PERILS OF THE WHALE-FISHING. 



563 



Parry made a second voyage in 1821, with instructions to 

 seek a passage by Hudson's Strait instead of by Lancaster Sound. 

 It was totally unsuccessful. He made a third attempt, in 1824, 

 with the Fury and the Hecla. The Fury was lost in Lancaster 

 Sound, and Parry returned baffled and for a time disheartened* 



In 1822, a French captain, named Duperrey, made a voyage, 

 under the orders of the Government, which is in many respects 

 the most remarkable on record. He sailed seventy-five thou- 

 sand miles in thirty-one months, without losing a man or 

 having a single name upon the sick-list; nor did the ship once 

 need repairs. The discoveries made were not important, but 

 the surveys effected and the observations upon terrestrial mag- 

 netism recorded were interesting and valuable. 



At about this period, the perils incident to the whale- 

 fishery were strangely augmented by a circumstance which we 

 cannot forbear mentioning. The whale, whose intellectual 

 faculties had been sharpened by the warfare waged against 

 him for two hundred years, was suddenly found to be animated 

 by a new and vehement passion, — that of revenge. " Mocha 

 Dick," who earned a terrible reputation for ferocity, only suc- 

 cumbed after many years of successful resistance. His body 

 proved to be covered with scars, his flesh bristled with harpoons, 

 and his head was declared to be wonderfully expressive of " old 

 age, cunning, and rapacity." Not long after this, a sperm- 

 whale was wounded by a boat's crew from the Essex. A 

 brother leviathan, eighty-five feet long, approached the ship 

 within twenty rods, eyed it steadfastly for a moment, and then 

 withdrew, as if satisfied with his observations. He soon returned 

 at full speed: he struck the ship with his head, throwing the 

 men flat upon their faces. Gnashing his jaws together as if 

 wild with rage, he made another onset, and, with every appear- 

 ance of an avenger of his race, stove in the vessel's bows. This 

 was the first example on record of the whale's displaying posi- 

 tive design in seeking an encounter. He certainly acted from 



