Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-08-02

Seven whaler captains who have wintered
in Massachusetts, and are now on their way
to join their ships at Honolulu for a cruise
in the Arctic seas, form another interesting
group on our steamer. Their headquarters is
the smoking room and they always have an au-
dience that overfows the room and crowds
their curious yarns Of perilous adventures
in pursuit Of whales, or when caught in
the Arctic ice. Their narratives, told in
homely. graphic phrase, of the great disaster
when some years ago whaling fleet of thir-
teen vessels was caught in the ice, most
OF the vessels destroyed and the survivors
escaped almost by miracle. would. if written out
make the fortune of any publisher. These
weather-beaten old salts have no patience with
the new-fangled notions of petroleum and the
electric light that have helped gas to ruin the
sperm oil trade. Now the price o. whale oil is
so low that the sperm, or oil whale of the south
ern waters is only hunted between seasons
that is in the winter--and in the summer the
whaling fleets go up to the Arctic in pursuit. of
the right whale and the bow-headed whale,
which pr oduce whalebone
No adequate substitute for whalebono has
been discovered for use in dressmaking, and
the price Of whalebone is constantly on the In
crease. As one of the old captains put it, the
women must have whalebone and that was why
there are any whalers afoat today. The aver
age value of Q right whale in bone and oil is
about $4,000. The sperm whale. which only
yields oil. Is of minor value, but occasionally a
big thing is realized on catching one OF them
containing quantity Of ambergris-a secretion
peculiar to this whale and which is very costly
One instance is told in which ambergris to the
value of s18O,0O was obtained from a single
whale.
"DnrFTrSa TOWARD PARADISE OK EVEN KEEL"
We LEFT San Francisco at 4 Pm, March g.
Whatever might be realized in the way of para
disc at the end of our trip, it was evident be-
fore we got out OF the harbor that we were not
to reach 1t on an even keel The swell, going
over the bar, was high enough to send the ma
iority Of the passengers to their staterooms, and
for the most of the seven days of the passage
the weather was quite as rough and stormy as
on the average Atlantic voyage. We escaped,
however. the raw, disagreeable winds that make
rough Atlantic trip so unpleasant We had
only o few hours fog in all the trip, and the
captain said that this was his first experience
with :os near the islands.
Owing probably to the weather we did not
see all that the poets promised.
The exquisite nautilus did not float past us
with its gauzy sail set, neither did "the weird
anomone lay its pale sensitive petals ON the
tips Of the waves and pant in ecstacy." Moth
ing of the sort happened There werc no dol
phins whatever. The mystic albatross was on
hand continuously, but, poetry aside, nc is only
II coarse overgrown gull who hovers around the
vessel in graceful poise. ready to pounce on
any garbage thrown overheard. There were
many nocks or schools of flying fish. From
their diminutive size and the length of time
they were on the wing We at first took them to
be some sort of small birds. They are from
eight inches to foot in length and are very
good eating. the sailors say.
The steamer track TO the islands is a rather
lonesome one. We met only one sail all tho
way to Honolulu. The Pacific, with its immense
$4,000 miles from north to south and III, 900
miles broad-is comparatively an untravelod
waste. Most of the sailing vessels for the
Sandwich Islands also take a more northern
course than that of the steamers, in order to
get the advantage of the trade winds. Though
with our unusually congenial set OF passen-
gers the time passed quickly, we were glad to
welcome the hazy outlines of the promised
land on the seventh day.
The first view Of the islands is disappointing
There we're no signs OF the entertainments that
go to make thom the Islands Of the Blessed.
They looked rather fitted for the abode Of the
fellows that aren't blessed. Ranges of grim
barren, volcanic mountains, red, yellow, ash
colored met the eve.