The Arkansaw traveler., 1889-06-08

brought the whale our port bow. As told
you, expected to see him sound every moment
IL was astonishing that he had not discovered ne
long before. could scarcely believe my eyes as
he held on, and by and by we had him alongside.
| am telling you the truth when say he actually
rubbed us we passed each other, and the odor OF
him was so rank that some Of the men cried out In
disgust. That whale was ninety feet long IL he
was an inch, and he had head on him like brick
wall. So far we could see he was carrying no
harpoons and had fresh wound, but he was
moss grown and barnacled as II he had knocked
about for a couple of hundred years. The fact OF
his holding his own in such q bull headed way was
alarming, and when we were clear of him we fell
to congratulating ourselves over the close shave.
We were perhaps mile apart when the whale
slowed around. The moment we discovered what
he was doing we knew that he meant to attack.
The breeze had now died away until we could not
hope to dodge him, and he had not yet fairly
turned when we dropped the yswl from the davits
and ran her alongside to the bow. Two men were
ordered to get water and provisions in her, and
the whale headed up for us we went of before the
light breeze to give him all the room we could.
Three or four minutes settled the question of
whether he was after the ship or sailing his own
course He headed up for her, coming faster and
faster and when he was two cables length away
there was q great white wall of water rolling
before him, and his speed was from eighteen to
twenty miles an hour He struck full on the
starboard quarter, and the shock was as If two
ships had collided Planks and the ribs gave way
before him, and as he recoiled from the blow our
ship settled down, stern first and was under water
within two minutes. Everybody was knocked
down by the shock, and everybody got up TO rush
for the yawl was sucked down almost as soon
as reached my feet and after a struggle in which
came out first best by close shave, shot to
the surface amid lot OF deck rattle There were
two or three men around me at first and as was
heaved up caught sight of the yawl with at least
two men in her. The whale was still at hand
lying very quiet, but feared he would soon be
aroused and attack US in turn, and / seized the
gallery door and padded away to get out of his
reach. While doing this q squall came down and
hung on for twenty minutes, and when 1t had
passed could see nothing of boat nor whale.
That afternoon, an hour before shutdown, | was
picked up by the American whaler "Richard
Knox" She already had our yawl, which she had
found bottom mp, but had not seen any of the men
nor met with any wreckage. was again the only
one saved and but for my testimony the fate of the
ship would have forever remained q mystery. AS
TO why the whale attacked us was made more
clear after my rescue. The "Knox" had raised and
chased him the evening before, and he had been
"gallied," or annoyed, 30 often during the month
past that he had become ugly. He came for us
with the intention Of sending the ship to the
bottom, and he succeeded only too well in carrying
out his purpose.
A third mystery was the case of the "Janet
Wilcox, !" an American brig bound for Rio Janeiro.
/ was second mate of her when the occurrence took
place. We had bad weather for good share Of
the voyage, but the brig was new and staunch and
was at no time In imminent peril. About three
hundred miles Off Rio while enjoying bit of good
weather, we one morning raised a longboat full of
men dead ahead of u.s. Indeed, the boat had taken
down her sail and was waiting for us to come up.
There were nine men aboard Of her, and they had
plenty of water and provisions The story they
told was that they were part of the crew of .
British ship which had been burned two days
before. They claimed that all had got OF In the
boats, but that the boats had become separated in
the heavy weather. They were q hard looking lot,
composed Of all nationalities, and when we had
taken them aboard our captain was by no means
satisfied with their story. One of them claimed to
be second mate and, Is the crew had all got off in
two boats, 1t was puzzle that the first mate was
not In command OF one. Other strange things
came nm and the storv of the man did not han