The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1891-01-31
CAPTURING A WHALE.
LIVELY ADVENTURE WITH A cETAc.
FAN MONSTER.
The Great Fish smashss Three Boats ne
fore the Life IL Harpoonsd Dat
OF Him.

many Trying scthc anu Dioody ught.
and. although have faced death in "A
thousand forms in the war. il was on
whaling voyage that came nearest be-
ing killed"
well. we rounded the cape without
any interesting incidents. aud up near
the island of Juan Fernandez we Law
one bright morning and all on board
were cleaning up when There she
blows came the ringing cry from the
man nj the masthead. and away of to
the northwest we saw n stream of water
spouting out OF the ocean and knew il
must be huge whale. AT once all
was confusion on board. aud the cap
tain gave the order, Stand by TO lower
boats and quick as cats we sprang 10
our places. When within about "A nile
OF the monster Down boats Lower
away and Go for your whale came
the orders in quick succession. and
away we shot toward our prey. The
boats on such occasions have nothing
in them but cask of water aud one of
biscuits. and two harpoons and lances.
with the necessary rope. about $50
fathoms. coiled In a tub so that 1t could
be paid out easily. The three boats,
carrying eighteen men altogether.
rowed swiftly, with mufiled oars. for
the whale A whale is very easily
frightened and the greatest care must
be exercised in getting close upon him
without detection. for when scared he
will dive and come up perhaps three
miles away. A queer fact In this con-
nection is that he will always dive in
I'm xutaH'G av a thnnnh h.
stood that having pull against the
wind aud swell. he could be least
followed. However. we got pretty
close 10 our whale. when we shipped
our oars aud padded the remainder of
the distance. We came up quietly
without his having any suspicion of
our presence. and just AS the edge OF
our boat scraped his side the officer
plunged the harpoon into his side. and
stern alt came the order. aud every
man lay to his oar and backed out.
These whaling-boats are sharp mt both
ends, SO that they can be backed al
most as fast rs they can be rowed for
ward. Ii was well for US in this case,
for our whale dove straight down.
making a whirlpool aud taking out
line with frightful rapidity. Seeing
that our line would be insufficient
second boat came up aud made fast its
line 10 ours, and that. too. was soon
paid out, and still the whale went ON.
The third line was attached aud that.
too, was soon gone. and as we had no
more rope block Of wood two inches
thick and two feet square was attached
TO the end, and as this could not be
kept under the surface long at time
we kept trace OF IT, and by that means
OF the whale.
lin about forty minutes the fellow
came TO the surface spouting furiously.
and we picked up the block aud rowed
for him, taking in line as we advanced.
A second time we drew near. but just
as another harpoon was TO be thrown
he gave one splash with his tail aud
knocked us about twenty feet in the
air. The boat was smashed TO pieces
aud came down so close 10 the mon
ster that put my foot against his side
TO push myself so that | might swim.
The captain lighted on the whales
head. but rolled of into the water and.
seeing my action. he tried the same.
Unfortunately he stuck his foot into
the mouth OF the whale and down went
the monsters jaw, held IL fast. and
down went the whale. taking the
captain along. But whale has teeth
only on its lower jaw. and these iii into
depressons in the upper gums. so that
the captain was not severely crushed,
but badly bruised. aud soon the whale
let him go and he came TO the surface
about used up and was taken In by
one OF the boats.
Again we made for the whale. This
time the second mate took the har-
poon, and as we neared the qnieted
monster. only broad expanse OF
whose back projected above the water,
the mate. who thought himself funny,
said: Which end are we atg As IL In
answer TO the question the whale
showed plainly thas we were Mt the
rear end by giving one swoop with his
great tail fin. which landed US In
dozen directions. while our prey again
disappeared.
1.-The second mate had had enough.
aud the third mate now took charge of
one boat. aud again we rowed for the
big fish. But this time he saw us COM
ing. aud like mad bull. with tail In
air. he started for us with open mouth.
Now, OF all the jewellers Of tho deep
the whale Is the swiftcst swimmer. and
the speed with which the infuriated
monster came at us was frightful. just
As he was almost upon ms. Jump for
your lives came the order. and into
the water we went like so many fright
sned frogs. None too soon. either. for.
true to his aim, the whale seized the
empty boat and one bite turned IL in
to lot of splinters. We shiyered as
we saw this. for although whale can
not eat man he can smash one up
pretty badly.
The two harpoons gave the monster