The Cape Girardeau Democrat. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1876-1909, 1895-10-26
WHALES LEAPS.
Gigantic Jumps Taken by the Monsters of
the Deep.

Gigantic Jumps Taken by the Monsters Of
the Deep.
Speaking of jumping" said an old
seaman who had been watching some
boys playing leapfrog on the sands,
"let me tell you of the greatest jump
ever seen. 1t was many years ago,
when l was little more than a lad. but
/ was bow oarsman on a whaleboat be-
longing to the ship Henry Staples.
We had had bad luck for several
weeks, when one day we sighted a big
whale, and two boats set off in a race
to see who would get there first 1t
was fairly smooth, what the sailors
call a white-cap breeze, and our boats
fairly flew over the water. Finally
the whale'rose not over one hundred
yards away. heading directly for us
The harpooner stood with his iron
all ready to throw, while we grasped
our oars nervously, prepared to
jump at the word stern ALL
that nearly always came when a whale
was harpooned. Not a word was
spoken, and suddenly a mountain Of
black appeared; it seemed to shut off
the entire horizon. Up it went until
distinctly saw a seventy-foot whale
over twenty feet in the air lowering
over us.
The mate was the first to regain
his senses, and gave the command
stern all Just as we were ready to
spring overheard the boat shot back
several feet. and the next second the
gigantic animal Owed into the ocean,,
just grazing US, having completely
passed over the boat in the biggest
leap l ever heard off"
Such gigantic leaps are rare. A
similar one was recorded by DIR. Hail,
who at the time was a midshipman on
the ship Leander. They were lying in
the harbor of Bermuda, when all hands
were attracted by the appearance of
a very large whale that suddenly APP
peared in the harbor and seemed very
much alarmed by the shallow water.
fioundering about violently. The
young midshipman Joined a boats
crew that started in pursuit, and just
as they were about to strike the whale
disappeared, sinking out of sight, leav-
ing a deep whirlpool. around which
the boat shot. Before it stopped up
came the whale, having in all probabili-
ty struck the bottom and went into the
air like a rocket. $50 complete was
the enormous leap" says DIR. Hall,
that for an instant we saw him fairly
up in the air. in a horizontal position,
at a distance of at least twenty per-
pendicular feet over our heads. While
in his progress upward there was in
his spring some touch of the vivacity
with which a trout or salmon shoots
out of the water, but he fell back
again in the sea like a huge log thrown
on its broadside, and with such a
laundering crash as made all hands
stare with establishment, and the bold
est held his breath for a time. Had
the whale taken his leap one minute
sooner he would have fallen plump on
the boat"
Comparatively few people have seen
a large whale, but we can imagine
what an animal seventy feet long and
weighing as many tons would be flying !
through the air.
Within a week of the writing of the
present article | was drifting along the
shores of Santa Catalina island, Cali
fOrnia. when a sixty-foot whale almost
cleared the water about a thousand
yards from the boat. l was about to
ask the boatInan what rock it was, |
when the great head descended and
the tail rose into the air as the monster
Owed.
Mr.. Scorsby, the famous whaler,
chronicles a number of incidents of
jumping among whales, some leaving
the water completely and rising TWEEN
ty or more feet into the air.
Many of the inhabitants of the sea
are good jumpers, and some have be-
come famous. Among them should
be mentioned the tarpon or silver
king,a huge fish with scales that CLEAN
like silver. which constitutes the ia
nous game fish of Florida. The leaps
of this beautiful creature are often as
to~nishing. Several years ago a steam
er was rushing down the st. Johns
river. The captain was sitting on the
fore deck leaning against the pilot
house, when suddenly there rose in
the air a beautiful shining fish foul
feet in length. 1t came like an arrow
and landed in the lap of the captain as
neatly as though it had been placed
there.
In Pacific waters the tuna, an ally Of
the horse mackerel, is noted for its
leaps. Sometimes a school sweeps up
the coast, and the powerful fish, often
weighing eight pounds, are seen in the
air in every direction. They are like
an arrow, urn gracefully five or six
feet in the air and come down, keeping
the water for acres in a foam, and, if
not the greatest jumpers, they are GER
tainly the most graceful of the leap
ers of the sea.-Philadelphia Times.
Bringing Down the Noon.
A voyape to the moon is the latest