St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1885-05-09

| .Aoh Aauus, Uut tHey learned now tC
handle an oar, and themselves in boat
so that by the time they reached the
whaling grounds, they were able to dc
good service, and knew what was ex.
pected of them. These blackfish WELD
q poor quality of oil, but it is used fol-
lighting purposes on board of ship.
They also learned to box the compass
and steer. Each boat carried mast
and sail, but these were only set when,
after whale had been killed, they were
engaged in towing their prize 10 the ship.
las soon as whaling ground was
reached the ship was put under short
ened sail-topsails. topgallant-sails,
staysail, jib and spanker-and look
out was stationed at the fore topgallant-
masthead (crosstrees). and a boat
steerer at the main topgaIlantmast-head
to watch for whales. each man taking
his trick at this and at the wheel, each
trick being of two hours. The lookouts
were sent aloft at daybreak. and were
not called down until the sun disap-
peared. Then the ship was placed
under even shorter sail for the night,
carrying just enough canvas fore and
aft to keep her steady. The yards were
braced sharp up into the winds eve,
the helm lashed, and the watch set for
the night, a watch being one of the
boats crew, relieved in turn by another,
SO that each crew has equal time below.
"At morning dawn sail is made again.
At eight O'Clock the boats crew then
on watch was relieved by either the lar
board or starboard watch, each being
on duty four hours at time. From
four to eight p. m. was divided into two
watches called dog watches, so that
the hours Of duty of each man was
changed daily.
"A vessel would remain upon one
whaling ground for days and weeks at
a time, always under short sail, moving
back and forth about four or five knots
per hour, and always beating to wind
ward. tacking every few hours thus
securing. as it were, the ground all
over. Unless successful in finding and
taking whales, all sail would be set. and
away we went for some other cruising
ground.
As soon as a whale is struck sharks
appear in great numbers, and they
never leave the whale for an instant
until it is towed along side, stripped of
its blubber and cast adrift; then they 90
with the carcass. These sharks are big
fellows and very ravenous. When the
whale is secured to the ship some one
must 90 over upon him, cut open the
and hitch a tackle-block thereto.
This Is such dangerous business that
the boatsteererS take turns at it. They |
would be snapped up by the sharks in a |
minute but for two men who protect |
hem with long-handled spades that |
were ground rs sharp as q razor and |
were used to cut blubber If q shark |
got too close to the boatsteerer, one of
hese men would jab spade into him
With all his might and he would make
If in hurry.
During the trying-out process all
hands were on duty during the day
Until six p. m, at which time half Of
he crew went below. but relieved the
'ther watch at midnight, and all went
N duty again at six a. m. In other
words, six hours out of the twenty-four
vas all the rest any man of us could
ret. Vessels that went around Cape
iorn. or Cape Horners as they were
allied, making voyages of four or five
ears, necessarily carried more men to
nan their boats; and had so many men
n board that even while trying out
Ill one-half of the crew could do all the
york. so as soon as whale was Sc
ured to the ship they used to set regu-
ar watches, four hours on and four
ours of, day and night.
1.-The time usually required to secure
whale, strip off the blubber, try it out,
tore the oil and clean the ship was
bout week. The first fire under the
-y-kettles was started with wood. but
was thereafter fed with what are
allied 'scraps'-the refuse of the blub-
er after it has passed through the try
lg-out process. Of this trying-out pro- ..
ess | can give you no more ac-
lrate idea than by quoting from
Ross Brownies History of
le Whale Fisheries He says:
"I know of nothing to which this .
art of the whaling business can be more
compared than Dante's (,
icture of the internal regions. 1t re- :
'ires but little stretch of the imagina- :
on to suppose the smoke, the kissing :
pliers, the savage-looking crew, and
e waves of flame that burst now and !.
en from the flues of the furnace, >
srt of the paraphernalia of a scene in
e lower regions. Our down-easter, :
no always had something characters :
, to say of everything, very sagely re- :
arked on one occasion when nearly .
with smoke: If this isn't
III on . small scale don't know what :
call it! =
F" OF full grown sperm whale of the = =
rgest size, or about eighty-four feet in :,
ngth. the dimensions may be given as v
lows: Depth of the head, eight or 7
ne feet: breadth of the head. five to 7
( feet. The depth of the body seldom u :,
ceeds twelve or fourteen feet, so that :. :.
3 circumference of the largest sperm :, ~
lale will seldom exceed thirty-s feet e :,
le sperm whale has forty-two teeth in .
} lower jaw, but there are none in the :, :.
per, which instead presents depres- "
ms corresponding to and for the 70
otion of the points of those in the Il
YER jaw n
Of the AMOUNT of oil q sperm whale +,
Il yield. l can only say that l helped ct
oture and cut-in one of them that \.
assured about sixty feet in length,
a rr>vn uo ovor ono huu1ro6 harro1s