Evening star., 1897-07-31
A narrowing Experience.

One Of the most narrowing experiences
through which Captain Herendeen passed,
and which came near ending his existence,
was in the Indian ocean. He describes il as
follows:
I'm 1866 1 was one of the crew Of the
sailing ship Richard Mitchell of Mar.ha's
Vineyard. As we were cruising near Cro-
zet's Islands, in the Indian ocean, two
boats crews of us were landed to hunt the
sea elephant for blubber. The animal is
nothing more than a big, fat oversrowl
seal, with a sort of nasal appendage. which
when inflated. resembles the trunk of an
elephant. We landed on one of the islands,
which were greatly isolated, and had just
gotten to work, when the sky suddenly
iarkened. a terrific gale set in and the
Richard Mitchell was driven out to sea.
Gale followed gale, our ship disappeared
and we were alone for twenty-five days.
Most of us had almost despaired of ever
getting off. All were suffering from sto-
mach trouble from eating the little we had.
When we had almost given mp the ship
made its appearance. l never wish to go
through such a time again.
I'm 1860 1 was sailing master Of the ship
Nassau, about 400 tons, from NV Bedford,
bound north for whales. Did ever har-
poon one? Oh. yes, more than once. A
man hardly knows what thrilling expert
ence Is until he has struck a whale,
which, maddened by the pain Of the lance
in its blubber, Sounds, then rises and tears
along through the water, dragging the boat
with II at q terrlf1C rate OF speed.
Common Experience.
Every whaler has been knocked out Of a
boat at different times by one of the big
fish. I never saw a whale bite boat, but
1 have often seen a boat upset by one The
whale does it by pressing his jaw against
the side. This has happened time and
time again. I saw a man killed once by a
whale on the coast of California The
whale 'broached.' came up underneath the
boat, struck with its tail and hit the man
when he fell in the water, killing him in
stanty. We secured his body.
"In 1924 l was in commend of the
Alaskan C. asst survey ship Yukon, from
San Francisco, in charge of DR.. w. H. Dill.
one of the curators of the Smithsonian,
WAS pelagic sealing some years after. and
met with good success. 1 should say that
under the present circumstances the United
States is wasting time and money in at
tempting to protect the seals. 1t is too
much depOpulated to ever amount to any
thing. 1t was not an uncommon thing for
a catch of 2OOOO0 year to be made when
I was in the business.
"In 1881 l went with Lieut.. Ray on the
interpolar expedition to Point Barrow and
spent some time there. I never minded
the cold. 1 was never more than 90 degrees
north. but this is some distance. 1 had
whaling station at Point Barrow at one
time. During the five or six years spent
in Alaska and up north I picked UP the
language of the Esquimaux and can speak
1t as well as they can. I have done a
great deal of interpreting.
COrrects a Mistake.
"It is mistake to suppose that the Es-
qumaux eat train oil, fat and blubber All
the time spent among them never yet
saw them do 1t. They don't eat any more
fat than ordinary people. They are ex-
tremely fcnd Of the outer portion of the
whales body, with thin skin Of blub,er
on the inside. They sometimes din their
meat in grease. but never eat plain fat or
blubber."
How did such man find a final haven az
doorkeeper at the Smithsonian Institute?