The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-05-17

ion yistiddy.
the fact remained that the Rainbow had
not yet even lowered for a whale. Just as
she was ready to leave us, however, two
large whale spouted water within half
mile of the ships. They were quarter OF
a mile apart, nd while we lowered for
one ,-ie bark took the other. We had but
little troubling in killing out prey, which
was female and good for seventy bar
rels or oil. The other was a bull whale
anu evidently IN bad temper He first
lea the boats a chase of three miles to the
south and then slowed around and waited
Tor them to come up. When the mates
boat was within 500 feet of him he rushed
forward and ran it down. and as il float
ed asterp of him he smashed il with a
blow, of mis- tiukes. Two men were killed
by this blow.
The second mates boat then came I'm
ana got fast, when the whale headed to
the east and started of at a speed of TWEEN
" miles an hour. Keeping his course as if
by compass, and never slackening his gait
IN the least, he ran a distance of fifteen
miles and then suddenly sounded He
went down SO deep that all the line was
exhausted and the boat had to be cut loose
That was the last seen of the whale II
was long after dark before the boat re-
turned, ana just as we begun work on our
second whale the Rainbow glided away 10
the west. Two weeks later. lust as we had
scrubbed our decks and while we were
under easy sail to the south Of St Helena
we lowered Tor school Of whales and got
TWO. There were twelve in the school and
ten went off to the southwest We were
making our captures fast to the ship when
the halnDow came down on us from the
south; she was now ftty-four days out
and ill-luck still pursued her After parting
from us she lowered for a whale and lost
TWO harpOOnS and lines and half a DAYS
work for nothing Two men had fallen
from aloft, had broken arms or legs and
her captain had to come aboard of us TO
nuy on to Keep his lamps alght As l was
tnIu mate OF the Nancy Lee l had an Op-
portunlty to hear of the feeling which pre-
vailed aboard the bark. Her crew was on
the verge of mutiny and Capt Trayers had
become alarmed for his own safety The
men had come to regard him as a Jonah.
ana on the day he ran down to us had
come TO the decision that if the run of i'll
luck was not broken they would compel
MIN TO return to Bristol with an empty
snip. capt. IraVerS was still aboard of rs
Wnen monster whale broke water within
half mile Of the two craft. We got him
aboard of the ship as soon as possible. but
long before he reached her his mates had
lowered and We're away. The hour was ,
O'Clock in the afternoon and we knocked
off work to see the fun
There were those aboard of the Painboyv
" no said Ii was the same whale winch had
Kliieq Two men and smashed a boat to the
north OF st. Helena. Be that as it may, he
mad harpOOn sticking into him and was
badly tangled up in whale lines. He was
rolllng on the surface when both boats
came up and made fast at the same mo-
ment. For fifteen second the monster diI
lot move I'm. Then he started off with
g Iush and made complete cir.le about
Eoth ships, leaving such a wake behind
MN Jhdt tnere We're times when we lost
slght of the boats in the foam. Having
completed the circle the monster Slowed
about until he was head on for the FIRST
mates boat. He lay for a moment swing
t ing ms lower Jaw to right and leet and
then made rush. The boat attemD-eI -
shoot ahead and avoid him, but he caugnr
her with swing of that terrible Jaw ard
lett only fragments behind as he came
GOWN between ne TWO ships and went of
10 the south. The second mates boat was
oblged to cut loose to pick up the Other
crew. but three men, one of when was
he first mate, had lost their lives When
the extent of the calamity became known
open mutlny resulted. The men demand
that the Rainbow be headed for Bristol
ana two hours later she laid her course
for that port and left us. Never did =
more disgruntled crew reach port. The
owners al once removed Capt. Tvavcrs
from command. The men scattered ana
1t was three months before the bark start
ed out for another cruise.
she mad lost prestige, but she was still
looked upon as a lucky craft and there was
no lack of applicants when she was ready
Tor sea, On this which proved to be her
last cruise, she was commanded by Cant
Thorndyke, who was a whaler of fifteen
years experience and had commanded
some of the best vessels in the fleet on
leaving Bristol he told the owners he would
come back with hold full of oil or nor at
all We in the Nancy Lee had meanwhile
transshipped LOO barrels of oil and worked
our way down TO Cape Horn and 200 miles
south of it. We were cruising east and
west, taking whale occasionally when the
Rainbow came down on us for the third
time. This was some nine or ten months
after her last adventure and she had made
the trip from Bris toll without sightinar a
spout. she came down TO us at 10 o'clock
one morning, remained hove to until 2 in
the afternoon, and then headed away to
the east. We came bout and two days la
ter sighted the Rainbow again Neither
craft had sighted a spout, but at O'clock
in the afternoon, as they lay within a quar-
tire OF mile OF each other, a whale broke
water Wlthln a caple length of the bark
He was so close to her that we had no
show and did not lower. 1t was a lone
whale and big one, and we no sooner had
him under our glasses than we saw that
he was a fighter There were half a dozen
scars on his head and the wav he roIIad
about showed his temper. As he was
head-on to us he must have seen both sbins
and the two boats lowered for him but he
made no move until the mates boat was
close. upon him and ready for dart
1t had made a half-circle to gel ONT o4
his line of vision and approach him
broadsde on, but he heard the aDDroacb
and INDUCED in a strange maneuver Few
men ever saw a whale back water and
there are plenty Of whalers that contend
that he cannot. This whale, however
backed a distance of 100 feet, and. with
amazing swiftness, too, and striking the
boat with his fiukes he killed four men
and reduced her TO matchWOod Then be
started straight for the Rainbow, and his
rush was that of an avalanche Every
man of US had our eyes on him when he
struck her on the port bow. and we
plainly heard the crash of planks and
timbers. After the shock he started off
and settled down, and was seen no more
but in ten minutes the Rainbow was az
the bottom of the sea. Not a man saved
even an extra jacket. There was scarce
time for them TO lower their boats when
the bark pitched forward and went 10
her grave. We, of course, took them
aboard, and after a few weeks they were
landed at Bahia. Such is the story Of
the luckiest and at the same time the mn
luckiest craft which ever left port on a
whaling cruise, and 1t was only the other
day that l met in the port of New York
a sailor who was a harpooner aboard her
on her first lucky cruise, and we went
over the story together.
"A hypocrite is a grand rascal with 4