154 P-tSHERMEN OF THE UNITED STATES. 



most of the time, the regular northwest trades. It finally blew so strong that we couldn't hold, 

 and we went into Madeira Bay and lay there two or three days at a time in the heavy wind. When 

 the wind subsided we went out and worked off the windward of the islands. We went out, I think, 

 some time in December, and got off to the windward of the Isle of Sal, and one Sunday morning 

 we were surrounded with whales. We were not in the habit of whaling Sunday. Some of the 

 crew were anxious to go out and some opposed it. Suflce to say the captain was opposed to 

 whaling Sunday and didn't go. But some of them swore a good deal that night. The captain 

 said we were going to have a good spell of weather, and there were so many whales we could get 

 a good many. 



The next morning we had splendid weather, but we never saw a whale all day. Then, Tues- 

 day morning we were surrounded by whales. We were only a few miles to the northward of the 

 Isle of Sal. There was the biggest school I ever saw. We lowered the boat early in the morning 

 and went out and fastened to a whale. We soon killed it and took it alongside and went to cutting 

 it in. The captain then thought if more whales came along we would try to get another that 

 day. The one we took made 28 barrels. He sent me aloft to look out. I was then a boy four- 

 teen years old. It was the fall before I was fifteen. I kept looking, and discovered, away to the 

 northward, whale spouts. I sung out, "Towno!" The captain wanted to know where, and I told 

 him off the weather bow. He came up and saw them. He said, " Let me know when they go 

 down." I told him, and he saw what o'clock it was, and by and by he said, "Keep a sharp look- 

 out." Pretty soon I saw them coming up, about half a mile away, and coming towards the vessel — 

 right at it. We then rowed out, and' we had not been out more than five minutes when up 

 came one, close to us. We let the boat run, keeping close to them. There were about a dozen of 

 them. Just before we got to them one of them dropped his tail down and brought his head up ten 

 feet high and hung there. Our boat-steerer wanted to go ahead. He was a young man, and the 

 captain said he expected to head the boat himself. But the young man said he wanted to go in 

 the head and to strike the whale. He did so, and we shot up alongside of the whale and threw 

 the first harpoon. We have twoj one called the preventer iron. He threw both of his harpoons, 

 and thought the first one went into the whale some, but the second he knew didn't go in. The 

 whale went off about a hundred yards, and out came his harpoon, and away went the whales, and 

 that was the last of them. The next day the wind began to breeze up. We were to the windward 

 of the islands when I discovered a bunch of whales to the east of us. I gave the alarm and we 

 stood towards them. We soon found there was quite a number of them. We got where they were 

 and went out and fastened to one of them, a fifty-barrel whale. She made pretty good play, and 1 

 don't remember whether they drogued her or not. I think they didn't put any drogue irons into 

 her; but we lanced her, and pretty soon she began to spout blood. I was in the mate's boat. We 

 didn't have a full crew. The captain said to the mate, "You better go aboard and unbend the 

 cables from the anchor and have it ready to put around this whale's flukes." We set about to go 

 aboard, and she went down as plump as she could. We bent on our warp after she went down 

 and had taken as much rope as she wanted. When she came up she didn't spout any blood at all. 

 We set out to go up and lance her, and as quick as we tried to do it she turned her head at us. 

 We couldn't get any lance into that. The blubber is composed of what is called white-horse. 

 When we got near her she would turn her head around, throw her jaw out, and come up at the 

 boat. We watched her and tried to get a chance at her. Then they threw a drogue iron right 

 into her breast, when she gave chase to us with her mouth open. We backed away, and didn't 

 know but we should be eaten up. Then she turned right around, and I tell you she made the 

 splinters fly. She went off with the head of the harpoon in her.. We had a small sail, and just 



