The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1907-04-17

between the hunters ana the man.
mails that the monarch of the ocean
comes of best. Yet now and then
dramatic tragedies are reported from
the whaling-grounds and the roll of
fatalities caused by the prosecution
OF this dangerous calling is apprecia-
bly, heightened. 1t is doubtful, how
ever, if the whaling industry can fur
nish many such another thrilling ad-
venture as that which befell the
whaler Kathleen during her last sea-
son in the tropical seas in quest of
the cachalot or sperm-wha which,
by the way, is one of the "gamiest"
members of the cetacean tribe.
The Kathleen was a respectable old
barque, belonging to Messrs. ]. and
w. Wing, of New Bedford, Massachu-
setts. She had been in the business
for many years and had brought
home large number of heavy and
valuable cargoes from the whaling
seas
We set out from New Bedford on
the 22d Of October, 1901. The crew
were all experienced whalers, under
the command of Captain Thomas Jen-
kins, who is himself one of the most
expert hunters in Massachusetts,, and
ran Smell a whale" couple of hun
1red miles Off myself was attached
to the Kathleen as third mate. On
this trip the captain was accompanied
by his pretty young wife, and the
ships company also included grey
African parrot, some eight years of
lge, the pet of the captains wife.
Our hunting-ground was the "12-
i0," about 1000 miles off the coast
bf Brazil, in which tropical waters
The cachalot is found in abundance.
We had not gone very far, however,
before we experienced our first trou-
BILE. We ran into a fierce southwest
gale, and for days, so tempestuous
was the wind and so great the fury
bf the seas, we had to keep all the
matches battened down. The Kath-
)een, being quite empty and conse-
auently riding very light, was tossed
about like a straw, and we had stiff
lob to keep off the dangerous coasts
which we passed.
Twenty days after leaving port we
found ourselves in the Gulf of Mex
leo, and the vessels nose was then
pointed towards the Cape Verde ISL
Ands, where we Increased the num-
Der of the crew to forty by taking on
board dozen Portuguese sailors.
The captain then set his course for
the Rio de la Plata, and ten days
Afterwards we fell in with another
Bedford whaler, which had had a
hne haul, and was returning to port
with some ninety barrels CT oil. We
'gammed" this vessel (the colloquial
expression for exchanging visits), and
the good fortune of her crew some
what put our captain on his mettle,
as SO far we had not even caught
sight of whale, let alone captured
one.
Bad luck, however, seemed to dog
US throughout the voyage. We
reached the hunting-ground in due
course and oruised about for several
days, but our only haul was tiny
sperm-whale scarcely worth the trou-
BILE of pursuing. To make matters
worse we lost our second mate and
buried him at sea on the I'd of Feb
ruary. The captain, disgusted at the
ill-fortune that was attending his
efforts, resolved to leave this hunting
ground and try somewhat more
northerly region. We started off in
tie southeast trades, and experienced
the most diabolical weather until we
had crossed the Line. Worse still,
we spotted no more whales, which
greatly annoyed both the captain and
ourselves, seeing that we had now
been out nearly five months.
We were bearing up towards the
Windward Isles one bright evening
and were anxiously scanning the seas
for signs of spout" to cheer us up
when the captain came on deck and
shifting the air, exclaimed:
Smells like sperm-whale about
here. Bet you a plug of baccy We
raise whales tomorrow"
l was not disposed to accept the
shippers challenge, for we all knew
that his faculty of smelling the nam
mails was so acute that / should in
evitably lose. And, sure enough, thu
captain was right in his surmise.
1t was the 18th of March, and W.
were in latitude thirteen degree!
north. Bad luck was still behind us
we told one another, for we regarded
that ominous thirteen" somewha
significantly. We were lolling list
lessly about in our hunks in anxious
expectancy, when suddenly the look
out bawled:
There goes white water!" H,
meant that a whale was churning ant
splashing the waves with his tail.
Where away?" roared the skip
per.
1.-TWO p'ints on the weather bow
"All hands on deck!" shouted tn
raptain, excitedly. "Sperm-whale
Look livelyl"
The various members of the GREY
sprang from their hunks and tumble,
up the companion-way as fast as pos