172 DANGERS OF 



excessive force, which tlirew it into the air in frag- 

 ments, with the men and every thing it contained. 

 The men, though much bruised, managed to support 

 themselves with oars, &c. for about three quarters 

 of an hour, when they were relieved by the arrival 

 of another of the boats. All this time the whale con- 

 tinued near them, and several sharks, attracted by 

 the blood. The whale was finally secured. 



Numberless stories are told gI fighting ivhales^ one 

 or two of which we shall mention. In the year 1804, 

 the ship Adonis, being in company with several 

 others, struck a large whale off the coast of New 

 Zealand, which " stove" and destroyed nine boats 

 before breakfast, and the chase was consequently 

 given up. After destrojing the boats belonging to 

 many ships, this whale was at last captured, and 

 many harpoons of various vessels were found in its 

 . body. This whale was extensively kno^vn under 

 the designation of " New Zealand Tom," and many 

 ti-aditions about it are cai-efully preserved. 



But it is not boats only, for ships even ai'e some- 

 times destroyed by these powerful creatures. It is 

 a well authenticated fact, that the American ship, 

 the Essex, was destroyed in the South Pacific 

 Ocean by an enormous Sperm T^Hiale. When the 

 gi-eater part of the crew were absent in the boats 

 killing whales, the few people remaining on board 

 saw an enormous whale come up close to the ship, 

 and when very near, it appeared to sinlc do^vn for 

 the purpose of avoiding the vessel ; and in doing so, 

 struck its body against some part of the keel, which 



