The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1891-07-06
A MODERN JONAH.
A Sailor Who Lived Thirty-six
Hours in Il Whales Stomach.
Unexpectedly Rescued by His Comrades
While Cutting Up Captured
Leviathan.

The whaling vessel Star of the East ar
rived at New London. Conn.,. after cruise
OF two years and half in the South Atlantic
waters. She had on board a man who is a
veritable Jonah, having existed in whales
belly thirty-siX hours.
The mans statement is veuched for by
the captain and crew of the vessel, and to-
day 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-eght years ago.
The strange story told by him is, in sub
stance, as follows:
Last February the Star of the East was
in the vicinity of the Falkland Islands
searching for whales, which were very
scarce. One morning the lookout sighted
whale about three miles away to the star
board quarter. Two buats were manned
and put chase to the prey.
In short time one of the boats was near
enough to enable the harpooner to send a
spear INTO the whale, which proved to be an
exceedingly large one. With the shaft in
his side the animal sounded and then sped
away, dragging the boat after him with ter
Iible speed. lie swan straight away about
hive 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 dis
lance away from it he arose to the surface.
AS soon as his back showed above
the surface of the water the har-
pOOner in the second boat drove another
speaT into him. The pain apparently crazed
the whale, for it thrashed about fearfully,
and 1t 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 where
abouts could not be exactly told. The lines
attached TO the harpoons were slack and the
barp00ners began to slowly draw them in
and coil them in the tubs. As soon as they
were tautened the whale arose to the sur
lace and beat about with his tail in the mad
dest fashion. The boats attempted to get
beyond The reach of tine animal, which was
apparently in its death agonies, and one of
them succeeded, but the other was less for
tunate. The whale struck it with its nose
and upset it. The men were thrown into the
water and before the crew of the other boat
could pick them up one man was drowned
and James BARLEY had disappeared. When
the whale became quiet from exhaustion the
waters we're searched for Barley, but he
could not be found, and. under the impress
sion that he had been struck by the whales
tail and sunk to the bottom, the survivors
rowed back to the ship The whale was dead,
and IN 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 Il part of the night They re-
sumed operations the next forenoon, and
were soon down to the stomach, which was
to be hoisted to the deck The workmen
were startled willie laboring to clear it and
10 fasten the chain about 1t to discover
something doubled up in it that gave S pas
m0dic signs of life.
The Vast pouch was hoisted to the deck
and cut open, and inside was found the
missing sailor doubled up and unconscious.
lie was laid out on the deck and treated TO
bath oil sea water, which soon reviy d
him, but his mind was not clear and he was
placed in the captains quarters, where he
renamed two weeks, ravng maniac. He
was carefully treated by the captain and
officers OF tile ship, and lie finally began TO
get possession of his senses. At the cod of
the third week he had entirely recovered
from the shock and resumed his duties.
During his brief s0iouin in the whales
belly. Bartley'S skin, where it was exposed
to the action of the gastric juices, under
went striking change His face and hands
were bleached to deathIy whiteness and
the skin was wrlDkied, giving the man the
appearance of having been parbOiled.
Barley affirms that he would probably
have lived inside his house OF flesh until he
starved, fer he lost his senses through
fright and not through lack OF air. He says
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 Il
fearful rushing sound, which be believed to
be the beating of the water by the whales
tail; then he was encOmpaSsed by fearful
darkness, and he felt himself slipping along
a smooth passage of some sort that seemed
TO move and carry him forward. This SEN
sation lasted but an instant, then he felt
that he had more room. He felt about him,
and his hands came in contact
with yielding, Shiny substance that
seemed to shrink from his touch. 1t finally
dawned upon him that he had been swal-
lowed by the whale, and he was overcome
with horror at the situation. He could
breathe easily, but the heat was terrible. 1t
was not of soothing, sitting nature, bat it
seemed 10 open the pores of his skin and 10
draw out his vitality. He became very weak
and grew sick at the stomach. He knew
that there was no hope Of escape from his
strange prison. Death stared him in the
face, and he tried to look at it brayely, but
the awful quiet, the fearful darkness, the
horrible knowledge of his environments and
the terrible heat finally overcame him and
he must have tainted, for he next rrmem-
bered being in the captaiu's cabm.-Core-
Spondence Globe democrat.