Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1875-10-20

three years old, six feet high, and
strong as an oak tree.
He was the favorite on the ship
and no wonder. He was tender
and gentle, perhaps because he
was strong; he was peaceful be-
cause he was powerful. And the
soft answer that turneth away
wrath, with the gentle hand to
soothe a sufferer, is often needed
in the whale fisheries. Most OF the
foremost hands of the Gazelle were
rough Portuguese lads, from Western
Islands, on their first voyage. They
were treated with coarse contempt
by few American seamen and by
the officers. The only "white man"
as the Yankee sailor loves to
call himself-who was kind and
patient with the rude boys was
"Chips;" and he was never tired
of showing or teaching them some
thing he knew. He was one OF
those unselflsh fellows who do not
believe in keeping knowledge to
themselves. He had never been
to sea before but during the first
two years of his voyage, he had
attended to so many things besides
his own easy work that he was
looked on as one of the best and
coolest whalemen aboard. Although
exempt from standing watch, he
had insisted on doing so from the
first day out. At night, if the
weather was good, he would sit on
the main hatch, in the centre Of Il
ring of Portuguese lads, and with
wonderful patience teach them to
make spices and knots, and to
speak English. De never tired of
doing this or any other kindly
thing for them. In the daytime,
if there were work for him at his
trade, he had them round him, ex-
planning everything as he sawed or
planed, just as though he wished
to make them as good carpenters
as he was himself.
On Sunday, when every one
brought their letters and pictures
on deck, Chips showed the only
sign of isolation he ever gave. He
was the only one on board-except
myself-who had neither pictures
nor letters-neither face nor word
to remind him of home. When
tie ship touched at some port with
q post-ofice, and every one else
ran for his letters, Chips remained
on board-he knew there was none
for him. In one of the boys al
buns be found tie picture of an
old, white-haired woman-the lads
mother-and every Sunday he
asked for that album, and always
gave it back when lie turned to
that picture.
The Gazelle had been cruising
for three months a few hundred
miles off the coast of Western
Australia-the great penal colony of
England-and during that time had
not fallen in with a single sperm
whale. One raw afternoon, with
harsh breeze and rising sea, at last
we heard the long, sing-song cry
from the masthead:
Gle blows! three-blowsp
Four times, at regular intervals
Of about forty seconds, the cry was
repeated, and then we knew it was
a sperm whale. W
1t was FIVE in the evening when
the first cry was heard, and the
sun went down at half-past six with
scarcely five minutes of twilight.
AS rule on board American
whalers, when whales are seen late
in the evening, the boats are not
lowered into the water unless the
course Of the whales and the speed
Of their travel is carefully noted,
When son a course" a school of
sperm will move at the rate of
about six miles an hour; when
''feeding" they keep on the same
aground" not moving more than a
few miles a day. When seen late
in the evening, the ship is steered
during the night according to the
observations, and often finds the
school in the morning, when the
boats are at once sent down.
This course was not followed on
the evening in question. 1t was
not a school we saw, but a "lone
whaley and one of extraordinary
size. The night promised Go be a