204 WHALING 



"Compliments George 0. Baker Master whaleman, for 25 years 

 experience." the inscription runs, and then: 



"Born 1837 



Starting 1850 



Retiring 1890 



Master 1865 Ship Edward Carey'' 



The death of Captain Baker a few years ago recalled the 

 story of how he, too, nearly became a king. Once, when he 

 was at the Ascension Islands, as Captain Baker used humor- 

 ously to tell the tale, the people of the island rose against their 

 king and raided the captain's stores, all at a single enterprising 

 blow. So Captain Baker tied a sword about his waist with a 

 rope yarn and fought on the king's side with the title of '' Mighty 

 General." It was a glorious battle: the king's army killed two 

 men, wounded three, and sank a canoe. The royal forces 

 numbered only nine, while there were twenty-eight in the army 

 of the rebels, yet so valiantly did Captain Baker and his followers 

 fight, that the nine overpowered the twenty-eight and the king 

 in his enthusiasm and gratitude sought to adopt his ''Mighty 

 General" and make him heir to the throne. So, at least, as I 

 have said, the story runs. But the redoubtable whaling cap- 

 tain, who experienced serious warfare when the Shenandoah in 

 grim earnest seized and burned his ship, the Edward Carey, and 

 who at that time refused the commission that Captain Waddell 

 offered him in the Confederate Navy, declined also the proffered 

 kingdom, and left the island at the first chance opportunity. 



Who cares if old men spin slender threads of fact into sailors' 

 stout yarns? They are good stories for all that. They bring 

 back the old days more vividly than anything else can ever do. 

 I remember one tale, which I myself heard in New Bedford from 

 a man who had been to sea in a whaler more than sixty years ago. 

 " I was a boy then," he said, ''and I didn't know no better. A 

 fellow said to me, when I told him I was going whaling: 'You 

 go steal a horse first.' And when I asked why, he said, 'Be- 

 cause they'll put you in jail and you'll be better off than on board 

 a whaler.' And by the holy, he was right! 



