THE AMERICAN WHALEMAN. 365 



age of switchel molasses, water, and vinegar and a quiet ' 

 conscience and good-natured spirits, tided us over the na- 

 tion's holiday. Having taken one small whale, we proceeded 

 to Payta, and anchored for the fourth time in this pandemo- 

 nium, with the object of replacing the men who had left us 

 in Callao. Then cruising a while in Lee Bay, we spoke the 

 Washington, of Nantucket, thirteen months out, with four j 

 hundred barrels of oil. She had two men killed by whales, 

 and her third mate was very severely injured, having been 

 caught across the thighs in a whale's mouth, and nearly 

 drowned by the whale's repeated dipping beneath the sur- 

 face while he held the poor wretch in "that awful grip. The 

 man escaped without broken bones, but the laceration of his 

 flesh was awful, looking much as though two or three fence 

 rails had been shot through the fleshy part of the thighs. 

 He seemed content, as he exhibited his wounds, that they 

 were no worse. We also spoke the Ocean, of Nantucket, 

 eleven months out, with six hundred barrels of oil. Her 

 mate had been killed by a whale just how, we did not 

 learn. 



Aug. 20. We left Lee Bay, and bade a final adieu to the i 

 black volcanic peaks of the Galapagos ; cruised for a short 

 time on the offshore; again ran in sight of Easter Island; 

 ran into 33 S., and soon after made the islands of Massa- 1 

 fuera and Juan Fernandez, for the story of which overhaul 

 your " Robinson Crusoe." When found, make a note that 

 it is now a penal settlement of the Government of Chili. 

 Thence we went to Valparaiso, which would be worthy of 

 more space than the lifle I employ, were I a voyager or trav- 

 eler ; but as we stopped only to recruit our wings for new 

 flights in stranger seas, I have only time to get my fruits 

 and stores aboard, before flying southward to acquaint my- 

 self with the forms, manners, and customs of the baleen, 

 or right whale. Having enjoyed ourselves in Valparaiso 



