THE AMERICAN WHALE-FISHERY. 273 
anchor is weighed, and her prow is turned once more to frozen seas. The temper- 
ate latitudes are passed, and she emerges into a region of gloom, where fog, mist, 
and storm follow in quick succession, varied at long intervals with clear weather, 
which reveals a nearly ice -fettered ocean on one hand, and a snow -clad mountain 
coast on the other. A treacherous channel may be open between the shore and 
the main body of the ice, but it is thickly beset with floes ; and among these the 
whale -ship threads her way along the Kamschatka shore, if bound to the Arctic, 
through Behring Sea and Strait, unless she is delayed by captures en route. At 
length, about mid -summer, having arrived at the icy barrier of the Arctic Ocean, 
the vessels cruise "off and on," along its margins, in quest of the Bowhead. 
Following the belt of open water, in their persistent search, ships sometimes pass 
far beyond Point Barrow ; but it is not long before the autumnal gales drive them 
from this haunt, when they again return to warmer latitudes, and a port of recruit 
is sought, where all hands are refreshed ; when, if the ship is not full, perhaps a 
cruise is made in the southern hemisphere, upon the coast of New Zealand, or 
Australia, and the Indian Ocean, before being fairly on their homeward passage. 
Many a ship, which would have otherwise returned with a broken voyage, has 
been filled by taking her last season on the New Zealand, or New Holland (as 
Australia was formerly called) ground. And, as has been mentioned in that por- 
tion of this work devoted to the chronological history of the American whale-fish- 
ery, the New London and Sag Harbor whalemen were noted for pursuing their prey 
in stormy latitudes ; and when referring to the former, we have frequently heard 
the remark made, "0, they are under-water fellows!" Some thirty years ago, an 
incident transpired which vividly portrays the perseverance with which the fishery 
was then prosecuted. A New London ship, and another from Sag Harbor, having 
been unfortunate in their efforts to obtain a full fare of oil and bone upon the 
North-western Coast, resorted, as a last effort, to the coast of Australia, where the 
two captains met during a "gam" off Geographe Bay. This place being an open 
roadstead, exposed to the heaviest prevailing gales of that region, was considered 
an unsafe anchorage ; but the two captains, with their officers, concluded if the 
ships could possibly ride them out, that during the intervals of moderate weather 
enough whales could be taken to fill both vessels. They all agreed that they 
had but little choice between going home with empty ships, and dragging ashore 
in a gale of wind. Accordingly, by agreement, both vessels anchored in the best 
positions, and, as a forlorn hope, began the battle — not only with the whales, but 
with the boisterous elements of the Indian Seas. All the ground -tackle of both 
vessels was laid down to the best advantage ; and when a gale came on, heavy 
Marine Mammals.— 35. 
