THE ORDER CETACEA. 105 



an account of an extraordinary attack made upon a vessel 

 by a whale, it will be seen that in this instance the 

 animal must have been instigated by revenge. It is an 

 extract from a New South Wales paper, and the conse- 

 quences were singularly fatal as well as horrible in their 

 nature. 



To show still further the danger that a vessel may be 

 placed in, even from accidentally encountering a whale, 

 Von Longdorff, in the narrative of his voyage from 

 Kamtschatka to Ochotsk, says, " an uncommonly large 

 whale, the body of which was larger than the ship itself, 

 lay almost at the surface of the water, but was not per- 

 ceived by any one on board, till the moment when the 

 ship was almost upon him, so that it was impossible to 

 prevent its striking against him. We were thus placed 

 in imminent danger, as this gigantic creature, setting up 

 its back, raised the ship at least three feet out of the 

 water. The masts reeled, and the sails fell all together, 

 while we who were below all sprang instantly upon the 

 deck, concluding we had struck upon some rock. In- 



her cabin windows, every man on deck was knocked down, and the bows 

 were completely stove in. In a few minutes the vessel filled, and went 

 on her beam ends. At this unhappy juncture the captain and mate were 

 each fast to a whale ; but, on beholding the awful catastrophe that had 

 taken place, they cut immediately their lines, and made for the ship. The 

 boats were prepared ; a small quantity of bread and water quickly put on 

 board, and the crew got in, part of whom, after having been ninety days 

 at sea, were providentially picked up by another whaler and saved. The 

 horrible sufferings they had experienced were no less dreadful than the 

 extraordinary circumstances which had occasioned the loss of their ship. 

 Their bread being consumed, they were under the dreadful necessity of 

 casting lots, to determine who should die, to afford sustenance to the rest. 

 Eight times had lots been drawn, and eight human beings had thus been 

 sacrificed, when a vessel encountered them. At that time the captain and 

 a boy had also drawn lots, and it had been determined that the latter should 

 die, when he was thus unexpectedly saved." New South Wales Paper. 



