Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1870-12-22
The Hardsliips OF Whaling.

Champion, of EdgartowIl, dated IN "
! Passage, Oct. -, gives the following
account Of the hardships ofwhaling;'
We made and entered the ice ON the
| 18th day OF May, about forty miles
south of Cape Navarin, weather thick
and showing, on the Goth the weather
cleared up, showing about G dozen
ships in the ice. The weather having
every appearance of gale, l worked
out of the ice, and soon found myself
surrounded by fifty ships. Saw but
/ one whale In the ice. On the 23d,
weather pleasant, two or three ships
worked q short way in the ice, the next
day the feet commenced following, and
in few hours fifty ships We're on race
to Cape Thaddeus. 1t was oak
against ice, and like all heavy moving
/ bodies which come III collision. 1.-The
/ weakest structure always givsway;" so
with the ships, they all came out more
or less damaged in copper and sheath
/ ing; the Champion four days ahead to
Cape Thaddeus, and in clear water. en-
! fortunately, for the FIRST time since
whaling, there were no whales On the
| 18th OF June we lowered for a whale GO
ing quick into the ice, Cape Agchen
! bearing s. w. 90 miles, and before get
/ ting the boats clear the ice packed
around us.
From that time until the Goth, so
close and heavy WAS the ice packed
around us, that We found it impossible
to move the ship. With our sails furled,
we drifted with the ice about II miles
per day toward Cape Agchen, the ship
living as quiet aus in n dock; but on the
22d, when close under the Cape, gale
set in from the southwark, producing
heavy swell and causing the ship to
strike heavily against the ice. We saw
ed our rudder by hooking onr blubber
| hooks to it and heaving them well taut
with hawsers to our quarters. Had the
current not taken an easterly shore
course, the ship must have gone on
shore. The wind blowing on shore,
which was distant less than half n mile,
five to six fathoms of water under us,
ship rolling and pounding heavily
against the ice, weather so thick we
could not see fifty yards, made it rather
an anxious time. For thirty-six hours
l was expecting some sharp-pointed
rock would crash through her sides. On
the oath, finding only four and halt faith
oms water, little current, with the larger
pieces of ice aground, we let go an
anchor and held her to large foe of
ice. Here we broke our sampson post
off in the deck. On the morning Of the
25th the weather cleared up, showing
our position to be at the head of a
small bay about fifteen miles east of
Cape Agchen Here for two days we
lay becalmed and ice-bound. On the
second day the ice lcosened when we
took our anchor, and by eighteen hours
hard work succeeded in hedging about
four miles 'seaward; breeze then
springing up from off shore, we spread
sail and passed into clear water.
We spent snort time in the straits,
but saw nothing of the bowhead kind
Passed into the Arctic July -, and
found most of the feet catching walrus;
about dozen ships Chis one among
the number) went cruising along the
northern ice for bowheads. After pros
pecting from Icy Cape to near Herald
Isle, and seeing bot whale, | returned
to the walrus feet The first ship
saw was the Vineyard with 175 walrus.
Since then / have not seen or heard
from her This walrusing is quite
new business, and ships which have
engaged in It the previous season and
came up prepared were very successful.
While at il, we drove business as hard
as the best of them, but soon became
convinced that the ships company
(taken collectively were much inferior
to many others; they could not
endure the cold and exposure ex-
pected of them / have seen boats
crews that were properly rugged kill and
strip boat-load of walrus in the same
length of time another (not rigged)
would be in killing one and hauling him
on the ice. We took some 400, making
about go barrels. About August 9Th
all the ships went Ill pursuit OF bow
head (most Of them to Point Barrows).
When off the Sea Horse Islands We saw
a few whales working to the westward,
lust enough to detain us; we took two,
making 900 barrels; the weather cold
and gale all the time. La September
| worked up about seventy miles from
Point Barrow; awquite show Of small
whales in the sea; took four which made
about 100 barrels. AS that was a far
sample, and not having the right boys
to whale in that ice, where the ther
mometer stood only 8above zero, went
back to the westward. Ships that had
from forty to fifty men (clad in skins),
and officers accustomed to that particu
lar kind Of whaling, did well. La going
back the fourth mate struck whale
which made about 70 barrels.
From the 18th OF September to the
4th of October We saw good chance
to get oil, had the weather been good,
and a well hardy crew. We could not
cut and whale the same time. We took
four large whales which would have
made 500 barrels OF oil, had we had