The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1893-09-16
DOINGS OF WHALES.
SEA YARNS SPUN BY AN OLD EX.
WHALER OF SOUTH STREET.


Tne1u While They Are Asleep on Top of
the Water r. Whales Very Dangerous
When sleei, 11ad or Harpoon Mad.
"That's the best reading I've had for
many Il long day" "exclai1ned the bronzed
old ex-sealnnn in his Gi1lgy little sail
ing Office" in South street, and his bright
eyes twinkled. The reading that pleased
him so was the Victoria dispatch giving
an account Of the attack Of an enormous
whale OF the schooner Mermaid off the
Japan coast.
You don't know what sleep mad is,
do you? It's just the kind Of mad that
big whale had on him. and the same kind
Of mad th;ltaanJ lis whale is sure to get
on him when he lnia just had his dinner
and is king his after dinner nap. The
whales OF the waters where this schooner
Mclnaia was cruising are great sleepers.
They tu11: over on their sides OH top of
the water and let the waves rock them
TO sleep, especially if they have been din
ing pretty heavy. They sleep sound. and
/ haze more than once milked Il she
whale when she was sleeping like that
without waking her up, just as you
might milk q COW. A good, healthy she
whale, With suclzling cubs, would give
down q barrel Of milk, and then we'd
have 4 feast after Il hard days work.
but suppose that besides being sleep
mad this big whale that pitched into the
schooner Mermaid llldalso been hnrpoon
mad, Ii he had been, The Sun wouldn't
have had Jl.i.t story to print, for the
schooner G. her crew would never have
been heard from again.
Did | eyer have any close call from
an infuriated whale? Did /? Well. re-
Wondering a few Of 'en, I think did!
For instance. what would you call this
one? Forty years ago was one Of the
crew Of the wfaler Mary Pilgrim of
Nantucket. We started in April after
sperm whales III the Y >Aters around the
Cape dc Verde islands.
''Wc picked UP whale now and then
bat they We're not plentiful, but one day
we discovered Il tremendous bow head
or bone whale asleep close off our port
bow. ThIce boats were lowered, | was
the ha,pooner of the captain s boat, and
the mate and second mate We're in
charge of the other two. We got to tho
whale without disturbing him, and
gave him the harloon. That woke him,
I can tell you! He was the naddest
whale | ever saw, being both sleep mad
and harpoon mad. He turned on our
boat and came at us With Il rush In
stead Of striking us head on he passed
| our bow, and as he was passing struck
the boat with his nakes. He cut us
square in TWO and turned the boat bot
| tom side up quicker than ever any boat
had been cilpsized before. Ny leg be
came fouled IN the harpoon line. and in
a second | found myself being towed
through the water at about 20 knots an
hour and several feet below the sur
face. The line was wound about my
leg just below the knee and had cut
deep into the flesh.
81 knew my end was not more than a
minute ahead of me unless | got loose
from that rushing whale. My knife
i'll my belt. | got it out, and somehow
but never knew just howl managed
to reach down and sever the line. The
next second appeared on the surface,
popping up in SO sudden and startling a
manner that | almost scared the mate
and his bouts crew into fits. for | came
up right alongside Of their boat 1t
seems that just as the whale struck o,ll,
boat and WRECKED it the mate fastened
harpoon in the enraged monster and was
being towed by it to the Windward, and
| had come to the surface just as they
were passing that spot. They took me
III on the tiy, as it were, but | was very
little better than dead. The second mate
had picked up the captain and the rest
of the crew.
"As the whale was tearing along with
the mates boat III tow he discovered
our vessel lying to, and making up his
mind that there lay the source of all his
troubles he turned and charged like a
tornado upon it. He hurled himself
against the vessel three different times,
| knocking off the cutwater clear to the
wood ends aud starting bad leak. While
he was thus engaged the mates boat got
near, and the furious whale turned on it.
| The mate thrust his lance against the
| whales head and threw all his weight
upon it as the whale rushed forward,
while the crew backed the boat for their
| lives. At that critical moment the cap
tain, with the second mates boat, came
up. lie litls! "a bo,.ib lance and fired it
at the whale. The bomb struck the
great head OF the monster on the bone
above the left eye and exploded Oh the
outside, doing no damage except to mo-
ments,rily stun the whale. lie soon re
covered aud charged Oh the captains
boat. That boat being free avoided the
rush, and then the whale made again for
| the mates boat.
'.Three different times the captains
boat drew the whale away and saved the
mate and his crew. AT the fourth time
the whale didn't turn aside from his
furious; rush on the mate, and | thought
our fate was sealed. With a less e.i-
perience,l and true handed sailor than
our captain it would have been sealed,
too i'll d very few seconds more. TIE
whale charged right upon us, and his
| giant fukes We're in the air, to swoop
down and crush us beneath their
mighty and irresistible sweep, but chat
gave the plucky captain the chance he
wanted. He drove the hand lance into
the whale clear to its seizing, and the
monster fell back III the water between
the two boats, neither one escaping by
more than Il yard.
''TLe captains plunge with the hand
lance had been true to its mark. Both