Chapter 3 THE SHIP "DUNDEE," OF LONDON.

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Section I.-Entrance on, and General Results of, this New Command.

The aversion of his wife to a change in the port of sailing, though it might retard, did not prevent my Father's ultimately making that change. He had been applied to by letter, and with reiterated urgency, and offers of additional advantages, by a mercantile firm in London (Messrs. Edward Gale and Sons) to take charge of a ship of theirs, which they were anxious to employ in the northern whale-fishery. But, finding that the applications by letter failed, or at least led to no satisfactory result, one of the principals of the house determined on an application in person,-an undertaking, at that time, involving a most troublesome and tedious journey,-and, totally unexpected, made his appearance at the residence of our family in Whitby.

The circumstance of Mr. Piper's early consideration for, and confidence in, my Father, on an occasion which, under the Divine blessing, proved the turning-point of his fortune in life, had induced a feeling of regard and gratitude so decided as to become strongly resistant of the temptation to change. But, on the other hand, he had long felt dissatisfaction at the abridgment of some allowances and perquisites enjoyed by his predecessor in command, and promised to himself, which, though of but small consideration in the meagre extent of the former wonted success, had accumulated, in the estimation made year by year during his extraordinary successful career, to a very handsome amount, in money value. His repeated remonstrances at this deprivation and injustice being always met with a "Pooh, pooh! be content; you have done very well,"-no doubt served greatly to weaken the binding influence of ties otherwise so decidedly felt, and frankly acknowledged. Hence, from an unwise and ungenerous policy, which, in the course of six years had deprived my Father of a sum amounting, as he calculated, to about 300l. out of his rightful earnings, the alliance previously existing betwixt himself and the owners of the Henrietta, was, with due and honourable notice on his part, brought to a conclusion by the visit and liberal proposals of Mr. Gale. These proposals, as I have understood, involved a new and additional advantage to the commander, in a per centage upon the value of the cargo obtained, together with the proffer of a small share in the concern, on terms at once equitable and easy. On this encouraging basis an arrangement was forthwith made with the house which Mr. Gale represented, for the command, by my Father, of the Dundee, of London, a ship much larger and finer than the Henrietta, on a whale-fishing adventure in the Greenland seas.

In the spring of the year 1798, the Dundee, according to the arrangement made, was, after being strengthened and fortified for the navigation of the formidable ices of the north, fitted out, and set forth on her first voyage to the fishery. The result far more than realized the hopes and expectations of all the parties interested in the adventure; for, in a surprisingly short interval of time, the return of the Dundee to the Thames was announced, with the exulting and almost incredible report, that she brought the spoils of no less than six-and-thirty captured whales! The report proved true; and, although many of the whales were of small size, yet a quantity of produce, in oil and whalebone, such as no other adventurer had hitherto obtained, was yielded by this extraordinary "catch."

During subsequent adventures, with but one exception in a series of five years, my Father's high reputation for pre-eminent skill and success, was amply maintained. In one of these voyages (that of 1801) twenty-three whales were captured, which yielded the previously unequalled quantity of 225 tuns of oil;[E] and the voyage following, which terminated his command of the Dundee, produced twenty whales, yielding 200 tuns of the best kind of train oil, with a proportional weight of whalebone.

These voyages were not only unequalled in the Greenland whale-fishery in their measure of success, but likewise in the quickness with which they were accomplished. Ordinarily, my Father's ship, not sailing earlier than his competitors in general, not only brought home the largest cargo of any in the fleet, but returned amongst the soonest. The produce in oil, therefore, partly from the freshness of the blubber when it was brought to the "coppers," and partly from the care taken, under his direction, in the process of boiling, was, as I have advisedly designated it, of the best quality.

Section II.-Dangerous Accident-Admirable Tact.

Whilst pursuing for a long series of years, so adventurous a profession as that of the whale-fishery, accidents of a peculiar nature were not unfrequently occurring. On such occasions, my Father's promptness and judiciousness of action were as admirable as they were characteristic.

But leaving such incidents, as far as may be, to their place, chronologically, in our present Memorials, we adduce here a single example, which may serve at once to illustrate and to justify this observation. The case, indeed, though pertaining to his professional pursuits, did not occur when at sea; but during the process of reducing the blubber of the whale into oil, after the return of the ship into port.

The ship Dundee, whilst commanded by my Father, had but recently returned from one of her usually successful voyages, and was laid, for discharging at the quay, in Blackwall Dock, near to the premises in which the oil was being boiled. My Father, during the most active part of the operations of discharging and boiling, was in the habit of sleeping on board the ship; and, at the time of the accident referred to, I, then a boy, happened to be with him. Sometime during the night, we were all awoke by loud and fearful shrieking, from the direction of the boiling-house. My Father, instantly apprehending some accident there, jumped from his bed, and, just as he was, flew up on deck and over the ship's side, and in a few moments of time was at the spot from whence the shrieks proceeded. The idea that had at once flashed upon his mind was appallingly realized. One of the poor fellows, engaged at the reducing of the blubber, was in the condition of being dragged out of the boiling cauldron by his associate in the work!

My Father's most powerful helping hand was opportunely available, and, with the quickness of thought, he plunged the appalled sufferer into a large cistern of cold oil and blubber, resting on the platform above the copper,-a cistern, or "beck," as it is called, out of which the contents of the copper, after being boiled and emptied, were to be renewed. In this most appropriate bath, the poor fellow was for a considerable time kept immersed. My impression is that he was kept there until means were obtained for his removal; and then he was conveyed, without further delay, to the London Hospital. His life, notwithstanding the terrible severity, was thus happily saved. My Father's conduct was highly commended and applauded by the medical staff of the Hospital, both for his discernment of the best treatment, perhaps, which could have been administered, and for his so promptly giving the sufferer the advantage of it.

The cause of this appalling accident, was, I believe, the breaking of the staff of the stirrer, which the night-watch over the boiling was required to have continually in motion, to prevent the "finks" (the cellular substance of the blubber) sticking to the bottom or sides of the copper when boiling. By the sudden failure of the staff, against which he pressed his shoulder, he was projected forward, but, providentially, not so as to fall headlong,-his effort to recover himself so far succeeding as to cause him to plunge feet foremost, whilst he sunk, on attempting to reach the shelving side of the copper, up to the waist in the horrible bath!

I yet remember, young as I then was, the return of the debilitated but happy sufferer, after his discharge, "as cured," from the Hospital. The man, whom I had known familiarly as a stout, lively, good-natured fellow, was now reduced into a mere shred-a poor, pallid creature, an almost skeleton of a man! But his ultimate restoration, I believe, was quite complete. He knew and appreciated the wisdom with which he had been treated-he felt and acknowledged that to my Father, under Providence, he owed his life.

Section III.-The Dandy Sailor; or, "Fine Tommy."

In this connection, whilst now story-telling, we may perhaps, as fittingly as elsewhere, introduce a little record, very often told by my Father, for enforcing a moral lesson in respect of a species of folly which we often witness, and from which some of my young readers, peradventure, may not find themselves entirely devoid.

If the sacrifice of personal comfort to the tyranny of fashion appeared to my Father a great absurdity; much more did the risking of health for the indulgence of personal conceit in dress, or the braving of severity of climate, inadequately clothed, from the vanity of singularity in hardiness, seem to him as the very summit and extravagance of folly.

It was in support of his views on this particular subject, when conspicuous instances of such folly happened to come before him, that my Father was wont to tell, as an impressive warning, the instructive story of "Fine Tommy."

Fine Tommy, who had acquired this appellation by particularity and almost dandyism of dress when at sea, was a smart and well-looking youthful sailor, who had shipped himself with my Father in one of the voyages in which he commanded the "Dundee." His personal conceit, so unusual with the thoroughbred sailor, was nevertheless associated in him with such a measure of activity and seamanlike acquirements, as to save him from that ridicule of his associates, which in any other case would have been excessive, if not intolerable. Whilst the temperature of the weather was but moderately severe, his appearance on deck in a smart light shore-going jacket, exposed him to little damage beyond the playful salutations of his comrades,-salutations which he was wont good-humouredly to return by speaking with indifference of the hitherto experienced cold, and ridiculing the feminine weakness of a premature muffling of the person with pea-jackets, huge boots, comforters, and mittens.

During most of the progress of the ship northward, Fine Tommy continued successfully and proudly to brave, as I have just intimated, the gradually increasing cold, and that without material inconvenience or damage. But at length, when the region of ice had been some little way penetrated, the previously prevailing southerly or temperate wind happened to shift during the night to the northward, which, with a fresh blowing gale, brought a rapidly lowering temperature, approaching the zero of the thermometic scale. The ship soon became covered with ice, and a chilly penetrating "frost-rime" powdered the hair, or (as in some cases adopted) the rough wigs of the sailors. Before Fine Tommy's watch was called,-for there were usually three watches in the whale ships, affording eight hours below alternately with four upon deck,-the extreme change, almost from a bearable frostiness to the greatest severity of cold, had taken place. He, incredulous of the influence as well as unconscious of the change that had taken place, came up in his usual clothing, a thin jacket, light shoes, and uncovered hands. Now jeered by his watch-mates as to his perception of cold, he determinately faced the chilling blast, renewing his bravadoes of indifference of feeling even to the then prevailing severity. This lasted during his two watches for the day. All hands besides were muffled up in every species of warm clothing, whilst Fine Tommy still walked the deck and performed his various duties with no other protection against the really Arctic severity of cold than aforetime.

On the calling of the watch the following morning, however, Fine Tommy did not appear. The next day, too, he was absent from his station. When his turn came to take the helm he was not there. Enquiry was made, and my Father found, as he had well predicted, that Fine Tommy was ill, and obliged to keep his bed. Day after day, and week after week, passed over, and the absent one was still unseen. Even months passed over until the voyage, which had been prospered with splendid success, was approaching to a close, so that the attainment of a temperate latitude and a return of warm weather had begun to cheer our northern adventurers with the prospect of a speedy realization of home enjoyment, when, like the hybernating insect revived by the genial influence of the summer sun, Fine Tommy was also resuscitated; and the long prostrate and once foolish defier of the Arctic climate appeared again upon deck to breathe the restorative air as it came pure from the grand repository of the atmosphere, instead of the defiled and mixed vapours of the 'tween decks of a whale-ship.

The lesson thus impressively taught was often read in my hearing; the application, in some cases, possibly, might be intended for myself. If one was seen wading, as it were, in mud with a pair of light shoes inadequate for defence either against cold or wet,-the admonition or remark was ever prompt, "it would be well to mind Fine Tommy." If a fashionable "dandy" coat, in the days of dandyism, were worn in the severity of winter; if a dress insufficient for protection or warmth were, by either sex, observed to be worn; if the outside of a coach were mounted without an adequate covering, or a ride in an open carriage undertaken with only the habiliments usually worn in walking, the monition became natural, as the moral was apt,-"to remember Fine Tommy." Whenever, too, I have myself remarked the analogous folly, every where, indeed, more or less observable, of risking health or abandoning personal comfort to appearance or fashion, the moral of this very lesson has constantly been forced on my recollection, tempting to the relation of the story, in order to the more impressive effect of the warning,-"Remember Fine Tommy!"

Section IV.-Unfortunate Voyage, and Adventure in the Greenland Ices.

One of my Father's voyages in the Dundee, and but one in the various ships he commanded for a period of upwards of a quarter of a century, commencing with the year 1792, proved a failure. The failure, however, arose from one of those incidental circumstances of climate, on the one part, and neglect of a principal officer, on the other part, which no human foresight could have anticipated, or human skill or diligence have remedied, after the perilous character of the ice-entanglement became clearly apparent.

This misadventure occurred, singularly enough, when I happened, though only a boy of ten years of age at the time, to be of the number of the souls on board. On the invitation of my Father, who had landed from his ship in passing Whitby, on his progress northward, to take leave of his family, I had gone off with him, designing to return by the pilot boat, to see the ship. I was astonished with what I saw; I explored with unmixed delight every accessible compartment of the cabins and store-rooms below, and conceived an irresistible desire to remain where I was, and go out on the voyage. At length the call of the pilots for "Master William," as the day advanced to its close, put my desire to the test of practicability. For a while I remained silent below, and when silence was no longer likely to be available, I contrived the child-like device of hiding my hat, which, on ascending the companion ladder bare-headed, I let it be understood I could not find! My Father having noticed my delight, and interpreting rightly the little device, remarked to the pilots,-"Don't mind him; he will go along with us." A mother's anguish, however, who loved me with the tenderest and most ardent affection, flashed into my mind. It forced utterance in the expression,-"But what will my Mother say?" The reply, curiously enough regarded as being consolatory, sufficed to allay my scruples,-"She will love you better when you come back!" The pilots still urging haste in my embarkation, as the boat was thumping heavily against the ship's gangway, were at length made sensible of what they at first could not credit, that I was to remain behind; and they set out for the shore in no small condition of amazement, and with no slight feeling of sympathising embarrassment, on account of the report they must yield to one, whom they sufficiently knew as an anxious, susceptible, and affectionate mother!

But my own story must be here suspended, as it possibly may hereafter find a place, if Providence yield me health and life for the undertaking, in the series of the "Memorials of the Sea," which, sometimes, I venture to contemplate carrying on.

The leading incidents of this disappointing enterprise, I am enabled to give with a satisfactory measure of confidence, from a record made of it, many years ago, in a private autobiography, from which, mainly, I extract the following details.

After touching at Lerwick (Shetland), for the completion of our supplementary crew of boatmen, we proceeded northward towards the usual whale-fishing stations. On arriving in sight of Spitzbergen, and finding the western coast accessible, with a vein of clear water running continuously along shore, we pursued the encouraging opening as far as the northern headland of Charles Island, in latitude 78° 53′ N. Here, tempted by the clear water eastward, we reached into a wide inlet near King's Bay, when, by a sudden gale coming on from the northward and north-westward, we were driven, encumbered by ice of recent formation, and fragments of old ice, into the opening betwixt the foreland and the main, where the ship ultimately became closely beset in the Bay of Birds of Barentz.

At first, the officers in general thought little of the entanglement, expecting that any favourable change of wind would serve to release us. My Father, however, watching the augmentation in the thickness of the ice, by pressure and frost, received, very early, a more anxious impression. He had observed, indeed, that the ice was not yet thoroughly sealed together and fixed into an immoveable mass. For, periodically, he perceived, that some relaxation in the compactness of the general body of ices took place, which he ascribed to the action of a tide; and, on one evening, before retiring to rest, when a fine breeze, favourable for promoting an opening seaward had begun to prevail, he rather confidently anticipated some relaxation which might be available for our escape at the period of the favourably acting tide. In this expectation, he gave special orders to the chief officer, who had formerly been a whaling commander, and ought to have well appreciated the importance of the instruction,-to call him when the hoped-for relaxation of the ice might take place. But, disappointingly enough, he awoke of himself after a rather long sleep, when, as his watch indicated, the time of favourable tide must be passed. He anxiously dressed himself and hasted upon deck; but, whilst much slack and navigable ice was yet visible at some little distance to the north-westward, all about the ship was close and impenetrable. His enquiry as to whether the ice about the ship had not also slacked? led to the mortifying admission, reluctantly extracted, that the ice had indeed slacked very near to the ship, but, as was intimated in excuse, "it was so rank and difficult that nothing could be done without 'calling all hands,' and much trouble; and he," the chief mate, "thought it would perhaps be more cleared away, by the hopeful breeze, by the time the Captain turned out!"

The highly culpable folly of this conduct became too soon apparent to all. For when an easterly, and then a southerly wind blew, without inducing any repetition of the slackness that had been missed; when we found the whole of the accumulated ices frozen into a solid field, without crack, or opening of any kind to be seen from the mast-head; when we marked our position as deeply embayed within the projecting headlands, and the ice everywhere wedged up against and cemented to all the circumjacent shores,-every one became anxious respecting the success of the voyage, whilst some began to entertain the depressing apprehension that the ship might possibly be detained throughout the winter!

The story of our distressing detention, with the measures adopted partly for the employment of the men, but which became ultimately available, even beyond our utmost hopes, for facilitating our release, is too long,-consistently with the extent designed for this volume, and the completion hereafter, possibly, of some personal records,-for being given in detail. It may be sufficient, for our present purpose, now to say, that after the endurance of the misery of an eight weeks' besetment, release was happily attained, and the Dundee was again free (but not until the season adapted for the fishery had thus been all but wasted) to range through any part of the ordinarily accessible ocean.

Our course being directed towards the north-west, we soon fell in with ships, and learnt that the fishery had been tolerably good, and that two or three ships had already obtained almost full cargoes.

Shortly afterwards we met with fish, and all hands set forth in earnest anxious pursuit. But they were, in fact, too anxious, and, in part, discouraged by the idea that the season was about at an end. Their efforts, in consequence, were ill directed or inadequately followed up, and only mortifying failures resulted. Stimulated by the defects and failures of his harponeers, my Father was induced to try the chase himself. Forthwith taking his post at the bow of one of the boats, he soon gave evidence of his superior efficiency. He "struck" whale after whale to the amount of three; but not being adequately supported by the other boats, one of the first of these escaped from the harpoon, under circumstances such as, he considered, should have led to its capture. Excited by this failure, he changed boats, in one of the other cases, after the fish, under the first harpoon, had reappeared at the surface; and, as the harponeers generally seemed heartless and inert, he changed again, after fastening another harpoon, until he had planted no less than three or four harpoons, in the same fish, with his own hands!

The season, however, soon came to a close, and these two whales, with a dead one which was also discovered by himself, constituted the whole of the Dundee's cargo in this trying year,-a cargo yielding only five-and-forty tuns of oil, yet amounting, after all, to nearly two-thirds of the general average of the Greenland fishery.

Notwithstanding this serious abstraction from the general average of his five years' adventures in the Dundee, my Father's general pre-eminence was, in the issue, still maintained. During these five voyages, ninety-four whales were captured, and an amount of 812 tuns of oil brought to market. The yearly average, inclusive of the year of unavoidable failure, was no less than 18·8 whales, producing 162·4 tuns of oil, besides the fair proportion of whalebone, sealskins, etc.

Compared with the fishery from Hull and Whitby, and, as far as my materials go, elsewhere, this result was considerably beyond that of any other Greenland whaler. With respect to the Hull average for the same period, the Dundee's superiority was in the ratio of 162·4 to 77·5 tuns of oil, or more than two to one. In comparison with the success of any other individual ship, the Dundee still stood at the head of the list,-the nearest approach in Hull being that of the Ellison, a ship commanded, during four years out of the five, by the same enterprising and talented officer, Mr. Allan, as we had occasion to notice, so favourably, in a former comparison. The Molly, Captain Angus Sadler,-a hardy adventurous and able commander, who, in subsequent years, became chief amongst his competitors from Hull,-obtained, during my Father's command of the Dundee, the next highest amount of cargoes,-the total, in the five years, being 689 tuns of oil. The Egginton, Wray, (one voyage under another captain) obtained, at the same time, 508 tuns; the Symmetry, Rose, 481 tuns; the Fanny, Jameson and Taylor, 460 tuns; the Manchester, Matson, 417 tuns, etc.;-the Dundee's cargoes, as has been shewn, being, in the same period, 812 tuns.

But, besides these comparisons, in all respects so favourable, we may again venture, up to the end of eleven years of consecutive adventures, to take the severest test of competition; viz. a comparison betwixt the Dundee's cargoes, and that of the select cargoes, for the five corresponding years, of the most prosperous Greenland-man, from Hull, of each year. And under this amount, being 806 tuns of oil, the Dundee is found still to stand the first.

Section V.-Successful Stratagem in War.

An incident of a very stirring and exciting nature occurred in the very outset of the unfortunate voyage just referred to, which I here take occasion of introducing, as very characteristic of my Father's tact and cool self-possession.

A day or two after leaving the coast of Yorkshire, from whence I had myself embarked,-the weather being fine with a brisk and favourable wind, and the ship going steadily and swiftly under her ample and well-trimmed sails,-all hands were set to work, my Father superintending, in clearing the 'tween-decks of a variety of stores hastily taken in, and confusedly scattered about, in order to make all snug and secure for the North-Sea passage. So much were all hands, men and officers, engrossed by this important labour of clearance and order, that, some how or other, the "look-out" had been for awhile neglected, when, suddenly it was announced, by a voice calling out from the deck at one of the hatchways-"a ship bearing down close upon us!"

It being a time of war, and the North Sea abounding with ships of war and privateers of the enemy, the announcement produced an instant suspension of the work going on, and drew universal attention to a circumstance which might possibly involve the safety of life and property in the ship.

My Father's quick eye, and sure telescopic glance, discovered at once the characteristic marks of an enemy, and vessel of war. She was bearing down, steering easterly, exactly so as to intercept our track, but not on any of the courses usually steered either for England, France, or Denmark. Already she had approached within a little more than a mile of our position, and so that in about a quarter of an hour we must be within hailing distance.

With the promptness and coolness characteristic of the Dundee's Commander, measures for self-defence, and skilful strategy, were arranged and progress commenced. These measures, I conceive, are worthy of some particular notice.

His habit, it should be observed, was to endeavour to anticipate, in quiet contemplation, the various contingencies pertaining to his enterprise, which, peradventure, might be considered as not unlikely to happen. The meeting of an enemy, therefore, was one of those incidents that had been regarded as by no means improbable, and the dealing with which, by what ingenious tact or device might be available, had been well considered. For to fight with an enemy, where stratagy might answer for an escape, was justly held as most unwise, where success in conflict could gain no prize;[F] where failure must issue in loss of property, voyage, and personal liberty; and where either failure or success must probably involve a loss of life, for which there was neither call of duty to risk, nor possible compensation to justify.

Fortunately, had the extremity required, he was in a position calculated for a brave defence. The Dundee was as well armed as she was well manned, carrying twelve guns, eighteen pounders, I believe, with a crew of betwixt fifty and sixty men. The guns were already loaded, and in every way fit for immediate service.

The stratagy, in this case, contemplated, was to give, to the threatening assailant, the surprise of a concealed armament, and the impression as of a designed deception in the class of ship assumed.

And fortunate it was, that there were circumstances connected with the qualifications of the crew, and the construction of the ship, admirably adapted for the experiment proposed. For contemplating, as we have intimated, such a risk as that now threatening him, my Father had selected out of the variety of hands offering themselves for the voyage, two men of rather unusual qualifications,-one, who was an adept in beating the drum, the other "in winding a boatswain's call." These qualities, amongst seafaring men, being almost peculiar to classes employed in vessels of war, induced a preference, in respect to them, over others, though the drummer might by no means be equal to some who were rejected, in regard to general seamen-like attainments.

The construction of the ship, too, was well adapted for the execution of the proposed surprise, being "deep-waisted" with a high quarter-deck, and having her guns entirely below, with no outward indication, at a distance, of either ports or armament.

On the first alarm, the hands, with one accord, had begun to swarm up on the deck, but their retirement was promptly commanded. The men required for the guns were sent to their quarters, with orders to make all ready for action, but to lift no port. The hands above, whilst requiring to move about, were kept as much as possible on the leeside of the deck, where, from the heeling of the ship and the enemy's windward position, they were in sufficient concealment. The drummer and boatswain, now most important elements in the plan, had their special instructions, whilst the crew thus became generally sensible, by means of the orders given, of the ingenious device of their commander, so as to be well prepared to give to it its utmost impression.

Short as the time was,-the coolness of the commander being communicated to the men, so as to relieve the urgent haste from any embarrassing confusion,-all arrangements had been completed before the enemy came within hailing distance. At that period (as apparently from the first), everything visible on board the Dundee indicated an unconcerned quietness, and utter unconsciousness of danger from the stranger's approach. The men on deck were laid down flat on their faces. My Father coolly walking the quarter-deck, and the helmsman engaged in his office of steering, were the only living beings who could be discerned from the deck of the assailant.

Without showing any colours, in answer to our English ensign waving at the mizen-peak, the stranger came down to within short musket-shot distance, when a loud and unintelligible roar of the Captain, through his speaking-trumpet, indicated the usual demand of the nation or denomination of our ship. A significant wave of my Father's hand served instead of a reply. The drum beats to quarters, and whilst the roll yet reverberates around, the shrill sound of the boatswain's pipe is heard above all. And whilst the hoarse voice of this officer is yet giving forth the consequent orders, the apparently plain sides of the ship become suddenly pierced; six ports on a side are simultaneously raised, and as many untompioned cannon, threatening a more serious bellowing than that of the now astonished Captain's trumpet-aided voice, are run out, pointing ominously toward the enemy's broadside!

The stratagem was complete; its impression quite perfect. The adversary seemed electrified. Men on the enemy's deck, some with lighted matches in hand, and plainly visible to us by reason of her heeling position whilst descending obliquely from the windward, were seen to fall flat, as if prostrated by our shot; the guns, pointed threateningly at us, remained silent; the helm flew to port, and the yards to the wind, on our opposite tack; and without waiting for answer to his summons, or venturing to renew his attempt on such a formidable looking opponent, he suddenly hauled off, under full sail, in a direction differing, by some six points, from that in which he had previously intercepted our track!

Section VI.-Extraordinary Exploit in "cutting-in" single-handed, a moderately-grown Young Whale.

The tardy formality with which the "flensing" of the whale was accomplished, irrespective of the particular magnitude of the animal to be despoiled of its blubber and whalebone, was frequently a source of great annoyance to my Father. The number of cuts, with the placing of straps, and attachment of tackles, had become-like the skeleton forms issued by public offices-an established system; and, cumbrous as it was, with respect to fish of smaller growth, it was made generally applicable to all. The effect of this was, that whilst the largest sized fish would be flensed in about four hours, the taking in of one of the fourth, or sixth part its size would occupy nearly half as much time. An hour and a half at least, but more frequently two hours, at that period of the fishery, would be expended upon one of the ordinary small-sized whales. The poor little carcass, indeed, was encumbered by the number of the harponeers (to whose province belongs the fixing of the tackles and the cutting away of the blubber) congregated upon, or about it, whilst flensing.

As every instance of remonstrance, whilst failing in producing any improvement, regularly induced unpleasantness of feeling, my Father was at length provoked to put forth a challenge, to which his officers were able to offer no possible objection, except the indication, by look and gesture, that they would derive some recompense for the rebukes passed on them, by certain and signal failure. His adventurous challenge was, that, with the assistance of only one-third part of the available crew, he would go on a fish, and send it in, single-handed, in half the time occupied by the four or six harponeers with the help of all hands!

Opportunities for the experiment being at this time abundantly afforded, he forthwith prepared himself for this trial of skill. The available hands-that is, excluding cook, steward, surgeon, etc.-were usually about forty-five or forty-six in number. Out of these he took, not a picked set, but only two boats' crews, with their supernumeraries, according to their existing classification, comprising about sixteen men. These he appointed to their several stations about the deck; eight to the capstan, four, perhaps, to the "crab" or "winch," and the rest to manage the "tackle-falls," to cut up the blubber and heave it into the "flens-gut," or receptacle for it below. The two boys who were appointed, on the usual plan, to hold the boat in which he was to stand whilst flensing, were, perhaps, extra; but this I forget.

Previous to the commencement of the experiment, the preparing of his cutting instruments, viz. a "blubber-spade" and "blubber-knife," became matter of personal and special attention. The spade, (an instrument with the cutting part about eight inches broad, and used in the manner of the "hay-spade,") was not merely ground to a fine edge and then sharpened with an oil-stone, but the sides (ordinarily left black with varnish, or encrusted with rust,) were reduced by the grindstone to a bright and smooth surface. His blubber-knife (an instrument with a three feet blade and three feet straight handle) was, in like manner, carefully ground, sharpened, and polished; so that these instruments, presenting the least possible resistance, from the adhesion of the metal to the blubber, when in use, the muscular strength of the flenser might, in no respect, be uselessly expended.

All things being ready, and the men duly distributed, the time was noted, and my Father, single-handed, as I have said,-except as to a man to put in the straps[G] and attach the tackles, that he might not have occasion to wet or grease his hands,-proceeded to the trial on his apparently presumptuous challenge.

The plan he had previously determined on, and which subsequently became very common in the flensing of small fish, was the following:-

The under part of the head (always being placed upward for flensing), with the jaw-bones, "lips," and tongue, is first attached to the capstan tackle, and, being separated as it is hove up, is taken on deck altogether. Meanwhile the skull, with the whalebone and upper part of the head,-which is brought in sight, clear of the water, by the strain hove upon the other section or lower jaw,-is secured by the second tackle, and speedily made to follow its companion in the ascent to the deck.

One of the fins, having a strap previously put round it, is next hove upon, till (the fish being free to roll over, so as to adjust its position to the direction of the strain,) it is well raised upward, and, the blubber annexed to it, put upon the stretch. The fin is then easily "unsocketed," and the blubber on the seaward side being cut across beyond it, it becomes the attachment for heaving up a long slip of three or four feet in width, and extending, with its upper part, high above the level of the deck. As this ascends, (the fish meanwhile spontaneously "canting" outwardly from the ship), the other fin appears in sight, and, being embraced by another strap, is, in its turn, hove up by the "fore-tackle" correspondently, as to its further progress, with its fellow. When the attachment of the second, or fore-tackle, rises to about the level of the deck, the blubber-slip is cut across, just above the place of that attachment, and the separated portion, being lowered down upon the deck, is cut up, with singular celerity, into square lumps, adapted for being easily thrown about by the "pick-haak" men; and these, as rapidly as they are cut out, are made to disappear through a hole in one of the main-hatches into the flens-gut below.

The moment the first, or "after-tackle," is released, it is overhauled again over the ship's side, and, a fresh strap being fixed in the continuous slip, (which, to preserve its continuity, is cut spirally from the carcass,) the progress of the operation goes on, without ceasing, till the whole superficies of blubber is removed.

The progress in the case referred to must, doubtless, have been regarded with strange feelings of astonishment and mortification by the severely rebuked harponeers; for, on the completion of the operation, the watch being again appealed to, the adventurous challenge was found to have been triumphantly vindicated. Instead of the work being effected, as challenged to be done, in half the time which had been expended by thrice the force in the number of men, it was found to have occupied but little more than a third part of that interval. With all hands to help, the time frequently expended by the harponeers in flensing a small fish had been nearly two hours; my Father, with a third part of the crew, had, single-handed, done the same thing in almost forty minutes!

This extraordinary feat of tact and strength was first accomplished, I believe, during my Father's command of the Dundee; but the feat was repeated, under my own observation, on board the Resolution, and the tardiness of a burdensome system, still too prevalently acted upon by the officers, was similarly rebuked. To the extent, at least of a saving of one-half the time spent in the operation by the harponeers, the bold experiment, single-handed and with but one-third of the crew, was successfully repeated.

My Father's plan of proceeding, in this extraordinary feat, is worthy of notice. His constitutional habit, as I may term it, of a sort of deliberate celerity was here the characteristic of his progress. But no time was wasted. As fast as the men on deck could heave-up the blubber, the blubber was freed to their hands. Every change of tackle, or place of working, was so managed as to leave no interruption in the labours of his men. As he never himself ceased working, he took care by judicious preconsideration, that they should never stand idle. On the contrary, he had his own part always in advance of their province, so that, in order to keep pace with him, they were stimulated to the utmost practicable degree of activity. The capstan, whilst the tackle was slack, or the strain slight, actually spun round, whilst the hands on it, "shortening in on the bars," ran at their utmost speed. An instinctive spirit was infused into every department; for no section of the men liked to be behind, so as to be in the humiliating position of hinderers of the others.

Though the master-hand was accomplishing so much in so short a time,-more, in this species of work, I may be bold to say, than any other man ever did before or since,-there was no appearance of hurry. His sharp and finely-polished spade with which he chiefly worked, seemed to meet with no resistance from the animal textures against which its edge was directed. Instead of cutting downward through the blubber a spade-breadth at a time, as most usually was done, he would run the instrument in a direction obliquely horizontal, so as to separate the slip then heaving up from the general envelopment of the blubber, for a yard or two in extent, at a single stroke or thrust of the instrument. The slight attachment of the blubber to the muscles of the carcass could then be usually torn away (with a touch underneath with the spade when incidentally needful to be cut) by the force with which the slip was being raised by the mechanical engines in motion on the deck.

Thus proceeding with calm and quiet self-possession, and with unceasing perseverance, few cuts being made but at the best advantage, and no stroke of his cutting-tools being struck in vain, the work proceeded with such despatch as to accomplish the extraordinary results we have just described.

FOOTNOTES:

[E] Up to the end of the eighteenth century my Father's successes, with but rare exceptions, were at the head of the list of the whole of the northern whalers, both of Davis' Strait and Greenland. But about this period Captain Marshall, in the Davis'-Strait branch, began to take the lead of all competitors there.

[F] Some of our readers may require to be informed, that an ordinary merchant ship, not having "letters of marque" for acting as a privateer, can have no claim on any property which the bravery of her captain and crew might take from an enemy. So that, in the event of capturing an assailant, as might have been possible in the case referred to, the hard blows and damage must be borne by the merchantman, whilst the prize would fall due to the first ship of war incidently met with, or otherwise to the sovereign or public officers at home.

[G] Blubber-straps are usually made out of whale-line, but some of thicker cordage, and consist of a length of about two fathoms for each strap, the ends of which being spliced together, constitute a flexible ring of rope. A hole being cut through the commencing end of the slip of blubber to be raised, the strap, being of course double, is inserted therein, and the two ends, brought together from the opposite sides of the blubber, are looped over the hook of the tackle, and so the attachment for heaving up made complete. It may here be added, that the tackles for flensing are fixed aloft to a strong rope, along which the blocks are distributed, extending (but not very tightly stretched) from the mainmast-head to that of the foremast, called the guy. The considerable height of this attachment of the tackles (or, technically, "speck-tackles") permits a long slip of blubber to be hove up in continuity, whilst the distribution of the blocks thereon admits of the two tackles being worked either jointly or separately without interference.