The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-08-20
WHALING At PoRrUeUrsE BEND
Dangerous Occupation on the California
Coast which Has Now Boon Abandoned.

Dangerous Occupation on the California
Coast which Has Now Been Abandoned.
AVALON. Cal. Aug. Flew readers of
THE SUN have ever heard Of Portuguese
Bend. but not SO long ago 1t was q ia
nous whale fishery, and here a colony of
Portuguese lived and engaged In q lively and
exciting occupation. To-day the Bend Is
merely q plain fishing town of very limited
extent. 1t lies on the Santa Catalina chan
mel, the broad and beautiful sheet Of blue
water between the group Of that name
and Los Angeles County. In this channel
numerous whales are found, 1t being a ia
nous feeding ground.
'In the old days" said a retired whaler,
''we had q big whaling town here. and
many an hour I've put in on the lookout.
1t was 4 tall mast up yo9der on the bluff.
and It was my business to watch for whales.
and as soon as / saw q pun I let her go.
You would see the men running from ca
bins and shacks in every direction, tum
BILE into the boats that were always ready.
and away we would go. for as soon as had
given the word I Joined them, and II do
say II l was pretty good harpooner In
my day. There were two things that work
ed against the whaling. One was the whale
itself, the California gray. better known
among us, on account of it's ugly disposition,
as the devil-fsh More boats were destroy
ed and men hurt than was pleasant. In
fact 1t was hard to get many to go into the
business, so hard a name did the whale
have. Then the little fringe of whalebone
II has is of very small value. But the fact
that the mineral oil companies control the
market was the death blow to whaling here.
This is what makes the whales SO COM
mon here now. Some days you can't go over
to tie islands without seeing several of
arlv oil In hall nyv hnv
down in Lower California, and there Is
where we got a good many IN the old times.
eat Magdalen Bay and other places the
coast 10 dotted with the graves of whalers;
and there's many one that never had the
luck to get a grave. In every case It's the
same story-whales killed them. 1t took q
long time to get on to the fact that the
mother whales were particularly revenge
full and that It was q dangerous thing to
kill young one. don't think many men
escaped when the young had been burt. The
mothers became iends, and they seemed
to know exactly what the trouble was.
1T struck the Gulf on one trip that was
a fair sample OF what usually happened.
We soon found whales. school. in fact,
aud with a rush the three boats started
away. 1t was blowing fresh, the wind tear
ing of the edge Of big fog bank to tho
winda ard. and, as the sails were set. the
boats went bounding away like living things.
In half an hour we came up with the school,
I let drive, and tho boat backed off while
they jerked down the sail. In the rush I
failed to see q calf alongside and sent my
harpoon through Its tail, pinning them both.
The mother gave a hump lifted her tail
high in the air, and seemed to stand on her
head, whlrling round and round like top,
beating the water such blows that you could
hear them reverberating awayup the wind like
a thunder clap BY miracle we backed out
Of reach. and for n moment We lay by wait
ing for the furry to shop. But, Instead
of rushing on the whale turned and came
at us. The men pulled for their lives, and
we lodged her by about six feet, but the other
boat was on her quarter, waiting for a chance
to get an iron in. The mad whale came I'D
beneath II. and tossed It into the air. Then
she stood by and literally hammered every
thing to pieces. until apparently satisfied, she
made of. We pulled to the spot, but could
not hnd a sign Of man. She had churned
the life out of them. This is but one In
stance OF dozens. You may talk about your
sperm whales. with their ugly jaws that can
bite boat In two. and have been there.
I would rather tackle one a day than one
OF these whales in q month. They not only
have this strong attachment for their young,
but they have remarkable eyesight, and will
follow vessels and boats to the bitter end"
Almost as ugly Is tho orca OF the Califor-
nian coast. This hsh is common in summer,
I'm and white markings. It attains a length
OF twenty-five or thirty feet. The mouth is
armed with rows Of terrible tusks,
and seal 10 but mouth
full. = tid-bt. for this voracious Great
ure. In one specimen taken on the upper
and so Unsuitable is the animal that II has
been known II leap out partly upon the rocks
to capture seal.