HAZARDS AND COMPENSATIONS 203 



man, for instance, said, "The excitement on a whaling voyage 

 had for me its pleasures. Yes, I think I may say its thrill- 

 ing interest, and I longed once more to be on the deep blue 

 sea in pursuit of the monsters." ® 



The intense excitement and thrilling interest of the actual 

 pursuit, with its shifting hopes and fears and imminent dan- 

 gers, could not be better portrayed than in an early account 

 which was originally written for the Nantucket Inquirer. This 

 recital, couched in the contemporary slang and technical vo- 

 cabulary of the industry, presented with a fine flavor the 

 kaleidoscopic changes of action and emotion which character- 

 ized the chase from the moment when a spout was discovered 

 by the lookout until the whale, after death, turned "fin up." 

 The description is reproduced in its entirety.''^ 



The man at the mast-head upon the look-out, having discovered 

 whales, vociferates with all his might, "There She Blows!" The 

 captain immediately exclaims — "Where away?" and "How far off?" 

 When being answered as to their being to windward, to leeward, right 

 ahead, or astern, he goes aloft himself to determine that they are 

 sperm whales, and which way bound. We will suppose that they are 

 three points oif the larboard bow, distant about 4 miles, and heading 

 along the same course as the ship. Now the captain cries, "Keep her 

 off two points," which being done, "Steady-steady as she goes," is 

 his next order. "The weather braces a small pull." "Loose top- 

 gallant sails, bear-a-hand." Scarcely a man is to be found on deck 

 after these orders are executed, except the helmsman; all are eagerly 

 jumping aloft to catch sight of the whales previous to their going 

 down; and hope and fear are alternately expressed in the faces of 

 each, as the fish are seen to glide through the water rapidly, and in 

 a straight course, or occasionally to play upon the surface — to lobtail 

 ft, is the technical term. The ship nearing the whales, the next order 

 is, "See the lines in the boats!" "Swing the cranes!" The after- 

 oarsman now fills his boat-keg with water, puts some bread under the 

 stern sheets, and sees that a bucket is in the boat. We will imagine 

 that the whales are now sounding, and that the captain, having run 



s "Scraps From the Log Book of George Lightcraft, Who Was More Than 

 Twenty Years a Sailor," etc., p. 38. 



^ This picturesque account was published by Chase, Washington, in a small 

 volume with the cumbersome title, "A Voyage From the United States to South 

 America, Performed During the Years 1821, 1822, and 1823. Embracing a 

 Description of the City of Rio Janeiro — and of an Eighteen Months Cruise in 

 a Nantucket Whaleship." The work was published at Newburyport, . Massa- 

 chusetts, in 1823; but the author states that this description, found on pp. 

 79-80, was originally composed for the Nantucket Inquirer. 



