The Dalles daily chronicle. [volume] (The Dalles, Or.) 1890-1948, 1894-04-24
a RIDE ON A WHALE.
The STIRRING and veracious Yarn of = Man
from North Carolina.

The Stirring and Teracious Yarn of Man
from North Carolina.
Capt Jim Willis, who halls from
Morehead City. N. c., where he runs
pleasure craft for the accommodate
of northern consumptiyes, had an ex-
perience with a whale that came near
making Jonah of him. In his own
story, as given to a Washington Star
reporter, he says: Zone sunny after
noon, not very long ago, was sitting
in the shade of my own fig tree and
swinging in my own grapevine swing.
A party of my fisher friends who lived
farther up the beach, came running by,
and as they passed me they sang out:
There she blowsr This cry woke me
up. / saw a jet of water spurted up
ward from the sea, and down to the
pier / rushed. There wasn't a real
whaleboat in the town, but four crdi-
nary fishing boats were manned by as
many crews. One carried the harpoon
gun and one the Handwriting appa-
ratus The other two were without
any armament excepting several shot
guns and one or two rifles. We rowed
off so as to come at the game from diff
ferent points of the compass. ] was in
the gunboat. AS we approached the
whale it was seen that he was large
and fat one. He took no notice of our
coming. When we got withii about
one hundred feet of the monster the
harpoon gun was fired, and the barbed
weapon took effect just behind the
head and pretty well up on the back
This was painful, but not necessarily
fatal shot. The other boats turned
themselves loose and made some inser-
tions in the fish.
Instead of going under, as wounded
whales do, he remained ON top to fight
it out. He swished his tail and turned
the sea into suds and made such
swell that the good people of Alexan-
dria would not have permitted
him to pass their port without slowing
down. He plunged headlong against
one of the boats and stove it SO that it
would Ii ardly float. It's occupants
were knocked overheard. There was
a good deal of excitement. The sea
round about US was boiling, the whale
was red-hot with rage, the men were
shouting and the guns were popping.
The fish next hurled himself against
the boat in which l was, and it yielded
to his wishes and got smashed. 1t was
raised considerable distance in the
air, and when it came down L was on
that whales back, just abaft his
head, and holding on to that harpoon
with both hands. The line which had
connected the harpoon and the boat
had parted, and about two hundred
| feet of MANILA hawser squirmed and
wriggled snalze-lilze around in the
seething sea. The whale didn't seem
to observe my attitude and continued
his attention upon the two remaining
boats. There wasn't any time to think
of this. The hand harpoon had been
showed into the right place and the
whale was blowing his last. \ column
of blood was being squirted sl1yvvard
and the. scarlet food fell over me, dy-
ing me CORY hue. A few feeble
swashes of the tail and keeling mo-
ton as though he was going to lie ON his
side announced that the fish was dead.
Our catch was Iashcd alongside the
| pier and the next day we went to
work at his carcass. The fish was
! siXay-tvo feet three and three fourth
| inches long. and the proceeds from the
! sale of his oil. bone and other valua-
| bles We're three thousand FIVE hundred
| dollars