The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1892-04-09
MOCHA DICK" WHALE
FOR YEARS He BID DEFIANCE TO
ALL WHALING VESSELS.
The Thrilling Tale of Whale Who
Fought, but Was Not Caught, Though
Boats he Spilled and Men He Killed
Until at Last They Got Him.

DtLNtcI VIC CoLS iOSO anu ~" SA'O
whaling vessels of such nations as pursued
the ieviathan of the deep for his commercial
value encountered no less than five whales
who became famous as terrors of the sea-.
They were Mocha Dick" Spotted Tom"
"Shy Jack" ugly Jim" and Fighting
joe" These names were of course given
them by the sailors. but they came to be
known to whalers of all nations. You may
think it curious that one whale could be
identified from another of the same size
and species, but it was no more difficult
than to identify particular horse in a
drove of several hundred. In other words,
each leviathan has some peculiar mark or
characteristic of his own, and if sighted
two or three times can be identified forever
afterward.
"Mocha Dick" headed the list of terrors
from the start and kept his place for nine
teen long years No whale was SO fiercely
hunted. and none ever created so much
damage among the hunters What | am
going to tell you is partly matter of pub
lished record in England, Scotland and
America, and was partly CLEANED from
Nantucket and New Bedford whalers who
battled with the cachelot time after time,
to suffer defeat on each occasion.
On the 5th day of July, 1910, the English
whaling brig Desmond, being then 215
miles due west of the port of Valparaiso,
Chill, sighted lone whale which preached
his full length above the surface about two
miles away The boats were lowered, but
before they were within half mile of the
whale he slowed around head on to them
and advanced to meet them. He struck
one boat with his head and drove her IN
der stern first and then chewed her up.
He then sounded and was lost to sight for
fifteen minutes. When he came up it
was to lift the Other boat thirty feet high
on his head, and of course she was COM
pletely shattered. Oars and planks were
ground fine by his teeth as he wallowed
about, and two men were drowned before
the whale finally went slowly off to the
north. This was Mocha Dicks" intro
duction to the blubber hunters. He was
the largest whale any one aboard the brig
had ever seen, and across his head was
scar about eight feet long, which showed
almost white on the gray-black back
ground. 1t was by this scar he was ever
afterward identified.
The next craft to encounter mocha
Dick" was the Russian bark Sarepta
This was on the Both of August, almost
two months later, and she was fully 500
miles to the south of the spot where he
was first seen. She lowered two boats for
a lone whale and killed him. The bark
was three miles away, and beating down
to the whale under light breeze, when
Mocha Dick" suddenly shot out of water
between the vessel and the boats. Such
was his impetus that nearly his full length
could be traced before he fell with crash
which could have been heard for miles
around. AS soon as he had righted him
self he made straight for the boats. o
of them passed aroifnd the dead whale be-
fore he got up, but the other was caught
by the sweep of his jaw as he came on
and knocked to pieces. He then took up
his position beside the dead whale and re-
manned quiet for half an hour, during
which interval the other boat pulled off to
the bark.
Three men had been lost, and fourth
had both arms broken. while the sailors
had be given such fright that they
could be induced to attack. The vessel
hung about the spot for three hours, hop
ing the fierce leviathan would take him
self off, but finally had to sail away and
leave him in possession. The dead whale
was taken possession of two days later by
the whaling ship John Bruce, of Nantucket,
but it was no longer guarded.
The next authentic record Of mocha
Dick" was furnished by the Bristol
whaler John Day. in May of the year fol-
lowing. She was then to the east of the
Falkland islands, and was trying out blub-
Der as she drifted with a light breeze. At
2 O'Clock in the afternoon a gigantic whale
preached within 500 feet of her, shooting
his full length ont of water, and raising
such a sea by his fall that the ship rolled
as if in a gale. The whale then swan slow
ly about, and as soon as the men caught
sight of his head they identified him as
"Mocha Dick" His actions were menac-
ing, but the captain at once decided to at
tack him. Three boats were lowered, and
as the whale made off to windward the
first mate put harpoon into him. This
was the first iron mocha Dick" had ever
felt. He sounded at once and ran for three
miles, and when he came up it was to slue
around and head for the boat. His action
was so unexpected and his speed so great,
that he caught tie boat unprepared and
ran right over It.
As it went under he stopped short and
turned as on pivot, beating the water all
twenty-four feet across. Nothing was left
of the boat but splinters, and two of her
crew were killed or drowned The other
two boats advanced to the attack, but be-
fore they were near enough to dart, the
whale settled away like a lump of lead.
One of the boats got hold of the floating
line, but had scarcely secured it when the
tricky fighter came up under the other and
- 81 Il 1,
out. He then pivoted and thrashed the
surface as before, and another man was
lost and two Others severely injured.
The crew had had enough of Mocha
Dick, !" and while he hauled off and lay
waiting for another attack the remaining
boat was hauled up and the ship sneaked
away. The English captain had vowed
that if he ever encountered that whale he
would kill him or lose his whole outfit of
men and boats. but an hours fighting salts
fed him that he had undertaken too big a
job.
The particulars of the several encounters
recorded above were soon known to all
whalers. Some captains decided to let
Mocha Dick" severely alone. while others
were ambitious to secure the credit of kill
ing him. However, he disappeared after
the fight with the John Day, and was not
seen again for seventeen months. 1t had
come to be generally believed that he had
died of old age or been killed in a fight
with another whale, when he suddenly
turned up in the Pacific ocean off the east
coast of Japan.
Here occurred the battle of his life. A
coasting craft had been blown of the coast
by heavy gale and was making her way
back. 1t was about an hour after day
light. when big whale was seen to breach
about two miles away. II was passed over