The Northern Pacific farmer. [volume] (Wadena, Minn.) 1878-1885, 1883-07-19

! Immediately the Whale rose d fourth
! time, and was lanced repeatedly, from
both boats. He sounded once more; but
| only a short distance, and upon; rising
! he at once went in his death furry;
when from his mouth were elected great
masses Of ,natter, the remains of squids,
octopi and other large marine creatures
upon which the sperm whale feeds. &
It. was astonishing to see the velocity
made the descent: The ssfrie-
pooni was such that, unless kept con-
stantly wet, it would char the gunwale
Of the boat, while man stood ready to
cut the line in. case it should foul or
kink, which would possibly be fatal to
boat and crew-and, PERHAPS, lose the
| whale. beside ~,
In the excitement attending the kill
ing of the whale; 'Rier~ WAS for the mo-
ment forgotten But f.wea now pulled
I alongside the second mates boat, and
| Capt. Cox, jumping into it, felt ofttie
| body, and opening the soaked, torn
jacket, placed his hand over the heart.
| Then he turned to Mr.. Pease.
| "Bear hand here" he said; II think
| can feel f1utter Of life in him."
All the way back to the ship, as we
lowed the whale s carcass, they were
rolling 'Rier's body on the thwart and
trying to get the water gaout {oflhim.
! There seemed little chance fof hopej
butsas they we're hosting him aboard.
=? The doctor thea took him i IN chuarey,
and with warm blankets, much chatting
and plenty Of hot gin, they at~ last
brought the poor fellow; back stoeli e and
| CONSEQUENCES. But it was nearly fort
night before he was out of the sick bay,
and on his legs again. ~.
From what he could tell u.s. and what
we bad seen, it was pretty certain that
| when the whale crushed the boat, it had
caught Rier in its mouti., together with
that great fragment of the boats bottom.
which had probably kept the monsters
jaws little apart and SO saved MIN from
being quite crushed. -
He said that he felt himself seized and
held as if in wise, and that no really
thought the whale had swallowed him
The water surged and" glrgled over
him and he held his breath. But in a
nom ent or two all, grew dark and he
! felt terrible pressure, as of tons
weight, on his lungs, his heart and his
| brain.
Then he fried to struggle free; sbut. hs
I COuIu uCNAO1 DILL 'IAO1 -U1EdGtlSsg Lille
breath seemed forced out of his body.
His head seemed about to burst; and re-
ports like those Of muskets rung in his
ears. This was the last he could Secol-
| lect, and he knew nothing more till he
was restored to consciousness aboard the
ship.
One of his legs vas badly bruised, as
ifs Delaying pin had been jam med into
it, clean to the bone. This was no doubt
occasioned by one of the whales teeth;
for these sperm-whales have large,
round teeth of the finest ivory.
Probably no man, either before or
since, has ever descended to-. such q
depth:in the ocean as did our amateur
llarpooner; and his case must stand out
as unique example of how far human
being may 60 down into SAT- water and
survive the awful pressure:
From the way the line was coiled, it
was not possible to determine precisely
how deep the whale went; but: it could
not have been much less than six hum
dred feet, and may have been nearly or
quite thousand.
'Rier was nicknamed :.'the man the
whale swallowed" and was, SO known
during all the rest Of that voyage, and
the mate, who was always laughing at
what he called "murcles." said he 'be-
lieved in joiner" after that.-Youth's
Companion.