The times., 1899-03-12
. New Book by xew Author.


Kipiing is himself an acknowledged mas
ter Of sea lore. his letter will 10 many
people be the only Recommendation needed
fer Mr. Bullen's work. Moreover, it indi-
Gates clearly the general nature of the
book. 1t is as follows:
II is imIn,n>c-theIe is no other word. I've
never read anything That equals IT III its deer
sea wonder and mystery, nor do / think that
EEy book before has go completely covered the
whole business o; vHalciisl.iu1, and At TIE same
time given -uch real and new sea piCWre-- con
rTatu'ate YOU most heartily. H. a new world
that you've opcacd the door TO.
This seems high praise, but after reading
the work one must admit that the praise
is not extravagsnt. 1t is a record Of actual
experience, and there is material in it for
several books written after the usual fash
ion of adventurous fiction. The author
shipped on whaling vessel at the age Of
eighteen, and rose from the position Of u
common sailor 10 that OF first mate. He
himself is English. but the crew, while
partly American. included men of nearly
every other nationality, and the vessel sail
ed from, New Bedford. The cruise, lasting
for many months. took the vessel into
nearly every out-of-the-way corner Of the
world. and gave opportunity for many
is the sort OF truth which is stranger than
fiction. As to his having opened the door
10 4 new world, one must disagree with
Mr.. Kipling. since 10 write as this sailor
does one must have had his experience,
and there are very few men OF literary
ability who would care to duplicate that.
The map which faces the opening page
of the tale shows the track of the Cachalot
round the world, and truly devious one
DIE che
headed for the Azores and Cape Verde, then
for the easternmost point OF Brazil, then
sailed south. round the Cape OF Good Hope.
through the Mozambique Channel and
across the Indian Ocean: then round the
Burmese Peninsula. north Of Borneo and
the Philippines. and TO the northern coast
of the Sea of Okhotsk; thence straight TO
the Sandwich Islands. southward TO New
Zealand. round Cape Horn, and home. Few
travellers have circumnavigated the globe
by any such route as this. Just above the
title appears, on the opposite page, the fat
body and choppedoff nose of the sperm
whale, or cachalot.
The authors style is throughout direct.
incisive. and manly. lie tells his story
as the man Of action tells it, quietly, graph
ically. and without preamble. The readers
attention is caught by the very first para
graph, which has a favor of interesting
things to come:
At tie age Of eighteen. after sea expert
snce Of SIX years from the time when ! lodged
shout London streets a ragged Arab. with wits
shErpened by the constan; fight for food, found
myself roaming the streets Of New Bedford
Mas. How came 10 be there, Of all places in
the world, does not concern this story at all, so
] am not going TO trouble my readers with i; ;
enough TO say that ! was there, and mighty anN-
ious 10 get away. Sailor Jack i always banker
inr for shore when he is al sea, but when he IS
''outwsrd bound"-tliat is, when his money is all
fone-he Is like cat in the rain there
So. as my money was all gone. / hungry
for ship and when long, keen-iooking man,
with Goatlike beard. and mouth stained with
dry tobacco Juice. hailed me one afternoon at the
street corner, / answered very promptly, scenting
o berth.
The British youngster, being in the state
OF mind here described, signed his articles
without much thought, and found, on in
restigatIon, that he was booked for the
sailors horror-a cruise in a whaler." A"
There was no getting out OF it, however,
and be appears TO have made the best OF his
predicsment, inasmuch as his advancement
was rapid. His description of the Cachalot
is worth quoting. as she was Of type
now rarely seen at sea:
She was ore Of class characterized by sailors
as built by the mile. and cut OF in lengths as
you want en- bow and stern almost alike,
mEsts standing straight as broomsticks, and bow
spirit soaring upward al an angle Of about forty
I've degrees.
The officers of the craft seem TO have
been q considerably mixed lot The
captain was succinctly and adequately de-
devil himself" The first officer, Mr..
Count, was "a good seaman, good
whalemsn, and q gentleman"-very rare
combination. The second mate was a Por-
suguese, with "a face like one of Vandyle' s
cavaliers and a fiendish temper" The third
mate was "a waspish, spiteful little Yam
kee with a face like an angry cat" and
the fourth mate was a huge negro who
was called "Mistah Jones" Goliath" or
'Anak.'' according to the person address
ing him.
The general business OF whale fishing
is known TO most readers of sea tales;
the value of Mr.. Bullen's book is in the
viyidness with which details are given
Two things are conspicuous in It. incl
dent and description.
The story Of some hairbreadth escapes 81
fight with whale, or Of some brutal ar
tion by officer or crew, is followed By
graphic picture Of some creature OF the sea
and many boy who has read of whale.
and flying FISH and dolphins. without ans
very clear idea of their appearance viii
these pages. In addition 10 this, there ar'
several bits Of character study which ar,
extremely well done though, sailor-Iike
the author pays more attention to thing
than TO people. There is considerable hu
NOR in the book withal but il appears bl
the way. and not as either a means or al
end.
The book IS so rich in passages of inter
est that one can hardly make a selection
lob,
contain something OF value 10 those inter
ested in the literature of the sea. One O
the best of the sea pictures is 10 be foun
in the chapter which treats of the Kra
ken" wherein Mr.. Bullen describes a iigh
which he witnessed between a sperm whal
and a squid. II is a perfect example of tn
brevity and reserve force which is charac
teristic OF the authors work:
Al about II p. n 1 was leaning over the i
Tsii, gazing steadily st the bright surface Of N
Sra, where the intense radiance Of the tropic.
moon made broad path like & pavement
Furnished silver. Eyes that saw not mind onl
confusecly conscious Of my surroundings WEI
mine. But suddenly started 10 my feet wit
an exclamation. and stared with all my might
the sirauge-i sight l ever saw. There was a yi'
lent comnotion in the sea right where the moon
rays were concentrated, great that, remeH
beFlnS our position, ] was at first inclined
alarm al! hands: for ! had often heard Of 70
oaIie island, suddenly lifting their heads frOl
the depths below. OF disappearing in momen
and. with Sanairas chain Of active volcanoes
near, felt doubtful indeed Of what was no
happening Getting the night glasses out of a
cabin scuiilc, whCge they were always hung
readiness, ! focused them On the troubled sp0
perfectly satisfied by a short examination tn:
neithef volcano nor earthquake had cnythin.
do with what WAS going on; yet 50 vast we,
the forces engaged that ! might well have bee
excused for my first slpposition. very lsre
sperm whale was locked in deadly conflict wit
ouitleisb, squid. almost as large as himsel
Whose iHtefmiuable ;entaclcs seemed to cnla,
the whole ot bis great body. The head Of Il
whale especially seemed 4 perfect network
writing anus-natufally, ] suppose, for il al
peapsd Is u tie whale had the tailpart Of II
tollgsk 10 lis jaws and in business like, met