Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1890-01-03
KILLING A WHALE.
HOW THE PACIFIC COAST REp
MEN ACCOMPLISHED 1T.
They Used Very Rude Implements
The Harpoon is Made OF Elk
Mountaineering Tho
Leviathan

IN sunday, says the Portland Uregon-
'W of recent date, the Indians
oil the Neah Bay Reservation,
near Cape Fiattery, in Washing
ton Territory, discovered an immense
whale spouting in the Pacific opposite
aud about three miles off shore. Fol
lowing the custom of the Indians, Il re-
port OF the fact was made TO the medi-
cine m"n or dreamer of the tribe, who
called hurried council and allotted Il
number of picked men To the different
available canoes. lamentations were
then held, wherein 81 certain harpoon was
blessed by III: dreamer and handed to
the hoa chin ha or throwcr, with the
warning no, to let il 90 from his hands
except 50 ordered by the dreamer him
self, lest their efforts i'll The chase should
prove abortivc.
The harpoon on this occasion was con.
s:uctcd of two pieces of elk horn, each
about four inches long, half inch in
thickness one way and thrce-ouartcrs Of
an inch the other, deliberately carved,
beveled ut one end, and the two Joined
together i'll the shape of 'V," with a
sharp piece Of steel fastened between
them ut the apex. TO the angle of the
harpoon was woven one end of h rope
about three-quartcrS OF an inch in diame-
ter and from sixty to- eighty feet in
length, made from the sincws of whale
The harpoon, when hurled, is fastened
INTO II slot cut in the end Of Il yew-wood
shaft from IN inch TO an inch and quar-
ter III diameter and nine or ten feet in
lpnOth Whnn tl.. Al
body OF the whale the two other points,
which arc sharpened, act us barbs and
spread, securely Unfolding itself in the
liesh, with the sinew rope attached, the
shaft having dropped out from it own
weight. All the hnrpoons used by the
Indians are similar in construction to the
one described, but only the enchanted
ones are cmbellishcd or engraved.
The incarnation ceremonies over, the
dreamer seated himself in the stern of Il
canoe, and the hoa -chin-i-ca-h a, or
throwcr, armed with the prophetic har-
poon, which must be the first one hurled.
took his position in the bow of the same
boat. They were then run through the
surf by the members of the tribe who
were to accompany them, closely fol-
lowed by two other canoes fully manned
which, according to their instructions,
kept astern of the first but close at hand.
About . O'Clock in the afternoon their
game was ovcrhauled, and, his heading
being carefully disccrncd, the approach
was made directly from behind 1t is
the habit of the whale, when he comes
to the surface to blow, to skim along the
top OF the water appearing three or four
times i'll tt few seconds. On his last APP
pearance he throws himself high in tile
AR, turns his tail TO the clouds, dives
deep, and remains down several min
ntes. This habit is well known to
the Indians, and they can calculate to II
nicely When he dives how soon and
where he will again appear, and when he
does 50 the leading boat is generally not
FAR away. In Il short time the first boat
had approached within thirty or forty
iect Of the proposed game, and the
''dreamcr, who, upon such occasions, is
anything but asleep, liked his practiced
eye upon il to discover the suspicious mo-
mcnt To give command, for only when
The animal humps its back to make the
uivc rs 1t even comparatively safe to give
HIM the iarpoon The tlrowcr, barred
to the waist, stood. statue like, with shaft
nigh III mir, his cars alert Tor the COM
mahd, "I.atah, or throw, for well he
knew If his instrument failed of It's mark
he would be deposed and some other ap
pointed to his honorcd position. He had
Killed his eighth whale. and hoped TO
hold his position for The remainder Of his
days.
Presently the word came and the
blessed llarpoon WAS thrown with I'M
crrnG aim, and others followed in unick
Succession. At the same time the oars
men backed water with all their strength
to escape the great danger OF being
swanped by the animals tail Six
liarpoohs, with lines attached, were sue
cessiniiy thrown into linn, and the whale.
goadcd to madness, dashed the water into
'oam with his huge tail, not preventing,
however, the cinoemcn from binding
one iioat-Iinc after another together, and
soon the three canoes, tied To the line ut
intervals of two or three hundred wards
and drawn by the monster Of the sea.
were sailing through the water cccanward
at Il fearful rate. The float line is made
OF cedar bark, twisted like "factory
work into rope about an inch and II
half IN diameter. To this line. at spaces
OF twenty Or thirty feet, are attached air.
floats made from the stomach of a COM
mon hair seal, and much resembling
the bladder football Of eye olden times. 1"
All the openings of the stomach are
scwcd mp, with the exception of one, and
at this is ingeniously constructed a valve
which opens OH the inside, and is kept
closed when the float is 'blown up" by
the pressure Of the air Each float holds
down about forty gallons of air. 50 one
can readily imagine the little chance II
whale with haf-mlc Of foat- line at
tachcd has 10 escape.
al shutdown it commenced 10 blow n
regular nnr'westcr, and the sea became so
hca1y that the canoes were obliged TO
disconmect and leave their victim 10 tire
himself ont battling with the air floats
secured to him. That night the wind
increased in velocity and the sea ran
mountains high. and on the third day