Of the tub, and seeing II straighten, | took
two turns around the loggerhead and let old Brown
hold on. whilst with a broken piece OF an oar | pre-
pared TO hold the boat If the whale stopped. OF We
went sailing across the bay, without officer, boat
steerer or men, hatless and Oarless, the other boats in
CHASE. The calf soon stopped, and | held the boat
until the others overlook US, took the line in their
boat and captured the whale. Another of our boats
was stove before striking the whale, knocking the
officer (who was part Indian from Connecticut) seve-
raj feet in the air, he singing out to his men TO stern
as he was going up and coming down. Right whales
fight with their fukes. sometimes standing on their
head, with their fukes ten or fifteen feet out Of water,
and sweeping right and left like a whip-lash; but
sperm whales use their head most, striking with their
fukes only square up ami down. The sperm whale
has no whalehone in its head, but from 20 to ~ bar
rels of oil are dipped out Of the case.
Sperm whales are not so large as right whales or
bow heads, the largest sperm making but 100 barrels,
whilst right whales sometimes make 25O barrels each.
Captain Parsons, Of New London, took two which
made 500 barrels. The male of sperm, and the cow
of right whales, are much the largest. The value OF
sperm is most. being from $40 TO $50 per barrel, but
the bone of the right whale. and the greater number
taken, makes northern whaling of most account.
Sperm whales have but one spout. low and bushy,
with much white water, whilst right whales have two
spout-holes. and spout high, the water falling over
each side like "A rainbow. y whales spout can be
seen by the naked eye from the masthead, three or
four miles, and one and-a-half miles from off deck.
Their spOut-hOles are closed by Il black skin valve, as /
large as elephants ears, which are forced up by the
water and fall back again, closing the orifce Their
ears are no larger than 4 pipe-stem, passing n foot or
50 through the blubber, and charging like "A horn as
it approaches the brain. Their sense Of hearing is
acute, but that Of seeing is dull. The outside of the
whale is n smooth, glossy. black or brownish skin,
soft, and about half an inch thick. fastened on to the
blubber, which Is from one to two feet thick, coarse
grained, and surrounding the entire body of the
whale.
When the whale is brought alongside he is fasten-
cd, by a chain to his fukcs and rope 10 his head, and
his head, bone, tongue and throat, are first cut off
and hove in. The manner of doing this is by fasten-
ing il to a large iron hook, connected with a heavy
rope pennant TWO or three inches through, passing up
through "A block on the main yard, perpendicular
over the whale, then going forward 10 the windiass
which heayes up the anchors, &c. The hook is fas-
tened 10 a part Of the whale, and y or 10 men heave
the windlass, and hoist it over the ships side. The
officers have a little staging over the ships side on
which TO stand, and with long-handled spadec, cut off
the blubber in blanket pieces some four or five feet
wide, the men heaying AT the same time, and rolling
over the whale as they cut. When it gets up TO the
main yard, n hole i cut in the blubber parallel with
the deck, and another hook fastened in to hold it and
heaye upon, whilst the piece i cut off two or three
feet above, swung in over the deck, and down into the
blu5her-roOm, where it i cut up i=to small pieces, n
foot or two long. and six eight inches wide. TO 60
through a mincing machine this process is cOn;inu-
cd until the whale i all in. some six or eight blanket
pieces. occupying two or three hours. The miucing
machine Is turned by a crank. like a fanning-mill.
the knife cutting it into thin slices one-eighth # an
inch thick. leaving the bottom slightly connected for
the ,iece To hold together. It Is then pitched into
two try pots. holding three or four barrels each. set
in brick on deck, with arches underneath. The first
fire j. built with wood, hut after the first pot comes
of. the scrars in the bottom are thrown out. and
make the FIRE. burning like finder. and when the
whale - tried out, there are usually several bar
barrels Of scraps left. From the light ciuders, OF
ashes, \ strong lye i made, winch cleans the deck
and washes all the clothes, 80 that l whale tries itself
out and cleans up everything. One hundred barrels
IL - - 80. E HH-|