The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1880-01-23
AN OLD wHALER's ACCOUNT.

To the Editor Of the Ne,os and Courier:
There are several kinds of whales. The
sperm whale has one blow.hole on the ton
of its head; teeth on the lower jaw with
sockets in upper jaw for teeth on lower Jaw
to Mt In. From ten to twenty barrels OF
almost pure oil can be taken from the head
alone. The fin back whale has large fin
on its back, and is one of the most danger.
Gus kind to attack. The humpback whale
has large hump like a camel on the upper
part of its back. The right whale has two
blow-holes on its head. Its eyes are Just
forward Of its fin it has no teeth; its mouth
and upper jaw are lined with layer after
layer OF bone with hair on the edges. 1t
eats its food BY suction. Its food is a kind
OF weed that nature has prepared for it.
1t does not eat fish, shrimps and things of
this kind, as L heard some people say. Its
lips are thrown down, and it passes through
the water with its mouth open while feed.
ing aud scoops this weed in and rejects that
part of it which it does not want. The age
of this whale canuot be told. They arc nneen
feet long when born. This is a male, and
should say between two and four years DID,
The female has two nipples on its stomach
1t nurses its young as mare would. 1
have seen whale nursing its young at sea-
The old whale lies on its side and the young
whale takes the nipple in the corner of its
mouth. 1t is weaued when it is three weeks
old. While it is young it is carried on the
fin of the old whale. Very often the young
whale has to be killed before you can cap
ture its mother. l have seen three boats
stove by an old whale while defending its
young. The ship Essen, that sailed from
New Bedford, Mass, in 1857, was sunk by
whale that had been harpooned. This
same whale has since been captured aud a
copper bolt taken from its head.
HOW TO KILL WHALE.
First, you must have boat sharp at each
end, with five good men, four to row, one to
steer. The one at tn, forward oar, Just be.
fore you get to the whale, must stand up
aud throw the harpoon. The harpoon is
part iron and part wood, with long
line attached to it. As soon as the harpoon
is thrown tho whale starts like the wind,
and at sea it always goes to the windward,
that is, in the winds eye, as a sailor would
say; you let your lire run out until it be-
gins to slacken, and then you pull up until
you get close enough to him to lance him
and kill him. The lance is something like
the harpoon, only little different at the
point. About two feet behind the fin on
the side is the place to throw the lance to
kill. AS soon as you have putthe lance
home you must "stern." Chat is what it is
called, d,) row backwa and keep away from
its tail, that in, right whale the sperm
you must look out for, the mouth and tail
both.
now TO CUT UP WHALE.
Run tackle from one mast to its fuke
(taiD and at the head you fasten strong
piece of wood and run q tackle from the
other mast. You cut off the blubber in
strips as you would take the bark from a
piece Of stick by turning it over and over;
the blubber is cut into pieces of about six
inches square and tried out with large brass
kettles. This whale (our whale) ought to
make about seventy barrels Of oil and eight
hundred pounds of bone.
THREE YEARS A WHALER.