Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1886-11-21

the blindness and wildneSs of death is COM
ing on. The boat is backed to a safe dis
lance The crew is silent They have fin
ished their bloody work, and are awed into
something like respect as they behold the
whale die There is blind rushing in great
circles-then sudden ceasings and great
shivers. After many minutes the grayback's
black back slowly rolls over, the white belly
comes uppermoSt, all danger from the death
fury IS gone-it is dead
The social gatherings Of Marguerite bay
constituted what was known as the gam. I"
A gam" indicates a call made by the crew
of one vessel on that of another. No intro
auctions were necessary. The men went at
once to the forecastle, the captains, mates
and boat-steerers to- the cabin. Pipes were
lit, perhaps a bottle of brandy produced, and
amid dense cloud Of smoke the gam" went
OH. There WAS abundance Of material for talk
Tho whalenen have q world exclusively their
own. No matter from what port they sailed
the frpeImSonry of a common sympathy and
experience existed between them. Though per-
sonally unknown to each other, it was scarce
" possible but that they had in time past
yoyagcd with mutual acquaintance or met
in Honolulu. For Honolulu was the axis on
which the whaling world turned Thither
every six months the entire fleet put in for
repairs AMI provisions. Honolulu with it's
mid climate, its fresh meats and tropical
fruits, after months of "hard tack and salt
junk, " its duSIy maidens and relaxation after
excessive toll in the cold northern seas was
quite as dear to the whaleman as home itself.
\ gam" involved talk of the arctic" the
coast of Kamschatka, the Sea of Japan, the
Brazil banks, the Falkland isles, Rio de ia
metro, Valparaiso and Fayal 1t was carried
on in a confusion and variety of tongues
Portuguese, English, the Sandwich Islander
and the Yankee drawl. 1t spoke of gales,
hurricanes, typhoons, icebergS, foes, troDic
airs, tropic fruits, smashed boats and smashed
rios. Old acquaintance who had last met
near the north pole grasped hands wonder
ingly and gladly on the equator The gam"
forward grumbled at the "old man" for not
taking OH board more potatoes and at the pc
nuriouS owners for the tainted beef, pork,
stale bread and wormy beans The gam"
aft grOwled ut the owners for shipping such
n miserable crew, one-half of whom may be
couldn't box the compass, pull an oar or tie
n square knot. The captains and mates lived
over luell lIOIlCS together dI Tue lSldlIlS, anu
winled at each other and inquired after each
others wives and families at home, and then
winked again and laughed long and loud at
some mysterious joke. And may be the
cabin boy present, who placed before them
glasses and water for the grog, had light
olive complexion, bright black eyes, clearly
cut features, neither American nor savage.
About 10 O'clock one of the boat steerers
went forward and called out "All hands'
The boats crew came stumbling up from
the forccastlc, the craft was manned, the
cars Splashed i'll the water after whaler's
fashion, slovenly yet full Of careless ease and
skill; then they pull of with long, sweep
ing stroke, the boat speedily becomes shape
less dot on the long sheet of silver, cast by
the round, bright moon on the smooth sur
face of the lagoon. The regular grating of
the oars gradually dies away, and now the
silence remains unbroken, save by the long
drawn puff of some night wandering whale,
the shorter snort of the pOrpoiSe, or howl Of
coyotes around the chapparal thickets lining
tho distant shores.
HAwLEY BEAUMONT