20 OLD WHALING DAYS. 



A gentle breeze rose, and we went off to the northward 

 towards Black Hook, on the north side of N.E. Bay, 

 commonly called Jacob's Bight. We cruised about for a 

 day or two, but did not meet with anything. At length a 

 whale was sighted close to, and all hands called to action. 

 She was struck or shot with the gun harpoon on making her 

 second appearance. The harpooner of boat No. 2 delivered 

 his harpoon, and in an instant the huge animal struck the 

 boat, capsizing it and throwing the crew into the water. She 

 lashed her tail and fins amongst the poor fellows, dealing 

 fearful blows here and there. The men overboard clung to 

 oars, or anything they could get hold of, and another boat 

 gallantly picked them up. One poor fellow was quite dead, 

 although he had hold of an oar and was floating. It was 

 believed he had been struck by the animal and killed 

 instantaneously. All of them were conveyed on board, and 

 three more harpoons were put into the whale, and she was 

 speedily killed by lances. 



The death of our poor shipmate was felt by all who knew 

 him. He had fallen a victim to a casualty which threatened 

 us all, and in accepting the service we were bound to take 

 the risk. After the whale was flensed we cruised about for 

 two days, at times having all hands away, and sometimes 

 two boats on the watch. The season was on the wane, and 

 a fair wind springing up we ran to the northward. At the 

 Vrow Islands, close to Upernavik, we came to a heavy 

 block of ice. The out-lying islands and rocks kept the 

 ice fast, and made a passage through impossible without 

 the aid of an easterly wind or calm. We sought a passage 

 inside, but -all was blocked, and we therefore made fast 

 to an iceberg close to an island. In the meantime our 

 carpenter had made a coffin for the unfortunate man who 

 was killed. We had been waiting the first opportunity of 

 burying him on the land. All hands were called, and 

 the crews from the other ships invited to be present at the 



