276 HISTOEY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



It is not often the case that a whale-boat, when down for whales, is unable to make the ship; 

 yet there are far too many accidents of this nature on record. Separated from the ship, suffering 

 from exposure, and emaciated by the ravages of hunger and thirst, the unfortunate crew are 

 doomed to wander upon the face of the trackless ocean until rescued by a passing ship or relieved 

 by death. While we write, the news of the loss of Captain Sparks, with a boat's crew, of the 

 schooner Edward Lee, of Proviucetowu, Mass., comes to us ; and while pondering over the myste- 

 rious ways of Providence, the safe arrival of the party is announced at Pensacola, Fla., almost 

 simultaneously with the arrival of the schooner at Provincetown. Having been tossed upon the 

 ocean for eleven days, they were picked up and brought to an American port by a German bark. 

 A letter was immediately addressed to Captain Sparks, with the request that lie would forward a 

 detailed account of his wanderings and sufferings. The captain, after refitting his vessel, has again 

 sailed on a whaling voyage, but before leaving port he kindly made the following statement to 

 Mr. E. W. Swift, of Provincetowu, for publication in this report: 



" We raised a school of sperm whales at 12.30 p. in. May 14, 1881, in latitude 17 50' north and 

 longitude 46 50'. My mate and myself lowered and gave chase. The mate selected a 40-barrel 

 whale and fastened to him ; I continued to chase the school, but could not get within darting 

 distance. Finding that I was getting too far from the vessel, I gave up the chase at 4 o'clock. 

 At 5 o'clock I made the vessel, which was heading directly for me, and an hour afterwards her 

 hull was plainly visible. Night coining on, we steered the boat by compass in the direction 

 the vessel was last seen ; but not seeing her lights, we hove to at 8 o'clock, and lay by until 

 morning. At daylight we found nothing in sight; but we steered in a northerly course until 1 

 o'clock p. m., at which time I changed the course to southwest in hopes of finding the vessel. 

 During the second night I again hove to. In the morning, under sail, we steered in a westerly 

 course until noon, when our course was changed to the northwest until night. During all this 

 time I had not seen a sail. I was then forced to believe that we were lost in mid-ocean, fully 1,000 

 miles from land. We were dressed in our shirts and trousers only not a single coat or jacket 

 and every one of us were barefooted. When we left the vessel the beaker was full of water, but 

 every drop was consumed before we gave up the chase for whales. I decided to head the boat 

 for the West India group, with the hope that if we were not rescued by some passing vessel we 

 might be able to reach some or one of the Windward Islands. On the sixth day of our wanderings 

 May 20, we saw a school of sperm wliales, and although every man in the boat was greatly 

 reduced from exposure and his long fast, I thought it best to make an attempt at least to capture 

 a whale to furnish us food. I placed myself in the head of the boat, holding the iron as well as I 

 could, and selected a whale to strike ; the momentum of the boat forced the harpoon into the 

 whale, which fortunately was not an ugly one, and he was finally killed. While dying, however, 

 he struck the boat so hard as to injure it and it sprung a leak. I cut 15 pounds of flesh from the 

 whale, which we ate raw. This lasted us two days, and we again suffered the pangs of hunger. 

 Rain-showers could be seen passing on each side of the boat, but very little fell on us. During 

 the eleven days of our exposure I judged that about 2 gallons of water were caught in the boat; 

 but being mixed with salt water we could not quench our thirst. Sometimes during the night the 

 mist would wet our shirts and we greedily sucked them ; sometimes we we'-e compelled to drink 

 salt water, but this had a very bad effect upon us. One night a flying-fish jumped into the boat; 

 I divided it into sixteen pieces, all of which was greedily devoured by the half starving men. We 

 continued on our course for the laud without seeing a single sail. On 31 ay 25, the eleventh day 

 of our separation from the Edward Lee all of us were prostrated from the want of food and water; 

 one of the meu was lying helpless in the bottom of the boat we sighted a sail which proved to be 



