Idaho news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1887-1891, 1891-08-15
a QUEER EXCHANGE.

We were whaling in the Artic Ocean,
to the north of Point Barrow, Alaska,
in the old Scotch bark Emma Davis.
That was my fifth whaling voyage,
and no ship could have had worse
luck. When We had been out four
teen months we had to buy barrel
OF oil to keep our lamps going. We
had sighted a whale now and then,
but they were as Wild as deer, and
twice when we had made fast we had
our boats stove and lost two or
three men. We had lost topmasts,
been aleak, had several sails destroy
ed, been on fire, and it seemed as if
the very devil was to pay with the
voyage, and yet no one could blame
any one else. 1t was simply ships
luck. and we had to make the best
OF it. Finally late in the season, when
we ought to have been heading for the
south, We got among the whales.
That is, they suddenly appeared all
around US, and on the very first day
We killed four without accident. We
cut them In without trying out, as
this was the quicker way to dispose
OF them, and the last OF the blubber
was no sooner over the rail than
down went the boats and two more
whales were secured.
The winter gales were at hand and
ice was making fast; but it was our
ly to the south, killing and cutting in
as we went, and if we could have had
two weeks more of it we could have
filled the ship. One aft r
noon, as we had ahalf cut
whale on each side of us,
gale sprang up, heavy snow storm
ca,.ls "a. and in less than an hour we
had 90 let 90 OF our prizes and look
sharply after the bark Il was the be-
ginning OF the Arctic winter, and while
the Captain was satisfied Of it he de-
clded to take one more chance. There
might come a few days of fine weather
after the gale, and so we drifted away
| to the north to wear out the gale.
| For thirty hours there was no let up.
and every half hour had to turn out
| and shovel snow over the rails. just
| as the gale broke we got among the
| field ice, and the temperature went
| down in four hours from % below
zero to 1S9 below From a gale blow
\ ing at the rate of forty miles an hour
the wind died out until it hadn't mo-
ton enough to flare candle. On
that first night, when we were sur
rounded by field ice and drifting with
it, many OF the men were badly FROST
| bitten, and the frost cracked through
| the old ship like muskets.
Morning came without n breath OF
| wind, with the temperature down to
81 below, and now every man knew
it was one chance in ten for us. We
were drifting very slowly to the south,
and while we made everything as snug
as possible the Captain hoped for a
break before winter actually shut
down. Before noon the sea, as far as
could be discovered from the crow s
nest with q glass, was covered with
field ice, and by night the temperature
was 32o below. We kept up our fires
and got out all the spare clothing and
bedding. but many OF the men suffered
than ten minutes at time on account
OF the noises. When morning came
again it brought in wind, while the
cold was Just as intense, and we could
now discover q great change in the
ice around us. 1t was rugged and
broken, the heave of the sea having
piled cakes on top of each other. and
the field was four or five feet thick.
The old man himself went to the
crows nest and took long look, and
when he came down he said to the
men, who were waiting to hear his
words:
"Well, boys, it looks very serious
to me, and | expect you had better
prepare to winter this side of Dundee"
That settled it with us. We turned
to and began to caulk and batten to
keep out the cold, and in couple oil
days we were as ready as we could be
For four days and nights there wasn't
a puff of wind, with the cold SO intense
that ice formed to the thickness OF sew.
en- feet alongside the bark. At day.
light on the morning OF the fifth q
squa came out of the southwest, ac.
companied by snow, and before noon
the ice field was broken up. At noon
the wind died almost out, but within
an hour it shipped to the north, and
away went everythin to the south
A wilder sight than sea covered with
great cakes and blocks of ice, each one
tossing grinding, and crashing on its
own account, no one ever saw. We
dared show only rag OF sail--just
enough TO give her steerage way--and
the smashing she got that afternoon
seemed enough to break every timber
in her bows. At night the wind fell
again, and at z o'clock the thermome.
eter marked 42' below. As soon ar
the heave of the sea subsidized the ice
was firmly welded together again, and
when morning came there were hills
and hummocks in sight as big as the
ship. The men were now told by the