*,'•' <•', IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 '"IIIIIM iJM I.I - IIIIIU 2.2 ■i IIM :r lii 2.0 1.8 1.25 1.4 1.6 ^ 6" — ► '3 iU' .'^ 6> a V c? / W Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques 1980 Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notes techniques et bibliographiques The Institute has attempted to obtain the best original copy available for filming. Features of this copy which may be bibliographically unique, which may alter any of the images in the reproouction, or which may significantly change the usual meinod of filming, are checked below. L'Institui a microfilm^ le meilleur exemplaire qu'il lui a 6X6 possible de se procurer. 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Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent Stre film^s d des taux de reduction diff^rents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour §tre reproduit en un seul clich6, il est film6 d partir de Tangle supdrieur gauche, de gauche A droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images n^cessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la m^thode. rrata to pelure, nd n 32X 1 2 3 4 5 6 Bfi I Catchino the Shark LONDON : JAME8 NI»BET & CO., 21 BERNERS STREET. FIGHTING THE WHALES OR DOINGS AND DANGEKS ON A FISHING CRUISE By R M. BALLANTYNE AUTHOR OF "the lifeboat"; "the lighthouse"; "the iron HORSE ' ; "under the waves"; "rivers of ice"; "shifting winds"; kxc. etc. LONDON JAMES NISBET & CO., 21 BERNERS STREET NOTE PLAN OF THia MISCELLANY There is a vast amount of interesting information on almost all subjects, which many people, especially the young, cannot attain to because of the expense, and, in some instances, the rarity of the books in which it is contained. To place some of this information, in an attractive form, within the reach of those who cannot aflford to purchase ex- pensive books, is the principal object of this miscellany. Truth is stranger than fiction, but fiction is a valuable assistant in the development of truth. Both, therefore, shall be used in these volumes. Care will be taken to ensure, as far as is possible, that the facts stated shall be true, and that the irnpressions given shall be truthful. As all classes, in every age, have proved that tales and stories are the most popular style of literature, each volume of the series (with, perhaps, one or two exceptions) will contain a complete tale, the heroes and actors in which, together with the combination of circumstances in which they move, shall be more or less fictitious. In writing these volumes, the author has earnestly endea- voured to keep in view the glory of God and the good of man. CONTENTS PAUR Chap. I. — In Trouble, to begin with, , , .11 II.— At Sea 22 III.— Our First Battle, 88 IV. — "Cutting in the Blubber" and "Trying Out the Oil," ...... 48 V. — A Storm, a Man Overboard, and a Rescue, 55 VI.— The Whale— Fighting Bulls, etc., . . 63 VII. — Tom's Wisdom — Another great Battle, . 72 VIII.— Death on the Sea, 91 IX. — Keeping the Sabbath, 104 X. — News from Home — A Gam, . . . .111 XI. — Return Home 122 \ FIGHTING THE WHALES CHAPTER I IN TROUBLE, TO BEGIN WITH fTIHERE are few things in this world that have ■*■ filled me with so much astonishment as the fact that man can kill a whale ! That a fish, more than sixty feet long, and thirty feet round the body; with the bulk of three hundred fat oxen rolled into one; with the strength of many hundreds of horses ; able to swim at a rate that would carry it right round the world in twenty- three days ; that can smash a boat to atoms with one slap of its tail, and stave in the planks of a ship with one blow of its thick skull ;— that such a monster can be caught and killed by man, is most wonderful to hear of, but I can tell from ex- perience that it is much more wonderful to see. There is a wise saying which I have often thought much upon. It is this: "Knowledge is power." Man is but a feeble creature, and if he 12 FIGHTING THE WHALES had to depend on his own bodily strength alone he could make no head against even the ordinary brutes in this world. But the knowledge which has been given to him by his Maker has clothed man with great power, so that he is more than a match for the fiercest beast in the forest, or the largest fish in ':he sea. Yet, with all his know- ledge, with all his experience, and all his power, the killing of a great old sperm whale costs man a long, tough battle, sometimes it even costs him his life. It is a long time now since I took to fighting the whales. I have been at it, man and boy, for nigh forty years, and many a wonderful sight have I seen ; many a desperate battle have I fought in the fisheries of the North and South Seas. Sometimes, when I sit in the chimney-corn 3r of a winter evening, smoking my pipe with my old messmate Tom Lokins, I stare into the fire and think of the days gone by till I forget where I am, and go on thinking so hard that the flames seem to turn into melting fires, and the bars of the grate into dead fish, and the smoke into sails and rigging, and I go to work cutting up the blubber and stirring the oil-pots, or pulling the bow-oar and driving the harpoon at such a rate that I can't help giving a shout, which causes Tom to start and cry:— " Hallo ! Bob " (my name is Bob Ledbury, you see). " Hallo ! Bob, wot's the matter ? " FIGHTING THE WHALES 13 To which I reply, " Tom, can it all be true ? " " Can wot be true ? " says he, with a stare of surprise — for Tom is getting into his dotage now. And then I chuckle and tell Lim I was only thinking of (^M times, and so he falls to smoking again, and I to staring at the lire, and thinking as hard as ever. The way in which I was first led to go after the whales was curious. This is how it happened. About forty years ago, when I was a boy of nearly fifteen years of age, I lived with my mother in one of the seaport towns of England. There was great distress in the town at that time, and many of the hands were out of work. My em- ployer, a blacksmith, had just died, and for more than six weeks I had not been able to get employ- ment or to earn a farthing. This caused me great distress, for my father had died without leaving a penny in the world, and my mother depended on me entirely. The money I had saved out of my wages was soon spent, and one morning when I sat down to breakfast, my mother looked across the table and said, in a thoughtful voice — "Robort, dear, this meal has cost us our last halfpenny." My mother was old and frail and her voice very gentle ; she was the most trustful, uncomplaining woman I ever knew. I looked up quickly into her face as she spoke. " All the money gone, mother ? " 14 FIGHTING THE WHALES " Ay, all. It will be hard for you to go without your dinner, Robert, dear." "It will be harder for yon, mother," I cried, striking the table with my fist ; then a lump rose in my throat and almost choked me. I could not utter another word. It was with difficulty I managed to eat the little food that was before me. After breakfast I rose hastily and rushed out of the house, determined that I would get my mother her dinner, even if I should have to beg for it. But I must confess that a sick feeling came over me when I thought of begging. Hurrying along the crowded streets without knowing very well what I meant to do, I at last came to an abrupt halt at the end of the pier. Here 1 went up to several people and offered my services in a wild sort of way. They must have thought that I was drunk, for nearly all of them said gruffly that they did not want me. Dinner time drew near, but no one had given me a job, and no wonder, for the way in which I tried to get one was not likely to be successful. At last I resolved to beg. Observing a fat, red- faced old gentleman coming along the pier, I made up to him boldly. He carried a cane with a large gold knob on the top of it. That gave me hope, "for of course," thought I, "he must be rich." His nose, which was exactly the colour and shape of the gold knob on his cane, was ctuck in the m t I 1 t FIGHTING THE WHALES 15 centre of a round, good-natured countenance, the mouth of which was large and firm; the eyes bright and blue. He frowned as I went forward hat in hand ; but I was not to be driven back ; the thought of my starving mother gave me power to crush down my rising shame. Yet I had no reason to be ashamed. I was willing to work, if only I could have got employment. Stopping in front of the old gentleman, I was about to speak when I observed him quietly but- ton up his breeches pocket. The blood rushed to my face, and, turning quickly on my heel, I walked away without uttering a word. " Hallo ! " shouted a gruff voice just as I was moving away. I turned and observed that the shout was uttered by a broad rough-looking jack- tar, a man of about two or three and thirty, who had been sitting all the forenoon on an old cask smoking his pipe and basking in the sun. " Hallo ! " said he again. " Well," said I. " Wot d'ye mean, youngster, by goin' on in that there fashion all the mornin', a-botherin' every- body, and makin' a fool o' yourself like that ? eh!" " What 's that to you ? " said I savagely, for my heart was sore and heavy, and I could not stand the interference of a stranger. " Oh ! it 's nothin' to me of course," said the sailor, picking his pipe quietly with his clasp- 16 FIGHTING THE WHALES knife ; " but come here, boy, I 've somethin' to say to ye." " Well, what is it ? " said I, going up to him somewhat sulkily. The man looked at me gravely through the smoke of his pipe, and said, " You 're in a passion, my young buck, that 's all ; and, in case you didn't know it, I thought I 'd tell ye." I burst into a fit of laughter. " Well, I believe you 're not far wrong ; but I 'm better now." ** Ah ! that 's right," said the sailor, with an approving nod of his head, " always confess when you 're in the wrong. Now, younker, let me give you a bit of advice. Never get into a passion if you can help it, and if you can't help it get out of it as fast as possible, and if you can't get out of it, just give a great roar to let off the steam and turn about and run. There's nothing like that. Passion han't got legs. It can't hold on to a feller when he 's runnin'. If you keep it up till you a'most split your timbers, passion has no chance. It Tnust go a-starn. Now, lad, I 've been w'^tchin' ye aU the mornin', and I see there's a screw loose somewhere. If you '11 tell me wot it is, see if I don't help you ! " The kind frank Avay in which this was said quite won my heart, so I sat down on the old cask, and told the sailor all my sorrows. " Boy," said he, when I had finished, " I '11 put you in the way o' helpin' your mother. I can get FIGHTING THE WHALES 17 you a berth in my ship, if you 're willin' to take a trip to the whale fishery of the South Seas." " And who will look after my mother when I 'm away ? " said I. The sailor looked perplexed at the question. " Ah ! that 's a puzzler," he replied, knocking the ashes out of his pipe. " Will you take me to your mother's house, lad ? " " Willingly," said I, and, jumping up, I led the way. As we turned to go, I observed that the old gentleman with the gold-headed cane was leaning over the rail of the pier at a short distance from us. A feeling of anger instantly rose within me, and I exclaimed, loud enough for him to hear — " I do believe that stingy old chap has been listening to every word we 've been saying ! " I thought I observed a frovm on the sailor's brow as I said this, but he made no remark, and in a few minutes we were walking rapidly through the streets. My companion stopped at one of those stores so common in seaport towns, where one can buy almost anything, from a tallow candle to a brass cannon. Here he purchased a pound of tea, a pound of sugar, a pound of butter, and a small loaf, — all of which he thrust into the huge pockets of his coat. He had evidently no idea of proportion or of household affairs. It was a simple, easy way of settling the matter, to get a pound of everything. In a short time we reached our house, a very B fT 18 FIGHTING THE WHALES old one, in a poor neighbourhood, and entered my mother's room. She was sitting at the table when we went in, with a large Bible before her, and a pair of horn-spectacles on her nose. I could see that she had been out gathering coals and cinders during my absence, for a good fire burned in the grate, and the kettle was singing cheerily thereon. " I 've brought a friend to see you, mother," said I. "Good-day, mistress," said the sailor bluntly, sitting down on a stool near the fire. " You seem to be goin' to have your tea." " I expect to have it soon," replied my mother. " Indeed ! " said I, in surprise. " Have you any- thing in the kettle ? " " Nothing but water, my son." " Has anybody brought you anything, then^ since I went out ? " " Nobody." " Why, then, mistress," broke in the seaman, " how can you expect to have your tea so soon ? " My mother took off her spectacles, looked calmly in the man's face laid her hand on the Bible, and said, " Because I have been a widow woman these three years, and never once in all that time have I gone a single day without a meal. When the usual hour came I put on my kettle to boil, for this Word tells me that 'the Lord will provide.' I expect my tea to-night." FIGHTING THE WHALES 19 d le w ^11 hi. to lU The sailor's face expressed puzzled astonish- ment at these words, and he continued to regard my mother with a look of wonder as he drew forth his supplies of food, and laid them on the table. In a short time we were all enjoying a cup of tea, and talking about the whale-fishery and the difficulty of my going away while my mother was dependent on me. At last the sailor rose to leave us. Taking a five-pound note from his pocket, he laid it on the table and said — " Mistress, this is all I have in the world, but I 've got neither family nor friends, and I 'm bound for the South Seas in six days ; so, if you 11 take it, you 're welcome to it, and if your son Bob can manage to cast loose from you without leaving you to sink, I '11 t^ake him aboard the ship that I sail in. He '11 always find me at the Bull and Griffin, in the High Street, or at the end o' the pier." While the sailor was speaking, I observed a figure standing in a dark corner of the room near the door, and, on looking more closely, I found that it was the old gentleman with the nose like his cane knob. Seeing that he was observed, he came forward and said — " I trust that you will forgive my coming here without invitation ; but I happened to overhear part of the conversation between your son and this seaman, and I am willing to help you over your little difficulty, if you will allow me." 20 FIGHTING THE WHALES The old gentleman said this in a very quick, abrupt way, and looked as if he were afraid his offer might be refused. He was much heated, with climbing our long stair no doubt, and as he stood in the middle of the room, puffing and wiping his bald head with a handkerchief, my mother rose hastily and offered him a chair. " You are very kind, sir,'-' she said ; " do sit down, sir. I'm sure I don't know why you should take so much trouble. But, dear me, you are very warm ; will you take a cup of tea to cool you ? " " Thank you, thank you. With much pleasure, unless, indeed, your son objects to a 'stingy old chap ' sitting beside him." I blushed when he re^'cated my words, and attempted to make some apology; but the old gentleman stopped me by commencing to explain his intentions in short, rapid sentences. To make a long story short, he offered to look after my mother while I was away, and, to prove his sincerity, laid down five shillings, and said he would call with that sum every week as long as I was absent. My mother, after some trouble, agreed to let me go, and, before that evening closed, everything was arranged, and the gentleman, leaving his address, went away. The sailor had been so much filled with sur- prise at the suddenness of all this, that he could scarcely speak. Immediately after the departure FIGHTING THE WHALES 21 of the old gentleman, he said, " Well, good-bye, mistress, good-bye. Bob," and throwing on his hat in a careless way, left the room. " Stop," I shouted after him, when he had got about half-way dov^n stair. " Hallo ! wot 's wrong now ? " " Nothing, I only forgot to ask your name." " Tom Lokins," he bellowed, in the hoarse voice of a regular boatswain, "w'ich wos my father's name before me." So saying, he departed, whistling "Rule Bri- tannia " with all his might. Thus the matter was settled. Six days after- wards, I rigged myself out in a blue jacket, white ducks, and a straw hat, and went to sea. : ^ 22 FIGHTING THE WHALES CHAPTER II AT SEA MY first few days on the ocean were so miserable, that I oftentimes repented of having left my native land. I was, as my new friend Tom Lokins said, as sick as a dog. But in course of time I grew well, and began to rejoice in the cool fresh breezes and the great rolling billows of the sea. Many and many a time I used to creep out to the end of the bowsprit, when the weather was calm, and sit with my legs danghng over the deep blue water, and my eyes fixed on the great masses of rolling clouds in the sky, thinking of the new course of life I had just begun. At such times the thought of my mother was sure to come into ray mind, and I thought of her parting words, " Put your trust in the Lord, Robert, and read His Word." I resolved to try to obey her, but this I found was no easy matter, for the sailors were a rough lot of fellows, who cared little for the Bible. But, I must say, they were a hearty, good-natured set, and much better, upon the whole, than many a ship's crew that I afterwards sailed with. FIGHTING THE WHALES 23 We were fortunate in having fair winds this voyage, and soon found ourselves on the other side of the line, as we jack-tars call the Equator. Of course the crew did not forget the old custom of shaving all the men who had never crossed the line before. Our captain was a jolly old man, and uncommonly fond of " sky-larking." He gave us leave to do what we liked the day we crossed the line ; so, as there were a number of wild spirits among us, we broke through all the ordinary rules, or, rather, we added on new rules to them. The old hands had kept the matter quiet from us greenhorns, so that, although we knew they were going to do some sort of mischief, we didn't exactly understand what it was to be. About noon of that day I was called on deck and told that old father Neptune was coming aboard, and we were to be ready to receive him. A minute after T saw a tremendous monster come up over the side of the ship and jump on the deck. He was crowned with sea-weed, and painted in a wonderful fashion ; his clothes were dripping wet, as if he had just come from the bottom of the sea. After him came another monster with a petticoat made of sailcloth and a tippet of a bit of old tarpaulin. This was Neptune's wife, and these two carried on the most remarkable antics I ever saw. I laughed heartily, and soon discovered, from the tones of their voices, which of my ship- mates Neptune and his wife were. But my mirth 24 PIOHTINQ THE WHALES was quickly atopped when 1 was suddenly seized by several men, and my face was covered over with a horrible mixture of tar and grease ! Six of us youngsters were treated in this way ; then the lather was scraped oft* with a piece of old hoop-iron, and, after being thus shaved, buckets of cold water were thrown over us. At last, after a prosperous voyage, we arrived at our fishing-ground in the South Seas, and a feeling of excitement and expectation began to show it- self among the men, insomuch that our very eyes seemed brighter than usual. One night those of us who had just been re- lieved from watch on deck, were sitting on the lockers down below telling ghost stories. It was a dead calm, and one of those intensely dark, hot nights, that cause sailors to feel uneasy, they scarce know why. I began to feel so un- comfortable at last, listening to the horrible tales which Tom Lokins was relating to the men, that I slipt away from them with the intention of going on deck. I moved so quietly that no one observed me ; besides, every eye was fixed earnestly on Tom, whose deep low voice was the only sound that broke the stillness of all around. As I was going very cautiously up the ladder leading to the deck, Tom had reached that part of his story where the ghost was just appearing in a dark churchyard, dressed in white, and coming slowly forward, one step at a time, towards the terrified man who saw k I I ' k FiaiiTma the whales 25 it. The men held their breath, and one or two of their faces turred pale as Torn went on with his description, lowering his voice to a hoarse whisper. Just as I put my head up the hatchway the sheet of one of the sails, which was hanging loose in tho still air, passed gently over my head rnd knocked my hat ofip. At any other time I would have thought nothing of this, but Tom's story had thrown me into such an excited and nervous condition that I gave a start, missed my footing, uttered a loud cry, and fell down the ladder right in among the men with a tremendous crash, knocking over two or three oil-cans and a tin bread-basket in my fall, and upsetting the lantern, so that the place was instantly pitch dark. I never heard such a howl of terror as these men gave vent to when this niisfortune befell me. They rushed upon deck with their hearts in their mouths, tumbling, and peeling the skin off their shins and knuckles in their haste ; and it was not until they heard the laughter of the watch on deck that they breathed freely, and, joining in the laugh, called themselves fools for being frightened by a ghost story. I noticed, however, that, for all their pretended indifference, there was not one man among them — not even Tom Lokins himself — who would go down below to relight the lantern for at least a quarter of an hour afterwards ! Feeling none the worse for my fall, I went forward and leaned over the bow of the ship, 26 FIGHTING THE WHALES where I was much astonished by the appearance of the sea. It seemed as if the water was on fire. Every time the ship's bow rose and fell, the little belt of foam made in the water seemed like a belt of blue flame with bright sparkles in it, like stars or diamonds. I had seen this curious appearance before, but never so bright as it was on that night. " What is it, Tom ? " said I, as my friend came forward and leaned over the ship's bulwark beside me. " It 's blue fire, Bob," replied Tom, as he smoked his pipe calmly. " Come, you know I can't swallow that," said I ; "everybody knows that fire, either blue or red, can't burn in the water." "May be not," returned Tom; "but it's blue fire for all that. Leastwise if it 's not, I don't know wot else it is." Tom had often seen this light before, no doubt, but he had never given himself the trouble to find out what it could be. Fortunately the captain came up just as I put the question, and he en- lightened me on the subject. " It is caused by small animals," said he, leaning over the side. " Small animals ! " said I, in astonishment. " Ay, many parts of the sea are full of creatures so small and so thin and colourless, that you can hardly see them even in a clear glass tumbler. I ' i FIGHTING THE WHALES 27 j ■ 1 i ^ Many of them are larger than others, but the most of them are very small." " But how do they shine like that, sir ? " I asked. " That I do not know, boy. God has given them the power to shine, just as he has given us the power to walk or speak; and they do shine brightly, as you see ; but how they do it is more than I can tell. I think, myself, it must be anger that makes them shine, for they generally do it when they are stirred up or knocked i about by oars, or ships' keels, or tumbling waves. But I am not sure that that 's the reason either, because, you know, we often sail through them without seeing the light, though of course they must be there." "P'raps, sir," said Tom Lokins; "p'raps, sir, they're sleepy sometimes, an' can't be bothered gettin' angry." " Perhaps ! " answered the captain, laughing. " But then again, at other times, I have seen them shining over the whole sea when it was quite calm, making it like an ocean of milk ; and nothing was disturbing them at that time, d' ye see." " I don' know that I' objected Tom ; " they might have bin a-fightin' among theirselves." " Or playing, may be," said I. The captain laughed, and, looking up at the sky, said, "I don't like the look of the weather, Tom Lokins. You 're a sharp fellow, and have been in these seas before, what say you ? " 28 FIGHTING THE WHALES " We '11 have a breeze," replied Tom, briefly. "More than a breeze," muttered the captain, while a look of grave anxiety overspread his countenance ; " I '11 go below and take a squint at the glass." "What does he mean by that, Tom," said I, when the captain was gone, " I never saw a calmer or a finer night. Surely there is no chance of a storm just now." "Ay, that shows that you're a young feller, and han't got much experience o' them seas," re- plied my companion. " Why, boy, sometimes the fiercest storm is brewin' behind the greatest calm. An' the worst o' the thing is that it comes so sudden at times, that the masts are torn out o' the ship before you can say Jack Robinson." " What ! and without any warning ? " said I. " Ay, almost without warnin' ; but not altogether without it. You heer'd the captain say he 'd go an' take a squint at the glass ? " " Yes ; what is the glass ? " " It's not a glass o' grog, you may be sure ; nor yet a lookin'-glass. It's the weather-glass, boy. Shore-goin' chaps call it a barometer." "And what's the meaning of barometer?" I inquired earnestly. Tom Lokins stared at me in stupid amazement. " Why, boy," said he, " you 're too inquisitive. I once asked the doctor o' a ship that question, and says he to me, ' Tom,' saj^s he, ' a barometer is a ■' FIGHTING THE WHALES 29 glass tube filled with quicksilver or mercury, which is a metal in a soft or fluid state, like water, you know, and it 's meant for tellin' the state o' the weather/ " * Yes, sir,' I answers, * I know that well enough.' " ' Then why did you ask ? ' says he, gettin' into a passion. "'I asked what was the meanin' o' the word barometer, sir,' said I. " The doctor he looked grave at that, and shook his head. ' Tom,' says he, * if I was to go for to explain that word, and all about the instrument, in a scientific sort o' way, d' ye see, I 'd have to sit here an' speak to you right on end for six hours or more.' " ' Oh, sir,' says I, ' don't do it, then. Please, don't do it.' "'No more I will,' says he; 'but it'll serve your turn to know that a barometer is a glass for measurin' the weight o' the air, and, somehmv or other, that lets ye know wots a-coming. If the mercury in the glass rises high, all 's right. If it falls uncommon low very sudden, look out for squalls; that's all. No matter how smooth the sea may be, or how sweetly all natur' may smile, don't you believe it ; take in every inch o' canvas at once.' " " That was a queer explanation, Tom." "Ay, but it was a true one, as you shall see before long." 30 FIGHTING THE WHALES As I looked out upon the calm sea, which lay like a sheet of glass, without a ripple on its sur- face, I could scarcely believe what he had said. But before many minutes had passed I was con- vinced of my error. While I was standing talking to my messmate, the captain rushed on deck, and shouted — " ill hands tumble up ! Shorten sail ! Take in every rag ! Look alive, boys, look alive." I was quite stunned for a moment by this, and by tho sudden tumult that followed. The men, who seemed never to take thought about anything, and who had but one duty, namely, to obey orders, ran upon deck, and leaped up the rigging like cats ; the sheets of nearly all the principal sails were clewed up, and, ere long, the canvas was made fast to the yards. A few of the smaller sails only were left exposed, and even these were close- reefed. Before long a loud roar was heard, and in another minute the storm burst upon us with terrific violence. The ship at first lay over so much that the masts were almost in the water, and it was as impossible for any one to walk the deck as to walk along the side of a wall. At the same time, the sea was lashed into white foam, and the blinding spray flew over us in bitter fury. " Take in the topsails ! " roared the captain. But his voice was drowned in the shriek of the gale. The men were saved the risk of going out on the yards, however, for in a few moments more FIGHTING THE WHALES 81 all the sails, except tlie storm-try-sail, were burst and blown to ribbons. We now tried to put the ship's head to the wind and " lay to," by which landsmen will under- stand that we tried to face the storm, and remain stationary. But the gale was so fierce that this was impossible. The last rag of sail was blown away, and then there was nothing left for us but to show our stern to the gale, and "scud under bare poles." The great danger now was that we might be " pooped," which means that a huge wave might curl over our stern, fall with terrible fury on our deck, and sink us. Many and many a good ship has gone down in this way ; but we were mercifully spared. As our safety depended very much on good steering, the captain himself took the wheel, and managed the ship so well, that we weathered the gale without damage, farther than the loss of a few sails and light spars. For two days the storm howled furiously, the sky and sea were like ink, mth sheets of rain and foam driving through the air, and raging billows tossing our ship about like a cork. During all this time my shipmates were quiet and grave, but active and full of energy, so that every order was at once obeyed without noise or confusion. Every man watched the slightest motion of the captain. We all felt that every- thing depended on him. 32 FIGHTING THE WHALES As for me, I gave up all hope of being saved. It seemed impossible to me that anything that man could build could withstand so terrible a storm. I do not pretend to say that I was not afraid. The near prospect of a violent death caused my heart to sink more than once ; but my feelings did not unman me. I did my duty quietly, but quickly, like the rest; and when I had no work to do, I stood holding on to the weather stanchions, looking at the raging sea, and thinking of my mother, and of the words of kind- ness and counsel she had so often bestowed upon me in vain. The storm ceased almost as quickly as it began, and although the sea did not all at once stop the heavings of its angry bosom, the wind fell entirely in the course of a few hours, the dark clouds broke up into great masses that were piled up high into the sky, and out of the midst of these the glorious sun shone in bright rays down on the ocean, like comfort from heaven, gladdening our hearts as we busily repaired the damage that we had suffered from the storm. FIGHTING THE WHALES 83 CHAPTER III OUR FIRST BATTLE I SHALL never forget the surprise I got the first time I saw a whale. It was in the forenoon of a most splendid day, about a week after we arrived at that part of the ocean where we might expect to find fish. A light nor'-east breeze was blowing, but it scarcely rufiled the sea, as we crept slowly through the water with every stitch of canvas set. As we had been looking out for fish for some time past, everything was in readiness for them. The boats were hanging over the side ready to lower, tubs for coiling away the ropes, harpoons, lances, etc., all were ready to throw in, and start away at a moment's notice. The man in the " crow's nest," as they call the cask fixed up at the masthead, was looking anxiously out for whales and the crew were idling about the deck. Tom Lokins was seated on the windlass smoking his pipe, and I was sitting beside him on an empty cask, sharpening a blubber-knife. c 34 FIGHTING THE WHALES " Tom," said I, " what like is a whale ? " "Why, it's like nothin' but itself," replied Tom, looking puzzled. "Why, wot a queer feller you are to ax questions." "I'm sure you've seen plenty of them. You might be able to tell what a whale is like." " Wot it 's like ! Well, it 's like a tremendous big bolster with a head and a tail to it." " And how big" is it ? " " They 're of all sizes, lad. I 've seen one that was exactly equal to three hundred fat bulls, and its rate of goin' would take it round the whole world in twenty-three days." " I don't believe you," said I, laughing. " Don't you ? " cried Tom ; " it 's a fact notwith- standin', for the captain himself said so, and that 's how I came to know it." Just as Tom finished speaking, the man in the crow's nest roared at the top of his voice, " There she blows ! " That was the signal that a whale was in sight, and as it was the first time we had heard it that season, every man in the ship was thrown into a state of tremendous excitement. " There she blows ! " roared the man again. " Where away ? " shouted the captain. " About two miles right a-head." In another moment the utmost excitement pre- vailed on board. Suddenly, while I was looking over the side, straining my eyes to catch a sight FIGHTING THE WHALES 35 of the whale, which could not yet be seen by the men on deck, I saw a brown object appear in the sea, not twenty yards from the side of the ship ; before I had time to ask what it was, a whale's head rose to the surface, and shot up out of the water. The part of the fish that was visible above water could not have been less than thirty feet in length. It just looked as if our longboat had jumped out of the sea, and he was so near that I could see his great mouth quite plainly. I could have tossed a biscuit on his back easily. Sending two thick spouts of frothy water out of his blow- holes forty feet into the air with tremendous noise, he fell flat upon the sea with a clap Uke thunder, tossed his flukes or tail high into the air, and disappeared. I was so amazed at this sight that I could not speak. I could only stare at the place where the huge monster had gone down. " Stand by to lower," shouted the captain. " Ay, ay, sir," replied the men, leaping to their appointed stations; for every man in a whale- ship has his post of duty appointed to him, and knows what to do when an order is given. "Lower away," cried the captain, whose face was now blazing with excitement. In a moment more three boats were in the water ; the tubs, harpoons, etc., were thrown in, the men seized the oars, and away they went with a cheer. I was in such a state of flutter that I 36 FIGHTING THE WHALES scarce know what I did; but I managed some- how or other to get into a boat, and as I was a strong fellow, and a good rower, I was allowed to pull. " There she blows ! " cried the man in the crow's nest, just as we shot from the side of the ship. There was no need to ask, "where away" this time. Another whale rose and spouted not more than three hundred yards off, and before we could speak a third fish rose in another direction, and we found ourselves in the middle of what is called a " school of whales." " Now, lads," said the captain, who steered the boat in which I rowed, "bend your backs, my hearties ; that fish right ahead of us is a hundred- barrel whale for certain. Give way, boys; we must have that fish." There was no need to urge the men, for their backs were strained to the utmost, their faces were flushed, and the big veins in their necks swelled almost to bursting, with the tremendous exertion. " Hold hard," said the captain, in a low voice, for now that we were getting near our prey, we made as little noise as possible. The men at once threw their oars " apeak," as they say ; that is, raised them straight up in the air, and waited for further orders. We expected the whale would rise near to where we were, and thought it best to rest and look out. While we were waiting, Tom Lokins, who was I FIGHTING THE WHALES 87 f/ harponccr of the boat, sat just behind me with all his irons ready. Ho took this ojiportunity to explain to ine that by a " hundred barrel fish " is meant a fish that will yield a himdred barrels of oil. He further informed me that such a fish was a big one, though he had seen a few in the North - West Seas that had produced upwards of two hundred barrels. I now observed that the other boats had sepa- rated, and each had gone after a difi'erent whale. In a few minutes the fish wo were in chase of rose a short distance off, and sent up two splendid Avater-spouts high into the air, thus showing that he was what the whalers call a " right " whale. It is different from the sperm whale, which has only one blow-hole, and that a little one. We rowed towards it with all our might, and as we drew near, the captain ordered Tom Lokins to " stand up," so he at once laid in his oar, and took up the harpoon. The harpoon is an iron lance with a barbed point. A whale-line is at- tached to it, and this line is coiled away in a tub. When we were within a few yards of the fish, which was going slowly through the water, all ignorant of the terrible foes who were pursuing him, Tom Lokins raised the harpoon high above his head, and darted it deep into its fat side just behind the left fin, and next moment the boat ran aground on the whale's back. " Stern all, for your lives ! " roared the captain, 88 FIGHTING THE WHALES who, before his order was obeyed, managed to give the creature two deep wounds with his lance. The lance has no barbs to its point, and is used only for wounding after the harpoon is fixed. The boat was backed off at once, but it had scarcely got a few yards away when the astonished fish whirled its huge body half out of the water, and, coming down with a tremendous clap, made off like lightning. The line was passed round a strong piece of wood called the "logger-head," and, in running out, it began to smoke, and nearly set the wood on fire. Indeed, it would have done so, if a man had not kept constantly pouring water upon it. It was needful to be very cautious in managing the line, for the duty is attended with great danger. If any hitch should take place, the line is apt to catch the boat and drag it down bodily under the waves. Sometimes a coil of it gets round a leg or an arm of the man who attends to it, in which case his destruction is almost certain. Many a poor fellow has lost his life in this way. The order was now given to "hold on line." This was done, and in a moment our boat was cleaving the blue water like an arrow, while the white foam curled from her bows. I thought every moment we should be dragged under ; but whenever this seemed likely to happen, the line was let run a bit, and the strain eased. At last the fish grew tired of dragging us, the line ceased FIGHTING THE WHALES 39 to run out, and Tom hauled in tho slack, which another man coiled away in its tub. Presently tho fish rose to the surface, a short distance off our weather-bow. " Give way, boys ! spring your oars," cried tho captain; "another touch or two with the lance, and that fish is ours." The boat shot ahead, and we were about to dart a second harpoon into the whale's side, when it tc»ok to " sounding," — which means, that it went straight down, head foremost, into the depths of the sea. At that moment Tom Lokins uttered a cry of mingled anger and disappointment. Wo all turned round and saw our shipmate standing with the slack line in his hand, and such an expression on his weather .eaten face, that I could scarce help laughiii The harpoon had not been well fixed ; it had lost its hold, and the tish was now free ! " Gone ! " exclaimed the captain, with a groan. I remember even yet the feeling of awful disappointment that came over me when I under- stood that we had lost the fish after all our trouble ! I could almost have wept with bitter vexation. As for my comrades, they sat staring at each other for some moments quite speechless. Before we could recover from the state into which this misfortune had thrown us, one of the men suddenly shouted, "Hallo! there's the mate's boat in distress." 40 FIGHTING THE WHALES We turned at once, and, truly, there was no doubt of the truth of this, for, about half a mile off, we beheld our first mate's boat tearing over the sea like a small steamer. It was fast to a fish, and two oars were set up on end to attract our attention. When a whale is struck, it sometimes happens that the whole of the line in a boat is run out. When this is about to occur, it becomes necessary to hold on as much as can be done without running the boat under the water, and an oar is set up on end to show that assistance is required, either from the ship or from the other boats. As the line grows less and less, another and another oar is hoisted to show that help must be sent quickly. If no assistance can be sent, the only thing that remains to be done is to cut the line and lose the fish; but a whale line, with its harpoon, is a very heavy loss, in addition to that of the fish, so that whalers are tempted to hold on a little too long sometimes. When wo saw the mate's boat dashing away in this style, we forgot our grief at the loss of our whale in anxiety to render assistance to our comrades, and we rowed towards them as fast as we could. Fo-'^-nnately the whale changed its course and came straight towards us, so that we ceased pulling, and waited till they came up. As the boat came on I saw the foam curling up on her bows as she leaped and flew over the sea. I ] ,1 FIGHTING THE WKALES 41 could scarcely believe it possible that wood and iron could bear such a strain. In a few minutes they were almost abreast of us. "You 're holding too hard ! " shouted the captain. " Lines all out ! " roared the mate. They were past almost before these short sentences could be spoken. But they had not gone twenty yards ahead of us when the water rushed in over the bow, and before we could utter a word the boat and crew were gone. Not a trace of them remained! The horror of the moment had not been fully felt, however, when the boat rose to the surface keel up, and, one after another, the heads of the men appeared. The line had fortunately broker otherwise the boat would have been lost, and the entire crew probably would have gone to the bottom with her. We instantly pulled to the rescue, and were thankful to find that not a man was killed, though some of them were a little hurt, and all had received a terrible fright. We next set to work to right the upset boat, an operation Avhich was not accomplished without much labour and difficulty. Now, while we were thus employed, our third boat, which was in charge of the second mate, had gone after the whale that had caused us so much trouble, and when we had got the boat righted and began to look about us, we found that she was fast to the fish about a mile to leeward. 42 FIGHTING THE WHALES " Hurrah, lads ! " cried the captain, " luck has not left us yet. Give way, my hearties, pull like Britons ! we '11 get that fish yet." We were all dreadfully done up by this time, but the sight of a boat fast to a whale restored us at once, and we pulled away as stoutly as if we had only begun the day's work. The whale was heading in the direction of the ship, and when we came up to the scene of action the second mate had just " touched the life " ; in other words, he had driven the lance deep down into the whale's vitals. This was quickly known by jets of blood being spouted up through the blow-holes. Soon after, our victim went into its dying agonies, or, as whalemen say, " his flurry." This did not last long. In a short time he rolled ovei; dead. We fastened a line to his tail, the three boats took the carcass in tow, and, singing a lively song, we rowed away to the ship. Thus ended our first battle with the whales. S'lGHTII^G THE WHALtIS 4S CHAPTER IV "CUTTING IN THE BLUBBER" AND "TRYING OUT THE oil" rpHE scene that took place on board ship after T we caught our lirst fish was most wonderful. We commenced the operation of what is called " cutting in," that is, cutting up the whale, and getting the fat or blubber hoisted in. The next thing we did was to "try out" the oil, or melt down the fat in large iron pots brought with us for this purpose ; and the change that took place in the appearance of the ship and the men when this began was very remarkable. When we left port our decks were clean, our sails white, our masts well scraped ; the brass- work about the quarter-deck was well polished, and the men looked tidy and clean. A few hours after our first whale had been secured alongside all this was changed. The cutting up of the huge carcass covered the decks with oil and blood, mak- ing them so slippery that they had to be covered with sand to enable the men to walk about. Then the smoke of the great fires under the 44 FIGHTING THE WHALES melting pots begrimed the masts, sails, and cord- age with soot. The faces and hands of the men got so covered with oil and soot that it would have puzzled any one to say whether they were white or black. Their clothes, too, became so dirty that it was impossible to clean them. But, indeed, whalemen do not much mind this. In fact, they take a pleasure in all the dirt that sur- rounds them, because it is a sign of success in the main object of their voyage. The men in a dean whale ship are never happy. When everything is tilthy, and dirty, and greasy, and smoky, and black — decks, rigging, clothes, and person — it is then that the hearty laugh and jest and song are heard as the crew work busily, night and day, at their rough but profitable labour. The operations of " cutting in " and "trying out" were matters of great interest to me the first time I saw them. After having towed our whale to the ship, cutting in was immediately begun. First, the carcass was secured near the head and tail with chains, and made fast to the ship ; then the great blocks and ropes fastened to the main and fore- mast for hoisting in the blubber Avere brought into play. When all was ready, the captain and the two mates with Tom Lokins got upon the whale's body, with long-handled sharp spades or digging-knives. With these they fell to work cutting otf the blubber. I FIGHTING THE WHALES 45 II I was stationed at one of the hoisting ropes, and while we were waiting for the signal to "hoist away," I peeped over the side, and for the first time had a good look at the great fish. When we killed it, so much of its body was down in the water that I could not see it very clearly, but now that it was lashed at full length alongside the ship, and I could look right down upon it, I began to understand more clearly what a large creature it was. One thing surprised me much; the top of its head, which was rough and knotty like the bark of an old tree, was swarming with little crabs and barnacles, and other small creatures. The whale's head seemed to be their regular home ! This fish was by no means one of the largest kind, but being the first I had seen, I fancied it must be the largest fish in the sea. Its body was forty feet long, and twenty feet round at the thickest part. Its head, which seemed to me a great, blunt, shapeless thing, like a clumsy old boat, was eight feet lovig from the tip to the blow-holes or nostrils ; and these holes were situated on the back of the head, which at that part was nearly four feet broad. The entire head measured about twenty-one feet round. Its ears were two small holes, so small that it was difficult to discover them, and the eyes were also very small for so large a body, being about the same size as those of an ox. The mouth was very large, and the under jaw had great ugly lips. i 46 FIGHTING THE WHALES I When it was dying, I saw these lips close in once or twice on its fat cheeks, which it bulged out like the leather sides of a pair of gigantic bellows. It had two fins, one on each side, just behind the head. With these, and with its tail, the whale swims and lights. Its tail is its most deadly weapon. The flukes of this one measured thir- teen feet across, and with one stroke of this it could have smashed our largest boat in pieces. Many a boat has been sent to the bottom in this way. I remember hearing our first mate tell of a wonderful escape a comrade of his had in the Greenland Sea fishery. A whale had been struck, and, after its first run, they hauled up to it again, and rowed so hard that they ran the boat right against it. The harponeer was standing on the bow all ready, and sent his iron cleverly into the blubber. In its agony the whale reared its tail high out of the water, and the flukes whirled for a moment like a great fan just above the har- poneer's head. One glance up was enough to show him that certain death was descending. In an instant he dived over the side and disappeared. Next moment the flukes came down on the part of the boat he had just left, and cut it clean off; the other part was driven into the waves, and the men were left swimming in the water. They were all picked up, however, by another boat that was in company, and the harponeer was recovered • I I ■'5', f.r. A DivK yoK Life. FIGHTING THE WHALES 49 with the rest. His quick dive had been the saving of his life. I had not much time given me to study the appearance of this whale before the order was given to " hoist away ! " so we went to work with a will. The tirst part that came up was the huge lip, fastened to a large iron hook, called the blubber hook. It was lowered into the blubber- room between decks, where a couple of men were stationed to stow the blubber away. Then came the fins, and after them the upper-jaw, with the whalebone attached to it. The " right " whale has no teeth like the sperm whale. In place of teeth it has the well-known substance called whalebone, which grows from the roof of its mouth in a number of broad thin plates, extending from the back of the head to the snout. The lower edges of these plates of whalebone are split into thou- sands of hairs like bristles, so that the inside roof of a whale's mouth resembles an enormous blacking brush! The object of this curious arrangement is to enable the whale to catch the little shrimps and small sea-blubbers, called " medusa?," on which it feeds. I have spoken before of these last as being the little creatures that gave out such a beautiful pale-blue light at night. The whale feeds on them. When he desires a meal he opens his great mouth and rushes into the midst of a shoal of medusae ; the little things get entangled in thousands among the hairy ends of the whale- 50 FIGHTING THE WHALES bone, and when the monster has got a large enough mouthful, he shuts his lower jaw and swallows what his net has caught. The wisdom as well as the necessity of this arrangement is very plain. Of course, while dashing through the sea in this fashion, with his mouth agape, the whale must keep his throat elosed, else the water would rush down it and choke him. Shutting his throat then, as he does, the water is obliged to flow out of his mouth as fast as it flows in ; it is also spouted up through his blow-holes, and this with such violence that many of the little creatures would be swept out along with it but for the hairy-ended whalebone which lets the sea- water out, but keeps the medusae in. Well, let us return to our " cutting in." After the upper-jaw came the lower-jaw and throat, with the tongue. This last was an enormous mass of fat, about as large as an ox, and it weighed fifteen hundred or two thousand pounds. After this was got in, the rest of the work was simple. The blubber of the body was peeled off in great strips, beginning at the neck and being cut spirally towards the tail. It was hoisted on board by the blocks, the captain and mates cutting, and the men at the windlass hoisting, and the carcass slowly turning round until we got an unbroken piece of blubber, reaching from the water to nearly as high as the mainyard-arm. This mass was FIGHTING THE WHALES 51 nearly a foot thick, and it looked like fat pork. It was cut off close to the deck, and lowered into the blubber-room, where the two men stationed there attacked it with knives, cut it into smaller pieces, and stowed it away. Then another piece was hoisted on board in the same foshion, and so on we went till every bit of blubber was cut off; and I heard the captain remark to the mate when the work was done, that the fish was a good fat one, and he wouldn't wonder if it turned out to be worth £300. Now, when this process was going on, a new point of interest arose which I had not thought of before, although my messmate, Tom Lokins, had often spoken of it on the voyage out. This was the arrival of great numbers of sea-birds. Tom had often told me of the birds that always keep company with whalers ; but I had forgotten all about it until I saw an enormous albatross come sailing majestically through the air towards us. This was the largest bird I ever saw, and no wonder, for it is the largest bird that flies. Soon after that, another arrived, and although we were more than a thousand miles from any shore, we were speedily scented out and surrounded by hosts of gonies, stinkards, haglets, gulls, pigeons, petrels, and other sea-birds, which commenced to feed on pieces of the whale's carcass with the most savage gluttony. These birds were dreadfully greedy. They had stuffed themselves so full in the course 62 FIOHTINO THE WHALES of a short time, that they flew heavily and with great difficulty. No doubt they would have to take three or four days to digest that nieal ! Sharks, too, came to get their share of what was going. But these savage monsters did not con- tent themselves with what was thrown away ; they were so bold as to come before our faces and take bites out ^^ the whale's body. Some of these sharks wei .ght and nine feet long, and when I saw them open their horrid jaws, armed with three rows of glistening white sharp teeth, I could well understand how easily they could bite off the leg of a man, as they often do when they get the chance. Sometimes they would come right up on the whale's body with a wave, bite out great pieces of the flesh, turn over on their bellies, and roll off. While I was looking over the side during the early part of that day, I saw a very large shark come rolli' up in this way close to Tom Lokins' legs. Toi ade a cut at him with his blubber- spade, but the shark rolled off in time to escape the blow. And after all it would not have done him much damage, for it is not easy to frighten or take the life out of a shark. " Hand me an iron and line. Bob," said Tom, looking up at me. " I 've got a s^ ite agin that feller. He *s been up twice already. Ah ! hand it down here, and two or three of ye stand by to hold on by the line. There he comes, the big villain ! " ' i) • FIOHTINa THE WHALES 08 Ito The shark came close to the side of the whale at that moment, and Tom sent the harpoon right down his throat. " Hold on hard," shouted Tom. "Ay, ay," replied several of the men as they held on to the line, their arms jerking violently as the savage fish tried to free itself We quickly reeved a line through a block at the fore yard-arm, and hauled it on deck with much difficulty. The scene that followed was very horrible, for there was no killing the brute.^ It threshed the deck with its tail, and snapped so fiercely with its tremendous jaws, that we had to keep a sharp look out lest it should catch hold of a leg. At last its tail was cut off, the body cut open, and all the entrails taken out, yet even after this it con- tinued to flap and thresh about the deck for some time, and the heart continued to contract for twenty minutes after it was taken out and pierced with a knife. I would not have believed this had I not seen it with my own eyes. In case some of my readers may doubt its truth, I would remind them how difficult it is to kill some of those creatures with which we are all familiar. The common worm, for instance, may be cut mto a number of small pieces, and yet each piece remains alive for some time after. The skin of the shark is valued by the whale- ^ See frontispiece. 54 FIGHTING THE WHALES men, because, when cleaned and dry, it is as good as sand-paper, and is much used in polishing the various things they make out of whales' bones and teeth. When the last piece of blubber had been cut off our whale, the great chain that held it to the ship's side was cast off, and the now useless carcass sank like a stone, much to the sorrow of some of the smaller birds, which, having been driven away by their bigger comrades, had not fed so heartily as they wished perhaps! But what was loss to the gulls was gain to the sharks, which could follow the carcass down into the deep and devour it at their leisure. " Now, lads," cried the mate, when the remains had vanished, " rouse up the fires, look alive, my hearties ! " "Ay, ay, sir," was the ready reply, cheerfully given, as every man sprang to his appointed duty. And so, having "cut in" our whale, we next proceeded to " try out " the oil. FIGHTING THE WHALES 65 CHAPTER V A STORM, A MAN OVERBOARD, AND A RESCUE THE scenes in a whaleman's life are varied and very stirring. Sometimes lie is floating on the calm ocean, idling about the deck and whisthng for a breeze, when all of a sudden the loud cry is heard, " There she blows ! " and in a moment the boats are in the water, and he is engaged in all the toils of an exciting chase. Then comes the battle with the great leviathan of the deep, with all its risks and dangers. Sometimes he is un- fortunate, the decks are clean, he has nothing to do. At other times he is lucky, " cutting in " and " trying out " engage all his energies and attention. Frequently storms toss him on the angry deep, and show him, if he will but learn the lesson, how helpless a creature he is, and how thoroughly dependent at all times for life, safety, and success, upon the arm of God. " Trying out " the oil, although not so thrilling a scene as many a one in his career, is, neverthe- less, extremely interesting, especially at night. 56 FIGHTING THE WHALES when the glare of the fires in the try-works casts a deep red glow on the feces of the men, on the masts and sails, and even out upon the sea. The try-works consisted of two huge melting- p^ts fixed upon brick-work fireplaces between the fore and main masts. While some of the men were down in the blubber-room cutting the " blanket-pieces," as the largest masses are called, others were pitching the smaller pieces on deck, where they were seized by two men v/ho stood near a block of wood, called "a horse," with a mincing knife, to slash the junks so as to make them melt easily. These were then thrown into the melting-pots by one of the mates, who kept feeding the fires with such "scraps" of blubber as remain after the oil is taken out. Once the fires were fairly set agoing no other kind of fuel was required than "scraps" of blubber. As the boiling oil rose it was baled into copper cooling- tanks. It was the duty of two other men to dip it out of these tanks into casks, which were then headed up by our cooper, and stowed away in the hold. As the night advanced the fires became redder and brighter by contrast, the light shone and glittered on the bloody decks, and, as we plied our dirty work, I could not help thinking, "what would my mother say, if she could get a peep at me now ? " The ship's crew worked and slept by watches, r ^ » I FIGHTING THE WHALES 57 : }) " Ha ! that 's the word," shouted Tom Lokins, "Medoosy, that's wot the captain calls 'em. Heave ahead, Fred." "Well, then," continued Fred, "the young doctor went on to tell me that he had been count- ing the matter to himself very carefully, and he found that in every square mile of sea- water there were living about eleven quadrillions, nine hun- dred and ninety-nine trillions of these little crea- tures ! " ' Oh ! hallo ! come now ! " we all cried, opening our eyes very wide indeed. FIGHTING THE WHALES 77 " But, I say, how much is that ? " inquired Tom Lokins. " Ah ! that 's just what I said to the young doctor, and he said to me, 'I'll tell you what, Fred Borders, no man alive understands how much that is, and what 's more, no man ever will ; but I '11 give you some notion of what it means ' ; and so he told me how long it would take forty thousand men to count that number of eleven quadrillions, nine hundred and ninety-nine tril- lions, each man of the forty thousand beginning ' one,* * two,' ' three,' and going on till the sum of the whole added together would make it up. Now, how long d' ye think it would take them ? — guess." Fred Borders smiled as he said this, and looked round the circle of men. " I know," cried one, " it would take the whole forty thousand a week to do it." " Oh ! nonsense, they could do it easy in two days," said another. " That shows how little you know about big numbers," observed Tom Lokins, knocking the ashes out of his pipe. " I 'm pretty sure it couldn't be done in much less than six months ; workin' hard all day, and makin' allowance for only one hour off' for dinner." "You're all wrong, shipmates," said Fred Borders. "That young doctor told me that if they 'd begun work at the day of creation they would only have just finished the job last year ! " 78 FIGHTING THE WHALES " Oil ! gammon, you 're jokin*," cried Bill Blunt. " No, I 'm not," said Fred, " for I was told after- wards by an old clergyman that the young doctor was quite right, and that any one who was good at 'rithmetic could work the thing out for himself in less than half-an-hour." Just as Fred said this there came a loud cry from the mast-head that made us all spring to our feet like lightning. " There she blows ! There she breaches ! " The captain was on deck in a moment. " Where away ? " he cried. '* On the lee beam, sir. Sperm whale, about two miles off. There she blows ! " Every man Avas at his station in a moment ; for, after being some months out, we became so used to the work, that we acted together like a piece of machinery. But our excitement never abated in the least. " Sing out when the ship heads for her." " Ay, ay, sir." " Keep her away ! " said the captain to the man at the helm. " Bob Ledbury, hand me the spy- glass." " Steady," from the mast-head. " Steady it is," answered the man at the helm. While we were all looking eagerly out ahead we heard a thundering snore behind us, followed by a heavy splash. Turning quickly round, we saw the flukes of an enormous whale sweeping through FIOHTINO THE WHALES 79 the air not more than six hundred yards astern of us. " Down your helm," roared the captain ; " haul up the mainsail, and square the yards. Call all hands." " All hands, ahoy !" roared Bill Blunt, in a voice of thunder, and in another moment every man in the ship was on deck. " Hoist and swing the boats," cried the captain. " Lower away." Down went the boats into the water ; the men were into their places almost before you could wink, and we pulled away from the ship just as the whole rose the second time, about half a mile away to leeward. From the appearance of this whale we felt certain that it was one of the largest we had yet seen, so we pulled after it with right good will. I occupied my usual place in the captain's boat, next the bow oar, just beside Tom Lokins, who was ready with his harpoons in the bow. Young Borders pulled the oar directly in front of me. The captain himself steered, and, as our crew was a picked one, we soon left the other two boats behind us. Presently a small whale rose close beside us, and, sending a shower of spray over the boat, went down in a pool of foam. Before we had time to speak, another Avhale rose on the opposite side of the boat, and then another on our starboard 80 FIOHTINO THE WHALES bow. We had got into the rniddlo of a shoal of whales, which commenced leaping and spouting all round us, little aware of the dangerous enemy that was so near. In a few minutes more up comes the big one again that we had first seen. He seemed very active and wild. After blowing on the surface once or twice, about a quarter of a mile off, he peaked his flukes, and pitched down head fore- most. "Now then, lads, he's down for a long dive," said the captain; "spring your oars like men, we '11 get that fish for certain, if you '11 only pull." The captain was mistaken ; the whale had only gone down deep in order to come up and breach, or spring out of the water, for the next minute he came up not a hundred yards from us, and leaped his whole length into the air. A shout of surprise broke from the men, and no wonder, for this was the largest fish I ever saw or heard of, and he came up so clear of the water that we could see him from head to tail as he turned over in the air, exposing his white belly to view, and came down on his great side with a crash like thunder, that might have been heard six miles off. A splendid mass of pure white spray burst from the spot where he fell, and in another moment he was gone. "I do believe it's New Zealand Tom" cried Bill Blunt, referring to an old bull whale that had i FIGHTING THE WHALES 81 become famous among the men who frequented these seas for its immense size and fierceness, and for the great trouble it had given them, smashing some of their boats, and carrying away many of their harpoons. " I don't know whether it 's New Zealand Tom or not," said the captain, "but it's pretty clear that ho 's an old sperm bull. Give way, lads, we must get that whale whatever it should cost us." We did not need a second bidding ; the size of the fish was so great that we felt more excited than we had yet been during the voyage, so we bent our oars till we almost pulled the boat out of the water. The other boats had got separated, chasing the little whales, so we had this one all to ourselves. " There she blows ! " said Tom Lokins, in a low voice, as the fish came up a short distance astern of us. We had overshot our mark, so, turning about, we made for the whale, which kept for a consider- able tir-xO near the top of the water, spouting now and then, and going slowly to windward. We at last got within a few feet of the monster, and the captain suddenly gave the word, " Stand up." This was to our harponeer, Tom Lokins, who jumped up on the instant, and buried two harpoons deep in the blubber. " Stern all ! " was the next word, and we backed off with all our might. It was just in time, for, F /*• 82 FIGHTING THE WHALES in his agony, the whale tossed his tail right over our heads, the flukes were so big that they could have completely covered the boat, and he brought them down flat on the sea with a clap that made our ears tingle, Avhile a shower of spray drenched us to the skin. For one moment I thought it was all over with us, but we were soon out of immediate danger, and lay on our oars watching the writhings of the wounded monster as he lashed the ocean into foam. The water all round us soon became white like milk, and the foam near the whale was red with blood. Suddenly this ceased, and, before we could pull up to lance him, he went down, taking the line out at such a rate that the boat spun round, and sparks of fire flew from the loggerhead from the chafing of tl>e rope. " Hold on ! " cried the captain, and next moment we were tearing over the sea at a fearful rate, with a bank of white foam rolling before us, high above our bows, and away on each side of us like the track of a. steamer, so that we expected it every moment to rush, in-board and swamp us. I had never seen anything like this before. From the first I had a kind of feeling that some evil would befall Uo. While we were tearing over the water in this way, we saw the other whales coming up every now and then and blowing quite near to us, and presently we passed close enough to the first FIGHTING THE WHALES 83 I mate's boat to see that he was fast to a fish, and unable, thereibre, to render us help if we should need it. In a short time the line began to slack, so we hauled it in hand over hand, and Tom Lokins coiled it away in the tub in the stern of the boat, while the captain took his place in the bow to be ready with the lance. The whale , oon came up, and we pulled with all our might towards him. Instead of making off again, however, he turned round and made straight at the boat. I now thought that destruction was certain, for, when T saw his great blunt forehead coming down on us like a steamboat, I felt that we could not escape. I was mistaken. The captain received him on the point of his lance, and the whale has such a dislike to pain, that even a small prick will some- times turn him. For some time we kept dodging round 'his fellow ; but he was so old and wise, that he always turned his head to us, and prevented us from getting a chance to lance him. At last he turned a little to one side, and the captain plunged the lance deep into his vitals. " Ha ! that 's touched his life," cried Tom, as a stream of blood flew up from his blow-holes, a sure sign that he was mortally wounded. But he was not yet conquered. After receiving the cruel stab with the lance, he pitched right down, head foremost, and once more the line began to fly out 84 FIGHTING THE WHALES over tho bow. We tried to hold on, but he was going so straight down that the boat was almost swamped, and we had to slack off to prevent our being pulled under water. Before many yards of the line had run out, one of the coils in the tub became entangled. " Look out, lads," cried Tom, and at once throw- ing the turn off the logger-head, he made an at- tempt to clear it. The captain, in trying to do the same thing, slipped and fell. Seeing this, I sprang up, and, grasping the coil as it flew past, tried to clear it. Before I could think, a turn whipped round my left wrist. I felt a wrench as if my arm had been torn out of the socket, and in a moment I was overboard, going down with almost lightning speed into the depths of the sea. Strange to say, I did not lose my presence of mind. I knew exactly what had happened. I felt myself rushing down, down, down with terrific speed; a stream of fire seemei to be whizzing past my eyes ; there was a dreadful pressure on my brain, and a roaring as if of thunder in my ears. Yet, even in that dread moment, thoughts of eternity, of my sins, and of meeting with my God, flashed into my mind, for thought is quicker than the lightning flash. Of a sudden the roaring ceased, and I felt my- self buffeting the water fiercely in my efforts to reach the surface. I know not how I got free, but I suppose the turn of the line must l^ave / < u 02 Q to CO ■< 73 4,\i ,li/_;J / FIGHTING THE WHALES 87 / slackened off somehow. All this happened within the space of a few brief moments ; but oh ! they seemed fearfully long to me. I do not think I could have held my breath a second longer. When I came to the surface, and tried to look about me, I saw the boat not more than fifty yards off, and, being a good swimmer, I struck out for it, although I felt terribly exhausted. In a few minutes mv comrades saw me, and, with a cheer put out the oars and began to row towards me. I saw that the line was slack, and that they were hauling it in— a sign that the whale had ceased running and would soon come to the surface again. Before they had pulled half-a-dozen strokes I saw the water open close beside the boat, and the monstrous head of the whale shot up like a great rock rising out of the deep. He was not more than three feet from the boat, and he came up with such force, that more than half his gigantic length came out of the water right over the boat. I heard the captain's loud cry — " Stern all ! " But it was too late, the whole weight of the monster's body fell upon the boat ; there was a crash and a terrible cry, as the whale and boat went down together. For a few moments he continued to lash the Soa in his fury, and the fragments of the boat floated all round him. I thought that every man, of course, had been killed ; but one after another their heads appeared in the midst of blood and r 88 J-IGHTING THE WHALES foam, and they struck out for oars and pieces of the wreck. Providentially, the whale, in his tossings, had shot a little away from the spot, else every man must certainly have been killed. A feeling of horror filled my heart, as I beheld all this, and thought upon my position. Fortun- ately, I had succeeded in reaching a broken plank ; for my strength was now so much exhausted, that I could not have kept my head above water any longer without its assistance. Just then I heard a che^r, and the next time I rose on the swell, I looked quickly round and saw the mate's boat making for the scene of action as fast as a stout and willing crew could pull. In a few minutes more I was clutched by the arm and hauled into it. My comrades were next rescued, and we thanked God when we found that none were killed, although one of them had got a leg broken, and another an arm twisted out of joint. They all, however, seemed to think that my escape was much more wonderful than theirs ; but I cannot say that I agreed with them in this. We now turned our attention to the whale, which had dived again. As it was now loose, we did not know, of course, where it would come up : so we lay still awhile. Very soon up he came, not far from us, and as fierce as ever. " Now, lads, we onust get that whale," cried the mate ; " give way with a will." ' FIGHTING THE WHALES 89 The order was obeyed. The boat ahnost leaped over the swell, and, before long, another harpoon was in the whale's back. " Fast again, hurrah ! " shouted the mate, " now for the lance." He gave the monster two deep stabs while he spoke, and it vomited up great clots of blood, besides spouting the red stream of life as it rolled on the sea in its agony, obliging us to keep well out of its way. I could not look upon the dying struggles of this enormous fish without feelings of regret and self-reproach for helping to destroy it. I felt al- most as if I were a murderer, and that the Creator would call me to account for taking part in the destruction of one of His grandest living creatures. But the thought passed quickly from my mind as the whale became more violent and went into its flurry. It began to lash the sea with such astonishing violence, that all the previous struggles seemed as nothing. The water all round became white like milk, with great streaks of red blood running through it, and the sound of the quick blows of its tail and fins resembled that of dull hollow thunder. We gazed at this scene in deep silence and with beating hearts. All at once the struggles ceased. The great carcass rolled over belly up, and lay extended on the sea in death. To me it seemed as if a dead calm had suddenly fallen around us, after a long ^ FIGHTING THE WHALES and furious storm, so great was the change when that whale at length parted with its huge life. The silence was suddenly broken by three hearty cheers, and then, fastening a rope to our prize, we commenced towing it to the ship, which operation occupied us the greater part of the night, for we had no fewer than eight miles to pull. FIGHTING THE WHALES 91 CHAPTER VIII DEATH ON THE SEA THE whale which we had taken, as I have re- lated in the last chapter, was our largest fish of that season. It produced ninety barrels of oil, and was worth about £500, so that we did not grieve much over the loss of our boat. But our next loss was of a kind that could not be made up for by oil or money, for it was the loss of a human life. In the whale-fishery men must, like soldiers, expect to risk their lives fre- quently, and they have too often, alas ! to mourn over the loss of a shipmate or friend. Up to this time our voyage had gone prosperously. We had caught so many fish that nearly half our cargo was already completed, and if we should be as lucky the remainder of the voyage, we should be able to return home to Old England much sooner than we had expected. Of course, during all this time we had met with some disappointments, for I am not describing everything that happened on that voyage. It 92 FIGHTING THE WHALES ( would require a much thicker vokime than this to tell the half of our adventures. We lost five or six fish by their sinking before we could get them made fast to the ship, and one or two bolted so fast that they broke loose and carried away a number of harpoons and many a fathom of line. But such misfortunes were what we had to look for. Every whaler meets with similar changes of luck, and we did not expect to fare difterently from our neighbours. These things did not cause us much regret beyond the time of their occur- rence. But it was far otherwise with the loss that now befell us. It happened on a Sunday forenoon. I was standing close to the starboard gangway early that morning, looking over the side into the calm water, for there was not a breath of wind, and talking to the fi^st mate, who was a gruff, surly man, but a good officer, and kind enough in his way when everything went smooth with him. But things don't go very smooth generally in whaling life, so the mate was oftener gruff than sweet. " Bob Ledbury," said he, " have you got your cutting-in gear in order ? I 've got a notion that Ave 11 ' raise the oil ' this day." "All right, sir," said I; "you might shave your- self with the blubber-spades. That was a good fish we got last, sir, wasn't it ? " " Pretty good, though I 've seen bigger." FIGHTING THE WHALES 93 " He gave us a deal of trouble too," said I. "Not so much as I've seen others give," said he. " When I was fishing in the Greenland Seas we made fast to a whale that cost us I don't know how many hundred dollars." (You must know the first mate was a Yankee, and he reckoned everything in dollars.) " How was that, sir ? " asked I. " Well, it was something in this fashion. We were floating about in the North Atlantic one calm, hot day, just something like this, only it was the afternoon, not the morning. We were doing nothing, and whistling for a breeze, when, all of a sudden, up comes five or six whales all round the ship, as if they had spied her from the bottom of the sea, and had come up to have a squint at her. Of course the boats were manned at once, and in less than no time we were tearing after them like all alive. But them whales were pretty wildish, I guess. They kept us puUin' the best part of five hours before we got a chance at them. My boat was out of sight of the ship before we made fast to a regular snorer, a hundred-barrellcr at the least. The moment he felt the iron, away he went like the shot out of a gun ; but he didn't keep it up long, for soon after another of our boats came up and made fast. Well, for some two or three hours we held fast, but could not haul on to him to use the lance, for the moment we came close up alongside of his tail he peaked flukes and IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MY-3) V m // «^ %p< < V £?- t<*/ :/ A, 10 ^Jllia IIIII2.5 " IIIIIM " 11116 12.2 I.I |40 1.25 6" 2.0 1.8 U III 1.6 V] (? // /. el ^"^ %. ^^ <^- ^^ ■i^ 7/y O ■^w Photographic Sciences Corporation €» ^\ ^^:,^> 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 fi^ rd too many, and, having a great deal of humour, men could not help listening when he began to talk. After this we had a dance, and here I became useful, being able to play Scotch reels and Irish jigs on the fiddle. Then we had songs and yarns again. Some could tell of furious fights with whales that made our blood boil; others could talk of the green fields at home, until we almost fancied we were boys again ; and some could not tell stories at all. They had little to say, and that little they said ill ; and I noticed that many of those who were perfect bores would cry loudest to be heard, though none of us wanted to hear FIGHTING THE WHALES 121 them. We used to quench such fellows by callmg loudly for a song with a rousing chorus. It was not till the night was far spent, and the silver moon was sailing through the starry sky, that the Yankees left us, and rowed away with a parting cheer. 122 FIGHTING THE WHALES CHAPTER XI RETURN HOME SIX months after our " gam " with the Yankees Tom Lokins and I found ourselves seated once more in the little garret beside my dear old mother. " Deary me, Robert, how changed ye are ! " " Changed, mother ! I should think so ! If you 'd gone through all that I 've done and seen since we last sat together in this room you 'd be changed too." " And have ye really seen the whales, my boy ? " continued my mother, stroking my face with her old hand. " Seen them ? ay, and killed them too— many of them." "You've been in danger, my son," said my mother earnestly, "but the Lord has preserved you safe through it all." " Ay, mother. He has preserved my life in the midst of many dangers," said I, " for which I am most thankful ; but He has done more than that. He has preserved my soul in the midst of dangers FIGHTING THE WHALES 123 of a far worse kind than one's body falls in with while fighting the whales. Ill tell ye of that some other time when we are alone." There was a short silence after this, during which my mother and I gazed earnestly at each other, and Tom Lokins smoked his pipe and stared at the fire. "Robert, how big is a whale?" inquired my mother suddenly. "How big? why, it's as big as a small ship, only it 's longer, and not quite so fat." " Robert," replied my mother gravely, " ye didn't use to tell untruths; ye must be jokin'." " Joking, mother, I was never more in earnest in my life. Why, I tell you that I've seen, ay, and helped to cut up, whales that were more than sixty feet long, with heads so big that their mouths could have taken in a boat. Why, mother, I de- clare to you that you could put this room into a whale's mouth, and you and Tom and I could sit round this table and take our tea upon his tongue quite comfortable. Isn't that true, Tom ? " My mother looked at Tom, who removed his pipe, puffed a cloud of smoke, and nodded his head twice very decidedly. " Moreover," said I, "a whale is so big and strong, that it can knock a boat right up into the air, and break in the sides of a ship. One day a whale fell right on top of one of our boats and smashed it all to bits. Now that 's a real truth ! " 124 FIGHTING THE WHALES Again my mother looked at Tom Lokins, and again that worthy man puffed an immense cloud of smoke, and nodded his head more decidedly than before. Being anxious to put to flight all her doubts at once, he said solemnly, " Old ooman, that's a fact!" " Robert," said my mother, " tell me something about the whales." Just as she said this the door opened, and in came the good old gentleman with the nose like his cane-knob, and with as \ind a heart as ever beat in a human breast. My mother had already told me that he came to see her regularly once a week, ever since I went to sea, except in summer, when he was away in the country, and that he had never allowed her to want for anything. My mother one day said to him, " I wonder, sir, why ye take so much thought for a poor old body like me " ; to which he replied, " God tells me, ' Blessed are they that consider the poor.' As I want God's blessing, this is one of the means I take to get it ; so, you see," said he, with a smile, " I 'm a selfish old fellow, for I 'm thinking of myself as well as you." I need scarcely say that there was a hearty meeting between us three, and that wo had much to say to each other. But in the midst of it all my mother turned to the old gentleman and said — "Robert was just going to tell me something about his adventures with the whales." ii f FIGHTING THE WHALES 125 ■I " That 's capital ! " cried the old gentleman, rub- bing his hands. " Corae, Bob, my boy, let 's hear about 'em." Being thus invited, I consented to spin them a yarn. The old gentleman settled himself in his chair, my mother smoothed her apron, folded her hands, and looked meekly into my face. Tom Lokins filled his pipe, stretched out his foot to poke the fire with the toe of his shoe, and began to smoke like a steam-engine ; then I cleared my throat and began my tale, and before I had done talking that night, I had told them all that I have told in this little book to you, good reader, almost word for word. Thus ended my first voyage to the South Seas. Many and many a trip have I made since then, and many a wonderful sight have I seen, both in the south and in the north. But if I were to write an account of all my adventures, my little book would grow into a big one, I must therefore come to a close. The profits of this voyage were so great, that I was enabled to place my mother in a position of comfort for the rest of her life, which, alas ! was very short. She died about six months after my return. I nursed her to the end, and closed her eyes. The last word she uttered was her Saviour's name. She died, as she had lived, trusting in the Lord ; and when I laid her dear head in the grave my heart seemed to die within me, for I felt that 126 FIGHTING THE WHALES I had lost one of God's most precious gifts — an honest, gentle, pious mother. I 'm getting to be an old man now, but, through the blessing of God, I am comfortable and happy. As I have more than enough of this world's goods, and no family to care for, my chief occupation is to look after the poor, and particularly the old women who live in my neighbourhood. After the work of the day is done, I generally go and spend the evening with Tom Lokins, who lives near by, and is stout and hearty still; or he comes and spends it with me, and, while we smoke our pipes together, we often fall to talking about those stir- ring days when, in the strength and hope of youth, we sailed together to the Scuth Seas, and took to — Fighting the Whales. THE END Printed by T. and A. Constable, Printers to Her Majesty, at the Edinburgh University Press. S'«««i MR. R. M. BALLANTYNE'S Miscellany of Entertaining and Instructive Tales. With Illustrations. Is. each. Also in a Handsome Cloth Case, Price 20s. The "Athenaeum " says : — ** There is no more practical way of communicating elementary information than that which has been adopted in this series. When we see contained in 124 small pages (as in ' Fast in the Ice ') such information as a man of fair education should possess about icebergs, northern lights, Esquimaux, musk- oxen, bears, walruses, etc., together with all the ordinary incidents of an Arctic voyage woven into a clear connected narrative, we must admit that a good work has been done, and that the author deserves the gratitude of those for whom the books are especially designed, and also of young people of all classes. " FIGHTING THE WHALES ; or, Doings and Dangers on a Fishing Cruise. n. AWAY IN THE WILDERNESS; or. Life among the Red Indians and Fur Traders of North America. in. FAST IN THE ICE ; or, Adventures in the Polar Regions. IV. CHASING THE SUN ; or. Rambles in Norway. SUNK AT SEA ; or, The Adventures of Wandering Will in the Pacific. Mr, R. M. Ballantync^s Miscellany — continued. VI. LOST IN THE FOREST ; or, Wandering Will's Adventures in South America. VII. OVER THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS ; or, Wandering Will in the Land of the Redskin VIII. SAVED BY THE LIFEBOAT ; or, A Tale of Wreck and Rescue on the Coast. IX. THE CANNIBAL ISLANDS ; or, Captain Cook's Adventures in the South Seas. X. HUNTING THE LIONS ; or, The Land of the Negro. XI. DIGGING FOR GOLD ; or, Adventures in California. XII. UP IN THE CLOUDS ; or, Balloon Voyages. XIII. THE BATTLE AND THE BREEZE; or, The Fights and Fancies of a British Tar. XIV. THE PIONEERS : A Tale of the Western Wilderness. XV. THE STORY OF THE ROCK. XVI. WRECKED, BUT NOT RUINED. XVII. THE THOROGOOD FAMILY. XVIII. THE LIVELY POLL. A Tale of the North Sea. LONDON : JAMES NISBET & Co., 21 BERNERS STREET, W. % w. ^ ^ 1 i-flWfc.»^5^