58 WHALE FISHERY OF NEW ENGLAND 



on board. Five months after this incident the "Rebecca Sims," of 

 New Bedford, killed a whale, and to the great surprise of the crew, the 

 irons of the "Ann Alexander" were discovered in its body, and there 

 were also several pieces of the ship's timber imbedded in its head. 



The latest of the three accidents happened to the bark "Kathleen" 

 in the Atlantic Ocean in 1902, and the picture shows her about to 

 sink after having been rammed by a whale. The three flags at the 

 mastheads are signals to the three boats to return at once, but as 

 each one was fast to a whale, they were loath to obey the signals. 

 The whale showing its "flukes" at the right of the picture is the one that 

 stove the hole in the vessel. The "Kathleen" also had a whale along- 

 side, making four just captured. The accident meant a loss, not count- 

 ing the vessel and oil on board, of ten to twelve thousand dollars. 

 Captain Jenkins, who was in command, lowered with Mrs. Jenkins, 

 a parrot, and nineteen of the crew, and with difficulty rowed to the other 

 boats, which took in their share of the men from the captain's over- 

 crowded one. Captain Jenkins declares that the parrot, when removed 

 from its home on the "Kathleen," swore that "he would be damned 

 if he'd ever go to sea again!" Three boat loads were discovered by 

 a Glasgow ship, but the fourth had to sail over one thousand miles to 

 the Barbadoes. Captain Jenkins is to-day living in South Dartmouth. 

 He has written a small volume on the loss of his ship and is such a 

 well-known whaleman that he was one of those who occupied the 

 platform at the time of the unveiling of "The Whaleman" statue. 



THE " CATALPA " EXPEDITION 



While not primarily a whaling voyage, the "Catalpa" Expedition 

 should be outlined in any account of whaling adventures. 



A number of Irish subjects who had joined the Fenian conspiracy 

 of 1866 had been banished to Australia for life and were serving in the 

 English penal colony at Freeman tie. John Boyle O'Reilly had escaped 

 with the aid of a whaleship and immediately began to form a plot to 

 release his fellow prisoners. O'Reilly suggested a whaleship for the 

 rescue, chiefly because it would create little suspicion, as whaleships were 

 frequently seen off the coast of Australia. Captain H. C. Hathaway, 

 who was the head of the night police force at New Bedford, was then 

 consulted, and he recommended their approaching a certain George S. 

 Anthony, a most successful whaler. Accordingly a meeting was held 

 in a dark room, and Captain Anthony finally accepted the leadership 

 of the expedition, probably not realizing fully the danger involved. 

 The "Catalpa" was selected, and she sailed from New Bedford on April 

 29, 1875, not even an officer sharing the secret with the brave com- 

 mander. The ship actually captured whales and finally arrived off 

 Bunbury on the coast of Australia. In the mean time a man called 

 John J. Breslin, who used to be a freight agent in Boston, had gone to 

 Australia with a fellow conspirator to arrange the land end of the 

 scheme. On the day appointed Captain Anthony rowed ashore with 



