The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-08-07
CAPTURE OF A WHALE.
HOW 1T IL ACCOMPLISHED TOLD
ny A VETERAN WHALER.


in striking Distance-The First
blood OF the HarpOOn-The strus-
gle for Life and Its EndinG-Tow-
ing the Carcass 20 ship-LnndLnG
the Profits.
From the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Charles II. Nye in 1850 went from New
Bedford. Mass. on whaling expedition in
brand new sail craft the Swallow. and
remained out for three years. He says
he has read a number of accounts OF whal-
ing voyages, evidently written from near
say, and remembrance, but never an ac-
curate one.
''rhe boat used to capture a whale"
Capt Nye said, lis a very small AFFAIR
compared with the enormous size OF
whale 1t is twenty-eight feet long and is
manned by a crew of six, and some boats
have seven meu-the officer of the boat or
boat header, the boat steerer, stroke, sub
midship and bow oarsman.
The first indication we have of whale
being in sight is when one of the men on
the lookout sings out: There she blows!
There she blowsr and then the officer on
watch calls out: Where away% meaning
i'm what direction from the snip. AS soon
as that is ascertained the ships course is
headed for The whale, aud the captain is
notified. He takes his glass and goes aloft
Il
which is easily determined from other
whales by its low and bushy spout. 1t be-
ing ascertained that it Is a sperm whale,
the order is Immediately given 20 clear
away The boats, and during all this time
We are approaching nearer the whale. AS
soon as we are near enough the orders
are given to haul up the mainsall and
back the maiutopsail. That brings the
ship to u standstll. when the orders are
given: stand by the boats then Lower
away and as soon as the boat strikes
the water the crew are in their places,
and then the race and excitement begin,
for each crew is anxious 60 be first TO get
to the whale.
Sometimes one Of The boats has no trou-
bic to pun up TO and strike the whale and
Immediately become fastened TO him, and
oftentimes they win be obliged to make
the attempt a dozen times before they are
successful.
1T is very exciting as you approach
near to the whale. Every member of the
boats crew is springing from his thwart
(seaO at each stroke Of the oar, and the
officer of the boat header In cheering his
crew all he can by calling out, Pull boys
Pull, boys, Long and strongr We are
almost there. One more pull boysr and
then he will sing out to the boat steerer
to stand up, and the next order comes,
Give Ii to him! And then comes the or
der, Stern all for your lives for at that
moment the boat steerer has thrown the
harpoon into the whale. and the moment
he feels the iron enter his body he
begins TO thrash and lash the water with
his immense tail, one stroke of which
would crush us all out Of existence After
this monetary thrashing he usually
sounds (goes down in the depth of the
ocean,, and as he goes rapidly the whale
line is runnig out like lightning speed
and as soon as we possibly can be begin
TO hold and check the line and prevent the
whale from going so deep that he would
take all the line, and in this checking of
the line We often box the bow of the boat
clear under water but we hold on until he
begins TO slacken up and finally we find
the line slackening and then we know he
Is coming to the surface
Nov, at this time the officer and boat
steerer exchange places, the officer going
to the bow Of the boat and he il Is who
kills the whale with the lance and the
boat steerer then, in fact, becomes the
boat steerer, for he handles the big steer
ing oar and attends to the line as 1t
passes around what Is called the logger
head.
THE boat being fast and the officer IN
his place with his lance ready the crew
peak their oars and turn and face the bow
of the boat and are then in a position to
take in the slack line or pun up to the
whale. The whale is now down under the
water, and by the slack line we know he
is coming to the surface and the fact of
the line being straight up and down we
know that he is coming up underneath us.
consequently we must keep a careful
watch not to permit him to strike us az
he comes up, but suddenly we begin 20
feel the line begin to tighten and then the
strain IS too great TO take in any more
and we then know he Is running, and In
a moment we are going through the water
at rate of thirty to forty miles an hour,
and as he slackens his pace we pull In the
line and draw the boat that much nearer
10 him, and just as we pun up TO almost
distance near enough TO throw a lance
into him he goes down again, and some
times this will occur a dozen or more
times before we are able to get near
enough to do any execution with the lance.
But finally we succeed in getting close
enough to get the lance into his life and
we know when that takes place, because
he then commences to spout thick blood.
and now comes the most exciting and
dangerous time OF all, for he is now about
to go into his furry death struggled, and
we Immediately with the line pull up close
TO him, just so that we are clear of his
fukes for we know that he will now 20
around in circle like lightning at the rate
of a mile a minute, and il keeps us all
busy jumping from one side of the boat
to the other to keep the boat from cap
sNihB' Inns IS what we call trimming
dish.
"At times the spray and bloody water
Will fly about US so that we can hardly
see each other, and we continue 10 Av
around in this circular way for from three
to five minutes (but IL seems like hours)
and then suddenly everything becomes
quiet and few yards from us we see ~
ing on his side, with his fin out Of water.
an object almost as large as the hun of
our ship. Yet we have captured this To-
viathan Of the deep with a mere cookie
shell, when one blow from his fukes, II
given TO advantage. could wipe boat and
crew out of existence
Now, the whale being captured and
alongside Of tho ship, the most disagree
able and dirty part OF the business is yet
TO be done. First, all the cutting tackle |
has to be got ready, and that is all done
between the time the whale Is secured |
alongside and the time TO turn In that
night, 50 as 10 get a good sleep prepare
tory TO hard days work to cut in
n Eorsr al hal