The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1897-02-10
AN OLD WHALER'S SERMON
JONAH AND TIE WHALE: 4 REPLY
TOLYM&N A68O1 &.

ana learned LrSaLlSS VI SLALNSIs ~
vines, who have sought eagerly 10
prove to the world the unreasonacte-
ness of the assertion that whale can
swallow a man, desire 10 say, VIII
out fear OF reasonable CONTRADICTION,
that from prsctical personal KNOW
edge on the subject | know they are
all wrong.
Thirty wears ago I sailed from
New Bedford, Mass, or whale ship
for a forty four months cruise in the
South Seas with the veteran whale
man, Cspt. Elisha Babcock, who IS
well known to the whaling fraternity.
We had very successful voyage up
to the time I left the expedition, twen-
ty.seven months afterward, Oft the
coast of Borneo. Now, whale IS the
biggest of all Gods living creatures
on sea or land, and what We call 8
sperm whale is the smallest OF whales,
varying in length from 50 10 $50 feet
and large in proportion, making from
20 to lao barrels of cii.
One beautiful day in August, 1866,
on the Western Ocesu, whale was
sighted by the man at the masthead
who sang out:
''Ah, she blows.
Those words had the effect Of "a
electric shock. Every man IN the
ship from stem to stern was up ana
doing in an instant. Presently the
captain shouted back:
Where away
'.About three points onthe lee BOW,
sir
Glow far off,
ssAbout shree miles, sir. Then said
the captain to the crew:
Back your main WIS" Lower
boats and away" NSsNLRex! order.
Our ship carssseead-Se9Sf Deats each
msnse6 By crew of five men and ss
officer. The boat in which I was
reached the whale first. When we
got to him he was asleep. It was the
most dangerous time to strike him, be-
cause nobody can tell what move q
whale suddenly aroused will make
first. He was the largest sperm Whale
think ever saw, and probably was
good for 14O barrels of oil. That IS a
vast amount to get from a sperm
whale, although from a bowhead
whale one sometimes gets 25O bar
rels. When we struck this fellow he
raised his tail, which measured about
fifteen feet across, and made the water
seethe and boil moment or two; then
he went down. Being fast to him
with two irons, we payed out the line
very quickly to keep from gong down
with him. Presently the line grew
slack, which means that he had stop
ped somewhere just beneath US. But
the water was so thick with his blood
that we were unable to see how far
down he was. We knew he was near
but how near we could not tell just
then. While we were eagerly look
ing over the sides Of the boat, quick as
a fash he struck the bottom OF the
boat and we went flying. When l re-
covered my senses was about fifteen
feet below, looking for fresh air.
When reached the top what should l
meet but the whale, just as he was
raising his tremendous tail high above
my head. ] darted to one side. Down
same the tail with an awful SPLASH.
II fsaal been under it should have
been smashed to smithereers. As l
was making desperate efforts to get
away from the whale. who should
come up right alongside me but the
harpooner. He could not swim. a
few strokes away there was buoy. l
secured it, dragged it to him, and just
SIS he was about to give up IN despair
he grasped it, and was saved. Then
we both clung to the buoy and took N
the situation. The bow oarsman was
thrown over about twenty rods. The
tub oarsman, stroke oarsman, ard the
second mate were thrown n diner-
ent directions. I, being mldshlp oars
man, had been picked up, as s pan.
cake, and Topped over and showed
down. While the harpooner and |
hung to the buoy were kept busy kick,
ing away sharks, pushing them hrst
one way, then another. Not sharks
of the kind one sees around the bays
and rivers, but big fellows, from III.
teen to twenty-five feet long-the kind
that can divide fellow at one nip.
Our stroke oarsman could not swim,
but he got hold of piece Of the ooat;
that piece was fast to the line and the
line was fast to the whale. He passed
US like shot, reaching out his hands
and shouting, bill, Bill. Save me.
Save mel" He had no sooner said it
than he was gone. Presently the
whale went down, the piece Of boat
went with him, and the stroke oars
man was left at the mercy Of the
waves, good distance away. Mean,
while the other three boats were com.
ing up, and just as he had exhausted
himself, struggling to keep on top, the
third mates bost reached him. lie
was rescued, and then tie rest OF us
were picked up.
Ali this happened within ten min
utes. Nothing remained of our small
boat. The 500 fathoms Of line were
gone, as were also the lances, harpoons,
and the two buoys. One Of the othe!
bosts, however, put for the whale and
captured him.
Now, when I was clinging to thai
buoy the Bible story Of Jonah and the
whale came forcibly 70 my mind, and
I wondered if I was doomed to &C
through Jonah's experience. When
the wnale was lying al the ships side
and we were cutting him in told the
boys of these feelings. They urged
me to 60 through the whales throat
and 7 resolved to do so when his head
came on deck, to demonstrate the
possibility of Jonah's experience:
did not then believe IN the Bible, but
Iverife6 the whale story, for when
the head was on the deck went
through the throat as easily as had
crawIed through bars when boy.
The head containing the spermacet
oil is always cut from the trunk and
hauled in whole. OF course, the
whales jaws come with it, and they
measured often from eight to twelve