The Republican journal., 1869-06-24
MY ADVENTURE WITH A WHALE.

1 taste Ol IL, ana must canululE confess IL was
| sufficient TO last me for my life. 1t happened
/ thus -
! had been left at Saint Helena to superin
tend the condcmning Of some slavers captur-
ed bv II NJ s. c. of which | was senior
midshipman, in the Mozambique Channel,
with orders to take passage to the Cape OF
Good Hope in the first vessel touching at the
Island and bound there. As luck would have
it, an American whaler, the Kate, OF New
Bedford, Mass put in for water and stores !;
and. finding from her master, a long, slab
sided, quaint-looking fellow, that he was ell
route for Table Bay for orders, concluded TO
90 with him.
All arrangements having been made, en-
barlled one evening, and IN few moments
the Kate was under all sail, and rapidly leav-
inc the roads.
But | must introduce Capt. Jael White to
my readers. He was man Of some six feet
two inches high, very sparely built, but show
| ING an immense amount Of strength. His
principal glory seemed to be in dressing in a
long-tailed black cloth coat, ditto pants q very
dirty shirt and q sslong- faced hat, which had
once been white, but now was of a dusky
gray Strongly addicted to tobacco and hard
swearing, he looked as unlike sailor as can
/ be imagined but a better practical seaman
never came across. He was much liked by
his crew. for, although bit OF tartar, yet
he was so successful a whaler, that the men
took his treatment i'll good part. Like most
of his breed he was a capital hand at ''yarn-
| ing' (sgamming,' whalers call iD, and it
was due to some Of the adventures he related
to me- that | consented to take an oar in his
boat the first ''spout'' we were lucky enough
| to see.
! We had been out some ten days, and had
got well to the southward, when one morn
ing, lust after breakfast. as Capt. .Iael and |
We're having Il pipe and q glass of beer on the
quarter deck, and he had been amusing me
with some of his experiences. shout was
heard from the crows-neSt which changed
| the attitudes with which we We're lounging
about, from extreme idlencs, to intense eX-
citcment.
There she blo-o-wS!'' sounded from the
| lookout man.
| Where awav?" screamed the skipper,
pitching his pipe overheard, and performing
u strange kind Of war-dancc.
Broad on the lee-bow, sir" was the reply.
| ''-\ll right. Jump aft, boys > said the old
man. Square in the atteryards, up with the
helm: 5000, steady, square away the the
tgallansails off her and haul the mainsail
up and, taking his spyglass in his hand, he
boltcd up the rigging to have look for HIM
self
The men were running about like madmen,
and jumped upon the literail to get bet
ter view but all that could make out was a
few black speckS upon the white crests of the
waves, and from which occasionally light
cloud of spray, about seven or eight feet high,
| was thrown.
This was the ''spout," but an ineXperienc-
ed eye would have had great difficulty in dis
ccrning it from the waves, which were crest
| ,l, "A o11I
The whales were going very slowly, and the
bark was rapidly run to within half a mile OF
them, when suddenly saw a vast black OBJ
ioct give a flourish and disappear, followed
| by several others.
'"There goes llukesn' beloved half score
of voices.
l ''Back the mainyard,' screamed the skip
per. land get the lines in the boat"
These orders are instantly executed, and
directly the Kate had lost her way, the boats
were swung out, and the order CLOVER away
given. Down went the boats and over the
side and into them swarmed the boats crews
| taking the second bow-oar in the ''old
mans boat, while he took the steer-oar and
we pushed off, closely followed by the other
boat in charge of the first mate.
"Therc." cried the skipper, 'there he lays
like q log. close toQhat meant nearly a mile
of') Now give way, my bully hoys-do
stretch out, my dear fellows. A pint Of rum
each if we only fasten ON to him. That's the
stroke. hurrah. There she jumps! Drive
her over it, boys-our chance, by Jovem and
so he kept on encouraging US, although we
were pulling as if for lite, and sending the
light boat through the water like lightning.
| looked over my shoulder at last and saw the
monster like rock a couple ofhundred yards
off. The mates boat was about the same dis
| every nerve to come to us
''Now then, stand up.n cried the captain to
the boat steerer, who always pulls the bow
oar, and uses the harpoOn, after which he
changes places with the officer at the steerin @
oar. ''One more stroke, my boys. Now give
il to her" But just as he spoke, and when
expected to find we We're FAST heard a heavy
plunge, and thick shower of spray descend
ed on US as the boat shot over the place where
our anticipated prey lay.
The whale had sounded, and was gone far
beyond the reach of harpoon, and ''Stam all !
-stam hardr' said the captain, in tone of
the most unmitigated disgust. 'Peak your
oars, boys" SO we peaked our oars took a
drink of water, and had blow, of which l
for one was most certainly in want.
BY this time the mates boat was alongside
us, and could see by the faces of her crew
that they were anything but sorry at our ILL
luck.
After q few minutes rest to get our wind
again, the skipper told us to look out well for
''a blow and mate pulling up to windward,
while we remained stationary. Presently our
harpooner sang out, 'By Jove, there she
blo-o-ows!'' pointing at the same time dead
to lecward.
''That's him, by Je-hosphat % cried the old
man. Pull round, boys-now then, take it
easy"' So we pulled quietly for about two
hundred yards, and then, at word from him,
''laid back to our oars with all our hearts
and souls. BY this time the mate had seen
what we We're after, and his boat was turned
in pursuit of us. But we had long start,
and there was no chance Of their ''cutting us
out" After a few minutes of this hard pull
ing, once more the order ''Stand up!o was
given, and directly after, "Give it hert' and
in an instant the harpoon, driven by the strong
arms of the boat-steerer, had sheathed its
length in the giant animal.