i,0 HISTOKY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



organized yesterday, Mr. Armstrong Hall, engineer, and Captain Smith, of the tug Eoyal Arch, 

 leading it. The attacking force originally consisted of two of Messrs. Bangs & Dolby's row-boats, 

 each manned by three oarsmen, an experienced and trustworthy coxswain, and a man in the bow of 

 each armed with a harpoon. Other boats with their .crews joined in the chase, however, when the 

 whale was seen near Fort Sumter at about 9.45 a. in. He had been first met and struck on the 

 bar, however, by the boats above mentioned at about 8 o'clock, a harpoon and line being made fast 

 in his body near the tail. Pursuit was continued, one of the boats towing after the whale by the 

 line, and the other being rowed to within a short distance of him as he would rise to blow, and the 

 harpoons being launched at him whenever a favorable opportunity offered. During the chase he 

 had been working his way to landward, and soon got in the shoal water near Fort Johnston, on 

 James Island. In his struggles he became entangled in the stout line attached to the harpoon, 

 and wound himself in it so that it held firmly. He remained in the shoal water during the morn- 

 ing, the line having been cut to save the boat during a " flurry,'' and in the afternoon, at about 

 1.30 o'clock, an attempt was made to secure him. Four steam-tugs the Morgan, the Eepublic, 

 the Wade Hampton, and the Eoyal Arch were present, besides probably fifty or sixty row-boats, 

 and a few small sailing craft. 



"The news of the capture had spread rapidly, and quite a crowd, including a number of ladies, 

 gathered on the battery and watched the struggle that ensued. The line was taken aboard and 

 made fast to one of the tugs, which attempted to coax the fish toward the city. But the steamer 

 proved to be too unhandy for the delicate manipulation required, and the line was finally snapped, 

 a piece of considerable length being left attached to the whale worn en traine. Then ensued a 

 series of exciting maneuvers. The tugs would approach him in turn as opportunity offered, and 

 those aboard would drive lances and harpoons at him, with more or less effect, or attempt to throw 

 great running nooses over the flukes of his tail as they were thrust above the surface in the 

 creature's struggles. He indulged in a series of the most extraordinary gymnastic performances, 

 turning complete somersaults, and occasionally standing on his head, apparently for several 

 moments, with from 2 to 6 feet of his tail projecting above the water. 



"Meantime, many of the small boats were dodging about him, and missiles were hurled at 

 him whenever a fair chance was offered. Time and again barbed harpoons and the long keen 

 blades of lances were plunged into his sides and back, and time apd again did they fail to hold, 

 being drawn back by the lines by their owners. He was slowly but surely scuffling and turning 

 himself through the mud, which was seen upon his head several times, acrohs the Ashley Eiver 

 toward White Point Garden, the center of an ever-varying circle of all sorts of craft, armed with 

 all sorts of weapons. In his progress he ran under the bow of the schooner Minnehaha, where 

 earnest efforts were made to lasso him, a compliment which he returned by standing on his head 

 and thrashing her with his tail until she shook from stem to Ktcrn. He struck sever;)! blows 

 upon her jib-boom, which was damaged somewhat, the rigging thereabout being badly torn. He 

 would lash the water with the flukes of his tail, making reports like the discharge of a musket, 

 and drenching all in his neighborhood. He came to the surface frequently to blow, which he 

 did with a noise resembling that made by the blowing out of steam from an engine, sending a 

 fountain from each of his nostrils. At one time he got beneath the bow of one of the tugs, lifting 

 it almost clear of the water, and a stroke of his tail wrenched off one of the cabin doors that 

 stood open. It is impossible to describe, and almost impossible to imagine, the tremendous force 

 of one of these strokes. The great volumes of water that rose after each showed the immense 

 strength that was put forth in them. 



