Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1902-06-19
TOWED By A WHALE
BY NJ QUAD.
LcOpyrIsht, 1901, by Q. B. Lewis.l

copyright 1901, by c. B. Lewisl
II you could get a peep at Lloyd's
register bearing date of Oct. %, 1888,
you would fnd recorded under the head
Of "The Loss of the Swan" an article
composed of about forty lines Of type.
The brig Swan was trading along the
African coast and had run into the
blight of Benvin to anchor for a week.
She was a Liverpool ship, commanded
by Captain Streeter, and had been
trader for ten years. The Swan was
known all along the coast from Liberia
to the country Of the Hottentots and
had never met with an instance Of
treachery when dealing with the ma
tives. On this trip l was rated as an
apprentice boy, and she carried eleven
others in her crew. There were some
repairs to be made after we came to
anchor about half a mile from the surf,
and it was two days before a native
came out to us in his canoe and invited
all hands to 90 ashore for feast and
barter. AS that was the usual way no
one udN lGdSOu " Dt SuSD4NiOuSt DuL
the captain did not neglect proper safe
guards. He went to the feast with six
armed men for company, leaving four
of us to mind the brig. She was armed
with muskets and cannon, and we were
ordered to maintain a strict lookout
and signal at once if any number of ma
tives pulled out to us. 1t was to be an
all night carouse on the beach, and the
three men with me soon declared that
there was no possible danger and
broached a cask Of rum and proceeded
to enjoy themselves. They hadn't the
sense to stop when their legs began to
tangle up and, as a consequence, all
were In a drunken sleep before mid
night.
Fires had been lighted on the shore
and the voices could be plainly heard
aboard as they shouted and sang. My
situation was n lonely one. and l was
J troubled about the drunken sailors, but
nothing occurred to startle me until
about / o'clock in the morning. Then
there was n sudden grand yell from the
natives, followed by three or four mus
ket shots and more yelling, and l was
satisfied that the party on shore had
been attacked. | made every effort to
arouse the sleepers. but all my work
/ was thrown away. | had just come
! away from them in despair when |
! caught sight Of fleet of canoes pulling
/ off the shore. If had been able TO fire
one of the big guns, it would have had
no effect, and of course | could not hope
to beat them off with n musket. | did
what most any other boy would proba-
bly, do-climbed up into the maintop
and hid myself away. Ten minutes
later the natives to the number OF q
! hundred boarded the brig, and although
they found the three sailors still asleep
they quickly dispatched them and threw
them overheard. If they looked for
/ others, 1t was below instead of alOft.
The idea was to run the brig ashore
and plumber her The fellows knew
that the anchor held her stationary,
but they could neither work the wind
lass nor unshackle the chain. After a
long and noisy consultation they finally
tailed on to the cable TO lift the anchor
by main strength. A sailor Will say
that 1t couldn't be done. but looking
down from my perch in the gray of the
morning | saw them gather in at least
three fathoms of chain. That meant
that they had lifted that anchor TWEEN
ty-one feet from the bed of the sea.
They had still three fathoms to over
come, and were taking long breath
to get il ready when the cable was
pulled out of their hands and drawn
taut and the brig began moving out
Of the bay. There was panic at once.
and she had not gone half mile when
the last native was overheard into his
canoe and pulling for the beach. If
they were frightened aalf to death ]
was none the less so, and we had got
we'll out to the mouth of the blight be
fore | solved the mystery. The brig
was tOwed as if following a tug, and
/ was down on deck and pecring over
her bows when q whale suddenly rose
n few fathomS In front of her and fell
back with a great splash. He was a
big fellow, and had time TO see that
one of the anchor flukes was caught
in his mouth like giant fishhook. He
came up again and again, and he SHOOK
his mighty head and rolled over ant
over In his efforts to get rid of the
hook, but it was too firmly fastened
When the sea opened out and tho
Ieyiathan realized that he was In
scrape, he started off on a straight line
and Increased his speed. had heel
given a few tricks at the wheel. and
took It and soon learned how to make
a straight course after him. Later OF
I found that could lash it fast anc
serve the same purpose.
At a speed of at least fifteen miles al
hour the whale ran from o'clock II
the morning to in the afternoon with
out a stop and without deviating foo'
from q true course. Then he lay or
the surface and rested for an hour, anC
the blood from his mouth dyed the seG
for wards around. When he started
again, 1t was with a rush, but the ca
bile held, and he ran until about
o'clock in the evening. Then he sud
denly stopped, and before could make
,, out what he was up to he came up un
der the brig with such force as to stavt
lin dozen bottom planks and nearly
turn her over. She began to fill a
once, and with n rush he broke the ca
BILE and was off with the anchor. A
I'VE had cargo of light goods aboard
Including 400 kegs Of rum, the briE
waterlogged instead Of going down
and for the next two days ! was In heI
Tigglng without food or water anc
bfraid that every plunge would be heI
last. Then q French ship hove In sigh
and took me off, and ! was eventually
landed In Brest rs the sole and only
Eurvivor of the i'll fated crew. AS wa:
, hfterward learned the captains party
Mere cut down to n man before the at
tack on the brig.
De Sure You're Right.
While it IS true that there comes ;