TIT FOR TAT 307 



all at once he rose, and they saw him making for her. As 

 he came near they "hauled on the wind" and let him pass. 

 They kept off warily, hoping to overtake him again and to get 

 a chance to strike, but when they were within about fifty yards 

 of him, he had *' settled" deep, it was nearly sundown, and they 

 had no choice but to give up the chase for that day. The Ann 

 Alexander was then making about five knots an hour; the captain 

 was at her rail. Suddenly he saw the whale rushing straight 

 at the ship and at three times her speed. There was no time 

 to give orders; immediately the whale struck and the vessel 

 quivered as if she had run on a rock. The whale had hit her 

 abreast of the foremast, about two feet above the keel, and had 

 knocked a greal hole through her bottom. She shook from stem 

 to stern. The water rushed in, anchors and cables were thrown 

 over, but it was impossible to keep her afloat. Captain Debolis 

 finally ordered all hands into the two remaining boats; he him- 

 self, when all the crew had got off, had to jump from the sinking 

 ship into the sea and swim to the nearer boat. The Ann 

 Alexander lay on beam ends, her topgallant yards under water. 

 All that night they waited near her, bailing their boat, and the 

 next day the captain boarded her — not a man of his crew would 

 take that risk— and cut away her masts. She righted accord- 

 ingly and they were able to get out some few supplies. Then 

 they set out for land. Probably there was not one among them 

 that didn't know by heart all the grim story of the Essex, but 

 they had no choice left them. They could only muster their 

 fortitude and keep a sharp lookout. But they were spared the 

 sufferings of the Essex men, for on August 22d the ship Nan- 

 tucket, of Nantucket, cruising near, picked them up and took 

 them to Paita. 



Five months later the Rebecca Sims of New Bedford struck 

 and saved a large whale and found two of the Ann Alexan- 

 der's irons in him, and in his head several pieces of the ship's 

 timbers. 



These two cases are beyond dispute, but it has been very 

 easy to class with them other cases that are not so clear. In 

 the 'forties or 'fifties of the last century the British merchant- 



