St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1864-07-07
A NIGHT ADVENTURE AT SEA.

g A NIGHT ADVENTURE AT SEA, II
A short time since, happened to be in
Valparaiso, where made the acquaintance
Of IN American, one Of the officers Of the
United States whaling ship Nantucket,
which had run in from her fishing grounds
IN the Pacific, TO obtain : supply Of water
and fresh provisions; and one day, in talk.
ing over tho different events Of the cruise,
which had lasted two years, he narrated
the following curious incident which had
befallen them.
; One morning at daybreak, when lying
becalmed, they found themselves in the
midst Of shoal Of sperm whales: and all
four Of the boats were speedily lowered
and chase given. Two Of them proved
successful. aud by the afternoon, had re-
turned to the ship, towing their captured
prey but the others were not so f>ltunate.
Having by come blunder missed their first
chance, it WAS not until after an arduous
chase Of many hours that their leading
boat at last succeeded in overtaking and
making fast to the whale. A long and
desperate struggle ensued, the second crew
quickly coming to the assistance of the
first but line after line from both was ex-
pended by the animal which proved to be
of the largest size. and of immense strength
and tenacity, Of life. Il tried every means
to escape; sopctimes ''sounding." that is,
descending perpendicularly to vast depth
into the recesses Of the ocean, until the
enormous pressure Of the superintendent
water was more than even its huge strength
could bear, and it was forced to return to
the surface, along which il would then
rush with such velocity, dragging both
boats after it, that the water. divided by
the sharp bows, cu,led high in two solid
walls on either hand. At length, however,
its speed began to slacken, and the whale.
men, anxious to secure their prize before
darkness Set in, advanced to finish him,
and four more chances were rapidly hurled
into the body of the monster, which, ap-
parently exhausted by its preceding efforts
lay passive. ON the water. No sooner,
however. had the last steel peaetrated,
than, as if the stimulus had reused anew
all its vital energies, it hurled itself half
out of the water, and swinging its ponder
Gus lukes high up in the air, struck two
tremendous blows in quick succession, one
Of which fell upon the foremost sboat, cut
ting it completely in two, and scattering
its occupants lone Of whom had his thigh
broken) in all directions. After doing
this mischief, it again sounded and, hast
lily picking up their comp anions, aud plac-
ing the wounded man in the bottom of the
boat, the rest, undauuted, impatiently
awaited the coming up Of the animal to
breathe. But they waited in vain; their
prey had escaped them. In his last des
perate effort 10 free himself, he had (so
was told, at least) dived 20 deeply, that,
with his strength exhausted. he was una.
BILE again to rise, and dying below, sank
still DEEPER" The disappointed whalers
sat in silence, watching their lines disap-
pearing fathom after fathom, until their
last yard was gone, when the bowman, who
held his tomahawk uplifted ready to strike.
was compelled to let it fall and sever the
rope, lest the weight Of the descending
body should drag the boats down with it
into the abyss. f.. 49,. .@. >5..
Wearied with their long day Of fruitless
toll, and depressed at their ill-fortune,
the men prepared to return t, their ship,
which had long before sunk beneath the
horizon for, being calm. she could not
make sail to follow them. After pulling
for some hours, however, they felt slight
b, ,eeze spring up, which they knew would
bring her down and, after awhile. rock
ct ascending showed her position and
this signal was repeated every half hour,
until the vessel was within E few miles.
They had been resting on their oars for
some time, but had once more resumed
them upon noticing that tho breeze was dy-
ing away, and their ship likely to be again
becalmed, when all at once sound struck
upon their ears, which made each man
pause in astonishment. It WAS 4 gr.an,
or rather hoarse, heavy, smothered kind
of moan, which seemed to be borne to them
from across the waters but whether from
near at hand, or far away they could not
tell. "~".. .:.>t. ,1..2 .,..-,.
The men stood up in their boat and lis.
tened: The night was cloudy and dark !;
but the line between sea and sky was suffi-
ciently distinct to show to their praeticed
vision the form of their own vessel, which
was only three miles away; but no. sail
was visible on thst part Of the horizon
from whence the sounds appeared to come.
Thinking it possible, however, that some
sbipwrecked boats crew might be in their
neighborhood, they joined together in !.
shout; but there was no response audible.
All at once, however, some flashes Of light
cleaned across the distant darkness, and .
blush glare shone out for minute Or two,
dickered, and disappeared. At the same