The record-union., 1898-10-11


backs in sight, steering northwest
Rush and tumble into the boats and
away!
Around the south head sweeps the
first boat, the second following more
leisurely, for she is only a pickup or
relief in case the first is ''fluked" and
the crew are tossed high in air, with
their boat crushed into matchwood, or
meets with some other disaster And
as the leading boat rises to the long
ocean swell of the offing the killers close
in around her on either side, just keep
ing clear of the sweep of the oars, and
preaching and leaping and spouting
with the anticipative zest of the COM
ing bloody fray.
Easy, lads. easy!" says the old
boat-header; they're coming right
down on us. Billy was right They're
humpbacks, sure enough!"
! The painting oarsmen pull slower
stroke, and then, as they watch the
great savage creatures which swim
alongside they laugh, for suddenly
with 3, last sharp, steampipe spout the
killers dive and disappear; they have
heard the whales and, as is their Gus
tom, have gone ahead of the boat Ten
minutes later they are in the midst of
the humpbacks, and half a square acre
of ocean 10 turned into a white, swirl
ing cauldron of foam and spray; the
bulldogs Of the sea have seized the
largest whale of the school, and are
holding him for the boat The rest
of the humpbacks sound fifty fathoms
deep and head seaward, leaving the un-
fortunate one to his dreadful fate.
A WHALE DONE TO DEATH
And, in truth, it is a dreadful fate:
for the fierce creatures range along
side Of him from his head down to the
small of his back, and tear great slabs
of blubber from off his writhing sides
in huge mouthfuls. taking care to
avoid blow from his fiukes. In vain
the hapless whale tries to sound; there
is bulldog on either side of his jaws,
their cruel teeth fixed firmly into his
huge lips: perhaps two or three are
underneath him tearing and irving at
the great, tough corrugations of his
ribbed belly, while others, drawing back
for fifty feet or so, charge him amid
ships and strike him on the ribs with
their bony heads. Around and around
in wide circles the tortured humpback
back or swimming on his side, but fast
losing his strength.
He's done for, lads. Pull up, and
give him the IRON
The boat dashes up, the man pull
ing the bow oar 0he harpooner) ships
his oar and picks up his harpoon. \
minute later it is buried deep into the
quivering animal, cutting through the
- -I-; L.
the skin of a drum.
stern ALI" and the harpooner tuln-
bles aft and grips the steer oar, and the
steersman takes his place in the head
of the boat with his lance But
''humpy" is almost spent, and, though
by a mighty effort he ups f1ukes'' and
sounds, he soon rises, and the boat
hauls alongside again. Then the flash
two, three swift blows into his life"
a gushing torrent of warm blood, and
he rolls over on his side.
And now comes the curious and yet
absolutely truly described part that the
killers play in this ocean tragedy. The
killers, the moment the whale is dead,
close around him, and, fastening their
teeth into his body, bear him to the
bottom. Here they tear out his tongue
and eat about one-third Of his blub-
Der. In about thirty-six to forty hours
the carcass will rise again to the sur
face, and as the spot where he was
taken down has been marked by
buoy the boats are ready waiting to
tow him ashore to the tryingout works
The killers accompany the boats 20 the
head of the bay and keep off the sharks.
which otherwise would strip off all the
remaining blubber before the body had
reached the shore.
NO ENMITY TO MAN.
The killers never hurt a man. Time
after time have boats been stove in or
smashed into splinters by a whale, and
the crew left struggling in the water,
to be rescued by the pickup" boat,
and the killers swim up to them look
at-aye, and smell them-but never
touch them. And wherever the killers
are the sharks are not, for Jack Shark
breads killer as the devil breads holy
water. Jack" will rush in and rip off
piece Of blubber if he can, but he
will watch his chance to do So
Sometimes when pack of killers set
out whale hunting they will be joined
by a thresher-the fox shark (Alopias
then, while the killers Kite
and tear the unfortunate cetacean. the
thresher deals him fearful blows with
his scythe-like tail. The master of a
whaling vessel told me that off The
north end of New Caledonia there was
a pack of nine killers which was al
ways attended by two threshers and a
swordfish. Not only he but many other
whaling shippers had seen this particu-
lar swordfish year after year joining
in attacks upon whale. The cruising
ground of this pack extended for thir-
ty miles, and the nine creatures ard
their associates We're individually
known to hundreds OF whalemen And
no doubt these combats, witnessed
from merchant ship, have led TO many
sea serpent stories; for when a thresh-
er stands his long twenty feet of slen-
der body straight up on end like pole
he presents a strange sight Bat any
American sperm whaling Captain win
wink the other eye when you say sea
serpent. Pail Mall Gazette.
That small motives are at the bottom
of many il!ustrious actions is a modern