Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1889-02-11
Adventure With a Whale.

the island OF st. Helena, tnat Is TO
say, about fifty miles to the southland
of it, in the good old whaling bark,
ssSarah Knowles" of New Bedford,
in the year 1868, anxiously looking
out for whales. We had not had
very good luck since leaving Pernam-
buco some twenty days before, and
were keeping q sharp lookout for oil.
The ocean was CLASSY smooth, and
there was not breath of air stirring.
The sea was in such a state that we
could overlook a great extent of wa
ter from the ow's-nest at the fore
op-gallantmast head, where one of
the sharpest-eyed men in the bark
was keeping a good lookout for
spouts. All at once the monotony of
the dreary sea-day was broken by
the welcome, CHEEKY tones of Charley's
voice, singing out, "There she blows J"
In moment all was excitement, and
the slouching, aimless air of all hands
was exchanged for one of fierce ac-
tivity. "Where away" sung out
the captain, with stentorian lungs.
Zone point off the port-bow, sir"
answered the sailor from the crows
nest. 'Ah! l see him." said the
captain as he lowered his spy-glass
from his eye, ''and he's a rouser, a
regular old sperm bull, or | am no
Judge" continued he. Lower away
the boats was the next order that was
heard, and three boats were soon in
the water making for the whale. ga
bundled barrels if he's barrel,' said
the captain, in whose boat l was
pulling an oar while he steered. "Give
way, boys, give way" cried out the
captain in a CHEEKY voice, she's a
whopper, and we're bound to have |
him if we only work smart. There
he sounds, but never mind he'll soon |
be up again, never you fear.' And |
thus encouraged we pulled like Tro
jams. The mate and second mate, !
each in his own boat, were straining |
every nerve to pass us, but the cap |
tain had the best crew (which was but |
natural, he being master. We gain
ed rapidly on our prey, who came to
the surface quite often to blow.
Now, whaling is a dangerous pas
time as well as exciting, and it be-
hooves one to take great care in APP
preaching these monsters and to keep |
a good lookout, but l am sorry to
say that sailors seldom stop to think
of anything of that kind when in hot
pursuit of these enormous creatures
of the deep. The excitement of the
chase eliminates all fear, and the
only dread that possesses each mind
is a fear of arriving too late.
There were six men pulling in our
boat, not counting the captain, who
was steering with long eighteen
foot oar. We had gradually passed
all the other boats, and were now in
the lead and still gaining. The sun
was very hot, but in our excitement
we scarcely noticed it. The captain
kept good lookout and cheered us
on our way by encouraging words
every now and then. The whale, in
the meantime, as is usual with them |
when not disturbed, kept sounding /
and coming to the surface to blow.
Once in a while he changed his di- /
rection, but not enough to cause us
to alter our course to any great de-
gree, for the captain kept sharp .
eye upon him and followed all his |
changes as fast as he made them.
Finally we began to draw near, and |
the captain changed places with the /
bow oarsman and took up the har-
pooh, ready for a strike. He was a
bouncer and no mistake. "Steady,'
said the captain, as he poised the
harpoon for the fatal dart.
'tPull slow boys; careful-careful.
Easy now-easy. A little to star
board, boat-steerer there, that will
do. Now steady" and with a splen-
did cast of over fifteen feet the cap
tain drove his iron into the greenish
side of the huge sea monster, who,
sup fukes" and sounded at once,
while the captain sung out, 'stern
all' at the very same moment that
he gave the dart, and none too quick
for us to escape the whales 1ukes,
which narrowly missed us as he de-
scended into the depths of the ocean.
And now commenced the fun as
the harpoon line began to whiz out of
the chock in the bows, smoking and
almost on fire, as it revolved round
the logger-head in the stern and
jumped out of the tub where it had
been cooled down a few minutes be-
fore in a handsome Flemish coil.
"Steady, everybody steady" said
the captain, who had in the mean
time again gone aft and taken the
steering oar.
Away we went with the sea comb
ing up far above the bows of the
boat, for we knew not by the dart
that we had seen the captain make
that we were well fast, and by this
time had stopped paying out line, land
were in ''full tow" as sailors term
it. All this time we, of the crew, sat
with our oars hung out over the wa
ter with the blades pointed to the
wind, caused by our terrific speed
through the water. The other boats
SaainO ne hard and fast ceased row.