The Dickinson press., 1889-03-09
A MAN FISH.
HE COULD SWIM FOR THREE DAYS
IN THE RouGHEsT OF SEAS.

His Approach.
AT o'clock in the afternoon of June 2l
1850. 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 l
caught sight Of a floating human body on the
lee bow, and half 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 bailed the deck when the
6oater raised his head, kicked his feet under
the surface, and, after waving his arm as u
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 tho water, but
never saw anything like the speed this foater
made as he came down to US. He just
smoked through the water like yawl with
her sail set to stiff breeze. All the men
mustered forward to get sight of him, and us
he came alongside he checked his way, took
| long survey Of our craft, and coolly called
| out:
| what ship is thatY'
| The American whaler, Yankee Land, I" an.
swered the mate.
| want any handsl"
Yes, we'll ship you," replied the captain
| Very well, sir-Ill come aboard"
They threw him rope and he soon stood
on deck, the only unconcerned person on the
ship He asked for chew of tobacco, wrung
tho water out of his Clothes and when the
cook brought hm some grub he did not ap-
pear over hungry. He refused dry clothes,
CO, tl,,k L.. fz1s
Wien he had finished eating hc explained:
My name is Tom Finch quit tho Eng
lish brig Saxon two days ago. can steer a
boat or fasten to whale with the best of
you. Give me a lay and let me turn to-
You quit the Saxon two days agoy
| quered the captain.
"Yes, SIR"
| "Where was she7"
"a matter Of fifty miles to the northwest.
SIR"
AT seaa"
"Yes, sir"
How did you quits"
said good-by to my watch and jumped
overheard, and have been floating ever
| >...ce."
here wasn't man in the ship who be.
iieved his story. Indeed, what Intelligent
man would believe its And yet it was gos
pei truth, as we discovered when we reached
| Valparaiso. The Saxon was there, and half
dozen of her crew had seen him 70 over.
| board, as stated.
"A man fish had come aboard of U.s. There
never was mermaid, but he certainly was
| norman He was next to anphibious. 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 n stalwart
good looking chap of s., but his interior NAV
have been built on the fish principle. lie
swan rs swiftly as some kinds of fish, and
that without seeming to tire him. He could
Eot bedrowncd and no shark would bite him.
said he was queer man. The reader prob
as.ly agrees with me. give my word and
| h"aar that every statement l shall make j.
| true, and can be proved true.
| Cur carpenter was laid up with broken
l's<ss, and when Finch announced that he could
use tools he became carpenter temporarily.
-Aiter We left Valparaiso, 10 longer doubling
the story Of his two days float, he gave us Il
marvellous exhibition of his skill as swim
l!er. In running back to tho south we struck
Tao lag end OF cyclone and got Il terrible
sea Our big ship was pitched about like u
| pea, and the waves walled up on lis now and
| ten uatil their crcsts seemed to tower liftv
ieet above the rail Everything was l;.s!led
oiAA 'A'upie ittoutd, anu Inc COOK could not
make us even Il 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 drawued
i'll five minutes. He was in the water two
hours, and when he came out he did not puff
as heavily as Il man who had run across tie
| street. A hundred times in these two hours
we thought ho was lost, but he had no more
lear for himself than as if he was on dry land
In the sixteen months | saw him 80 over.
board as many us fifty times, in all sorts of
weather, and by day and by night and vet
he never met with an accident
stated that no shark would bite him. He
| proved this fact thousand times over. Uar-
| bor sharks, for reasons best known to them.
selves, will sometimes pass a swimmer by,
but they are small fry compared to the L..
hammer heads and white sharks of mdoccan.
| The true man cater is not shore fish, except
in tropical waters When whalcr 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 q huudred
Years old these are the demons of the deep,
who will rush upon raft and upset it or tear
che prick of lance. We got whale to the
southwest of Conception, a hundred miles off
| shore, and Finch gave us his first exhibition.
We had an eighty barrel fish lashed head and
tail to our starboard side, and We're 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 Ia chill to note his wicked eyes and
his awful mouth
When Finch saw this shark he said he
would drive him away. The hecaptain ordered
hlm to go about his business, not wishing te
lose man, but Finch waited until the Off.
GERS were off their guard, and then went
overheard off the lee bow with great splash.
There was wild cry from the crew 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 i'll the Atlantic ocean. Everybody
ropes ends were thrown to Tom, but lie
would not mind us. He suddenly sank be-
low the surface and made bee line for tie
big fish. and to my surprise, the cid fellow
darted aside to escape the collision.
is truth to the letter that Tom Finch
the ship and for an hour lie padded about in
the water and was unnarmed. In the course
| OF couple Of hours the big shark returned.
| piece Of blubber was tied up IN an old coat
and dropped overheard, and be made dash
OF q hundred feet and bolted it down like
| flash. He then took up his station off our
| quarter, and not over thirty feet away, and
| the sailor mounted the rail and made n LONG