272 SALMON FISHING IN CANADA. 



sea. They have never since been heard of. On the 27th 

 of December the three boats, with the remainder of the 

 men, put away together for the island of Juan Fernandez, 

 2000 miles distant. The mate's boat was taken up by the 

 " Indian/' of London, on the 1 9th of February, ninety- 

 three days from the time of the catastrophe, with only 

 three living survivors. 



The captain's boat was fallen in with by the " Dauphin," 

 of Nantucket, on the 23rd of the same month, having only 

 two men living, whose lives had been eked out only 

 through that last resort of hunger, which humanity 

 shudders to think of. Out of a crew of twenty, five only 

 survived to make the ears of their hearers tingle at their 

 strange eventful history. 



Another form of the perils of whale-fishing is illustrated 

 in the following incidents taken from the account of 

 Captain Belair, of the ship " Independence," of Boston : 



Early one morning, while cruising in the Pacific Ocean, 

 a whale appeared. Two of our three boats were sent to 

 capture it. They fastened to the whale, and were soon 

 drawn by this monster of the deep out of sight of the ship. 

 An hour or two passed away, when, suddenly, another 

 whale rose in the water, but a few yards from the vessel. 

 The temptation to attempt its capture was too strong to 

 be resisted. The captain ordered the remaining boat to be 

 lowered, and, leaving but one man and two boys to take 

 care of the ship, sprang into the boat with the rest of the 

 crew. 



