Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1867-06-27
AN OLD WHAEER's YARN.

AN OLD WIsAEER'S YARN.
"Did like the life and if | had tn
time to i've over again would make tn
same choice p Well, Miss Waven, Its abou
this. It's Just the finest thing out, so lonl
as you have-no fiutterlngs here, and d
laid his hand on his broad chest "Bu
when mans ship ceases to be wife ant
child and all the world to him, it is anothe
thing altogether my advice to him is, het
better give up whaling. g-s1 ~
So spoke Capt. Harding, erst South Sci
whaler, now, these ten years. past, gentle
man of England, living at home at ease
Captain Harding is sitting in my brothel
Henry's drawing room after. Gunner anu
heavy davis sport among the turnlps,-the
Cantain commonly uses an immense double
barrelIed gun which, has In old times
brought down monkeys many. e,
Captain Harding is not after our received
notion of sailor; he is sufficiently broad
but much too tall with it; a palefaced
man with full white beard, he is rather
bleached and aged than bronzed by his
foreign experiences,-t ne looks
sixty,-also, instead of the sailors roll, he
has an erect military carriage, partly to be
accounted for by his five years service in
our local volunteers, of whom he is most
efficient officer; only occasionally he orders
the piping of all hands instead OF. the as
sembly, and all taut in lieu of dressing up.
at is not to say there is any choice In
the matter" continued Captain Harding,
"Let boy but have the sea feveron him,
not the sham thing, that month s coast
ing voyage will cure,-but the real thirst
for the sea, for foreign adventure, and he'd
L IL foy ri chDty Tr,tr
have made half man at home, now, how
ever"
"You are man and half" interposed
my brother, heartily. 9mc. ! y. 42ioa
s"In size YOU mean i? "and the captain
laughed enjoyably. "Well, my father was
in large way of business, but he had lit
the humdrum, millwheel life | must have
should go to sea, and / flatter myself l did
make good whaler,"
"Selfreliance is the best lesson in the
world for a boy" said Henry, sententiously.
alt is, it is. Jack and |, Mrs. Waven,
were turned out of the nest to make way
for second brood, and what way we have
made has been agvinst wind and tide..'s Z
"But there are very many dangers at.
tending whale fishing, are there not?" |
asked, =" sharks, and all sorts OF things y
eve got used to them, Miss Waven, we
Just got used to them. [ have seen men
sitting with bare legs over the gunwales OF
the boats, and shark come sheer up, and
make snap for them, times out of mind
He comes with a swift motion, as you have
seen a pike. Sharks don't often of inten-
ton attack man. When he is. about a
whale they'll occasionally takes neat piece
out of his leg by mistake for the whales
flank. In my thirty years experience
have not known many men killed by them
And in every way fatal accidents are less
frequent than you would imagine. A lot
of men about q whale just remind me of q
lot of bluebotte flies about a joint Of meat
You strike here and there and everywhere
as sharply and as fiercely as you like,--tht
chances are they'll all escape you. 1t il
precisely thus with the whales frantic
strokes Jack was less fortunate in this
respect than /. He lost two of his officers
In one-voyage.aa Parley,--you know Farley
of our town, Miss Waven ?-his brother
was one. The whale brought. down its tai
on the boat, and he was crushed to death
as you would crush gnat. The other fel
low lost his life two months after in much
the same way" SIC
"tNow when you set out ON a voyage,
Henry asked, what would be your par
ticular destination ?"
"Just where my Judgment took me
You see, / was differently situated to most
masters. | was allowed more discretionary
power. had, In fact, sort of rowing com
mission. My owners would say there is
your ship, Harding,-e we think,
IN her, that you'll require for four years
Now sail as soon as youlike, and let us hear
from you as often as you can Whatever
luck you have, good or i'll, don't scruple to
write,--we shall be glad to hear.'seT Then /
would be gone from three to four years ac.
cording to my degree of success. For the
months of our own summer we would
cruise in the Japan seas for the Antartie
summer In the Australian seas. For six
years, through coming home between
whites, entirely escaped winter" &
And how do you fnd the whales, Cap.
tain Harding !" inquired my sister. .ta1a
"My wife thinks you fish for them with
rod and line" laughed Henry, "and a
worm at the end" tuT fen..Ng
"We find them, Mrs. Waven, by their
spouting. With the first of daylight look
out is told off, and kept going, relieved at
due intervals, until night Sometimes we
go two months without even seeing a
whale. Then again, once killed eleven in
one day. But they were shoal whales, and
the whole eleven not worth so much as one
good-sized male whale. A fair sized male
whale is worth five hundred pounds and
some large Jones bring in as much as a
thousand. When you have secured large
whale, 1t saves great deal of trouble il
you can get it close up by the ship. This
is done by jawboning him,-work often
falling to my share" s'9a 'e. ~
Why to your share?" Mas -
because was always good in the wa
ter. You take rope suited to the pur-
pose, and make good running moose, as
you call it, in it. You stand with this
moose well advanced in your right hand so
as to avoid ENHANCEMENT your steersman
brings the boat Immediately over the spot
where the whale is gone down; your best
mantle man with the readiest eve and
most reliable nerve Stands, lance in hand.
prepared to pin any too curious shark: at
the right moment you leap into the water.
and diving, fasten the moose on the teeth
OF the whale. You know the laws of a
large whale are from sixteen to eighteen
feet IN length; the teeth are about six
inches long and foot apart You can get
u capital purchase on these, and the thing
is done in minute ,se 81
Rather you than me, though" said my
brother. 7.'.a z 81
The captain, like all truly brave men.
was modest. /" O." said he, naively. cali
you want is is to calculate before you go
down. q, Only say have to do thus. and
thus, and thus and when the thing is to be
unf trx-sn