NINE MONTHS IN THE ARCTIC. 35 



the injury of the ship, and perhaps the ruin of 

 the voyage — every thing now seemed to depend 

 upon the direction of the ship and a favoring 

 wind. Every eye was turned towards the ship; 

 oars were resting over the gunwale of the boats, 

 and each seaman instinctively fixed in his place, 

 while anticipating a new encounter upon a 

 larger scale, the results of which were fearfully 

 problematical. A good and merciful Providence, 

 however, whose traces are easily discernible in 

 the affairs of men both upon the ocean and upon 

 the land, opportunely interfered. The ship was 

 making considerable headway. The whale 

 started on a bee line for the ship, but when he 

 came up with her, in consequence of her in- 

 creased speed before the wind, he fell short some 

 ten or twelve feet from the stern. The crisis 

 was passed. On he sped his way, dragging half 

 of the boat still attached to the lines connected 

 with the irons that were in his body. His death 

 struggle was long and violent. In about half 

 an hour he went into his " flurry, and turned 

 up." Colors were set for the boats to return to 

 the ship ; the dead whale was brought alongside, 

 cut in, boiled out, and seventy-five barrels of 

 sperm oil were stowed away. 



We copy the following whale incident from 

 the Vineyard Gazette of October 14, 1853. The 

 editor says, — 



