The Hawaiian gazette., 1902-07-25
WHALE WAS
A BONANZA
Fortune Realized
BY Man Now
Here.

About one hundred and thirty thou
sand dollars is what Captain James
Earle. a New Bedford whaler now Wis
ting In Honolulu. realized In 1883 from
one sperm whale. In fact. the whale
was one OF the most valuable ever
caught In any ocean.
IL WAS not the ninety barrels OF oil
which gave the leviathan his extraor-
binary value, for that was sold for
something like $4,000. but within the
whales vast interior there was found "A
solid piece of ambergris weighing $50
pounds. This was the largest single
piece of ambergris ever found according
to the records, and that 1t came from
one lone whale made the rich discovery
the more interesting TO the scientific
world.
This seven hundred and eighty pound
piece of ambergris was sold in chunks
in all markets of the world for about
c25060 sterling and ii laid the founda-
TONS of wealth for almost every man
interested in the whaling expedition.
which originated in New Zealand.
Captain James Earle is not unknown
20 Honolulu and Honolulans for he
came here i'm 1867 on the whaling ship
Europa as a cabin boy, his father then
being the first mate. The vessel came
here from EdEartown, Mass. around
the Horn. From the island of Niihau
several bullockS We're secured, and from
Honolulu green stufrs. water and all
manner of food Tor a years cruise We're
taken aboard. The cruise was i'll The
Okhotsk sea. Capt. Earle was engaged
for four years in these voyages in the
Europa and then entered the merchant
service but left II later to again become
q whaler. He then went to New Zea
land to join the whaler Splendid which
he fitted out obtaining thereby boun
ty Of SIC. 900 offered by the New Zealand
government for the first whaler fitted
out for service. He went as second
mate and rose by promotion until he
became master and part owner.
1t was in October, 1882, that the
Splendid while cruising about the Chat
ham Islands cast of New Zealand came
upon the sperm whale which was the
biggest bonanza of the sea on record.
Ninety barrels of oil We're taken from
him and while delving into the carcass
The huge piece of ambergris was found.
Ambergris is concretion formed
only in the intestires of the sperm
whale and is sometimes found floating
on the surface of the sea like pumice
stone, near where this animal cruises.
In II are often found mbedded the
horny beaks of the squids on which the
whale feeds. IT was formerly used in
medicine, but is now dissolved in alco-
hol and used as a base in perfumes,
rendering them more lasting. 1t affords
about SIS per cent of a peculiar fatty
and crystalline substance called am
brein.
The voyage of the Splendid in that
season was a fortunate one in every re-
spect for she came into Littleton port,
New Zealand, with the big piece of am
bergris worth its weight in gold and
100 barrels of sperm Oil
when we arrived in port" said Cap
tain Earle yesterday, Il telegraphed to
the agent of the Otago Whaling Com
pany to come up. He came. the amber
girls was taken ashore, loaded into a
car which was locked and the key
slowed away In the agents pocket, and
he stood guard there too until the stuff
was safely placed. The first year that
l had brought any ambergris into port
we got G25 "A pound for twenty-one
pounds, but when this big piece came
in the news so aStonished everybody
world, and the result was that the price
dropped. Some went to London. but as
for my own share / took it in bulk and
carried il home with me. l wasn't in a
hurry to sell IL, hut thought by waiting
the market for 1t would rise ] got SIS
an ounce for the gray and IS for the
black, while in London it had only
brought s12 and 81. The last of my
share was sold in 1891 / remained with
I,t. aba 7
home. l have taken more than a thou
and sperm whales since then and have
never found in any of them a piece of
ambeTgris."
In token OF their appreciation of his
excellent service, in obtaining such a
valuable cargo, the company presented
captain Earle with a handsome gold
watch on the inner cover of which is
engraved:
presented to Capt. Jas. Earle
BY the Otaso Whaling Co, n. H.,
June !, 1888"
Last year the captain cruised about
the Japan Sea securing thirty-eight
whales and his voyage before that in
1885 resulted in the taking of seventy
eight whales He says that the sperm
whale abounds almost as plentifully as
in the past but that the right whales
and bowheads from which the whale
bone is obtained, are becoming more
and more scarce. Sperm oil commands
an excellent price in the market. IS
cents a gallon being the amount gen.
orally received by the whalers
Six years ago Captain Earle was
married in Honolulu to Miss Matthews
who came here from New Zealand To
become a bride. They We're married at
the residence of Mr.. White w. w. Hall
giving the bride away. They will re-
main here until the Ventura sails for
New Zealand next week when they will
depart for Auckland to remain a year.
after which Captain Earle will resume
his quest of the oil leviathans.