New-York tribune., 1901-03-23
SEA SECRETS.
A NEW BOOK BY THE AUTHOR OF THE
CRUISE OF THE CAcHALoT."

SACK OF sHAKINGs BY Frank 7 PnjFi'n. .Gi.eS. &
F. r. C. S. l2mo. pp. 8S9' Mcclure Fniii''s &
In these days OF travel II would couplless JIG
easy TO assemble a great many persons 10 whoih
.be things written about by Mr.. Bullen in his
latest book are not at all what we have caiIed
them. .'sea secrets" Yet most Of US. it may
safAlv be asserted know only very little. II
rre know anything at ALL about the intimate
characteristics Of whales, the sociable traits OF
some fish the manner Of leading country lie
On shipboard, and on. How many OF ouf
readers can guess, for example, what shak-
ings' are? Mr. Bullen describes them as odds
and ends Of rope and canvas accumulated dur
i,q a vovage formerly the perquisites
of the chief mate" The sketches in this book'
chiefly reprinted from The Spectator, are the
odds and ends of his recollections. He knows
his subject so we'll and writes about it with such
ease picturesqueness and skill, that his 'odds
and ends" have a value far beyond that of most
such stuff. The mariner who sits down to spin
a yarn is commonly supposed to draw gener-
ously on his imagination. This book is full or
IMAGINATION but its presence never suggests
the faintest deviation from the truth; 1t counts
rather as a legitimate element in the authors
treatment of his material. We have heard much
about combats between whales and devilhsh,
but no fight of this sort described by an eye
witness has ever equalled the one in which MI
T9ullen asks us TO trust to his inner eye for the
facts He IS telling the history Of THE Orphan.
the young whale whose parents are slaughtered,
leaving him to fend for himself This is how he
raised himself from the status of a helpless calf
to that of a power among the sea folk, after
lazily loafing in the security of a group of reef
surrounded islands:
During his rambles through the mazes and
ola Of bfS DaraGiSe.
or twice noticed between two stupendous col
umns Of coral a black space where the water
was apparently Of fathomless depth. Curiosity,
one of the strongest influences actuating the ami
mate creation, impelled him TO investigate this
chasm. but something, he knew not what. prob
ably inherited caution, had hitherto held him
back. At last having met with no creature
nearly his size, and grown bold by reason
OF plenteous food, he became venturesome, and
made for that gloomy abyss, bent upon search
ing its recesses thoroughly. Boldly he swept
between the immense bastions that guarded II,
and with swift upward thrust of his broad
horizontal tail went headOng down. down, down.
Presently he saw amid the outer darkness a web
of palely cleaning lines necessarily changing
their patterns and extending over an area Of
thousand square yards. They centred upon
dull, ghastly glare that motionless, form
less. indescribable. In its midst there was
blackness deeper. if possible than that of the
surrounding pit. Suddenly all that writhing en-
tangement wrapped him round. each clutching
snare fastening upon him with innumerable
gnawing mouths as if to devour him all over at
With a new and even pleasant sensation thrill
ing along his spine, the young leviathan hurled
himself forward at that midmOst gap his pow
erful jaws clashing and HIS whole 1.-THE frame
upstrung with nervous energy. Right through
the glutinous musky mass Of that unthinkable
chimera he hewed his way, needing not in the
least the wrenching, sucking coils winding about
him and covering every inch of his body. Alb
solute silence reigned as the great fight went
on Its inequality was curiously abnormal. For
while the vast amorphous bulk of the mollusk
completely dwarfed the comparatively puny size
Of the young cachalot, there was on the side OF
the latter all the innate superiority Of the YER
tebrate carnivorous mammal with warrior in
stincts transmitted unimpaired through thou
SAND generations of ocean royalty Gradually
the grip of those clinging tentacles relaxed. as
he felt the succulent gelatinousness divide and
with bound he ascended from that befouled
abysmal gloom into the light and loveliness Of
the upper air. Behind him traed sundry long
fragments, 'dsjecta membra" Of his late an
tagonist and upon these. after filing his lungs
again and again with the keen pure air of
heaven, he feasted grandy
Mr.. Bullen follows the young hero through his
further exploits; paints him doing battle with
TWO other champions; celebrates his manv sue
eessIul conflicts with man. and at last gives rs
the hoinerlc climax. when the whalers conquer
through stratagem his infinite cunning and
splendid strength when they got the great
carcass alongside he says they found en-
peoded IN the blubber no fewer than fourteen
harpoohs besides sundry fragments Of exploded
NiiNN N"eh btdIlnS mule but eloquent teSti-
mony TO the warlke career Of the y-ano,,;shoa
1ltan. From beginning to end It is irnnoeeiI,Ia
ID doubt that the orphans experiences bafar,
exactly as Mr.. Bullen reports them. He does
IA the sea what Mr.. Kipling does in the 1unglA
nc makes the most amazing occurrences searn
aDsoiutely credible. He does this too with e,,e,
less license than Mr.. Kipling takes. he docs not
give HIS sea folk human attributes or sneecb.
ne presents them as they are and at the sar,e
irhe makes them as interesting to us a. human
pelngs. This is great gift. Another. eoua1I,,
admirable, is Mr.. Bullen's gift for SAVING so,,o
1llAs new where he has had predecessors Fio
chapteTs on waves" Ocean Winds" ",rt
tfi'acy OF the Sea" and The Floor of the Sea-
nave the freshness and charm of the ,,er,, IT,
ineht In which his temperament &c ea+,,ro+oz.
and the half dozen pages which he dayo+as 80
Shakespeare and the Sea" leave all tho ,-o1
uhes or the scholars in the rear. tba,, o,,i,oo
SO Keen an appreciation Of the poet and ca -,
rioiltatNe grasp of the sea lore in him II 6
wen iIled book. The essays are prac+ical,,, al,
very short. and they range I'D and dow, . ,;r.
extraordinarily rich in impressions of +ta g
OF the creatures who live in il and of .bo ,,.o~
VINO TOTO" II. OF the remarkable vitality NJ tb.
a'S-e we nave given one specimen From cozer
10 cover this is work Of unusualIv e1,ro.a,..-
English, book which it is an ,nrni,,ea 49,
10 read. eu pleasure