Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1890-01-25

N 1O1NS H5A L ~ MIA L. u ~
! again, probably for months OF years, and
possibly never.
SHE BECAME OUR BLUBBER.
| This whale, however, was built on diff.
ferent lines. She died at the top of the
water like lady, causing US all to be very
thankful 10 her, as in duty bound. We
coiled up the lines in their tubs and
hauled the two boats close up alongside
the whale and waited. Our ship was hull
down to the eastward, and in the light
wind that prevailed it would take some
time for her to run down upon US. We
had no fear of the ship missing us, for we
knew that sharp eyes had watched our
movements from the crows nest and that
our course had been accurately observed.
Meanwhile, what had become of the
calf?
don't know. When we sheered along
side its mother 1t was sucking cheerfully
and wagging its tail with every gallon OF
milk it imbibed from natures font, which,
| by the by, in whale is situated in the
abdominal regions. Ny opinion is that
the whale swallowed its calf to save it
from Us. 1t was only small specimen,
and as this mother whale had gullet of
large size the feat might not have been
impossible.
! | know that scientific gentlemen may
dispute with me on this point l remem-
Der once meeting an erudite eetologist who
wore decorations and medals galore. He
stood upon his hind legs and told me that
penny loaf would choke a sperm whale,
its throttle being so diminutive.. | mod
estly told him. with due respect to his
ribbons and gewgaws, that had forgotten
more about sperm whales than he had
ever known. | have been engaged for
hours on the head of sperm whale, dig
ging out its juices and shoveling them
into buckets, whereas / am willing to bet
a gallon of Medford rum that he never
saw spermaceti in the crude state, much
less shoveled ii by the CARLOAD, as your
shipmate who is now addressing you has
done.
ALONGSIDE THE BARK.
Well, in good time the ship came run.
ming down on u.s. and by and by got along
side Of the whale. We were very anxious
about the fate of the boats crew hurled
into the air by the whale, and our first
inquiries were concerning them. They
had been shaken up and ducked, but
otherwise were uniniured. The boat was
too badly shattered to be used again, and
she was worth, at low estimate, 5000.
But here we were with big whale, "A
feet long, dashed alongside of the old ship,
lying to with mainyard abaek. The whale
was in fine condition, the feeding ground
Astounding with cuttle-fsh, mollusks and
other dainties in which cetaceans delight.
We could, therefore, afford to pay little
heed to the destruction of our boat, though
we well knew it meant certain percentage
of loss to us, to be deducted from our share
at the end of the voyage, We had good
days work before US. The carcass of the
whale had to be stripped of its blubber.
! the head cleaned of the spermaceti and
the teeth, which are of fair quality of
ivory, extracted from the lower jaw,
After the body was dashed to the ship
with chains, belly uppermest, the business
began. A powerful masthead tackle was
hooked on to a transverse slip of blubber
close to the neck. This was taken to the
winch and set up taut Then the men
working on platform rugged outside the
vessel cut through the blubber with sharp
spades. Then they hove on the winch,
and the immense blanket piece" as the
blubber is termed, came off in a strip some
six feet wide, being cut into convenient
lengths. This process continued until the
whale was stripped of its covering of blub-
Der. Then the head was cat off and its
reservoir of fatty matter from which sper-
maceti is made was emptied of its rich
juices, FIVE men working like beavers fill
ing up buckets with the precious stuff,
which were hoisted up on deck as soon as
filled.
For the benefit of inquiring physiolo-
gists record the fact that the nipples of
this whale were eight inches long, and
that the mammary glands, half hidden in
folds of skin, were fifteen inches in dame
ter, and seemed to be full of milk.
After the last piece of blubber and the
last fragment of head fat had been hoisted
on deck, the boys eongregated aft and gave
the old sperm whaling cheer
"Hurrah for fve-and-forty more p
And then we piped to supper, well salts
fed with our days work.
TRYING OUT THE OIL.
At o'clock next morning we turned to.
There was very busy day before us, the
blubber having to be tried out into oil and
the oil put into the casks. And here let
me tell you before | forget it, that the
cooper on board a sperm whaler used to be
very important parsonage and one with
a strong sense of his own dignity.
Just few feet abaft the foremost on the
Abijah Adams there were two big iron
caldrons imbedded on base of briekwork.
These were the trypots in which the blub-
Der was boiled Abaft this was the copper
cooler, in which the oil was cooled pre-
vious to being pumped into the casks.
The operation of melting the blubber is
very simple. All we had to do was to take
care that the blubber was dry before being
put into the caldrons. The blubber, cut
into thin slices, soon parts with its oil I'M
der the influence of roaring fire, and the
scraps as the refuse matter is termed, in
turn are added to the flames, making the
best Of fuel. The oil passes to the cooler,
and thence flow into the'casks in the lower
hold. Only upon rare occasions did a fire
break out on any of the old New, Bedford
whalers while the oil was being tried out.
OF course, if wet blubber is thrown into a
caldron of boiling oil the inevitable over
flow is very likely to be followed by a seri-
GUS conhagration.
Sharks follow whalers by the score The
sperm whale seems to like warm climates.
and so does the shark. The red flesh of
the whale is coarse and of strong flavor.
Personally can't say that banker after
it, but some of the South Sea Islanders
take to it in very kindly fashion, and 50 do
sharks. l have read about the under lip
of whale being as good as fresh beef, and
of the barnacles with which they are in
crusted being as juicy and palatable as
Blue Point oysters, but shiver my timbers
if / wouldn't Just as lief make meal on
that other parasite which infests the
whale, whose scientific appellation l for
get, but whose forecastle name is the whale
louise.
| SOME ANCIENT "REMINISCENCES.