The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1874-06-25
WHALING,
Stranded Leviafhsn Captured I'm Raris
tan I3RV.

/ n stranded Levtafhan Captured In Raris
tan Bay
The fishing season has opened earlier
than usual this year at South Ainboy,
and the piseatory inhabitants are CON
| graduating themselves on so auspicious
a commencement as the capture of an
enormous whale. Last week Job Spain
saw, short distance from the shore,
what appeared to him to be q sloop bot
tom upward. The water was not more
than five feet deep, and the supposed
boat had grounded on an ovster-bed
While Spain was specializing as to the
probable fate of the crew, the object
began to move perceptibly, and several
Jets OF water were thrown into the air.
Job rushed to the house of Capt.
Roberts and surprised that mariner be-
yond measure by assuring him that
there was whale in the oyster-bed, A
single glance at the dark, glistenin0
mass, rising four feet out of the water,
assured the experienced captain that
the creature was indeed a leviathan of
large dimensions, hard aground. Arm
ing himself with gun, a hatchet, and
a eonsiderahle quantity of powder and
ball, he jumped into boat and started
upon one of the most remarkable fishing
excursions within the range of his ex-
perience. Arrived within a few yards
of the monster, he took steady aim
and planted ball under its fin. The
bullet sank beneath the skin and a Jet
OF blood spurted out, but for ali the
effect produced upon the whale the en-
terprising captain might as well have
fired into the trunk of a tree. How
ever, he tried a second shot and a third.
and continued to practice upon the crea-
ture until its sides looked like target
after German shooting festival. He
thinks he would have finally have slain
it had his ammunition and daylight
held out, but in the absence of any more
lead he seized his trusty hatchet and
prepared to renew the contest at close
quarters.
Again and again, that murderous blade
sank deep into the side of the monster,
and every stroke was followed by a re-
spOnsive spasm. 1t was warm work,
and though the captain has few equals
with oyster-tongs, after he had cut a
hole in the creatures side about four
teen inches long by eight wide and a
foot deep he was glad to rest. The
whale vas apparently as fresh as ever,
and showed no signs of going into his
final furry, though he evinced an over
desire to get off the oyster
bed.
Meanwhile Bloodgood, having heard
of the event, had not been idle He
had gone to Samuel Ney, the village
and made him blow up his
fire and manufacture a stout iron spear
ten feet in length. With this formida-
BILE weapon hot from the forge, he was
now seen approaching the shore accom-
panied by Ney. Capt. Roberts saw
them coming, and renewed his onset up
on the whale, enlarging the hole several
inches, but failing to kill the crea ure.
The blacksmith evinced an amount of
cool discernment in the face of danger
not unworthy of his French namesake
of martial renown. He directed Blood
good to spear the whale In the hole made |
by the captains hatchet The hint was
acted upon, and four feet of iron sank
into the whales blubber. The struggle |
was not long in doubt after that. With |
the skill of Arctic voyagers, the three |
men kept out of reach of the monster |
in his dying " furry" and in ten min
utes he was dead whale. Not all the |
rowboats in South Amboy could have |
towed him off the oyster-bed, but |
5teamtug fastened hawser to him and |
dragged linn ashore, where the urited |
efforts Of the inhabitants hauled him |
put of the water.
The whale was found to measure 484 |
feet in length, 8 feet through the body, |
and thirty feet in circumference. The |
hea I was 10 feet long, and the tail IA |
feet. The gills, from which the whale |
bone is produced, were 81 feet long. |
Before night it was all cut up and the |
blubber tried out. Much of the oil was |
lost, but it is estimated at least twenty |
barrels remain, which will realize about |
1850. The whalebone is worth 800. |
When the remains were being taken to |
the fields to be buried, two yoke of oxen |
were hardly able to drag the upper |
part of the head, and one yoke were !
iully employed in removing the snout.