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twg_000012587800 | man alive understands how much that is, and what's more, no man ever will; but I'll 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 trillions, each man of the forty thousand beginning `one,' `... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587801 | 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 | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587802 | 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 Fr... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587803 | doctor told me that if they'd begun work at the day of creation they would only have just finished the job last year!" "Oh! gammon, you're jokin'," cried Bill Blunt. "No, I'm not," said Fred, "for I was told afterwards by an old clergyman that the young doctor was quite right, and that any one who was good at 'rithmeti... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587804 | 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, abo... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587805 | two miles off. There she blows!" Every man was 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 | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587806 | the captain to the man at the helm. "Bob Ledbury, hand me the spyglass." "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 whal... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587807 | 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. ... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587808 | 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 whale 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 | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587809 | 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 | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587810 | 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 whale rose on the opposite side of the boat, and then another on our starboard bow. We had got into the middle of | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587811 | 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 | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587812 | peaked his flukes, and pitched down head foremost. "Now then, lads, he's down for a long dive," said the captain; "spring your oars like men, we'll get that fish for certain, if you'll 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 | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587813 | 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 | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587814 | 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 | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587815 | Zealand Tom_," cried Bill Blunt, referring to an old bull whale that had 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... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587816 | the captain, "but it's pretty clear that he'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 | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587817 | 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, | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587818 | which kept for a considerable time 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 harpooner, Tom Lokins, who jumped up on the instant, and buried two harpoons deep in | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587819 | the blubber. "Stern all!" was the next word, and we backed off with all our might. It was just in time, for, 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 | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587820 | made our ears tingle, while 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 | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587821 | 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 logger-head, from the chafing of the rope. "Hold on!" cried the captain, and | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587822 | 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 | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587823 | the first I had a kind of feeling that some evil would befall us. 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 mate's boat to see that he was fast to a | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587824 | fish, and unable, therefore, 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. | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587825 | The whale soon 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 I saw his great blunt forehead coming down on us like a steamboat, I felt that we could not escape. I was | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587826 | 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 sometimes turn him. For some time we kept dodging round this fellow; but he was so old and wise, that he always turned his head to us, and prevented us from getting a chance | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587827 | 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 | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587828 | lance, he pitched right down, head foremost, and once more the line began to fly out over the 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 | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587829 | of the coils in the tub became entangled. "Look out, lads," cried Tom, and at once throwing the turn off the logger-head, he made an attempt 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 | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587830 | 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, [see frontispiece] 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 | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587831 | had happened. I felt myself rushing down, down, down, with terrific speed; a stream of fire seemed 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 | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587832 | into my mind, for thought is quicker than the lightning flash. Of a sudden the roaring ceased, and I felt myself 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 have slackened off somehow. All this happened within the space of a | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587833 | 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 | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587834 | exhausted. In a few minutes my 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 | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587835 | 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 | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587836 | 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 sea in his fury, and the fragments of the boat floated all round him. | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587837 | I thought that every man, of course, had been killed; but one after another their heads appeared in the midst of blood and 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 feeli... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587838 | horror filled my heart, as I beheld all this, and thought upon my position. Fortunately, 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 cheer, and the next time I rose on the | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587839 | 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 | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587840 | 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 | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587841 | 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 _must_ get that whale," cried the mate; "give way with a will." The order was obeyed. The boat almost leaped over the swell, and, before long, another harpoon was in | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587842 | 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 spouting the red stream of life, it rolled on the sea in agony, obliging us to keep well out of its way. I could not look upon the dying struggles of this enormous fish without feelings | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587843 | of regret and self-reproach, for helping to destroy it. I felt almost 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. ... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587844 | 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 ... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587845 | 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 and furious storm, so great was the change when that whale at length parted with its huge life. | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587846 | 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. CHAPTER EIGHT. DEATH ON THE SEA. The whale which we had taken, as I have related | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587847 | in the last chapter, was our largest fish of that season. It produced ninety barrels of oil, and was worth about pounds sterling, 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 | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587848 | of a human life. In the whale-fishery men must, like soldiers, expect to risk their lives frequently, 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 sh... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587849 | 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 would require a much thicker volume than this to tell the h... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587850 | 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 | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587851 | similar changes of luck, and we did not expect to fare differently from our neighbours. These things did not cause us much regret beyond the time of their occurrence. But it was far otherwise with the loss that now befell us. It happened one forenoon. I was standing close to the starboard gangway early that morning, lo... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587852 | into the calm water, for there was not a breath of wind, and talking to the first 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," | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587853 | said he, "have you got your cutting-in gear in order? I've got a notion that we'll `raise the oil' this day." "All right, sir," said I, "you might shave yourself with the blubber-spades. That was a good fish we got last, sir, wasn't it?" "Pretty good, though I've seen bigger." "He gave us a deal of trouble too," said I... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587854 | "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 | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587855 | 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 | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587856 | 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 pullin' the best part of five hours before we got a chance at them. My | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587857 | boat was out of sight of the ship before we made fast to a regular snorer, a hundred-barreller 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 | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587858 | 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 dived, then up again, and away as fast as ever. It was about noon before we touched him again; but by that time two more harpoons were made | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587859 | fast, and two other boats cast tow-lines aboard of us, and were hauled along. That was four boats, and more than sixteen hundred fathoms of line, besides four harpoons that was fast to that whale, and yet, for all that, he went ahead as fast as we could have rowed, takin' us along with him quite easy. "A breeze having | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587860 | sprung up, our ship overhauled us in the course of the afternoon, and towards evening we sent a line on board, to see if that would stop the big fish, and the topsails were lowered, so as to throw some of the ship's weight on him, but the irons drew out with the strain. However, we determined to try it | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587861 | again. Another line was sent aboard about eight o'clock, and the topsails were lowered, but the line snapped immediately. Well, we held on to that whale the whole of that night, and at four o'clock next morning, just thirty-six hours after he was first struck, two fast lines were taken aboard the ship. The breeze was f... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587862 | so the top-gallant sails were taken in, the courses hauled up, and the topsails clewed down, yet, I assure you, that whale towed the ship dead against the wind for an hour and a half at the rate of two miles an hour, and all the while beating the water with his fins and tail, so that the sea was | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587863 | in a continual foam. We did not kill that fish till after forty hours of the hardest work I ever went through." Some of my shipmates seemed to doubt the truth of this story; but, for my part, I believed it, because the mate was a grave, truthful man, though he was gruff, and never told lies, as far as | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587864 | I knew. Moreover, a case of the same kind happened some years afterwards, to a messmate of mine, while he was serving aboard the _Royal Bounty_, on the 28th of May . I know that some of the stories which I now tell must seem very wild and unlikely to landsmen; but those who have been to the whale-fishery will | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587865 | admit that I tell nothing but the truth, and if there are any of my readers who are still doubtful, I would say, go and read the works of Captain Scoresby. It is well known that this whaling captain was a truly religious man, who gave up the fishing, though it turned him in plenty of money, and became a | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587866 | minister of the gospel with a small income, so it is not likely that he would have told what was untrue. Well, in his works we find stories that are quite as remarkable as the one I have just told, some of them more so. For instance, he tells us of one whale, in the Greenland Seas, which was not | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587867 | killed till it had drawn out ten thousand four hundred and forty yards, or about _six miles_ of line, fastened to fifteen harpoons, besides taking one of the boats entirely under water, which boat was never seen again. The mate told us two or three more stories, and a lot of us were gathered round him, listening eagerl... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587868 | is nothing Jack likes so much as a _good yarn_, when all of a sudden, the man at the mast-head sang out that a large sperm whale was spouting away two points off the lee-bow. Of course we were at our posts in a moment. "There she blows! there she breaches!" sung the look-out. "Lower away!" roared the captain. The | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587869 | boats were in the water, and the men on their seats in a moment. The whale we were after was a very large one; we could see that, for after two hours' hard pulling we got near enough to throw a harpoon, and after it was fixed he jumped clean out of the water. Then there was the usual battle. | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587870 | It was fierce and long; so long that I began to fear we would have to return empty handed to the ship. We put ten harpoons into him, one after another, and had a stiff run between the fixing of each. It is astonishing the difference between the fish. One will give you no trouble at all. I have often | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587871 | seen a good big fellow killed in half an hour. Another will take you half a day, and perhaps you may lose him after all. The whale we were now after, at last took to showing fight. He made two or three runs at the boat, but the mate, who was in command, pricked him off with the lance cleverly. | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587872 | At last we gave him a severe wound, and immediately he dived. "That was into his life," remarked Tom Lokins, as we sat waiting for him to come up again. The captain's boat was close to ours, about ten yards off. We had not to wait long. The sudden stoppage and slacking off of all the lines showed that the | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587873 | whale was coming up. All at once I saw a dark object rising directly under the captain's boat. Before I could make out what it was, almost before I could think, the boat flew up into the air, as if a powder magazine had exploded beneath it. The whale had come up, and hit it with his head right on | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587874 | the keel, so that it was knocked into pieces, and the men, oars, harpoons, lances, and tackle shot up in confusion into the air. Immediately after that the whale went into his flurry, but we paid no attention to him, in our anxiety to pick up our companions. They all came to the surface quickly enough, but while some m... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587875 | for the boats vigorously, others swam slowly and with pain, showing that they were hurt, while one or two floated, as if dead, upon the water. Most of the men had escaped with only a few cuts and bruises, but one poor fellow was hauled out of the water with a leg broken, and another was so badly knocked about | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587876 | the head that it was a long time before he was again fit for duty. The worst case, however, was that of poor Fred Borders. He had a leg broken, and a severe wound in the side from a harpoon which had been forced into the flesh over the barbs, so that we could hardly get it drawn out. We | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587877 | laid him in the stern of the boat, where he lay for some time insensible; but in a short time he revived, and spoke to us in a faint voice. His first words were--"I'm dying, messmates." "Don't say that, Fred," said I, while my heart sank within me. "Cheer up, my boy, you'll live to be the death of many | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587878 | a whale yet. See, put your lips to this can--it will do you good." He shook his head gently, being too weak to reply. We had killed a big fish that day, and we knew that when he was "tried in" we should have completed our cargo; but there was no cheer given when the monster turned over on his | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587879 | side, and the pull to the ship that evening seemed to us the longest and heaviest we ever had, for our hearts were very sad. Next day Fred was worse, and we all saw that his words would come true,--he was dying. I was permitted to nurse my poor messmate, and I spent much of my time in reading the | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587880 | Bible to him, at his own request. He lived about a week after the accident and then he died. We buried our shipmate in the usual sailor fashion. We wrapped him in his hammock, with a cannon-ball at his feet to sink him. The captain read the burial-service at the gangway, and then, in deep silence, we committed his corp... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587881 | to the deep. CHAPTER NINE. NEWS FROM HOME--A GAM. The death of poor Fred Borders cast a gloom over the ship for many days. Every one had respected, and many of us had loved the lad, so that we mourned for him long and truly. But a sailor's life is such a rough one, requiring so much energy and hearty | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587882 | good-will to his work, that he cannot afford to allow the sorrows of his heart to sit long on his countenance. In a day or two after no one would have supposed we had lost one of our best men. Whales appeared in great numbers around us. The old cry of "There she blows!" ran out frequently from the mast-head, | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587883 | and the answering cry from the captain, "Where away?" was followed by the "Stand by to lower!--lower away." Then came the chase, with all its dangers and excitement--the driving of the harpoon, the sudden rush of the struck fish, the smoke and sparks of fire from the logger-head, the plunging of the lance, the spouting... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587884 | end, and the wild cheer as we beheld our prize floating calmly on the sea. And in the midst of such work we forgot for a time the solemn scene we had so recently witnessed. But our hearts were not so light as before, and although we did not show it, I knew full well that many a joke was | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587885 | checked, and many a laugh repressed, for the memory of our dead shipmate. The man who was most affected by his death was the captain; but we were not prepared for the great change that soon appeared in his manner and conduct. After a time he laughed with the rest of us at a good joke, and cheered as loud | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587886 | as the best when a big fish turned belly up, but his behaviour to us became more gentle and kind, and he entirely gave up the habit of swearing. He also forbade working on Sunday. Many a whale have I seen sporting and spouting near us on that day, but never did we lower a boat or touch a harpoon | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587887 | on Sunday. Some of the men grumbled at this, and complained of it to each other, but they never spoke so as to let the captain hear, and they soon gave up their grumbling, for the most of us were well pleased with the change, and all of us had agreed to it. The first Sunday after Fred's death, the | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587888 | captain assembled the crew on the quarter-deck, and spoke to us about it. "My lads," said he, "I've called you aft to make a proposal that may perhaps surprise some of you. Up to this time, you know very well, there has been little difference aboard this ship between Saturday and Sunday. Since our poor shipmate died I ... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587889 | thinkin' much on this matter, and I've come to the conclusion that we shall rest from all work on Sunday, except such as must be done to work the ship. Now, lads, you know me well enough by this time. I have never been a religious man all my life, and I don't pretend to say that I'm one now. | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587890 | I'm not very learned on this matter, and can't explain myself very well; but what think you, lads, shall we give the whales a rest on Sundays?" We all agreed to this at once, for the effect of the captain's speech was great upon us. It was not so much what he said, as the way in which he said | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587891 | it. He was by nature a bold, determined man, who never flinched from danger or duty, and when we heard him talking in that way we could scarcely believe our ears. This was all that was said about the matter between us and the captain, but we had many a hot discussion in the forecastle amongst ourselves after that. Some | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587892 | were in favour of the new move, and said, stoutly, that the captain was a sensible fellow. Others said he was becoming an old wife, and that no luck would follow the ship. In the course of time, however, we found the benefit of the change in every way; and the grumblers were silenced, because in spite of their wise | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587893 | shakings of the head, we filled the ship with oil as full as she could hold, much sooner than we had expected. Shoregoing people have but little notion of the ease with which the heart of a jack-tar is made to rejoice when he is out on a long voyage. His pleasures and amusements are so few that he is | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587894 | thankful to make the most of whatever is thrown in his way. In the whale-fisheries, no doubt, he has more than enough of excitement, but after a time he gets used to this, and begins to long for a little variety--and of all the pleasures that fall to his lot, that which delights him most is to have a gam | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587895 | with another ship. Now, a gam is the meeting of two or more whale-ships, their keeping company for a time, and the exchanging of visits by the crews. It is neither more nor less than a jollification on the sea,--the inviting of your friends to feast and make merry in your floating house. There is this difference, howev... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587896 | gam at sea and a party on land, that your _friends_ on the ocean are men whom you perhaps never saw before, and whom you will likely never meet again. There is also another difference--there are no ladies at a gam. This is a great want, for man is but a rugged creature when away from the refining influence of | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587897 | woman; but, in the circumstances, of course, it can't be helped. We had a gam one day, on this voyage, with a Yankee whale-ship, and a first-rate gam it was, for, as the Yankee had gammed three days before with another English ship, we got a lot of news second-hand; and, as we had not seen a new face for | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587898 | many months, we felt towards those Yankees like brothers, and swallowed all they had to tell us like men starving for news. It was on a fine calm morning, just after breakfast, that we fell in with this ship. We had seen no whales for a day or two, but we did not mind that, for our hold was almost | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587899 | full of oil-barrels. Tom Lokins and I were leaning over the starboard bulwarks, watching the small fish that every now and then darted through the clear-blue water like arrows, and smoking our pipes in silence. Tom looked uncommonly grave, and I knew that he was having some deep and knowing thoughts of his own, which w... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
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