The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1873-06-07

HOnt IllGA NYDHTrH nnTIIRrlU a.. ~.
22d Of August. q shcir indeseribsble ,av ~
they discovered a shin n tbe d;ss.sses,.s ~
They made signal to her tbe sig,,al wss
soon answered. and h 4 shoyt t;ma ,hsv
were on the deck Of the shin Nan,aeIe,
Of Nantucket, Captain Gibbs who elo,hed
and fed them. and e,xtendea u .ban, .s,.'a n
every way the greatest oossible bosn;,al;,r
The next day Captain Gibbs went 10 III
still floating wreck Of the Alexandar n
try to procure something from her m :
the sea was rough and the aatempt dan
gerous, he abandoned the proiect
The Honolulu F,3ead ~ Nav 1osa
stated that about FIVE months subseonept
to the catastrophe the same whale was
taken by the Rebecca Sims 81 New Red.
ford. Two harpoons were discovered q
him marked tAnn Alexander Tbe
whales head was found seriouslv ;n;ured
and contained pieces Of the shin : ti,nbers
He had lost his wildness and feroc;tv be.
ing very much diseased bnt unon ba;no
taken yielded seventy or eighty barrels ~
oil. Doubtless many instances Of destrpe.
tion Of ships BY whales have occurred
where none have lived 10 tell The tsle ana
many GOOD shin mt dou,n u ..,s:-s;.',, ~,
or as having 'sfonndered at sea and never
heard from, may have met her fate n.
this manner. A blow that would heat 4,
the stout oaken ribs of a shin would hardly
give bull whale the headache.
The instances of their crushing boat.
between their ponderous laws are nnmer.
Gus and well authenticated. / have seen
the remains of boat that had been bitten
in two as cleanly and cleyerly as II 4 had
been sawed from gunwale 10 gunwolo
A schoolmate Of mine--a wild youth
named Augustus Hall, whom the Incident
made religious-was caught in the laws
Of a sperm whale, and escaped by q miracle
from almost certain death. In d letter 10
his mother he said: "Four weeks ago 7
was very seriously hurt hy whale. The
whale stove three of our boats and got me
in his jaw, knocked about one-half the
scalp off my head, but did not affect INV
skull. He stuck two teeth in nv breast.
and one in each thigh-one wound was
six inches long and two inches deep. and
he went off with four irons fastened n
him.
IL suppose, dear mother, this was one Of
the narrowest escapes from death ever
known, and SO little hurt not bone
broken further on in his letter with
the pride of his profession he adds. ssbut i
assure you / had rather be fast to a whale
than anywhere else" and 1--WE have cot
fifteen whales to the waist boat which /
had the pleasure of steering. and I have
killed seven with my irons
The whale uses its fukes as well as his
head or his jaws in the destruction Of IL
adversaries and makes athe deem to boil
like pot when be agitates them in rage.
In attacking boat with his mouth he
comes up beneath it and seizing il trans.
versely crushes it like the mere egg she'll
tits with its powerful jaw. When attacked
the motions Of the sperm whale are as
quick as thought. An observer says he
has seen them lying motionless fifty feet
of, and in an instant swing their huge
fiukes under boat and with one blow
send it to splinters and men and all ten
feet into the air. Such are the animal
characteristics of this ''inoffensive animal
Of Goldsmith, who is also mistaken in saw
ing that whales have no teeth and live on
regard 70 me right whales, is certainly
wrong IN poth particulars with regard 10