Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1882-08-15
A Whale Hunt.

|
whale we saw that the little black thing by
the monsters side was her calf Captain
Mariana, seeinga fair mark. quickly fired
the swivel gun. \ sharp report followed
and the boat quivcrcd under the shock for Il
full half minute Following the sound the
harpoOn could be seen cleaving the twenty
! tathoms OF space between the boat and the
whale, i'll Which it was buried out of sight
just below the right fOretin Following and
attached to the steel missile was some two
hundred feet Of the stout line coilel in the
bow, which bore the appearance ola flash
ol dark brown lightning as it zigzaggcd
through the air after its powerful motor.
The wounded leviathan lay almost motion
less for a period of twenty seconds, as if un-
| able to comprehend the nature ofthc attack
and then with Il snort, like the puff of IL
locomotive, she descended beneath the sur
STAGE ut Il rate that made the MANILA line
mukc and emit sparks Of fire rs it ran out
over the bow.
Suddenly the movement stopped; the
men bent to their oars, ready to pull in
either direction ut the first sight of The in
visible monster. Capt. Mariana peered
uncasily into the blue depths forward. the
coese
astcrn. "Pacha pratis!n (back all) sud
denly shouted the Captain and the five oars
men sent the boat astern Just in time to clear
by u couple of fathoms the black, ugly
hulk of the inflriated whale, as it rose to
the surface and spouted twin columns of
water forty feet in the air, 4 bucket or two
of the briny fluid seeking out the back of
the reporters neck for a resting place as it
descended. Before the animated water
spout could repeat the dose the boat was
ont OF rangc-hoth of his firc-eXtinguish-
ing apparatus and his terrible nukes which
were now beginning to thrash tho water
with Il violence that created cloud of
foam
The performance lasted for two or three
minutes, during which the Captain was un-
able TO obtain safe shot at the whale with
the bomb-gun, which he raised to his
shoulder more than once only TO lower it
again in despair. Suddenly the tail ceased
its exercises, and the next instant jerk was
felt that buried the bow of the boat in i
white cap caused by the lghtning-likc
descent of the whale. Barely had the
staunch craft righted itself after the shock
than Il second tug was felt, and before the
despairng reporter could offer up Il tear-in-
spIfed prayer the boat was dashing through
trightful and for ten minutes the water
stood Il wall fully eighteen inches above the
forward gunwale on each side of the boat,
the velocity preventing even single drop
from entering the interior.
At the end of the time mentioned fully
four miles of the distance between where
the animal was struck and the head of the
bay had been covered, and the speed of the
living tug began to slackcn through eXhals-
ton. Finally il ceased altogether, and after
spouting strong jet of blood-red tingc the
stricken mother once moro sounded. Her
stay underneath the waves was of short
duration, and Oh reappcarins OH the sur
face her movements were only sufficient to
keep the gigantic carcass afioat Pulling up
to within five fathons of the whale the men
rested on their oars. Ten seconds later Cap
tain Mariana had his chance; Il second cx-
plosion was heard and the rubber-winged
bomb buried itself in the mass of blubber.
Scarcely had the smoke cleared away from
the bow, when the unified boom of the
bomb. exploding in the historical residence
of Jonah, sounded the death-knell of the
old humpback. The victims huge bulk
once more became animated, and the deadly
! flukes lashed the water rs the whale strug-
gled in the throes of death. The water
spouts changed into bood-spouts, and grew
smaller and smaller as the struggles became
more contracted, until finally, with one last
effort, the leviathan rolled on its back and
expired. The reporter heaved sigh of re-
lief and heartily joined in the crews shout
of victory, which was answered from the
other boats, by this time only few tathoms
distant.-San Francisco Chronicle