































































Diary of a Whaling Cruise 
By VICTOR SLOCUM, Harpooneer 
AY 7, the morning that we sailed from 
New Bedford, was a perfect one. The 
sun shone out in all his splendor, and 
the water seemed to worship him and offer up 
its reflective tributes. Never have I wished to 
paint than I did when I saw 
the whiteness of little Palmer’s Island lighthouse 
drawn in most brilliant streaks across the glossy 
flatness of the A red lightship that 
lay near us made a picture that reminded one 
little craft had the 
elements of a brilliant watercolor worthy of a 
Winslow Homer. The pictures that the silvery 
piles darker waters from 
they rose made reflections that Twachtman would 
have loved to paint. 
be able to more 
great sea. 
of Venice, while our own 
made in the which 
I wonder if men who possess such capabilities 
as his can enjoy nature’s beauties more than her 
humbler onlookers? Surely, this day made me 
glad that God had let me live to see it. 
The afternoon found us working our way 
against the wind, past Cuttyhunk, which, in its 
serenity, did not appear to be the graveyard 
that it is known to be. I almost tasted its teeth 
one summer in the Adventure. 
Our crew is a mixed lot with a sprinkling of 
Boston toughs, but their first experience afloat, 
with the qualms of mal de mer, is fast taking 
the toughness out of them. : 
How miserable is the misery of those of low 
Seeing them suffer 
makes me pity them, but what is the use? 
are simply what they are. 
low, 
character and little breeding, 
They 
One fair-haired fel- 
barely seventeen, and sicker than any of 
that he wished he had not 
come, and that his mother did not know where 
The big 
would “know where he was all right when he 
got back.” 
the rest, declared 
he was. mate laughed and said she 
The lad is going to be in my boat, 
by the way, and the chances are that he will 
be quite a man by the time that he does go 
back. Among the crew is a young Nova Scotian, 
who is quite ambitious, and I rather like him. 
He, too, is only a boy, but is rather manly withal. 
He is one of my 
“my boat” because I am in it. 
another boat’s crew. I say 
She will be com- 
manded by the mate; and is known as the “Jar- 
board boat.” I enjoyed the second dog watch— 
which happened to be my watch on deck—very 
much. 
“With sloping masts and dripping prow” our 
little vessel did bravely buffet the short cross 
sea, and the sunset had everything its own way. 
As the orb touched the horizon it set behind a 
ship and silhouetted her shape against its own 
mild, yet glowing, form. It was an odd hap- 
pening, but I imagine that I was the only one 
that noticed it. Most sailors—professional ones I 
mean—are strangely blind to the little changes 
that nature makes around them, and nowadays 
I never call their attention to them. It is the 
same old story that you and I know so well, for 
it is one of the exponents of that great law of 
that the has pro- 
variation inscrutable decree 
vided. 
May 8.—I like the night watches, and it hap- 
pened to be mine from 12 to 4 this morning, and 
I saw my first daybreak for years. The sky 
started to purple behind us, while the bright 
moon was over our bow. We are in the track 
of the European steamers that ply to New York, 
and when two or three passed us this morning 
it made me feel quite near to the big city. 
May 9.—We are enjoying a frolic of the ele- 
ments in the shape of a gale of wind, but it is 
not very severe, and we have some rain with it. 
I do not mind the rain when I am all rigged 
out in oilskins, and feel as indifferent to it as 
are the sea gulls, which do not seem to mind 
it much as they sail about us. I saw an old one 
alight and fold his wings very much at home. 
I admire these birds “of the (snow and) mist,” 
and their example should make us as reliant as 
they and as intimate with the sea. The petrels 
too, those little birds that haunt the storm of 
every clime, fly around in our wake, pretty little 
creatures with their brown plumage, and that 
strip of white across the back. times 
one came so near the rail that I could almost 
touch it, and then circled down to the hollow 
of a sea and struck the surface with its little 
webbed feet, as if to help keep the wind under 
They are so and withal so 
From east to west, and between 
that wash the glaciers north and 
south, there you find the petrel, as sure as a 
storm reigns. They make the world seem less 
large when you think of the comparative dis- 
tances that they must travel, and it shows that 
sometimes the smallest creatures are the greatest 
We sometimes wonder at the giant 
Several 
the wings. tiny 
omnipresent. 
the oceans 
wanderers. 

albatross with its great expanse of wings sweet 
ing over the waves, yet their range of distribt 
tion is barely a third of this little fellow’s. 
May _ 10.— Willie-whose-mother-don’t-know! 
where-he-is, as we have named our runaway, } 
still under the weather. His name is not Willi 
but it will do. There are others who are rathe 
dainty about their food, for a swell is runnin 
and we are rolling heavily. I think that th 
poet must have been at sea who said “Some ha} 
meat but canna eat,” for it hits most of us hare} 
The cook is the only one aboard that has 
“snap,” but he will be busy when we get our se 
stomachs into gear. 
May 11.—We have at last reached the regio 
of our quarry, and this afternoon we raised 
school of finbacks, regular racehorses. Afte 
supper we lowered our boat for practice an] 
went through the evolutions used in the hun}, 
and it was quite exciting. A spirit of rivalry al, 
once sprung up between the two crews, and wi, 
had the satisfaction of doing the second mate’}; 
boat up in point of speed and handiness, but i} 
may be another thing when the real test is all 
hand. At any rate we are ready to tackle “ol: 
square head” just as soon as he shows up. ] 
May 12, Sunday—We found a chance, al. 
last, to test our powers in the shape of a schock 
of blackfish, a whole drove of them, and al 
they came for us the sea looked like a ree} 
while their blowing and snorting was to be hear: 
for two miles. . 
Of course they are not to be compared witl} 
whales in point of size, being about a tenth of 
the bulk, but they are very agile and give : 
deal more trouble. The second mate fastene 
first, and killed his fish with a well aimed strok 
of the harpoon. We were not so fortunate, ou 
harpooner fastening to a calf that swam by it 
mother. It was strong enough to tow us alon; 
with the herd, until we fastened to her and thi 
calf escaped only to go into a flurry. The coy 
towed us at a good rate and kept shooting t 
the right and left, and then under the boat tc 
tow us astern, and the rest of the school wer: 
about us so thick that we kept striking then 
with our oars and the splashing of their fluke: 
wet us. 
A steamer came along just as we were in thf 
height of our circus and they seemed greatlyf 
interested, At last, after towing us about 
