THE AMERICAN WHALE-FISHERY. 2G3 



numbers. On the next clay the boats were sent in pursuit, and two large cows 

 were captured without difficult}^, which gave all hands confidence in our ultimate 

 success. Early the next morning, the boats were again in eager pursuit; but 

 before the animal was struck, it gave a dash with its flukes, staving the boat into 

 fragments, and sending the crew in all directions. One man had his leg broken, 

 another had an arm fractured, and three others were more or less injured — the 

 officer of the boat being the only one who escaped unharmed. The relief boat, 

 while rescuing the wounded men, was also staved by a passing whale, leaving only 

 one boat afloat. The tender being near at hand, however, a boat from that vessel 

 rendered assistance, and all returned to the brig. When the first boat arrived 

 with her freight of crippled passengers, it could only be compared to a floating 

 ambulance crowded with men — the uninjured supporting the helpless. As soon as 

 they reached the vessel, those who were maimed were placed on mattresses upon 

 the quarter-deck, while others hobbled to their quarters in the forecastle. The 

 next boat brought with it the remains of the two others, wliich were complete 

 wrecks. Every attention was given to the wounded men, their tiroken limbs were 

 set, cuts and bruises were carefully dressed, and all the injured were made as 

 comfortable as our situation would permit ; Ijut the vessel, for se\-eral days, was 

 a contracted and crowded hospital. During this time no whaling was attenqotcd, 

 as nearly half of the crew were luiflt for duty, and a large portion of the rest 

 were demoralized by fright. After several days of rest, however, two boat's crews 

 were selected, and the pursuit was renewed. The men, on leaving the vessel, took 

 to the oars apparentlj^ with as much spirit as ever ; but on nearing a whale to be 

 harpooned, they all jumped overboard, leaving no one in the boat, except the 

 boat- header and the boat-steerer. On one occasion, a bulky deserter from the 

 U". S. Army, who had boasted of his daring exploits in the Florida War, made a 

 headlong plunge, as he supposed, into the water ; but he landed on the flukes of 

 the whale, fortunately receiving no injury, as the animal settled gently under 

 water, thereby ridding itself of the human parasite. 



It was useless to attempt whaling with men who were so completely panic- 

 stricken ; and the ofTicers and boat-steerers combined could not muster the com- 

 plement to man two boats. Our situation was both singular and trying. The 

 vessel lay in perfect security in smooth water ; and the objects of pursuit, which 

 had been so anxiously sought, were now in countless numbers about us. It was 

 readily to be seen that it was impossible to capture the whales in the usual manner 

 with our present company, and no others could be obtained before the season 

 would be over. Among the oflacers there were two who had been considered good 



