TIT FOR TAT 309 



out of sight. The whales had got pretty well away by now, so 

 the mate gave up the chase, came alongside, and was about to 

 hoist his boat when the captain called down to him that there 

 was a whale, "a big fellow,'' trying to get alongside. ''Go and 

 help him along. ' ' This the mate did , " took him head and head , ' ' 

 but for some reason he could not get fast. Perhaps he was too 

 near to swing his iron. Apparently he only frightened the beast, 

 which increased its speed and came on directly at the ship. 



Plainly he tried to go under and equally plainly he hadn't room 

 enough. He struck her, forward of the mizzen rigging and 

 about five or six feet under water, shook her badly, and in com- 

 ing up raised her stern some two or three feet, so that she fell in 

 the water again with a great splash. Then the whale appeared 

 on the other side and for some minutes he lay rolling there, ap- 

 parently stunned, while the mate tried again to get him. The 

 captain asked the cooper if he thought the Kathleen was hurt, 

 but the cooper thought not. So, wanting to get all his crew 

 again before night. Captain Jenkins called the mate on board 

 and sent him aloft to try to raise the boats. Two of them were 

 just in sight. 



Meanwhile, one of the mate's boat crew had gone to the fore- 

 castle for dry clothes and now came running out with news of 

 a bad leak. Immediately flags were set at all the mastheads, 

 "a signal for all boats to come on board under any and all cir- 

 cumstances." What few men were already on board were set 

 to work getting out water and bread, the captain told his wife of 

 their plight, and quickly, without confusion, they all took to 

 the one boat — twenty-one souls and a parrot, water, bread, and 

 old clothes. That whaleboat, the captain tells us, was ''pretty 

 deep in the water." Five minutes after they got clear, the 

 "lucky ship" Kathleen "rolled over to windward" and capsized. 



They soon reached one of the boats and divided men and 

 rations; they set sail for the others and raised them about nine 

 o'clock. Again they divided; so that three boats had ten men 

 each and one boat had nine. It was a beautiful moonlight night 

 and the sea was smooth ; so they had every hope of keeping to- 

 gether, and to assure this the captain kept a light burning all 



