The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1881-03-11
DRAWING LOTS FOR LIFE.

until the 2Oth of November 1919 On the
morning of that day. the ship being latitude
40 min. south, longitude 119 deg. west,
whales were discovered, and all three boats
were lowered in pursuit. The ship was
brought to the wind and lay with her main-
topsail hove aback, awaiting the issue of the
contest. The mates boat soon struck a
whale, but a blow of his tail opening a bad
hole in the boat they were obliged TO cut
from him and devote their attention to keep /
iug afioat. By stufing jackets into the
hole and keeping one man constantly bailing
they were enabled to check the flow Of wa
ter and reach the ship in safety. In the
meantime the Captains and second mates
boats had fastened 70 another whale, and the
mate, heading the ship Tor them, set about
oveIhaUing his boat preparatory to lowering .
it again. While doing this he observed a /
large sperm whale break water about twenty 4
rods from the ship. After lying there a few /
moments he disappeared, but Immediately /
came up again about ships length of, and 4
made directly for the vessel, going at We /
locity of about three miles an hour. The /
Essex was advancing at about the same rate
Of speed Scarcely had the mate ordered
the boy az the helm 70 put it hard up, when
struck the ship with his head Just forward of
the forechains. "The ship says the mate,
owen Chase, from whose account this is con-
densed, brought up as suddenly and yio-
lently as if she had struck rock, and trem-
bled for a few seconds like a leaf" The
whale passed under the vessel, scraping her
/ keel a he went, came up on the leeward
side of her, and lay on the surface of the
! water, apparently stunned, for about mo-
ment He then started suddenly of to lee
ward Mr.. Chase immediately had the
! pumps rigeed and set going. At this time
( the vessel was beginning to settle by the
head. and the whale, about 100 yards OF,
was thrashing the water violently with his
{ tail and opening and closing his Jaws with
/ great fury.
Signals had been set for the return Of the
other boats, for the ship had already settled
quite rapidly, and Mr Chase had given her
. up as lost. Il however" writes he, ''ordeT-
ed the pumps to be kept constantly 20 ng,
and endeavored to collect my thoughts for
the occasion. ! turned to tie boats, two Of
which we then had with the ship. with the
intention Of clearing them away, and getting
al. things ready to embark i'm them if there
should be no OtI.er resource left, and while
my attention was thus engaged FOR moment
l was aroused with the cry of a man at the
hatchway, Here he is-he is making for Us
again l turned around and saw him about
100 rods directly ahead OF US, coming down
apparently with twice as much speed, and to
me at that moment it appeared with tenfold
fury and vengeance in his aspect
\ line OF foam about a rod in width, made
with his tai, which he continually thrashed
) from side to side, marked his un-cOming -
Mr. Chase hoped by putting the helm har1-
up the vessel might cross the line at the
whales approach, and the second shock be
: avoided, and instantly gave orders to that et-
feet but scarcely had the course of the ship
already somewhat water-Iogged probably
| been changed a single point, when the
head OF the whale crashed into her bows,
staving them completely in directly under
the cat-head.
The speed Of the whale at this time was
about six miles an hour the Essex was NOV
ing at about oue-half that rate. After the
second assault the whale passed under the
ship, as before, and out OF sight 20 leeward.
2 Whatever was to De done now must be done
with the utmost dispatch. They were IN
mid ocean, more than 1000 miles from the
t nearest land, their ship rapidly settling be
meath them, and nothing TO save them out
= frail open boats, each OF which must OF ne
/ cessity be heavily loaded. The lashings OF
= the spare boat were cut, and she was carried
p from the quarterback to the waist; two
1 quadrants, two practical nayieators and the
0 captains and mates trunks had been hur
riedly secured from below by the steward
j and the mate had saved the two binnacl,
.z1ar E..1f
t her beam ends, the boat into which tie arti
5 cles had been placed, was launched. No
: more thaa ten minutes had elapsed since tn,
= whale first attacked the ship, and now sh,
q lay full Of water, her deck scarcely abov,
q the surface Of the waves, and her crew abrOa,
5 on the ocean.
?. As the captain and second mate came ul
q in their boats, tEeIr amazement and hOTrU
: upon seeing the condition of their late hon
cannot be described. BY order OF Captain
Pollard, the masts were cut away and tn
d decks scuttled, and about COO pounds o
Il bread, some 200 gallons Of water, a musket
d a small canister of powder, two files, tw
! rasps, two pounds of boat nails and som
J turtle were secured. Each boat was ftte,
e with two masts and flying jib, and tw
sprit-sails constructed for each out of Tn
lighter CANVAS of the ship. The boats wer
q also strengthened and built up about si
e inches above the gunwaes as an additional
e measure for safety. These preparations oc
cupied the larger portion Of three days.
The ship was now rapidly breaking uT
and the captain called council of the OH
GERS to determine what should be done. b
! an observation taken at noon, November q
they were in latitude 0 deg. Is min. mort
Z. longitude 120 deg. west. The Bearest Ian
5 was the Marquesss Islands, next to them tn
Society Islands, but at this time the Pacih
! was hut little explored, ard these island
: were sresumably inhabited by savages tha
!, whom the very elements were more kind asa
!. hospitabe. The final conclusion thes wa
to make for the coast of Chill or Peru Th
4 men were accordingly apportioned anon
It the boats. The mates boat was the veal
/ est, having been stove several times and b,
y ing old and patched, and was assigned siS
i while the other two carried seven each.
/ The record OF the passage is fall of melaI
/ choly interest, but too long for insertio
: here. 1t tells at length how, in spite of Ill
r utmost care, PORTION of their nliserabl
u pittance OF bread Was damaged by I'll
= breaking of heavy seas into their boats. ho'
4 their boats were damaged and leaking by I'll
e repeated blows of the water. On the nigl
e of November % Captain Pollayd's boat wa
attacked by some kind of fish and nearl
/ wrecked Thirst-ronsuntinc ravio1 tl,ir,