ON JAPAN.--ORMSBEE'S PEAK.--WHALING INCIDENTS.--A YANKEE TRICK.
The words, "on Japan," as used by sperm whalemen, do not necessarily
indicate the near vicinity of the islands of that name, but indicate
all that part of the North Pacific Ocean to the eastward of them, even
to the meridian of 180 degrees, between the parallels of twenty-five
and forty degrees. The "Japan Sea," lying between the islands and
the main coast of Asia, had not, at the time of which I write, been
penetrated by whalers, though it has since become well known as a right
whaling ground.
The season "on Japan," as usually made, was from April or May to
September, and the usual route was to run well to the westward in the
early part of the season, and then work back again, making the autumn
port at one of the Sandwich Islands; a group which has derived great
importance from its position, seeming to have been providently dropped
midway in the North Pacific, as a "half-way house," between the two
continents, as well as a haven of refuge for the belated whalemen from
all the northern cruising grounds.
The first part of our cruise we visited the Bonin Islands, where we
added somewhat to our stock of vegetables, and in this vicinity we took
considerable oil. At an uninhabited island of this group we also made
a good haul of green turtle, which afforded us high living for the
time being. We stood to the northward, cruising up the east coast of
Niphon, one of the principal of the Japan Islands, and saw the walls of
the great city of Jeddo, but, at that period, this great empire was a
sealed book to all foreigners except the Chinese and Dutch, and even to
these favored nations but few pages were opened. We met with a junk now
and then, but they shunned all communication with us, and, by putting
off dead before the wind, their best point of sailing, generally
managed to keep clear of us, as we did not care to devote all day to
a stern chase. The class of "junks" of which we were now especially
in search were not to to be found here, the cetaceous monsters which
bear them not appearing to frequent the immediate vicinity of this
coast. So we hauled to the southward again and soon fell in with sperm
whales, and with numerous ships, among which were our old consorts, the
Fortitude and the Pandora, both of them having met with fair success.
An accident happened while on this cruising ground, which had well-nigh
terminated the career of our worthy chief officer. We lowered and
struck a large whale, having a new line in our boat, which had been
stretched and coiled down only a few days before, and was somewhat
wiry, as any whale line is liable to be when first used. The whale
sounded heavily, and I watched the tub anxiously as the line ran
spinning and smoking round the loggerhead. Already half our line was
out and had run clear thus far when I noticed a lifting of the centre
or "heart" of the coil in the tub; it was rising up through the larger
bights; the alarm was cried, "Foul line! _Cut!_" but it was too late.
I writhed myself clear of it, as it flew by me in a snarl and whizzed
between the heads of the oarsmen as they leaned outboard to escape the
danger. The snarl was gone, and the mate with it! The bowman seized the
hatchet and divided the line as quickly as possible. There was a moment
of anxious suspense which seemed an hour. The head of Father Grafton
rose to the surface nearer the old man's boat than ours; he was seized
by strong hands before he could sink again, though I could see that he
was almost at the last agony, and, as they pulled him in, the blood
started from his nose, and eyes, and even from his ears! The whale
went to windward, spouting clear, and we soon gave up the pursuit as
hopeless. But we had saved our mate, and a few hours sufficed to bring
him all right again.
"It seemed to me," said he, "that I must have passed half an hour under
water, though, of course, I know that the whole transaction did not
occupy more than a minute, from the time I went out of my boat till I
was in the captain's. I was to blame myself for being caught so much
off my guard, for knowing that my new line was dangerous, I ought to
have had the hatchet or boatknife in my hand the whole time the whale
was sounding. But after the alarm was shouted, I hadn't time to pull
the knife out of the becket before I was overboard. I was caught with a
round turn round my thigh, though, of course, I cannot tell how it got
there. I know that I made a grab for the boat knife, but was hurried
away out of the reach of it; that I felt in my pocket for my jackknife,
and drew it partly out; that I then felt the strain suddenly ease up
at the moment the line was cut inboard; that I seized it with my hands
and shoved it off my leg; but from that time I can tell nothing till I
began to revive in the other boat on my way to the ship. I can give you
no idea, in words, of how I felt while I was being dragged through the
water by the leg, but I should say there was a resistance like passing
through a solid wall that seemed to _flatten_ me, as it were, and that
a thousand sledge-hammers were clanging right in my ears. We lost our
second mate in that way, when I was in the Plutarch," continued Mr.
Grafton, thoughtfully; "and many another good man has met his death in
the same manner, gone past help almost before he could see the danger."
"Ah! Misther Grafton," said Farrell, "I may say that's the only time I
ever felt glad to get my fist clutched in yer hair, was when I see it
bobbing up close to our boat, sir. But, I'm thinking ye had about as
narrow a chance for yer life as meself had, the night I went after the
parr-puses, bad luck till 'em."
The next morning, Fisher, who was at the masthead, reported four sails
in sight, three to the leeward of us, and one off the weather beam
running down for us under all sail.
"Look sharp!" cried the old man, "he must see something if he is
running off. Don't let him get a large whale right under our noses!"
I observed that he and the mate exchanged significant glances, and
I thought too that there was a merry twinkle in his eye. I relieved
Fisher at the masthead after breakfast, and not long afterwards, the
captain, who had been getting sights to determine his longitude by
chronometer, hailed me from the deck.
"How does that sail to windward bear now?"
"Two points abaft the beam, sir," I answered.
"Is he running off yet?"
"Yes, sir; headed right at us," said I.
"We ought to see him from deck by this time, then," said the old man.
"I don't think you can, sir," I answered. "He don't seem to near us
much."
I heard a loud laugh from the mate, but supposed, of course, it was
called forth by something transpiring on deck; and a few minutes
afterwards perceived the captain coming up the rigging, with the
spyglass slung over his neck. He took a comfortable seat on the
crosstrees (which was more than he allowed me to do, for I was required
to stand the whole two hours), and, bringing his telescope to bear on
the strange ship, said to me:
"So you think he don't near us much, eh?"
"I cannot perceive that he nears us at all," said I. "And yet there he
is, coming right at us with to'gal'antsails set, and the breeze on his
quarter."
"Well," said he, "by all accounts, you are not the first one by
dozens who has been mystified by that same craft. According to our
observation, that is Ormsbee's Peak; a rock that rises out of the sea
like a tower, at a considerable distance, too, from any other land.
It tapers upward very much like the sails of a ship. I never saw it
before, myself, but I am told that it is almost always raised from the
masthead as a sail. So you needn't take any further note of Ormsbee's
manoeuvres, for he won't come down near enough to us to-day. Keep a
sharp eye on those fellows under our lee. If a whale comes up among the
fleet here, we want to be in the suds as quick as any of 'em.
"This ship off the lee quarter," said he, after a good look through
his glass, "is the Pandora, I know by that new cloth in his mainsail,
and the paint of his starboard boat, too. _That_ one I don't know," he
muttered, "but the farthest one, nearly ahead of us, looks very much
like our Strong Island partner, the Leonidas, though I can't swear to
her at that distance."
He soon after went down on deck, after again enjoining upon me to
keep my eyes about me. My trick was nearly out, and I had as yet seen
nothing to attract especial attention, the four ships still maintaining
about the same relative positions, all on the starboard tack. I was
getting tired, and wondering why the relief bell did not strike, when I
noticed the Pandora was nearer the wind than she should be. I thought
for a moment that this was merely the effect of carelessness on the
part of the helmsman, but determined not to be caught napping, I hailed
the deck, that "the Pandora was coming in stays."
"No, he isn't," said the old man. "He has got too nigh the wind, that's
all. There, he is filling again."
But, as he spoke, the maintopsail of the next ship, the stranger, swung
in to the mast, and his lee quarter boat could be seen projecting from
under his counter.
"He sees whales!" I shouted; but the old man was already shaking me on
my perch, as he strided up the rigging, two ratlines at each step.
"Hard up your helm!" said he. "Square in the after yards, Mr. Grafton,
and get the boats ready as fast as possible. _Call all hands there, one
of ye!_"
The Pandora showed as yet no manoeuvres, having filled again on the
same tack, and his starboard boat was still in its place on the cranes;
but three boats were down from our next neighbor, and the supposed
Leonidas was in the act of wearing round to close with the rest of us.
"Where's the whale?" asked the captain, as he appeared by my side.
"_Steady, there!_"
"I've seen no whale yet, sir," I answered, "and I can't see any boats
down from the Pandora."
"Perhaps the stranger has lowered his boats, blackfishing," he
suggested. "Worth has got no extra men aloft, and keeps his course as
usual. If that is all, we may as well luff to again."
He gave no order to that effect, however, and we continued running off,
rapidly nearing the other ships. A few minutes of puzzled suspense
followed, when the Pandora's main tack, sheet and lee braces were all
let go at once, and she, also, lay hove-to, just as her two boats shot
out of range of their ship under her lee, _fast to a whale_, as was
evident from the white water flying, and from the speed at which they
were moving.
"Pretty well done, Worth!" said Captain Upton, his keen admiration of
his brother whaleman getting the better of his vexation. "Luff to the
wind there, and stand by to lower away! There may be other whales,
though, if there's only one, I'll sell out _my_ share at a low figure."
Further concealment was unnecessary; down went Captain Worth's boat,
and down went all of ours, pell-mell, but before we got very near the
fast boats it was plain that the whale was in his flurry, and we "hove
up," seeing that there was no other one for us to attack.
"Now, I shouldn't be at all surprised," said Mr. Grafton, "if that was
the game whale that dragged me so far on the road to Davy's locker.
They've killed him so quick that I think he must have been more than
half-dead when they struck him; and besides, that would account for
his not being seen by any of us, as his spout would be very faint and
broken. She must have been very near to the whale herself, before she
raised him."
"I have no doubt it was a wounded whale," answered the old man; "and if
so, it may or may not be ours. If our iron is not in him of course we
have no claim; and I presume they'll take care that it sha'n't be in
him, when they take him alongside. But you and Mr. Dunham may as well
go aboard and keep company, and I'll make Worth a visit when he flukes
the whale, and see what discoveries I can make."
"There's our boat to windward coming down," said the mate, "and that's
Captain Taber in the stern of her, or else I don't know him. So that's
the Leonidas. Come, pull ahead, boys, and let's get home again, we can
do no good here. It'll be Worth's turn to blow now, as it was ours off
the Western Islands."
We jogged leisurely to windward, and by the time we had our boats
secured, the Pandora was hauling her whale alongside, while all the
captains' boats were clustered round her, to learn the particulars of
the affair, the others returning to their respective ships. One of the
stranger's boats pulled across our stern just within hail, and the mate
asked what ship it was. The officer answered us without stopping his
boat, and all we could make out of the sound was "Arrowroot."
"Hard up and let her go off!" said the mate to the man at the helm.
"We'll run to leeward, so the old man wont have to pull up hill.
Arrowroot," said he, musingly, "what name can it be that sounds like
that? O, I know now who it is," with a laugh, as the truth occurred
to him, "it's the Lalla Rookh, of New Bedford. I knew she was on the
ground here somewhere."
It was evening before the old man returned, and lights were set by all
the ships; for the four captains had improved this occasion for a gam,
and much time was consumed in detailed accounts of their adventures
during the season, and in examining the Pandora's "medical stores" and
testing their quality. The only effect upon our worthy captain was to
make him rather more talkative than usual.
"I could not lay any claim to the whale," he said, "though I have
little doubt that it is the same that towed you over the bows by the
leg. The whale floated, jaws towards the ship, when he was fluked, and
there was the iron hole in his starboard side, just about as it was
in our whale. The whale was badly wounded when they raised him, and
spouting very faintly. He dropped his two lee boats in the water when
he saw his sails shivering, and they went right down to leeward with
their paddles, not setting any sails, and, keeping in range of the
ship, we knew nothing till after they were fast. The Lalla Rookh being
more out ahead of him, could see the boats, and, of course, lowered
hers, but they could see no sport at that distance when they lowered.
Well, I cornered Mr. Ray up pretty sharp, and he admitted there was an
iron hanging in the whale when he struck him, but he says it worked out
before they got him fluked. Perhaps it did, and perhaps they helped
it a little. I think I should have been sorely tempted to do so under
similar circumstances. As it is, he has got eighty or ninety barrels of
oil, and no one else can touch it, as there is no 'craft' to claim it
by."
The general rule, as established among whalemen is, that "marked
craft claims the fish so long as he is in the water, dead or alive."
The irons are usually marked with the ship's name, or a convenient
abbreviation of it, cut with a small chisel on the flat of the shank,
near the head, and if this be found it claims the whale, provided the
claimant arrives before the whale is peeled of his blubber. But if
another ship has succeeded in cutting him in, no claim can be made.
In case the claimant appears during the process of cutting, and a
mark is found, he has a right to cut off the blubber square with the
plankshear, and take what is below it, but can claim nothing that has
been raised above it. Such is whaler's law, as settled by established
usage; and perhaps nothing could be devised that would be more just
than this.
A few days after this, we played another of those tricks that are so
amusing to talk of, being perfectly justifiable in this as in any
other business where there is competition and the rule is to "take
care of number one." It was a calm day, one of those hot calms that
every whaleman must have experienced who has been "on Japan" in July
and August, and which sometimes last unbroken for a period of several
days, during which the heat seems more fierce and unendurable than one
has ever found it within the tropics. One ship was in sight about two
miles distant from us, showing marks of an Englishman about her rig and
general appearance. She had shown her signal, but as there was no wind
to open it we were none the wiser for seeing it.
We raised a large whale about three miles off, and had the run of his
movements two or three risings before we put our boats in the water,
so that we knew pretty nearly where to "prick for him." We took our
paddles after we had pulled about half the distance we wished to go,
and jogged more slowly in this way, but with less noise. Meanwhile the
strange ship had put four boats down, and they were coming with their
oars pulling with a will, so as to stand an equal chance with us. The
whale had one rising after we had lowered, and again "turned flukes"
undisturbed, and now the crisis was to come on his next appearance. We
had spread our chances so as to be ready for him, knowing very nearly
where he would appear. The strange boats came on, "smashing in" with
their oars, and showing no intention of heaving up or of taking their
paddles. The old man took to his oars and pulled near to us.
"Mr. Grafton," said he, "they'll gally the whale if they come pulling
over him when he is about coming up. I think we are far enough, and
would like to lie still where we are. But we must get rid of these four
boats, and if it's _pulling_ they want, they shall have it. Do you take
your oars and pull hard right on in the same direction we have been
going. The whale won't be up for twenty minutes yet, and no harm will
be done. Speak to Mr. Dunham as you pass, and tell him to pull ahead
too. This will toll those four boats off, so that they will lose the
scent. But keep your eyes on me when the whale comes up."
The strange boats come on, and seeing two of us pulling with might and
main, while the third had apparently abandoned the chase, three of them
followed the lead of the majority, and "gave way," with a laudable
ambition to outpull us, which we were quite willing to allow them to
do, while the fourth hove up to speak the old man. He inquired the name
of our ship, and reported himself as first officer of ship Bermondsey,
of London. The captain, he said, was on board, not being in the habit
of going in the boat himself. He asked Captain Upton what he thought of
the chance for the whale.
"Well," said our captain, "I don't think I shall chase him any further.
I shall let my mates try him a spell, but I don't think much of my
chance, for I see that your boats pull so much faster than mine, they
will have a long start of them before the whale comes up again."
"O, yes sir," said John Bull, "our boats can houtpull any bl----y boats
on the ground."
"No doubt of it; indeed I can see that myself," said the old man,
seeing how eagerly his flattery was swallowed.
"Well, pull ahead, boys!" said the English mate, "and let's show them
fellows how we can pass them."
The result was, fifteen minutes later we were about a mile from the
spot where we received orders to pull; the English boats a smart mile
and a half, except the mate who was just triumphantly passing us; the
whale up within a ship's length of the old man, and he just shooting
alongside of him. Our shouts of laughter as we laid round to pull
to the assistance of the fast boat, gave the English mate the first
intimation of the Yankee trick by which he had been humbugged. An hour
later the breeze struck us, and we hauled the largest whale of our
season's work alongside, while the Bermondsey down tacks and stood away
from us, in spite of our signals inviting communication.