Wichita eagle., 1889-01-11
A MAN FISH.
HE COULD SWIM FOR. THREE DAYS
IN THE TOUGHEST OF SEAS.

| His Approach.
| At O'Clock in the afternoon Of June q,
1852 was in the crows nest or lookout on
board the New England whaler Yankee
Land, and we were bearing up for Valparaiso
| from the Juan Fernandez Islands when
| caught sight of floating human body on the
| lee bow, and half a mile away. We had
only light breeze and the sea was scarcely
disturbed, and from my perch aloft | could
see even the fish as they played about us.
l had scarcely hailed the deck when the
foater raised bis head, kicked his feet under
the surface. and, after waving his arm as a
signal he began swimming down to Us The
sight of man out at sea, provided with
nothing whatever to float him, was queer
enough. but there was something much more
queer in store for us. l have seen the natives
of almost every country In the water, but l
never saw anything like the speed this hoater
made as he came down to US. He just
smoked through the water like yawl with
her sail set to a stiff breeze Ali the men
mustered forward to get sight of him, and as
he came alongside he checked his way, took
long survey Of our craft, and coolly called
out:
What ship is thatT'
"The American whaler, Yankee Land, u an
swered the mate.
"Want any hands,"
eyes, we'll ship you" replied the captain
every WELL sir-I'll come aboard D
They threw him rope and he soon stood
on deck, the only unconcerned person on the
ship. He asked for a chew of tobacco, wrung
The water out Of his clothes, and when the
cook brought hum some grub he did not ap-
pear over hungry. He refused dry clothes,
saying that he felt better when damp and
when he had finished eating he explained:
my name is Tom Finch. Iquit the Eng
lish brig Saxon two days ago. can steer a
boat or fasten to a whale with the best Of
you Give me lay and let me turn to-"
''You quit the Saxon two days agog"
queried the captain.
Eyes, sir"
where was sheF'
"a matter of fifty miles to the northwest,
SIR"
tAt sear'
Eyes, SIR"
'How did you quite"
'Said good-by to my watch and jumped
overheard, and have been floating ever
since"
There wasn't man in the ship who be-
lieved his story. Indeed. what intelligent
man would believe its And yet it was Cos
pei truth, as we discovered when we reached
Valparaiso. The Saxon was there, and half
a dozen of her crew had seen him go over
board, as stated
a man fish had come aboard of us. There
never was mermaid, but he certainly was a
norman. He was next to amphibious He
was with lis for sixteen months, and during
that time was the wonder of our crew and Of
every other crew we met He was stalwart,
good looking chap of 35, but his interior may
have been built on the fish principle. He
swan Us swiftly as some kinds of fish. and
that without seeming to tire him He could
not be drowned, and no shark would bite him.
l said he was queer man. The reader prob
ably agrees with me. l give my word and
honor that every statement / shall make is
true, and can be proved true
Our carpenter was laid up with a broken
leg, and when Finch announced that he could
use tools he became carpenter temporarily.
After we left Valparaiso, no longer doubling
the story of his two days float, he gave US
marvellous exhibition of bis skill as SWIM
mer. In running back to the south we struck
the flag end of a cyclone and got terrible
sea. Our big ship was pitched about like a
pea, and the waves walled up on us now and
then until their crests seemed to tower fifty
feet above the rail- Everything was dashed
end double dashed, and the cook could not
make us even cup of coffee for twenty
hours. While we We're lying to and hanging
on for life Finch stripped TO his shirt and
pants and went overheard for lark The
best man among US would have been drawned
IN five minutes He was in the water two
hours, and when he came out he did not puff
as heavily as man who had run across the
street. A hundred times i'll these two hours
we thought he was lost, but he had no more
fear Tor himself than as if he was on dry land
In the sixteen months / saw him go over
board as many as fifty times, III all sorts of
weather. and by day and by night and yet
he never met with an accident
stated that no shark would bite him. He
proved this fact thousand times over. Har-
Dor sharks, for reasons best known to them
selves, Will sometimes pass a swimmer by.
but they are small fry compared to the big
hammer heads and white sharks of midocean.
The true man eater is not a shore fish. except
in tropical waters. When a whaler is en-
gagged In cutting in and trying out, and is
drifting off before the wind, your real man
eater appears. | have seen them twenty-five
feet long, barnacled up and moss grown like
ancient whales, and evidently hundred
years old. These are the demons of the deep,
who will rush upon raft and upset it or tear
it to pieces, and who seem to feel 10 pain from
the prick of lance We got a whale to the
southwest of Conception, hundred miles off
shore, and Finch gave US his first exhibition.
NJ a bad 4, L.
tail TO our starboard side, and were Just hook
ing ON to The first blanket piece to hoist away,
when three or four monster sharks appeared.
The one who came UP astern was Of such size
that the men called out in amazement. He
lay with his dorsal fin above water, and we
could see every inch of him. 1t was enough
TO give you chill to note his wicked ewes AID
his awful mouth
When Finch saw this shark he said ne
would drive him away. The captain ordered
him TO go about his business, not wishing to
lose man, but Finch waited until the offi-
GERS were off their iguard and then went
overheard OFF the lee bow with great splash.
There was a Wild cry from the crew and a
rush with ropes, but Tom looked up and
laughed and swan around the stern Of the
ship. The big man eater had backed of
about twenty feet at the splash but two
Others, almost as large, had come up on the
quarters and there lay three OF the wicked
est fish In the Atlantic ocean. Everybody
shouted and gestured, and half q dozen
ropes ends Were thrown to Tom, but be
would not mind Us He suddenly sank be-
low the surface and made a bee line for the
big fish, and, TO my surprise the cid fellow
darteSi aside 10 escape the collision
Ii Is truth TO the letter that Tom Finch
drove every one OF those monsters away from
the snip, and for an hour he padded about in
the water and was unframed In the course
OF a couple Of hours the big shark returned.
8 D,a.sa N<h l..hf .,