Year: 1874

A Stranded Levinthan Captured in Rari-


tan Bay.


The fishing season has opened earlier
than usual this year at South Amboy,
and the piscatory inhabitants are con-
graduating themselves on 50 auspicious
a commencement as the capture Of an
enormous whale. Last week Job Spain
saw, a short distance from the shore,
what appeared to him to be a sloop bot
tom upward. The water was not more
than five feet deep, and the supposed
boat had grounded on an oyster-bed,
While Spain was speculating as to the
probable fate of the crew, the object
began to move perceptibly, and several
Jets of water were thrown into the air.


Job rushed to the house of Capt.
Roberts and surprised that mariner be-
yond measure by assuring him that
there was q whale in the oyster-bed. A
single glance at the dark, glistening
mass, rising four feet out of the water,
assured the experienced captain that
the creature was indeed leviathan of
large dimensions, hard aground. Arm
ing himself with gun, hatchet, and
a considerable quantity of powder and
ball, he jumped into boat and started
upon one of the most remarkable fishing
excursions within the range of his ex-
perience. Arrived within a few yards
Of the monster, he took a steady aim
and planted ball under its fin. The
bullet sank beneath the skin and jet
of blood spurted out, but for all the
effect produced upon the whale the en-
terprising captain might as we'll have
fred into the trunk of tree. How
ever, he tried second shot and third,
and continued to practice upon the crea-
ture until its sides looked like target
after a German shooting festival. He
thinks he would have finally have slain
it had his ammunition and daylight
held out, but in the absence Of any more
lead he seized his trusty hatchet and
prepared to renew the contest at close
quarters.


Again and again, that murderous blade
sank deep into the side of the monster,
and every stroke was followed by re-
sponsive spasm. 1t was warm work,
and though the captain has few equals
with oyster-tongs, after he had cut q
hole in the creatures side about four
teen inches long by eight wide and a
foot deep he was glad to rest. The
whale vas apparently as fresh as ever,
and showed no signs of going into his
final furry, though he evinced an over
whelming desire to get off the oyster
bed.


Meanwhile Bloodgood, having heard
of the event, had not been idle. he
had gone to Samuel Ney, the village
blacksmith, and made him blow up his
fire and manufacture a stout iron spear
ten feet in length. With this formida-
BILE weapon hot from the forge, he was
now seen approaching the shore accom-
panied by Ney. Capt. Roberts saw
them coming, and renewed his onset up
on the whale, enlarging the hole several
inches, but failing to kill the crea ure.
The blacksmith evinced an amount OF
cool discernment in the face of danger
not unworthy of his French namesake
of martial renown. He directed Blood
good to spear the whale in the hole made
by the captains hatchet. The hint was
acted upon, and four feet of iron sank
into the whales blubber. The struggle
was not long in doubt after that. With
the skill of Arctic voyagers, the three
men kept out of reach of the monster
in his dying " furry and in ten min
utes be was dead whale. Not all the
rowboats in South Amboy could have
towed him off the oyster-bed, but a
steamtug fastened a hawser to him and
dragged him ashore, where the united
efforts of the inhabitants hauled him
out of the water.


The whale was found to measure 4Sl
feet in length, feet through the body,
and thirty feet in circumference. The
hea was 10 feet long, and the tail IA
feet. The gills, from which the whale
bone is produced, were 8! feet long.
Before night it was all cut up and the
blubber tried ont. Much Of the oil was
lost, but it is estimated at least twenty
barrels remain, which will realize about
$3.50. The whalebone is worth 500.
When the remains were being taken to
the fields to be buried, two yoke Of oxen
were hardly able to drag the upper
part of the head, and one yoke were
fully employed in removing the snout,