HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHALE FISHERY. 129 



came on board and reported sunk wliale ;* and I was put to bed, a mass 

 of bruised flesh. It was several weeks before I was able to take my place 

 in the head of my boat again." t 



In the early days of Pacific wiialiug, not only did our sailors have to 

 seek and encounter their gigantic antagonist amid the dangers of hid- 

 den reefs and an unexplored and utiknown ocean, but frequently, wheu 

 l^utting into some of the numerous islands for supplies, they were com- 

 pelled to fight the wily and treacherous savages inhabiting some of 

 those groups. Manj^ a vessel had been " cut out," and not a man sur- 

 vived to tell the story of the massacre. How far their brother whale- 

 men had been instrumental in thus bringing upon their heads this ven- 

 geance for real or fancied wrongs it is difficult to determine. Beyond a- 

 question the natives in some localities, disposed to be peaceable at first, 

 bad been enraged by the thoughtless, contemptible, or villainous con- 

 duct of some of their white visitors, and upon the heads of the next un- 

 guarded comers descended the blow now aimed rather at a race than at 

 any particular set of men. Instances are not wanting of cruel, das- 

 tardly, treacherous conduct on the part of sailors towards the inhabit- 

 ants of these sunny islands, and, smarting under their wrongs, their 

 spirit of revenge made no discriminating divisions between the innocent 

 and the guilty ; the only thing cared for was the fact that they were 

 whites. 



An instance of this dangerous element in the whaleman's life occurred 

 to the crew of the ship Awashonks, of Falmouth, Prince Coffin master. 



* Captain Davis says, (p. 2:38,) "A. peculiar feature iu right- whaling is the consider- 

 able number which sink on being killed. This rarely occurs with the sperm whale. 

 With the hump-back it is the rule, and therefore this fishing is carried on in shallow 

 sounds and bays. On putting the question, ' Why do right whales sink V scarcely two 

 men will give the same reason in reply. Captain West, when master of the Adeline 

 Gibbs, in conversation with two Arctic whalemen, at Maui, gave the following answer : 

 'To lance a right whale over the shoulder-blade, directing the lance downward, will 

 kill it in the shortest time ; but he will be almost certain to sink. Such a wound will 

 be followed by a rushing escape of air, manifesting itself in large and continuous bub- 

 bles rising through the water. When this occurs the whale is certain to sink.' There- 

 fore, he holds to the theory that whales are furnished with a sound, or air bladder, like 

 fish, and that through no other cause than injury to this bladder could the whale set- 

 tle instantly as it does. The two captains above mentioned stated that on their last 

 cruises one had taken nine whales, without one sinking. The other had sunk eight 

 whales, and prided himself on the fatal thrust of his lance over the shoulder." Capt. 

 S. P. Winegar, of the Julian, expressed himself in 1860 (see N. B. Shipping List) of a deci- 

 dedly different opinion. He believed it was owing to the whales themselves and not 

 to the manner of killing them. He further states that whales sink more often on some 

 ground than on others, and some kinds on the same ground more than others. The 

 right whale is more liable to sink than the bow-head, and bow-heads sink ofteuer iu 

 the Ochotsk than in the Arctic. He had whaled six seasons in the Arctic and never 

 knew of whales sinking there. 



t Different captains have different opinions about the captain's place. Some of the 

 most successful say they can do better by remaining on board the ship and directing 

 the movements of the boats ; others equally fortunate prefer to be "where the battle 

 rages " strongest. 

 9 



