366 The Story of the New England Whalers 



and then go in and help as he could. The orders 

 were obeyed, of course. In due time the whale 

 was struck by the third and fourth mates, and 

 then when Randall pulled in and fastened to it 

 the whale at once turned to fight. In the melee 

 the whale turned a somersault between the boats 

 and came up with Randall's line tangled in its 

 teeth. The other boats now cut loose, and the 

 whale fled with Randall in tow. 



Just as night came the men managed to get the 

 boat within reach, and Randall killed the whale; 

 but when he was boring a hole through the whale's 

 fluke for the tow line, he had the misfortune to 

 "split his hand quite open to the bone on the 

 spade edge." And then, " as if his troubles must 

 needs come upon him all at once," says Bullen, 

 in an account written for the New Bedford Mer- 

 cury, "he had hardly completed his rude surgery 

 on the wounded hand when a huge Kanaka, his 

 harpooner, suddenly seemed to become crazy with 

 fear of the darkness and his inability to see the 

 ship. He howled with fright and demanded 

 water and food. . . . Randall tried to soothe 

 the frantic man, but finding that he could not do 



