St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1891-09-17

ne whaling VESSEL Oldl vi Ih~
East arrived here after a cruise of
two years and a half in the South
Atlantic waters. She had on board
man who is a veritable Jonah, hav-
ing existed in a whales belly thirty
six hours.
The mans statement is vouched
for by the captain and crew OF the
vessel. and today he is an object OF
great curiosity among the sailors.
The mans name is James BARLEY,
and he halls from New Bedford,
where he was born thirty-eight years
ago. He has made two voyages
from this port on the Star of the
East. and Notwithstanding his excit
ing experience during his last trip, he
saws that he will ship for another
voyage as soon as an opportunity
to do so offers itself. The strange
story told by him is in substance as
follows:
The Star of the East was in the
vicinity of the Falkland islands
searching for whales, which were
scarce. One morning the lookout
sighted a whale about three miles
away on the starboard quarter.
Two boats were manned.
In short time one of the boats
was near enough to enable the
harpooner to send spear into the
whale, which proved to be an ex-
ceeding civ large one. With the shaft
in his side the animal sounded and
then sped away, dragging the boat
after him with terrible speed. He
swan straight away about five
miles. when he turned and came back
almost directly toward the spot
where he had been harpooned. The
second boat waited for him, and
when but a short distance away
from it he arose to the surface. AS
soon as his back showed above the
surface of the water the harpOOner
in the second boat drove another
spear into him.
SWALLOWED BY BIG FISH.
The pain apparently crazed the
whale, for it thrashed about fear
fully, and it was feared that the
boats would be swamped and the
crews drowned Finally the whale
swan away, dragging the two
boats after him. He went about
three miles and sounded or sank, and
his whereabouts could not be exact
" told. The lines attached to the
harpoons were slack, and the har-
pooners began slowly to draw them
in and coil them in the tubs.
AS soon as they were taughted
the whale arose to the surface and
beat about with his tail in the mad
dest fashion The boats attempted
to get beyond the reach Of the ami
NAL, which was apparently in his
death agonies, and one of them sue
ceeded, but the other was less
fortunate. The whale struck it with
his nose and upset it. The men
were thrown into the water, and be-
fore the crew of the other boat could
nick them up one man was drowned
and lanes BARLEY had disappeared.
When the whale became quiet from
exhaustion the waters were search
ed for BARLEY, but he could not be
found. and, under the impression
that hehad been struck by the whales
fail and sunk to the bottom, the
survivors rowed back to the ship.
The whale was dead, and in a few
hours the great body was lying by
the ships side, and the men were
busy with axes and spades cutting
through the flesh to secure the fat.
They worked all day and part of
the night They resumed operations
the next forenoon, and were soon
down to the stomach, which was to
be hoisted to the deck. The work
men were startled while labOrIng to
clear it and to fasten the chain
about it to discover something
doubled up in it that gave spasmodlc
signs of life.
BARTLEY'S STORY.
The vast pouch was hoisted to the
deck and cut open, and inside was
found the missing sailor doubled up
and unconscious. He was laid out
on the deck and treated to bath OF
sea water, which soon revived him,
but his mind was not clear, and he
was placed in the captains quarters,
where he remained two weeks raw
ing lunatic. He was carefully treat
ed bv the captain and officers Of the
ship, and he finally began to get
possession of his senses. At the end
of the third week he had entirely re-
covered from the shock and resumed
his duties.
During his brief sojourn in the
whales belly Bartlev's skin, where
it was exposed to the action Of the
gastric juices, underwent a striking
change. His face and hands were
bleached to a deathlv whiteness and
the skin was wrinkled, giving the
man the appearance of having been
parboiled.
BARLEY afirms that he would
probably have lived inside his house
of flesh until he starved, for he lost
his senses through fright and not
through lack of air. He says that
he remembers the sensation of being
lifted into the air by the nose of the
whale and of falling into the water;
then there WAS q fea rfI1l rushing