"With glossy skin, and dripping mane,
And reeling limbs, and reeking flank,
The wild steed's sinewy nerves still strain
Up the repelling bank."
Mazeppa.
Roswell Gardiner felt as if he could breathe more freely when they had run
the Summers Group fairly out of sight, and the last hummock had sunk into
the waves of the west. He was now fairly quit of America, and hoped to see
no more of it, until he made the well-known rock that points the way into
that most magnificent of all the havens of the earth, the bay of Rio de
Janeiro. Travellers dispute whether the palm ought to be given to this
port, or to those of Naples and Constantinople. Each, certainly, has its
particular claims to surpassing beauty, which ought to be kept in view in
coming to a decision. Seen from its outside, with its minarets, and Golden
Horn, and Bosphorus, Constantinople is, probably, the most glorious spot
on earth. Ascend its mountains, and overlook the gulfs of Salerno and
Gaeta, as well as its own waters, the _Campugna Felici_ and the memorials
of the past, all seen in the witchery of an Italian atmosphere, and the
mind becomes perfectly satisfied that nothing equal is to be found
elsewhere; but enter the bay of Rio, and take the whole of the noble
panorama in at a glance, and even the experienced traveller is staggered
with the stupendous as well as bewitching character of the loveliness that
meets his eye. Witchery is a charm that peculiarly belongs to Italy, as
all must feel who have ever been brought within its influence; but it is a
witchery that is more or less shared by all regions of low latitudes.
Our two Sea Lions met with no adventures worthy of record, until they got
well to the southward of the equator. They had been unusually successful
in getting through the calm latitudes; and forty-six days from Montauk,
they spoke a Sag Harbour whaler, homeward bound, that had come out from
Rio only the preceding week, where she had been to dispose of her oil. By
this ship, letters were sent home; and as Gardiner could now tell the
deacon that he should touch at Rio even before the time first anticipated,
he believed that he should set the old man's heart at peace. A little
occurrence that took place the very day they parted with the whaler, added
to the pleasure this opportunity of communicating with the owner had
afforded. As the schooners were moving on in company, about a cable's
length asunder, Hazard saw a sudden and extraordinary movement on board
the Vineyard Lion, as the men now named that vessel, to distinguish her
from her consort.
"Look out for a spout!" shouted the mate to Stimson, who happened to be on
the foretopsail-yard at work; when this unexpected interruption to the
quiet of the passage occurred. "There is a man overboard from the other
schooner, or they see a spout."
"A spout! a spout!" shouted Stimson, in return; "and a spalm (sperm, or
spermaceti, was meant) whale, in the bargain! Here he is, sir, two p'ints
on our weather beam."
This was enough. If any one has had the misfortune to be in a coach drawn
by four horses, when a sudden fright starts them off at speed, he can form
a pretty accurate notion of the movement that now took place on board of
Deacon Pratt's craft. Every one seemed to spring into activity, as if a
single will directed a common set of muscles. Those who were below
literally "tumbled up," as seamen express it, and those who were aloft
slid down to the deck like flashes of lightning. Captain Gardiner sprang
out of his cabin, seemingly at a single bound; at another, he was in the
whale-boat that Hazard was in the very act of lowering into the water, as
the schooner rounded-to. Perceiving himself anticipated here, the mate
turned to the boat on the other quarter, and was in her, and in the water,
almost as soon as his commanding officer.
Although neither of the schooners was thoroughly fitted for a whaler, each
had lines, lances, harpoons, &c., in readiness in their quarter-boats,
prepared for any turn of luck like this which now offered. The process of
paddling up to whales, which is now so common in the American ships, was
then very little or not at all resorted to. It is said that the animals
have got to be so shy, in consequence of being so much pursued, that the
old mode of approaching them will not suffice, and that it now requires
much more care and far more art to take one of these creatures, than it
did thirty years since. On this part of the subject, we merely repeat what
we hear, though we think we can see an advantage in the use of the paddle
that is altogether independent of that of the greater quiet of that mode
of forcing a boat ahead. He that paddles looks _ahead_, and the approach
is more easily regulated, when the whole of the boat's crew are apprised,
by means of their own senses, of the actual state of things, than when
they attain their ideas of them through the orders of an officer. The last
must govern in all cases, but the men are prepared for them, when they can
see what is going on, and will be more likely to act with promptitude and
intelligence, and will be less liable to make mistakes.
The four boats, two from each schooner, dropped into the water nearly
about the same time. Daggett was at the steering-oar of one, as was
Roswell at that of another. Hazard, and Macy, the chief mate of the
Vineyard craft, were at the steering-oars of the two remaining boats. All
pulled in the direction of the spot on the ocean where the spouts had been
seen. It was the opinion of those who had been aloft, that there were
several _fish_; and it was certain that they were of the most valuable
species, or the spermaceti, one barrel of the oil of which was worth about
as much as the oil of three of the ordinary sort, or that of the _right_
whale, supposing them all to yield the same quantity in number of barrels.
The nature or species of the fish was easily enough determined by the
spouts; the right whale throwing up two high arched jets of water, while
the spermaceti throws but a single, low, bushy one.
It was not long ere the boats of the two captains came abreast of each
other, and within speaking distance. A stern rivalry was now apparent in
every countenance, the men pulling might and main, and without even a
smile among them all. Every face was grave, earnest, and determined; every
arm strung to its utmost powers of exertion. The men rowed beautifully,
being accustomed to the use of their long oars in rough water, and in ten
minutes they were all fully a mile dead to windward of the two schooners.
Few things give a more exalted idea of the courage and ingenuity of the
human race than to see adventurers set forth, in a mere shell, on the
troubled waters of the open ocean, to contend with and capture an animal
of the size of the whale. The simple circumstance that the last is in its
own element, while its assailants are compelled to approach it in such
light and fragile conveyances, that, to the unpractised eye, it is
sufficiently difficult to manage them amid the rolling waters, without
seeking so powerful an enemy to contend with. But, little of all this did
the crews of our four boats now think. They had before them the objects,
or _one_ of the objects, rather, of their adventure, and so long as that
was the case, no other view but that of prevailing could rise before their
eyes.
"How is it, Gar'ner?" called out the Vineyard master; "shall it be shares?
or does each schooner whale on her own hook?"
This was asked in a friendly way, and apparently with great indifference
as to the nature of the reply, but with profound art. It was Daggett's
wish to establish a sort of partnership, which, taken in connection with
the good feeling created by the affair at Beaufort, would be very apt to
lead on to further and more important association. Luckily for Gardiner,
an idea crossed his mind, just as he was about to reply, which induced the
wisest answer. It was the thought, that competition would be more likely
to cause exertion than a partnership, and that the success of all would
better repay them for their toils and risks, should each vessel act
exclusively for itself. This is the principle that renders the present
state of society more healthful and advantageous than that which the
friends of the different systems of associating, that are now so much in
vogue, wish to substitute in its place. Individuality is an all-important
feeling in the organization of human beings into communities; and the
political economist who does not use it as his most powerful auxiliary in
advancing civilization, will soon see it turn round in its tracks, and
become a dead weight; indulging its self-love, by living with the minimum
of exertion, instead of pushing his private advantage, with the maximum.
"I think each vessel had better work for herself and her owners," answered
Roswell Gardiner.
As the schooners were in the trades, there was a regular sea running, and
one that was neither very high nor much broken. Still, the boats were
lifted on it like egg-shells or bubbles, the immense power of the ocean
raising the largest ships, groaning under their vast weight of ordnance,
as if they were feathers. In a few minutes, Gardiner and Daggett became a
little more separated, each looking eagerly for the spouts, which had not
been seen by either since quitting his vessel. All this time the two mates
came steadily on, until the whole of the little fleet of boats was, by
this time, not less than a marine league distant from the schooners. The
vessels themselves were working up to windward, to keep as near to the
boats as possible, making short tacks under reduced canvass; a shipkeeper,
the cook, steward, and one or two other hands, being all who were left on
board them.
We shall suppose that most of our readers are sufficiently acquainted with
the general character of that class of animals to which the whale belongs,
to know that all of the genus breathe the atmospheric air, which is as
necessary for life to them as it is to man himself. The only difference
in this respect is, that the whale can go longer without renewing his
respiration than all purely land-animals, though he must come up to
breathe at intervals, or die. It is the exhaling of the old stock of air,
when he brings the "blow-holes," as seamen call the outlets of his
respiratory organs, to the surface, that forces the water upward, and
forms the "spouts," which usually indicate to the whalers the position of
their game. The "spouts" vary in appearance, as has been mentioned, owing
to the number and situation of the orifices by which the exhausted air
escapes. No sooner is the vitiated air exhaled, than the lungs receive a
new supply; and the animal either remains near the surface, rolling about
and sporting amid the waves, or descends again, a short distance, in quest
of its food. This food, also, varies materially in the different species.
The right-whale is supposed to live on what may be termed marine insects,
or the molluscæ of the ocean, which it is thought he obtains by running in
the parts of the sea where they most abound; arresting them by the hairy
fibres which grow on the laminæ of bone that, in a measure, compose his
jaws, having no teeth. The spermaceti, however, is furnished with regular
grinders, which he knows very well how to use, and with which he often
crushes the boats of those who come against him. Thus, the whalers have
but one danger to guard against, in assaulting the common animal, viz.,
his flukes, or tail; while the spermaceti, in addition to the last means
of defence, possesses those of his teeth or jaws. As this latter animal is
quite one-third head, he has no very great dissemblance to the alligator
in this particular.
By means of this brief description of the physical formation and habits of
the animals of which our adventurers were in pursuit, the general reader
will be the better able to understand that which it is our duty now to
record. After rowing the distance named, the boats became a little
separated, in their search for the fish. That spouts had been seen, there
was no doubt; though, since quitting the schooners, no one in the boats
had got a further view of the fish,--if fish, animals with respiratory
organs can be termed. A good look-out for spouts had been kept by each man
at the steering-oars, but entirely without success. Had not Roswell and
Daggett, previously to leaving their respective vessels, seen the signs of
whales with their own eyes, it is probable that they would now have both
been disposed to return, calling in their mates. But, being certain that
the creatures they sought were not far distant, they continued slowly to
separate, each straining his eyes in quest of his game, as his boat rose
on the summit of the rolling and tossing waves. Water in motion was all
around them; and the schooners working slowly up against the trades, were
all that rewarded their vigilant and anxious looks. Twenty times did each
fancy that he saw the dark back, or head, of the object he sought; but as
often did it prove to be no more than a lipper of water, rolling up into a
hummock ere it broke, or melted away again into the general mass of the
unquiet ocean. When it is remembered that the surface of the sea is tossed
into a thousand fantastic outlines, as its waves roll along, it can
readily be imagined how such mistakes could arise.
At length Gardiner discerned that which his practised eye well knew. It
was the flukes, or extremity of the tail of an enormous whale, distant
from him less than a quarter of a mile, and in such a position as to place
the animal at about the same breadth of water from Daggett. It would seem
that both of these vigilant officers perceived their enemy at the same
instant, for each boat started for it, as if it had been instinct with
life. The pike or the shark could not have darted towards its prey with
greater promptitude, and scarcely with greater velocity, than these two
boats. Very soon the whole herd was seen, swimming along against the wind,
an enormous bull-whale leading, while half a dozen calves kept close to
the sides of their dams, or sported among themselves, much as the
offspring of land animals delight in their youth and strength. Presently a
mother rolled lazily over on her side, permitting its calf to suck. Others
followed this example; and then the leader of the herd ceased his passage
to windward, but began to circle the spot, as if in complaisance to those
considerate nurses who thus waited on the wants of their young. At this
interesting moment, the boats came glancing in among the herd.
Had the competition and spirit of rivalry been at a lower point among our
adventurers than it actually was, greater caution might have been
observed. It is just as dangerous to assault a whale that has its young to
defend, as to assault most other animals. We know that the most delicate
women become heroines in such straits; and nature seems to have given to
the whole sex, whether endowed with reason or only with an instinct, the
same disposition to die in defence of the helpless creatures that so much
depend on their care. But, no one there now thought of the risk he ran, it
being the Vineyard against Oyster Pond, one Sea Lion against the other,
and, in many instances, pocket against pocket.
Roswell, as if disdaining all meaner game, pulled quite through the herd,
and laid the bows of his boat directly on the side of the old bull--a
hundred-barrel whale, at the very least. No sooner did the enormous
creature feel the harpoon, than, throwing its flukes upward, it descended
into the depths of the ocean, with a velocity that caused smoke to arise
from the chuck through which the line passed. Ordinarily, the movement of
a whale is not much faster than an active man can walk; and, when it runs
on the surface, its speed seldom exceeds that of a swift vessel under full
sail; but, when suddenly startled, with the harpoon in its blubber, the
animal is capable of making a prodigious exertion. When struck, it usually
'sounds,' as it is termed, or runs downward, sometimes to the depth of a
mile; and it is said that instances have been known in which the fish
inflicted great injury on itself, by dashing its head against rocks.
In the case before us, after running out three or four hundred fathoms of
line, the 'bull' to which Gardiner had 'fastened,' came up to the surface,
'blowed,' and began to move slowly towards the herd again. No sooner was
the harpoon thrown, than a change took place in the disposition of the
crew of the boat, which it may be well to explain. The harpoon is a barbed
javelin, fastened to a staff to give it momentum. The line is attached to
this weapon, the proper use of which is to 'fasten' to the fish, though it
sometimes happens that the animal is killed at the first blow. This is
when the harpoon has been hurled by a very skilful and vigorous harpooner.
Usually, this weapon penetrates some distance into the blubber in which a
whale is encased, and when it is drawn back by the plunge of the fish,
the barbed parts get embedded in the tough integuments of the hide,
together with the blubber, and hold. The iron of the harpoon being very
soft, the shank bends under the strain of the line, leaving the staff
close to the animal's body. Owing to this arrangement, the harpoon offers
less resistance to the water, as the whale passes swiftly through it. No
sooner did the boat-steerer, or harpooner, cast his 'irons,' as whalers
term the harpoon, than he changed places with Roswell, who left the
steering-oar, and proceeded forward to wield the lance, the weapon with
which the victory is finally consummated. The men now 'peaked' their oars,
as it is termed; or they placed the handles in cleets made to receive
them, leaving the blades elevated in the air, so as to be quite clear of
the water. This was done to get rid of the oars, in readiness for other
duty, while the instruments were left in the tholes, to be resorted to in
emergencies. This gives a whale-boat a peculiar appearance, with its five
long oars raised in the air, at angles approaching forty-five degrees. In
the mean time, as the bull approached the herd, or school,[*] as the
whalers term it, the boats' crew began to haul in line, the boat-steerer
coiling it away carefully, in a tub placed in the stern-sheets purposely
to receive it. Any one can understand how important it was that this part
of the duty should be well performed, since bights of line running out of
a boat, dragged by a whale, would prove so many snares to the men's legs,
unless previously disposed of in a place proper to let it escape without
this risk. For this reason it is, that the end of a line is never
permitted to run out at the bow of a boat at all. It might do some injury
in its passage, and an axe is always applied near the bows, when it is
found necessary to cut from a whale.
[* We suppose this word to be a corruption of the Dutch "_schule_"
which, we take it, means the same thing.]
It was so unusual a thing to see a fish turn towards the spot where he was
struck, that Roswell did not know what to make of this manoeuvre in his
bull. At first he supposed the animal meant to make fight, and set upon
him with its tremendous jaws; but it seemed that caprice or alarm
directed the movement; for, after coming within a hundred yards of the
boat, the creature turned and commenced sculling away to windward, with
wide and nervous sweeps of its formidable flukes. It is by this process
that all the fish of this genus force their way through the water, their
tails being admirably adapted to the purpose. As the men had showed the
utmost activity in hauling in upon the line, by the time the whale went
off to windward again they had got the boat up within about four hundred
feet of him.
Now commenced a tow, dead to windward, it being known that a fish, when
struck, seldom runs at first in any other direction. The rate at which the
whale moved was not at the height of his speed, though it exceeded six
knots. Occasionally, this rate was lessened, and in several instances his
speed was reduced to less than half of that just mentioned. Whenever one
of these lulls occurred, the men would haul upon the line, gradually
getting nearer and nearer to the fish, until they were within fifty feet
of his tremendous flukes. Here, a turn was taken with the line, and an
opportunity to use the lance was waited for.
Whalers say that a forty-barrel bull of the spermaceti sort is much the
most dangerous to deal with of all the animals of this species. The larger
bulls are infinitely the most powerful, and drive these half-grown
creatures away in herds by themselves, that are called 'pads,' a
circumstance that probably renders the young bull discontented and fierce.
The last is not only more active than the larger animal, but is much more
disposed to make fight, commonly giving his captors the greatest trouble.
This may be one of the reasons why Roswell Gardiner now found himself
towing at a reasonable rate, so close upon the flukes of a hundred-barrel
whale. Still, there was that in the movements of this animal, that induced
our hero to be exceedingly wary. He was now two leagues from the
schooners, and half that distance from the other boats, neither of which
had as yet fastened to a fish. This latter circumstance was imputed to the
difficulty the different officers had in making their selections, cows, of
the spermaceti breed, when they give suck, being commonly light, and
yielding, comparatively, very small quantities of head-matter and oil. In
selecting the bull, Roswell had shown his judgment, the male animal
commonly returning to its conquerors twice the profit that is derived from
the female.
The whale to which Roswell was fast continued sculling away to windward
for quite two hours, causing the men to entirely lose sight of the other
boats, and bringing the topsails of the schooners themselves down to the
water's edge. Fortunately, it was not yet noon, and there were no
immediate apprehensions from the darkness; nor did the bull appear to be
much alarmed, though the boat was towing so close in his rear. At first,
or before the irons were thrown, the utmost care had been taken not to
make a noise; but the instant the crew were 'fast,' whispers were changed
into loud calls, and orders were passed in shouts, rather than in verbal
commands. The wildest excitement prevailed among the men, strangely
blended with a cool dexterity; but it was very apparent that a high
sporting fever was raging among them. Gardiner himself was much the
coolest man in his own boat, as became his station and very responsible
duties.
Stimson, the oldest and the best seaman in the schooner, he who had
admonished his young commander on the subject of the gratitude due to the
Deity, acted as the master's boat-steerer, having first performed the duty
of harpooner. It was to him that Gardiner now addressed the remarks he
made, after having been fastened to his whale fully two hours.
"This fellow is likely to give us a long drag," said the master, as he
stood balancing himself on the clumsy elects in the bows of the boat,
using his lance as an adept in saltation poises his pole on the wire, the
water curling fairly above the gunwale forward, with the rapid movement of
the boat; "I would haul up alongside, and give him the lance, did I not
distrust them flukes. I believe he knows we are here."
"That he does--that does he, Captain Gar'ner. It's always best to be
moderate and wait your time, sir. There's a jerk about that chap's flukes
that I don't like myself, and it's best to see what he would be at, before
we haul up any nearer. Don't you see, sir, that every minute or two he
strikes down, instead of sculling off handsomely and with a wide sweep, as
becomes a whale?"
"That is just the motion I distrust, Stephen, and I shall wait a bit to
see what he would be at. I hope those ship-keepers will be busy, and work
the schooners well up to windward before it gets to be dark. Our man is
asleep half his time, and is apt to let the vessel fall off a point or
two."
"Mr. Hazard gave him caution to keep a bright look out, sir, and I think
he'll be apt to--look out, sir!--Look out!"
This warning was well-timed; for, just at that instant the whale ceased
sculling, and lifting its enormous tail high in the air, it struck five or
six blows on the surface of the water, that made a noise which might have
been heard half a league, besides filling the atmosphere immediately
around him with spray. As the tail first appeared in the air, line was
permitted to run out of the boat, increasing the distance between its bows
and the flukes to quite a hundred feet. Nothing could better show the
hardy characters of the whalers than the picture then presented by Roswell
Gardiner and his companions. In the midst of the Atlantic, leagues from
their vessel, and no other boat in sight, there they sat patiently waiting
the moment when the giant of the deep should abate in his speed, or in his
antics, to enable them to approach and complete their capture. Most of the
men sat with their arms crossed, and bodies half-turned, regarding the
scene, while the two officers, the master and boat-steerer, if the latter
could properly be thus designated, watched each evolution with a keenness
of vigilance that let nothing like a sign or a symptom escape them.
Such was the state of things, the whale still threshing the sea with his
flukes, when a cry among his men induced Roswell for a moment to look
aside. There came Daggett fast to a small bull, which was running directly
in the wind's eye with great speed, dragging the boat after him, which was
towing astern at a distance of something like two hundred fathoms. At
first, Roswell thought he should be compelled to cut from his whale, so
directly towards his own boat did the other animal direct his course. But,
intimidated, most probably, by the tremendous blows with which the larger
bull continued to belabour the ocean, the smaller animal sheered away in
time to avoid a collision, though he now began to circle the spot where
his dreaded monarch lay. This change of course gave rise to a new source
of apprehension. If the smaller bull should continue to encircle the
larger, there was great reason to believe that the line of Daggett might
get entangled with the boat of Gardiner, and produce a collision that
might prove fatal to all there. In order to be ready to meet this danger,
Roswell ordered his crew to be on the look-out, and to have their knives
in a state for immediate use. It was not known what might have been the
consequence of this circular movement as respects the two boats; for,
before they could come together, Daggett's line actually passed into the
mouth of Gardiner's whale, and drawing up tight into the angle of his
jaws, set the monster in motion with a momentum and power that caused the
iron to draw from the smaller whale, which by this time had more than half
encircled the animal. So rapid was the rate of running now, that Roswell
was obliged to let out line, his whale sounding to a prodigious depth.
Daggett did the same unwilling to cut as long as he could hold on to his
line.
At the expiration of five minutes the large bull came up again for breath,
with both lines still fast to him; the one in the regular way, or attached
to the harpoon, and the other jammed in the jaws of the animal by means of
the harpoon and staff, which formed a sort of toggle at the angle of his
enormous mouth. In consequence of feeling this unusual tenant, the fish
compressed its jaws together, thus rendering the fastening so much the
more secure. As both boats had let run line freely while the whale was
sounding, they now found themselves near a quarter of a mile astern of
him, towing along, side by side, and not fifty feet asunder. If the spirit
of rivalry had been aroused among the crew of these two boats before, it
was now excited to a degree that menaced acts of hostility.
"You know, of course, Captain Daggett, that this is my whale," said
Gardiner. "I was fast to him regularly, and was only waiting for him to
become a little quiet to lance him, when your whale crossed his course,
fouled your line, and has got you fast in an unaccountable way, but not
according to whaling law."
"I don't know that. I fastened to a whale, Captain Gar'ner, and am fast
to a whale now. It must be _proved_ that I have no right to the crittur'
before I give him up."
Gardiner understood the sort of man with whom he had to deal too well to
waste words in idle remonstrances. Resolved to maintain his just rights at
every hazard, he ordered his men to haul in upon the line, the movement of
the whale becoming so slow as to admit of this measure. Daggett's crew did
the same, and a warm contest existed between the two boats, as to which
should now first close with the fish and kill it. This was not a moment
for prudence and caution. It was "haul in--haul in, boys," in both boats,
without any regard to the danger of approaching the whale. A very few
minutes sufficed to bring the parties quite in a line with the flukes,
Gardiner's boat coming up on the larboard or left-hand side of the animal,
where its iron was fast, and Daggett's on the opposite, its line leading
out of the jaws of the fish in that direction. The two masters stood erect
on their respective clumsy cleets, each poising his lance, waiting only to
get near enough to strike. The men were now at the oars, and without
pausing for any thing, both crews sprung to their ashen instruments, and
drove the boats headlong upon the fish. Daggett, perhaps, was the coolest
and most calculating at that moment, but Roswell was the most nervous, and
the boldest. The boat of the last actually hit the side of the whale, as
its young commander drove his lance through the blubber, into the vitals
of the fish. At the same instant Daggett threw his lance with consummate
skill, and went to the quick. It was now "stern all!" for life, each boat
backing off from the danger as fast as hands could urge. The sea was in a
foam, the fish going into his "flurry" almost as soon as struck, and both
crews were delighted to see the red of the blood mingling its deep hues
with the white of the troubled water. Once or twice the animal spouted,
but it was a fluid dyed in his gore. In ten minutes it turned up and was
dead.