The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1869-07-15

tain to the boat steerer, who alwas pulls
the bow oar. and uses the harpoon, after
which he changes places with the OIL
Ger at the steering oar. One more
stroke, my boys. Now give il to her.
But just AS he spoke, aud when l ex-
pccieu to fluid We were fast, | heard a
heavy plunge, and u thick shower of
spray descended on Us Us the boat shot
over the place where our anticipated
prey lay. .L.,.. So
1he whale had sounded, and was gone
far beyond the reach of harpoon. 'Starn
all !--staru hard!' said the captain, in u
tone OF tie most unmitigated disgust.
Peak your oars, boys.
So We peaked our oars, took n drink
of water, and had y blow of which l for
one was most certainly in want.
BY this time the mates boat was along
side us, aud I could see 10y the faces of
her crew that they were anything but
sorry ut our i'll luck. .@ ~
Aitera few minutes rest to get our
wind again, the skipper told us to look
out we'll for "A blow, the mate pulling
up to windward, while We remained
stationary. Presently our harpooher
sang out, by Jove, there she bio o ows,
pointing at the same time dead TO lee
ward.
That's him, by Jehosiphat" cried the
old man. Pull round boys-now then,
take it easy'
So we pulled quietly for about two
hundred yards, aud then, ut u word
from the old man, laid back to our
oars with all our hearts and souls. BY
this time the mate had seen what we
were after, aud his boat was turned in
pursuit of us. But we had Il long start,
and there was no chance OF their cut
ting US out.
After a few minutes of hard pulling,
once more the order stand up was Civ
ell, and directly after, Give it her" and
in an Instant the harpoon, driven by
the strong arms of the boat steerer, had
sheathcd its length in the giant ami
NAL.
'Starn! starn hard for your lives" "
shouted he, as the whales Il ukes flour
isheu in the air, and came down with
slap like the report Of sixty eight
pour der, seuding the water over us like
mad.
Peak your oars, lads quietly said
old Jael, when we had backed some
twenty yards astern; and then going
forward, he sent the boat steerer aft To
the steering oar. The whale, after one
or two more slaps with his tlukes, start
ed ahead, towing us SO rapidly that the
water foamed again, and making the
line sarge and crack round the logger
while the boat steerer was holding on to
it with all his might und main. Pres
emily the line began to slack, and we to
haul in upon it, the boat steerer coiling
it away carefully in tub in the stern
sheets purposely to receive it. Amy
one can understand how important it Is
that this part of the duty should bs we'll
performed, since bights Of the line rum
ming out of Il boat towed by y whale
would prove SO many shares for tn"
crews legs. For this reason, should II
be necessary to cut for Il whale, an AK Is
always applied near the bows.
Our whale continued sculIing away
nearly to wiudward for pretty close up
on two hours, by which time the bark
was courses down, and the mates boat
entirely out of sight. Fortunately, 1t
was about noon, so we had no fear of
darkness Attirst--that Is to say, before
the irons We're in-we had not spoken
above whisper; but directly we We're
fast, whisper, were changed into loud
calls aud orders were shouted. The
highest excitement prevailed among
the men, and sporting bets were freely
offered and taken us to the amount OF
barrels our prlze would yield. Sudden
is lie entirely disappeared, scudding
straight down at u rate which made the
score in the bows, through which the
lines run, aud the losgerhead smoke
again, although both were kept well
wetted Presently he ceased, aud for
some moments all was stationary aud
then he started OF IN Il direction nearly
opposite to that of hi, previous course.
by JehosIphat, boys, he'll tow us
along side SAID Jaci, with laugh
and 1t really seemed AS IT such would
be pretty nearly the case, for after an
almost uninterrupted tow OF all hour, We
could see the mates boat. A signal was
made to her by hoisling n frock on an
oar blade, aud we soou saw her head
turned towards us.
Little did we think that she would be
the means of saving our lives, but, as
my readers Will see, she was.
Another half hour passed, and the
whale was about fifty or sixty iathoms
ahead of Us moving more slowly than
before, aud the mates boat was about
one half mile from us, coming down
under sail and oars.
The captain had prepared his lances,
and we had begun what we hoped
would be our final haul up, when sud
denly, with a below like II bundled
balls. the infuriated monster headed
straight for the boat!
Look out, for Heavens sake look OUT
cried the captain, but it was too late;
half of us had backed, the rest, | imag
inc, pulled-the consequence was, the
boat turned broadside on, and in less
time than it takes to write, with an aw-
ful smash the boat was Knocked into
pieces, and the whole OF US precipitated
into the water.
How far was thrown, or how far un
der water went, know not but
when at last found myself on the sur
face, surrounded with oars and debris Of
the boat, | saw the old man and three
of the crew floating near me. The 9TH
er two hands must, l fancy, have been
stunned, as we never saw them
again.
.Jehosiphat! exclaimed the old man.
What do you think Of that? I'm
darned it L was ever served such Il
trick afore.'
4 hope quoth I, 'he won't pay us
another visit. But there's part OF the
boat had we not better get to it, and
hang on till the mate picks us up?
Il guess you're about right, replied
.Jael, so we at once SWAIN to what proved
to he the remains of the stern sheets.
The mates boat soon picked us ur. and
as they had seen that something was