Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1892-05-04


of the largest size, or about eighty
four feet in length, the dimensions
may be given as follows: Depth of
the head, eight or nine feet; breadth
of the head, five TO six feet. The
depth of the body seldom exceeds
twelve or fourteen feet, so that the
circumference of the largest sperm
whale will seldom exceeds thirty-six
feet. The sperm whale has forty
two teeth in the lower jaw, but
there are none in the upper, which
instead presents dcprcssions CORE
spending to and for the reception
of the points of those in the lower
Jaw
"0f the amount of oil a sperm
whale will yield, | can only say that
| helped capture and cut-in one of
them that measured about sixty feet
in length, that gave us over 100
barrels of oil. II has often been
said that more whales can be taken
on Sunday than on any other day,
but, strange though it may seem,
some captains that have known
would not lower a boat for them on
that day.
Although have, as a sailor be-
fore the mast, been around Cape
Horn and the Cape of Good Hope,
yet my voyages in a whaler was to
the South Atlantic, on which cruise
we touched at Fayal, Pernambuco,
st. Helena, Tristan d Acunha and
other islands in the Southern seas.
That voyage was my last. | never
was cut out for sailor, and | found
it out very soon, but was not will
ing to acknowledge it until ] had
seen the elephant, which | did, to.
gether with large part of the tail
Immediately upon a whale being
harpooned, he sounds, that is, goes
under water at lightning speed, "a
does also the line to which he is at
tached, making it necessary to throw
water upon it to prevent it from
taking fire from the friction. II
has been claimed that whales cal
run at speed of mile minute
They cannot remain long below
but must come up to breathe
When a whale is struck, the boat
steerer is relieved by the leader, ant
he mans the steering until thu
whale turns up; when whale die
his belly turns uppermost. Their
the boats are all fastened together
the sails hoisted and then commences
a long, tedious pull. You NIGH
think they would lay to and let. tn,
ship come up. The ship does come
up as fast as it can, but it has tc
beat up, for whales invariably run
to windward and oftentimes a boat
is miles away from the ship when 6
prize is captured. Not infrequently
darkness overtakes them a long
way from their berths.
"While cruising of the coast Of
Brazil we fell in one day with a
New London whaler, Cape Horn
err, homeward bound. She had beer
out three or four years, and being
full, was cruising little time Oh
the whaling ground of that section
We spoke her twice and CANNED
with her. What does CANNED
mean? Visited. One of her crew
was al old fellow-townsman ant
schoolmate of mine, who had lief
home two or three years before
) did on this voyage. He was the
only man | ever met at sea or abroad
anywhere that | ever knew or saw
before.
Nov, in conclusion ] want tC
say to every young lad who reads
The Free Press, that if he wishes tc
see the world, or has any inclination
. to 60 to sea, take my advice. Go tC
work on land and earn money ell
ough to crafty your desire to travel
Then you can satisfy your curiosity
without undergoing the privation'
4 that one must meet who goes as
did and hundreds of others hav,
done, and come back to tell and re-
cord such experiences as they never
would have passed through hat
they had the slightest idea of wha
was before them" Free Press.