The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1892-04-20
IN A WHALES BELLY
JoNAH's EXPERIENCE DUPucATE1
Sailor James BARTLETT Is Swallowed by q
Huge cetaoean and Bematns Imprisoned
for Several Hours-StranGs Ensct on HI6
Complexion.


for Several Hours-stranGe Enscs on Hl6
Complexion.
Last February the whaling ship Star oi
the East was in the vicinity of the Falk<
land islands searching for whales. which,
were very scarce. One morning the look-.
out sighted a whale about three miles,
away on the starboard quarter Two boat6
were manned. In a short time one of tho
| boats was near enough TO enable the harS
/ pooner to send a spear into the whale.
which proved to be an exceedingly largG
/ one. With the shalt in its side the animal
sounded and then sped away, dragging
! the boat after him with terrible speed. Hes
/ swan straight away about five miles,S
when he turned ana came back almost
directly toward the spot where he had
! been harpooned. The second boat waited.
for him, and when but a short distances.
away from him he rose TO the surface. Aa
soon as his back showed above the urface
of the water the harpooner in the second
] boat drove another spear into him. Tbs
| pain apparently crazed the whale. for il
thrashed about, and it was feared that ths
boats would be swamped and the crew
] drowned.
Finally the whale swan away, dragging
the two boats after him, continues the
Great Yarmouth Mercury. He went
about three miles and sounded or sank
and his whereabouts could not be exactly
told. The lines attached to the harpoons,
were slack, and the harpooners began
slowly to drag them in and coil them inl
the tubs. As soon as they were tautened
the whale arose 10 the surface and beat
about with his tail in the maddest fashion(
| The boats attempted to get beyond thei
reach of the animal, which was appar<
emily in its death agonies, and one OF
them succeeded, but the other was less
| fortunate. The whale struck II with his
nose and upset it. The men were thrown
into the water and before the other boab
could pick them up one man was drowned
! and James BARLEY had disappeared.
BARLEY Disappears.
When the whale became quiet from exc
haustiou the waters were searched foI
BARLEY; but he could not be found. and,
under the impression 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, ard 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 10
be hoisted to the deck. The workmen
were startled, while laboring to clear il
/ II 10 no oh a
cover something doubled up in 1t that
gave spasmodic 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. de
was laid out on the deck and treated to a
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 for a fortnight q raving
lunatc. He was carefully treated by 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 recovered from the shock and re-
sumed his duties. During the brief
| journ in the whales belly Bartiey's skin,
where it was exposed to the gastric juices,
| underwent a striking change Ills lace
! and hands were bleached TO q deathly
/
! ing the man the appearance OF having,
been parboiled. Barley atiirms 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 saws 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 a fearful
rushing sound. which he believed 20 be-
the beating of the water by the whales
tail then he was encompassed by fear
full darkness, and ne felt himself slipping
along a smooth passage OF some sort that
seemed to move and carry him forward.
This sensation lasted but an instant, then
he felt that he had more room He felt
about him, and his hands came in contact
with a yielding, Shiny substance that
seemed to shrink from his touch.
In Close Quarters.
1t finally dawned upon him that he had
been swallowed by the whale, and he was
overcome with horror at the situation. He
could breathe easily, but the heat was ter
| rible. 1t was not of a scorching, sitting
nature, but it seemed to open the pores Of
his skin and draw out his vitality. He
became very weak and grew sick at the
stomach. lie 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 bravely; but the awful quiet,
the fearful darkness, the horrible knowl-
edge of his environ Inents and the terrible
heat overcame him, and he must have
tainted. for the next he remembered was
being in the captains cabin.
BARLEY is not d man OF timid nature;
but he saws that it was many weeks be-
fore he could pass night without having
his sleep disturbed with narrowing dreams
OF angry whales and the horrors of his
fearful prison. The skin on the face aud
hands OF BARLEY has never recovered its
natural appearance 1t is yellow and
wrinkied, and looks like old parchment.
The health of the man docs not seem to
have been affected by his terrible expe-
rience; he is in splendid spirits, and APP
parently fully enjoys all the blessings Of
life that comes in his way. The whaling
captains say that they never knew par
allel case to this before. They say that
il frequently occurs that men are swal-
! = - hacOroa inf,