The Portland daily press., 1899-12-16
HITCHED TO A WHALE.
A VITA Rias ss See and shs outeons
Thereof

In 1796 q colony~of six runaway slaves
came to the Stockbridge valley, the first
of that race ever seen In Madison county.
The history Of these ak slaves Ia full Of
romance, for they were no common men.
They had seen all parts Of the world
where ship could ride at anchor In
harbor. All could speak several tongues,
but none could read or write. All were
slaves from Virginia and had been bound
out by their master for Il years on
whaling vessel that was owned BY COM
pany In New Bedford. Mass. The ship
had started for the south sea, to be gone
on a cruise of three years.
When about 80 miles out at sea from
New Bedford, the lookout discovered
large whale and ordered these six sailors
to go In q small boat and follow the
whale. When he came to the surface. one
of the sailors, who was an expert. threw
q harpoon at the whale. Instead Of strik-
ing him just back of the head, which Is
the usual way, the harpoon struck the
whale about ten feet from the end of the
tail, which Is Of fbrous nature and
caused no loss of blood to the whale.
Then the great monster shot off with
wonderful rapidly toward the middle of
the ocean, carrying the boat. and that
was the last the captain of that whaler
ever saw Of his six sailors.
This narrative, as related by Paul Cuff,
the sailor who threw the harpoon, reads
like fish story. but the circumstances
connected with it afterwnrd proved its
truthfulness, as IL was corroborated in
full by all the other sailors. After this
whale had gone about 80 mics In
straight course at sea. carrying the sail
ors behind 1t in a small boat and some of
the time going Mt the rate of 40 miles an
hour, il turned its course back toward the
shore and then turned again back to sea.
Sometimes the whale would dive down
500 feet and rise with great fury and
beat the ocean to a white foam. At times
he would squirt volume of water zoo
feet in the air.
"All this time" said Paul Cuff, we
were riding over the sea in great SPLEEN
dor, harnessed to the biggest fish in the
world and making the fastest time on
record" They saw and passed great
merchant ships bearing their country
flag. but they had no flag. no country. no
home. They passed an English man-of-
war that gazed with amazement at the
singular sight. They thought it was the
devil incarnate hitched TO a dragon and
fired broadside at them, but their
cannon balls passed a mile behind the
sailors, so rapid was their course. On
they went like comet shooting its fiery
flame across thassky.
After riding in this style for almost
three days up and down the ocean hitch
| ed to whales tail by a slender cord the
| great fish took a singular turn and n
lucky one for the six sailors. He steered
his course southwest and by accident
/ struck the bay and outlet of the Raritan
river, on the coast OF New Jersey. The
/ water was deep, and, he followed its
I course for two miles. His nose struck
the piers Of a bridge that cost $1,000,
| and il fell with crash into the river The
whale then struck an oyster sloop and
! shivered that to atoms, drowning three
sailors. On he went. but the water soon
became so shallow that he landed on the
shore. and in three hours he was dead.
By this singular accident the six ne
groes became the owners of the whale.
! They sold 1t to an English oil merchant
! in New York city for $4,000 in gold who
did not know they We're slaves bound out
in the marine service and not entitled to
the whale under the laws. His title.
| however, proved good. for the company
in New Bedford never heard of the
transaction in 20 years. The whale was
/
largest ever found on the Atlantic coast.
| After receiving their money the slaves
made an equal division, which gave them
/ $4,000 each, and. through the advice OF
their leader, Paul Cuff, they set their
! faces toward the western wilds of the
state of New York. When they reached
Albany, they met a Pcquod Indian who
WAS returning from plotting some mis-
sionaries TO the Stockbridge valley. The
Indian gave them fine description of
the country, and they induced him to re-
turn with them for a stipulated price.
He did so and lived with them in this To-
cality until he died. They bought on
contract with the Oneida Indians about
200 acres of land for each at n nominal
sum. Afterward the titles were con-
firmed by the state Of New York. They
all lived to a fine old age, and all were
highly respected.
All of them died here except one. who
returned to New Bedford after lapse OF
so years and died there about 40 years
ago. The remains of the others are laid
to rest side by side in the old Indian
graveyard AZ Valley Mills. and there Is
nothing whsiaver to mark their graves.
There was cree a small slab at the head
of one grave of rude form and chiseled
by an unskii;ed hand. The inscription
read as follows: Jack Morgan. a runa-