The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1881-10-21
Nantucket Stories.


About the year 1918, the "Essex,"
Pollard, master, was cruising for whales
in the equatorial regions Of the Pacific
ocean west of South America. One day
the vessel encountered one or two
whales, or q whale with her young one.
A large animal STAYED in two Of the
boats. The other boats, distance of,
saw the men struggling in the water.
Captain Pollard sailed his vessel to res
cue them. The whale retreated to the
distance OF half o mile and then came
with great velocity for the vessel, strik
ing her amidships with his head and
starting leak instantly. The infuriated
animal, acting evidently with malice
aforethought," retreated twice and re-
peated the blows. The third time it
crushed in the whole side Of the vessel,
which sank instantly. The mon went
into two boats. They parted in mid
ocean, in the Pacific, near the equator
One was never heard of again the
other, with Captain Pollard on board,
headed for South America. They were
eighty days in this open boat.
While in this forlorn condition, watch
ing every day and hour for sail, they
were struck one day by bill fish, o
variety of the sword-fish. The blow
started plank near the keel of the boat.
They took off their jackets, stuffed
them into tho hole to stop tho leak, and
began to bale out the boat. They had
an ak, and managed to find two or three
nails. With these they set to work to
repair tho place, but whenever they
went to drive nail the plank would
spring; they could not drive it from
the inside Of the boat, and had no awl
or gimlet with which to make hole by
which it might enter the planking. A
man named Nixon said : 1.-THE only
way this job can be fixed is to hold the
ak ON the outside and hammer the nail
from the inside, SO as to clinch it."
eyes, said Captain Pollard, "that's all
right, Nixon, if we only had somebody
under the bottom of the boat to hold
the AK" Said Nixon: "I'm the man
that's going to do that" He jumped
overheard, took the Ak, and held il
under water against the boat until they
hammered in the nails. Then he was
lifted on board, almost unconscious, but
he revived. They then kept on their
curse as well as they could, but at
length ran out of provisions. Finally,
after enduring untold horrors, they
were compelled to resort to the sailors
last expedient, and drew lots to see who
should die and furnish food for his
companions. Either one OF two of the
crew lost their lives in this way. 1t is
said that the second lot fell upon a
slender young man, in delicate health
whose life the captain could not bring
himself to take, but said, "Take me-"
They concluded to try the lot again,
when it fell upon the same person.
Scarcely had the shot been fired which
put an end to his life, when vessel
hove in sight, which rescued them.
Captain Pollard could often be seen
afterward by summer visitors to Nan
tucket-a broken down, shattered old
man. From being one of the boldest
captains that sailed from the island, he
was such wreck that if he saw two or
three people gathered together In the
street, or if any one took up news
paper in his presence, he hurried away
instantly, for fear of hearing something
about shipwreck. He died four or five
years ago. There is now but one sur
vivor of that boats crew, and that is
Nixon, the man that held the AK under
the water.