"We have fed our sea for a thousand years,
And she calls us, still unfed,
Though there is never a wave of all our waves
But marks our English dead."
-- Kipling.
It may be of interest to recount here the story of the _Chieftain's_
mishap, which was the worst accident of the year.
The _Chieftain_ was one of the Dundee whaling fleet. When we left she
was fitting out for the Greenland sealing and bottlenose whaling.
Leaving Dundee on March 6th, under the command of Captain Gellatley, she
lost four of her boats, on May 26th, in a fog.
These made their way to Iceland. One, in charge of the captain, landed
at Primness. A second, in charge of Alex. Bain, a harpooner, arrived at
Tonsberg, having lost overboard her boat-steerer, David Buchan. A third
landed at Ramfarhofu with all alive. The fourth was picked up, and in
her there was but one survivor. When this boat left the ship there were
three men in her. One died and was duly committed to the deep; another
fell into a lethargy which continued so long that McIntosh, the
survivor, though hardly able to move his benumbed legs, crawled to the
bow of the boat to find out what was the trouble, but found him dead.
Fearing lest he might yield to the temptation of using the body for
food, by a great effort he succeeded in heaving it overboard. The boat
was picked up on the fourteenth day off the Iceland coast by a passing
ship; but McIntosh was compelled to have both legs amputated as
mortification had set in. It is terrible to think of what this brave
fellow must have endured drifting about in a small boat over this lonely
and stormy sea, half frozen and with hardly any food.
The following is the account given by Captain Gellatley of the cause of
the accident, and of his experiences during the awful trip to Iceland.
A school of whales was observed on Monday, 26th of May, and the
afternoon being fine, four boats went out in pursuit--one under the
command of Captain Gellatley; the second under the charge of Thomas
Elder, the second mate; John Taylor, specksioneer, was in charge of the
third; and Alexander Bain, harpooner, of the fourth.
In the course of a short time the captain's boat got fast to a whale,
and also the specksioneer's. The second mate assisted the captain. After
some time the whale was killed and towed to the ship, which was reached
about three o'clock in the morning. By this time a dense fog had settled
down, and after his crew had breakfasted, Captain Gellatley set out to
look for the three boats, giving directions that if the fog continued
the vessel should be kept in her position, so as to enable them to find
her; but that she was to bear down towards the boats if the mist lifted.
Knowing the bearings of the boats, Captain Gellatley came up to them
after rowing for fully two hours, and found that the whale was still
alive and causing great trouble. Three additional harpoons were fired
into it, and in the course of the forenoon it was killed, and the four
boats started in the direction of the ship with the whale in tow. In the
meantime the weather cleared, and the ship was descried at a distance of
about five miles; but in the course of half an hour the fog again came
down, and it was so dense that it was impossible to see more than a
few yards ahead. Though they pulled from half past ten o'clock in the
forenoon until half past four in the afternoon they failed to find the
_Chieftain_, and no answering signals were returned to their blasts of
fog horns. It was then resolved that one of the boats should proceed
eastwards and another westwards for some distance, but they returned
without having been able to discover the whereabouts of the ship,
notwithstanding the most diligent search. At one time a sound like a
whistle was heard in one direction and again in another, and the men got
utterly fatigued by their protracted search, a fresh breeze springing
up and adding to their discomfort. About eight o'clock in the evening a
number of the men confidently declared that they heard a ship's whistle
sounding in a northeasterly direction, and the second mate was sent
away in the hope of finding the ship. Some time later Captain Grellatley
decided to follow in the same direction, and accordingly the whale was
buoyed and a lance with a handkerchief tied to the end of the handle was
stuck into the carcass for identification. The three boats then followed
in the course taken by the second mate, but they could never catch up to
him, though they repeatedly heard the blast of his fog horn. Throughout
the night the search was continued without success, and on the morning
of the 28th, the crews being fatigued, the three boats were made fast to
one another and a deep sea anchor thrown out for the purpose of stopping
their way and allowing the men to rest. In the course of the morning
James Cairns, an ordinary seaman, accidentally fell overboard, but he
was promptly rescued. On the 28th matters began to assume a serious
aspect. The crews had then been two days absent from the ship, and their
slender stock of food--a small keg of provisions and a six pound tin
of preserved meat in each boat--had become exhausted. In consequence of
their privations the men became affected with stupor, and with the view
of dispelling this the captain ordered the anchor to be hauled in and
the boats to be rowed towards the ice. This exercise had a beneficial
effect, and it seemed as if it were to result in a happy rescue, for a
barque was noticed sailing away to the windward. Signals were made
in the hope of attracting attention, but the crews were doomed to
disappointment, the fog, which had temporarily cleared, having again
fallen and obscured everything from sight. The weather, too, became
boisterous, and the boats were in imminent danger of being crushed by
the ice. To save the boats from destruction it was found necessary to
row out from under the lee of the floes, and during this time Captain
Gellatley narrowly escaped being drowned. Whale-boats are all steered by
an oar, and while the captain was steering, his oar was struck by a wave
and he was knocked overboard. Fortunately he was rescued before he had
been long in the water, but he suffered much from having to remain in
his wet clothes during the remainder of the time he was in the boat. All
the men were by this time complaining of the benumbed condition of
their hands and feet, and by the morning of Friday, 30th, it was hardly
possible to keep them awake. That morning the wind shifted to the
westward, and as all hope of falling in with the _Chieftain_ had been
given up, it was decided, as the only chance of saving their lives,
to endeavor to sail to Iceland, which was calculated to be about two
hundred miles distant. Each of the boats possessed a compass, but there
was neither mast nor sail, and in their place a couple of boat-hooks
were erected by way of a mast, with the ramrod of the gun as a yard, and
the line cover, a piece of canvas about five feet by three feet, had to
do duty as a sail. Thus equipped, and with a supply of frozen snow and
pieces of ice to quench their thirst, the crews of the three boats set
out on their perilous journey, the master giving the directions for
steering. They left the ice about five o'clock in the morning, and
were soon scudding along at a rapid rate, there being a strong breeze
blowing. About eight o'clock the boat which was in advance was seen to
shorten sail, and when the captain came up he was informed that David
Buchan, while steering, had been knocked overboard and drowned. An
attempt was then made to tow this boat; but the sea was running so high
that this jeopardized both. It soon became apparent that the boats would
be swamped if they continued in tow, and the captain was obliged to cast
the second one adrift, telling the crew they must either hoist sails and
make for Iceland along with him or run back for the ice. They preferred
to hold on their course, and the sail was again hoisted. The weather
continued moderate until between four and five o'clock in the afternoon,
when it shifted to the northward and began to blow hard. A heavy sea
arose, and through the night it was with the utmost difficulty that the
captain kept his boat afloat. At times she was nearly filled, and the
men had to keep almost constantly bailing out the water. The stormy
weather continued throughout the whole of Friday night and Saturday, and
it was found necessary to throw the whale lines overboard to lighten
the boat. In the meantime the condition of the men was becoming more and
more alarming, and the captain was forced to employ various devices to
prevent them from falling into a state of stupor, which would soon have
proved fatal. To use the oars was an impossibility on account of the
heavy seas and the rate at which the boat was sailing, and accordingly
the captain persuaded the men to hold up their oars by way of exercise.
This had the desired effect for some time, but by Sunday morning, the
fourth day they had been without food, they were all ready to give up
in despair. Captain Gellatley had been steering constantly from
Friday morning till Sunday morning, and the fatigue, combined with the
privations he endured in common with his crew, began to tell severely
upon him. Only those who have had to steer such a boat in a seaway can
understand the irksome and laborious nature of the work, and to this
must be added the fact that he had to sit in a cramped position the
whole time, his legs being bent under him. The captain stated that a
peculiar sensation came over him, a haze gathered before his eyes, and
an attack of dizziness obliged him to call the boatswain to take his
place. After a brief space the boatswain, who was almost prostrated, had
to relinquish the task, and the boat was then hove to, and a deep sea
anchor, made up of a grappling iron and other articles, was thrown out,
with fifty fathoms of line, by which means the boat's head was kept
towards the sea. The weather was then moderating, but the waves
continued to break over the boat, and it was as much as the men could do
to keep her afloat. A few hours later and the gale sprang up afresh, and
as there were still no signs of land, the crew resigned themselves to
the fate which they deemed to be inevitable. From this state of despair
they were ultimately aroused by the news that the land and a schooner
were in sight, the sailmaker being the first to make the joyful
announcement. This intelligence reanimated the despairing men, and
signals were made to the schooner, but without succeeding in attracting
the attention of the crew. A direct course was then steered for the
land, but owing to the gale ten hours elapsed before it was reached.
A new difficulty was then encountered, there being no visible
landing-place along that rock-bound coast. A number of the islanders,
however, had noticed the boat, and by means of signs they directed the
crew to steer for the only available landing-place, a narrow passage
with perpendicular rocks on either side, and a horizontal rock forming a
sort of bar. The tide was then ebbing, but under the guidance of Captain
Gellatley, the boat was safely steered into the narrow harbor. By the
assistance of the islanders the crew, who had almost lost the power
of their legs, were take to a farmer's hut adjoining, where they were
hospitably entertained with such cheer as the house afforded; and the
black bread and whale blubber which were set out before them proved
a feast to the famishing sailors. The point at which they landed was
Brimness, about ten miles distant from Langanaes, and after they had
recovered somewhat the islanders made arrangements for transporting
them on horseback to the nearest port. However, the Norwegian smack,
_Jemima_, of Elekkefjord, hove in sight, and on being signalled, the
captain, Bernard Olsen, readily agreed to take the crew to Seydisfjord,
where a steamer was shortly to sail for Scotland. On their arrival at
Seydisfjord on the 8th of June, the governor had them conveyed to a
hotel, and a messenger was dispatched for a doctor, who arrived in
the course of two days, his journey requiring twenty-four hours to
accomplish. Under his treatment Captain Gellatley and his crew made a
satisfactory recovery, and on the 12th they left Seydisfjord on board
the mail steamer _Thym_, for Granton.