THE AMERICAN WHALEMAN. 



CHAPTER XXX. 



The shaded Side of the Picture: a heartless Captain, and unhappy Crew. 

 We take an Englishman from her: a Waif of the Alliance. Two small 

 Whales taken. Three Whales struck, one taken. "Shall I pick you 

 up?" "No; kill that Whale." A butting Whale killed under the 

 Counter of an English Ship. He is Unlucky. Cruelty to the Islanders. 

 Whales getting wild ; several lost. 



July 5. We spoke the E , Captain W (I withhold 



the. names, as neither should live). She is nineteen months 

 out, with six hundred barrels of oil. As I am drawing a 

 picture of American whaling, the sketch would be incom- 

 plete if such dark shades as are furnished by this ship's his- 

 tory were omitted. We met her entering the harbor, as we 

 were coming out of Payta, about twelve months ago. Since 

 then she has not let go her anchor, and has taken but a scant 

 supply of vegetables or fruit only twice, by sending in a 



boat. Captain W came on board our ship, but sent his 



boat immediately back, without allowing his crew to come 

 on board. This surprised us, and we voted him a crusty 

 curmudgeon, not suspecting him as worse ; but when we af- 

 terward accompanied Captain B to his ship, we learned 



his character by what we saw and heard. I saw there the 

 worn skeleton of a black man, seemingly far gone in con- 

 sumption, a man bearing the most dejected, hopeless expres- 

 sion I ever saw. We learned that when he was taken sick, 

 the captain swore he would have no " sodgers " on board his 

 ship to eat the bread of idleness, and he applied appropriate 

 medicine, by rope's-ending the poor fellow until he fainted 

 under the cruel blows. He was only revived by the mates 

 running a bowline over his legs and ducking him into the 



