The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-09-16
WHALES LEAFS.
Gigantic Jumps Taken by These
Monsters of the Deep.

From the Philadelphia Times.
Speaking of jumping" said an old
seaman, who had been watching some
boys playing Ieapfrog on the sands. 'let
me tell you Of the greatest jump ever
seen. 1t was many years ago. when /
was little more than a lad. but 7 was bow
oarsman on a whale boat belonging 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 race to see who would
get there first. 1t was fairly smooth.
what the sailors call a whitecap breeze,
and our boats fairly flew over. the va
water. Finally the whale rose not 100
yards away, headed directly for us. The
mate gave orders 10 stop. and we sat
still, expecting that the monster would
rise near 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 har-
pooned. Not a word was spoken, and
suddenly mountain of black appeared.
it seemed to shut off the entire horizon.
Up 1t went until ! distinctly saw a 10
foot whale over 20 feet in the air hover
ing 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 tine
next second the gigantic animal dived into
the ocean, just grazing us, having COM
pletely passed over the boat i'm the biggest
leap l ever heard Of. -
Such gigantic jumps are rare. A SINH
lar one was recorded by Dr. Hall, who at
the time was a midshipman on the ship
Leander. They were lying in the harbor
of Bermuda, when all hands were at
tracted by the appearance of very
large whale that suddenly appeared IN
the harbor and seemed very much
alarmed by the shallow water, fiounderlng
about violently, The young midshipman
Joined a boats crew that started In pur-
suit, and just as they were about 10
strike the whale disappeared, sinking
out of sight, leaving deep whirlpool.
around which the boat shot, Before it
stopped up came the Whale having. In
all probability, struck the bottom, and
went into the air like a rocket. 80 com
plete was this enormous leap" says Dr.
Hall, that for an instant we saw him
fairly up in the air. in a horizontal posi-
ton, at distance of at least twenty per-
pendlcular feet over our heads. While In
his progress upward there was in his
spring some touch of the vivacity with
the water, but he fell back again in the
sea like a huge log. thrown on its broad
side and with such a laundering crash
as made all hands stare with astonish-
ment and the boldest held his breath for
a time Had the whale taken his leap
one minute sooner, he would have fallen
plump on the boat" .a
Comparatively few people have seen a
large whale, but we can Imagine what
an object an animal seventy feet long
and weighing as many tons would maks
flying through the air.
Within a week of the writing of the
present article ! was drifting along the
shores of Santa Catalina Island South
ern California, when a sixty-foot whale
almost cleared the water about 900 yards
from the boat. i was about to ask the
boatman 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, chron-
icles number of instances of jumping
among whales. some leaving the water
completely and rising twenty or more feet
into the air.
Many of the inhabitants of the sea are
good jumpers, and some have become IA
nous. Among them should be mentioned
the tarpon or silver king, huge fish with
scales that CLEAN like silver. which con-
stitutes the famous game fish of Florida.
nc ltdpS u TINS Dcdulhul creature are
often astonishing Several wears ago a
steamer 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 four feet in length. 1t came
on 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 alley Of
the horse naackerel, is noted for its leaps.
Sometimes school sweeps W. the coast
and the powerful fish, often Watching 500
pounds, are seen in the air III every direc-
ton. They are Ike an. arrow -tiirn. grace
fully five or six feet IN the air. and come
down, keeping the water for acres in a
foam. and If not the greatestiumpers they
are certainly the most graceful of the
leapers Of the sea.