New-York tribune., 1899-02-19


substitutes to which sperm oil is subjected and
to the persistence Of old-fashloned methods
Steam il not made use OF among the whaling
ships for obvious reasons. The ships would
soon run out OF coal during the necessarily long
cruises required for the securing Of a profitable
cargo Of oil In the days, a quarter OF a GEN.
tury back in which Mr. Bullen made his voyage
and in the even more glowing decades Of the
trade behind his experience, the whaers thought
nothing OF cruising about for two or three
years. To-day the work must be more expedi
tious II it is to pay. Americans even now mus
ter goodly fleet but nothing like so largo
one as sailed the seas the world over when Naa.
tucket and NewBedford were important CEN
tres-and Mr.. Bullen leaves the impression thai
there Is no English fleet at all 1t ls interesting
TO see tina; our author gives the palm IN all
stages OF the development of whaling 10 Yankee
skippers The Englishmen have done much, but
our countrymen have done more in this perilous
calling. For perilous IL was if we may Judge
by the numerous combats some of them fatal
to men in the boats which Mr.. Buen describes
One OF these, in which the author finds himself
on the back OF a dying whale and is caught In
the whirlpool Of the final furry" has been al
ready quoted fn The Tribune We reproduce
We take it up at the point where the whale with
harpoon fastened In his body has sounded"
and his hunters are awaiting his return to the
surface:
During a momentary lull in the storm ] took
the opportunity TO load my bomb gun much as
disked handling the thing, keeping my eye
an the time on the water around where ] ex-
pected to mine enemy popping up murder
ousiy at any minute Just l had expected,
when he rose ii was very close, and his
back, with his jaw In the first biting position,
looking ugly vision OF death. Finding us
little out Of reach, he rolled right over toward
US, presenting as he did the great rotundity
of his belly We were not twenty feet away.
and snatched up the gun, levelled il and fired
the bomb point-b blank into his bowels Then
all was blank. ] do not even remember the next
moment A rush Of roaring waters fighting
with fearful, desperate energy for air and life,
ell in a hurried, 6urried phantasmagoria about
which there nothing clear except the primi-
tive desire for life life, lifel Nor do I know
how long this struggle lasted, except that, IN
the nature Of things, ii could not have been
very long. When ! returned 10 a consciousness
Of external things | was for some time perfectly
stih, looking at the sky. totally unable to re-
alze what had happened, or where ! was. Pres
emily the smiling pleasant face Of Samuela bent
over me. Meeting my gratffied look Of recog-
milton, he set up perfect yell OF delight so
giad so glad you bonga life! No go Davy
Jonesy dis time hay?" l put my hand out to
help myself to sitting posture, and touched
blubber. That startled me SO that sprung up
as II shot. Then took in the situation at
glance. There were all my poor fellows with
me stranded upon the top OF our late antagonist
but sign Of the boat TO be seen
There was something OF a depression IN the
body Of the cachalot, which had gone clean
rampageous loony" when the bomb had busted"
In his "commissary department." and In this pre-
carious hollow the lucky whalemen crouched
while they waited TO be discovered by the Off
GERS on the ship She was out Of sight for several
hours The condition Of the castaways was not
improved by the cordial advances Of horde OF
sharks They had to be wary to keep the scav-
engers from taking them in place of Jumps OF
bIubber They suffered also from hunger and
thirst the chunks which they cut from the
leviathan and the rain water that fell into his
greasy creases seeming a sad substitute for the
Christmas dinner 10 which the men had been
looking forward on that very day. But the ship
discovered them at last, and Bullen could con-
gratulate himself on more halr-breadth es-
cape His book is full Of such, and once the
tragic note is supplied by wilful murder.
There was bad blood between the captain Of the
Cachalot brutal tyrant and giant negro, his
fourth mate. Goliath at last hinted darkly TO
Bullen that trouble might ensue saying that his
mother had prophesied before her oeath that ne
would die suddenly, violently, in struggle
With a white man in far-or country, but that
the white man would die, too. by his hand
few hours later when on his way up the rigging
Bullen suddenly beheld Goliath and the skipper
in a deadly struggle on deck. With arms locked
the men hurled themselves against the buiwarks
and toppled overheard, never TO be seen again.
Il testifes to the exciting plane on whicn MI
B,lllen's narrative Is sustained that TINS grim
episode falls naturally into It's settlng. fre-