HAZARDS AND COMPENSATIONS 185 



After a long period of maneuvering one of the boats was par- 

 tially destroyed, and a second one, which was fast to the cow, 

 was forced to cut its line in order to go to the rescue of the 

 men in the water. Meantime everyone had lost sight of the 

 third boat. Surmising that some calamity had befallen it also, 

 the ship followed its supposed course and just before nightfall 

 picked up a Sandwich Islander who was swimming with the 

 aid of a piece of plank. From him it was learned that his 

 boat had been completely demolished while attacking the 

 second whale, and the mate killed at once. The five remain- 

 ing men clung to the wreckage until they were knocked off by 

 another onslaught of the wounded animal. At this time a 

 second man was drowned; and the quartet of survivors, each 

 clinging to a fragment of the boat, began to swim to leeward in 

 an attempt to get beyond reach of the threshing flukes. The 

 height of the waves, however, made swimming exceedingly dif- 

 ficult, and one after another they dropped out of sight until 

 only the Kanaka was left. This man, with typical Hawaiian 

 skill, was able to keep himself afloat until rescued. 



A certain Captain A. C. Baker suffered a remarkable series 

 of misfortunes in having boats destroyed under him. On 

 October 13, 1864, while third mate of the bark AwashonkSj 

 then off the coast of Patagonia, he lowered in pursuit of two 

 whales, and after an exciting chase harpooned one of them. 

 Upon attempting to pull in to lance the victim, however, the 

 boat was caught by the sweeping flukes and demolished. The 

 mate and one oarsman were entangled in the wreckage on the 

 forward fragment, and after a few moments of unconscious- 

 ness awoke to find themselves still fast to the whale and being 

 jerked about in the most hazardous manner. At length they 

 succeeded in cutting the line, whereupon they were picked up 

 and taken to the bark. There it was found that Mr. Baker, in 

 addition to many other wounds, had sustained a broken leg. 

 About nine months later, still on crutches and just emerging 

 from a long period of convalescence, he lowered in pursuit of 

 a school of sperm whales and again had his boat knocked to 

 pieces. And during the following voyage, which he made as 

 second mate of the bark Staff ordy a line was caught while the 

 whale to which it was fast was sounding, and the entire boat 



