Part 6

On the 25th of June, 1812, one of the harpooners belonging to the Resolution, of Whitby, under my command, struck a whale by the edge of a small floe of ice. Assistance being promptly afforded, a second boat's lines was attached to those of the _fast-boat_, in a few minutes after the harpoon was disgraced. The remainder of the boats proceeded at some distance, in the direction the fish seemed to have taken. In about a quarter of an hour the fast-boat, to my surprise, again made a signal for lines. As the ship was then within five minutes sail, we instantly steered towards the boat, with the view of affording assistance by means of a spare boat we still retained on board. Before we reached the place, however, we observed four oars displayed in signal order, which by their number, indicated a most urgent necessity for assistance. Two or three men were at the same time seen seated close by the stern, which was considerably elevated, for the purpose of keeping it down; while the bow of the boat, by the force of the line, was drawn down to the level of the sea, and the harpooner, by the friction of the line round the bollard, was enveloped in smoky obscurity. At length, when the ship was scarcely 100 yards distant, we perceived preparations for quitting the boat. The sailor's pea-jackets were cast upon the adjoining ice, the oars were thrown down, the crew leaped overboard, the bow of the boat was buried in the water, the stern rose perpendicularly and then majestically disappeared. The harpooner having caused the end of the line to be fastened to the iron ring at the boat's stern, was the means of its loss;[13] and a _tongue_ of the ice, on which was a depth of several feet of water, kept the boat, by the pressure of the line against it, at such a considerable distance, as prevented the crew from leaping upon the floe. Some of them were therefore put to the necessity of swimming for their preservation, but all of them succeeded in scrambling upon the ice, and were taken on board of the ship in a few minutes afterwards.

[13] "Giving a whale the boat," as the voluntary sacrifice of a boat is termed, is a scheme not unfrequently practised by the fisher when in want of line. By submitting to this risk, he expects to gain the fish, and still has the chance of recovering his boat and its materials. It is only practised in open ice or at fields.

I may here observe, that it is an uncommon circumstance for a fish to require more than two boats' lines in such a situation; none of our harpooners, therefore, had any scruple in leaving the fast-boat, never suspecting, after it had received the assistance of one boat with six lines or upward, that it would need any more.

Several ships being about us, there was a possibility that some person might attack and make a prize of the whale, when it had so far escaped us, that we no longer retained any hold of it; as such, we sat all the sail the ship could safely sustain, and worked through several narrow and intricate channels in the ice, in the direction I observed the fish had retreated. After a little time it was descried by the people in the boats, at a considerable distance to the eastward; a general chase immediately commenced, and within the space of an hour three harpoons were struck. We now imagined the fish was secure, but our expectations were premature. The whale resolutely pushed beneath a large floe that had been recently broken to pieces by the swell, and soon drew all the lines out of the second fast-boat; the officer of which, not being able to get any assistance, tied the end of his line to a hammock of ice, and broke it. Soon afterwards, the other two boats, still _fast_, were dragged against the broken floe, when one of the harpoons drew out. The lines of only one boat, therefore, remained fast to the fish, and this with six or eight lines out, was dragged forward into the shattered floe with astonishing force. Pieces of ice, each of which was sufficiently large to have answered the purpose of a mooring for a ship were wheeled about by the strength of the whale; and such was the tension and elasticity of the line, that whenever it slipped clear of any mass of ice, after turning it round, into the space between any two adjoining pieces, the boat and its crew flew forward through the crack, with the velocity of an arrow, and never failed to launch several feet upon the first mass of ice that it encountered.

While we scoured the sea around the broken floe with the ship, and while the ice was attempted in vain by the boats, the whale continued to press forward in an easterly direction towards the sea. At length, when 14 lines (about 1680 fathoms) were drawn from the fourth fast-boat, a slight entanglement of the line, broke it at the stem. The fish then again made its escape, taking along with it a boat and 28 lines. The united length of the lines was 6720 yards, or upwards of 3-3/4 English miles; value, with the boat, above 150_l._ sterling.

The obstruction of the sunken boat, to the progress of the fish, must have been immense; and that of the lines likewise considerable; the weight of lines alone, being 25 hundred weight.

So long as the fourth fast-boat, through the medium of its lines, retained its hold of the fish, we searched the adjoining sea with the ship in vain; but, in a short time after the line was divided, we got sight of the object of pursuit, at the distance of near two miles to the eastward of the ice and boats, in the open sea. One boat only with lines, and two empty boats, were reserved by the ship. Having, however, fortunately fine weather, and a fresh breeze of wind, we immediately gave chase under all sails; though, it must be confessed, with the insignificant force by us, the distance of the fish, and the rapidity of its flight considered, we had but very small hopes of success. At length, after pursuing it five or six miles, being at least nine miles from the place where it was struck, we came up with it, and it seemed inclined to rest after its extraordinary exertions. The two dismantled or empty boats having been furnished with two lines each, (a very inadequate supply,) they, together with the one in a good state of equipment, now made an attack upon the whale. One of the harpooners made a blunder; the fish saw the boat, took the alarm, and again fled. I now supposed it would be seen no more; nevertheless, we chased nearly a mile in the direction I imagined it had taken, and placed the boats to the best of my judgment, in the most advantageous situations. In this case we were extremely fortunate. The fish rose near one of the boats, and was immediately harpooned. In a few minutes two more harpoons entered its back, and lances were plied against it with vigour and success. Exhausted by its amazing exertions to escape, it yielded itself at length to its fate, received the piercing wounds of the lances without resistance, and finally died without a struggle. Thus terminated with success, an attack upon a whale, which exhibited the most uncommon determination to escape from its pursuers, seconded by the most amazing strength of any individual whose capture I ever witnessed. After all, it may seem surprising, that it was not a particularly large individual; the largest lamina of whalebone only measuring 9 feet six inches, while those affording 12 feet _bone_ are not uncommon.[14] The quantity of line withdrawn from the different boats engaged in the capture, was singularly great. It amounted, all together, to 10,440 yards, or nearly six English miles. Of these, 13 new lines were lost, together with the sunken boat; the harpoon connecting them to the fish having dropt out before the whale was killed.

[14] It has been frequently observed, that whales of this size are the most active of the species; and that those of a very large growth are, in general, captured with less trouble.

"_Fishers thrown overboard, by the jerking or sudden heeling of the Boats, in consequence of blows from Whales._--On the third of June 1811, a boat from the ship Resolution, commanded at the time by myself, put off in pursuit of a whale, and was rowed upon its back. At the moment that it was harpooned, it struck the side of the boat a violent blow with its tail, the shock of which threw the boat-steerer to some distance into the water. A repetition of the blow projected the harpooner and line-manager in a similar way, and completely drenched the part of the crew remaining in the boat, with the sprays. One of the men regained the boat, but as the fish immediately sunk, and drew the boat away from the place, his two companions in misfortune were soon left far beyond the reach of assistance. The harpooner though a practised swimmer, felt himself so brushed and enervated by a blow he had received on the chest, that he was totally incapacitated from giving the least support to his fellow sufferer. The ship being happily near, a boat which had been lowered on the first alarm, arrived to their succour, at the moment when the line-manager, who was unacquainted with the art of swimming, was on the point of sinking, to rise no more. Both the line-manager and harpooner were preserved; and the fish, after a few hours close pursuit, was subdued.

A large whale harpooned from a boat belonging to the same ship, became the subject of a general chase on the 23d of June, 1809. Being myself in the first boat which approached the fish, I struck my harpoon at arm's length, by which we fortunately evaded a blow that appeared to be aimed at the boat. Another boat then advanced, and another harpoon was struck, but not with the same result; for the stroke was immediately returned by a tremendous blow from the fishes tail. The boat was sunk by the shock; and, at the same time, whirled round with such velocity, that the boat-steerer was precipitated into the water, on the side next to the fish, and was accidentally carried down to a considerable depth by its tail. After a minute or so, he arose to the surface of the water and was taken up, along with his companions, into my boat. A similar attack was made on the next boat which came up; but the harpooner being warned of the prior conduct of the fish, used such precautions, that the blow, though equal in strength, took effect only in an inferior degree. The boat was slightly stove. The activity and skill of the lancers soon overcame this designing whale, accomplished its capture, and added its produce to the cargo of the ship. Such intentional mischief on the part of a whale, it must be observed, is an occurrence which is somewhat rare."

From a work, entitled, "A Statistical, Commercial and Political Description of Venezuela, Trinidad, Margarita, and Tobago."

WILD HORSES AND ASSES.

There are thousands of horses which are wild in the forests, and do not belong to any one. I was enabled to ascertain a fact, known to all who have travelled in this country. The horses live there in societies, generally to the number of five or six hundred, and even one thousand: they occupy immense savannas, where it is dangerous to disturb or try to catch them. In the dry season they are sometimes obliged to go two or three leagues, and even more, to find water. They set out in regular ranks of four abreast, and thus form a procession of an extent of a quarter of a league. There are always five or six scouts, who precede the troop by about fifty paces. If they perceive a man or jaguar (the American tiger,) they neigh, and the troop stops: if avoided, they continue their march; but, if an attempt be made to pass by their squadron, they leap on the imprudent traveller, and crush him under their feet. The best way is always to avoid them, and let them continue their route: they have also a chief, who marches between the scouts and the squadron, and five or six other horses march on each side of the band,--a kind of adjutants, whose duty consists in hindering any individual from quitting the ranks. If any one attempts to straggle either from hunger or fatigue, he is bitten till he resumes his place, and the culprit obeys with his head hanging down. Three or four chiefs march as the rear guard, at five or six paces from the troop. I had often heard, at Trinidad, of this discipline among the wild horses, and confess that I could scarcely believe it, but what I have just stated is a fact which I witnessed twice on the banks of the Guaripiche, where I encamped five days, for the express purpose of seeing those organized troops pass. I have met, on the shores of the Orinoco, herds of fifty to a hundred wild oxen: a chief always marched at the head, and another at the rear.

The people of the country have assured me, that the wild asses, when they travel, observe the same discipline as the horses; but the mules, though they also live in troops, are continually fighting with each other, and it has not been observed that they have any chief. They however unite, at the appearance of a common enemy, and display still more trick and address than the horses, in avoiding the snares which are laid for catching them, and also for escaping when taken.

PREMIUMS FOR WORKMANSHIP.

_Boston, July 6._--Agreeably to custom, that useful and popular Institution, the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association, availed themselves of this Anniversary, to distribute the MEDALS and PREMIUMS offered by them for exhibitions of superior workmanship and genius.--We think the occasion happily selected, as the _Mechanic Arts_ are one of the first sources of the _Independence_ of a nation, and are free from any of the objections which are made to the undue increase of manufactures.

The Government Judges of Premiums, and Marshals, having breakfasted with their President, proceeded at an early hour to the Washington Gardens, where the examination of the articles presented, was finished, and the awards made. The President then announced, that Judges had awarded the Medal, of the value of twelve dollars, to Messrs. Fearing and Emerson, harness makers, of this town, for the best specimen of an entire Chaise Harness, silver plated, and entirely of American workmanship. The second premium of six dollars, was also awarded to these gentlemen.

That a Medal, of the value of twelve dollars, was awarded to Mr. Thomas Burdle, of Boston, for the best made six-pannelled door; and that the premium of six dollars was awarded to Henry Chulbrick, for the next best.

That a Medal, of the value of twelve dollars, was awarded to Mr. Addison Bacon, Hanover-street, for the best made pair of Chaise Wheels; and that a premium of six dollars was awarded to Mr. Oliver Ames, of Norton, for the next best.

That a Medal, of the value of eight dollars, was awarded to Wm. Jordan, (an apprentice of Mr. Daniel Adams) for the best made Ship Block, with two sheeves; and that the premium of four dollars was awarded to John B. Ingolls, (an apprentice of Messrs. Dupee and Badger) for the next best.

That a Medal, of the value of six dollars, was awarded to Peter Albern of Boston, (an apprentice of Mr. David Peeler) for the best made pair of Half Boots; and the premium of three dollars to Samuel B. Pope, (an apprentice to his father, in Quincy) for the second best made pair.

John J. Bickner, an apprentice of Attleborough, presented a Barrel, for which no premiums has been offered this year; and the government, in consequence of the expense he had incurred by the mistake, directed the Treasurer to present him with the sum of seven dollars and seventy-five cents. The medals and premiums, were now delivered.

The articles exhibited, were mostly of excellent workmanship, and it was only regretted that the specimens were not more numerous, and which we trust they will be, should the premiums be repeated.

MISCELLANY.

_From Johnson's Influence of Civil Life, Sedentary Habits and Intellectual Refinements, or Human Health and Happiness, &c._

_Parallel of enjoyment and suffering in drink._--The water drinker glides tranquilly through life, without much exhileration or depression, and escapes many diseases to which he would otherwise be subject. The wine drinker experiences short, but vivid periods of rapture, and long intervals of gloom; he is also more subject to disease. The balance of enjoyment, then, turns decidedly in favour of the water drinker, leaving out his temporal _prosperity_ and future anticipations; and the nearer we keep to his regimen, the happier we shall be. Here, however, as is in all other things, there is a certain latitude within the range of health and happiness which the wise man and the philosopher will occasionaly travel round, but not exceed.--The _native fountain_ is in the centre, and from it our eccentric divergences should be narrowly watched and carefully limited.

_Density, weight, &c. of the earth._--From the experiment of Maskelyne, and the calculations of Hutton, Cavendish, Laplace, &c. it appears, that considering the specific gravity of water as unity, the mean density of the earth would be according to Hutton, 4.95, or according to Cavendish, 5.48. The mean most commonly adopted is 5.4. Taking this as our ground work, we may now proceed to that most singular question of _weighing_ the earth.

Assuming 7920 miles as the mean diameter of the earth, the number of cubic miles will be 239,979,311,961. Now each cubic mile contains 147,197,952,000 cubic feet; also every cubic foot of water weighs 1000 avoirdupoise ounces.

Hence a cubic mile of water will weigh 4,107,085,714 tons, and consequently a globe of water of equal dimensions with our earth would weigh 985,594,985,000,000,000,000 tons, and that multiplied by the calculated density 5.4, gives 5,322,212,919,540,000,000,000 tons for the weight of our earth.

_Fruit._--The Poughkeepsie Herald states, that Mr. Joseph Waddle, of the town of Washington, Dutchess county, has sold, at the New York market, during the last six weeks, the produce of ten apple trees for the almost incredible sum of three hundred and sixty dollars--they were of a species called Summer Russets; the quantity fifty barrels. These apples grew on ten trees, which altogether occupy less than one quarter of an acre of ground. When the apples were first gathered last fall they filled fifty-three barrels, and on being picked over this spring, preparatory to sending them to market, they were reduced to fifty barrels.

_Agricultural Anecdote._----Furius Cresinus, as mentioned by Pliny, the Roman historian, was originally a slave. Having been made a freedman, he purchased a small spot of ground, from which he obtained, through his unwearied industry, much finer crops than many of the neighbours, who had larger farms. This excited general envy, which his enemies carried to such a length as to accuse him of employing magic charms to render his own grounds fertile and to impoverish heirs. The _Edile_ caused him to be summoned to appear and answer the charge before the people of Rome. Crecinus obeyed the mandate, accompanied by his daughter, a fresh and healthy coloured girl--charms which appeared to greater advantage from the symplicity of her dress. The accused also brought with him the tools and instruments of his profession. They were in excellent condition. His mattocks were remarkably heavy, his plough was of an enormous size, and his cattle were all sound and fat. "Behold!" said this truly dignified and indignant farmer, "behold my whole magical equipage! behold the charms which I have recourse to! There are others, indeed, which I am not capable of producing before you; I mean the sweat of my brow, and incessant toils both by day and night." This native eloquence decided the matter; he was honourably acquitted by the unanimous voice of a numerous and applauding assembly.

A mechanic in the North has invented a machine for seminaries, which, by means of steam, not only warms the room, but _flogs all the boys_ "on a graduated scale," according to their offences.

_Dr. Line._--This noted Irish physician, who died of the small pox at the age of 85, built a house in a peculiar manner, so as to have the full benefit of the circulation of the air. Every window had another opposite to it, none of which he ever suffered to be shut or glazed. The room in which he slept had four open windows, two on each side of his bed. It was remarked that, for fifty years together nobody died in his house. He carried this doctrine to such an excess, as to contend that no house could be wholesome, where a dog could not get in under the door and a bird at the window. Upon his death, his son had all the windows glazed; soon after which, several persons were _buried out of the house_.

The late king of England concurred a little in this practice of Dr. Line. In the rooms where he and his family resided, he never suffered a carpet to be laid; and in the chimney places allowed but a very scanty portion of fire--barely enough to aid the circulation of the air and prevent damps.

_Internal Improvements._--In consequence of the facilities afforded by that part of the great canal which is completed, Plaster of Paris, or Gypsum, which abounds in the western parts of New York, is now selling at Utica at from $1.50 to $2.00 per ton, and it is supposed that any part of that great tract of country lying on the Hudson, may be supplied with it at from 4 to 5 dollars! Onondaga salt will be sold at Albany at from 31 to 37 cents per bushel; and a bushel of wheat, which formerly cost 44 cents to transport it to that city, will be brought there from the interiour, for the small sum of 5 cents. In truth, this canal when finished, will, seemingly, bring the most remote places, even the most distant points of the great lakes, into the neighbourhood of the port of New York.

_The Coronation of George IV._ which is to take place August, 1st, is to be conducted on the most economical scale, and is not to cost more than about $450.000!! The price of a coronation dress for a peer and peeress is estimated at about $3.600.

_Marriage Promise._--In Somerset county, New Jersey, a young lady lately received the sum of 1250 dollars damages, for a breach of promise of marriage.

_Mobile_ is becoming a place of great importance; about 10,000 bales of cotton have been shipped from this port in the present year, and 6,000 remained on hand. This shews an increase of 10,000 bales since last year; and it is calculated that at least 10,000 more will be shipped next year than in the present.

_The number of letters_ delivered daily by the post in Paris is, on an average, 32,000; of journals, 18,000. In London, the average of letters is 133,000, and journals 26,000.

_Cincinnati, June 15._--On Saturday last, in digging the well of Mr. Wright, near Harrison, in this county, near a mile from White-Water, and about 14 feet from the surface, in a bed of rounded limestone pebbles, a living frog was dug up, which in a short time, hopped away as nimbly as if he had been but a year old. There are trees contiguous, and in lower ground, more than 500 years old, which have evidently taken the places of others of equal growth; so that this frog had probably lain buried for 1000 years.

_Mean temperature of the Earth._--According to Laplace, any actual diminution of the mean temperature of the earth would be detected by a diminution of the length of the day.--It appears by computation, that one degree of Fahrenheit's thermometer would make an alteration of nearly one second in the length of a day, and four or five minutes in that of a year.

_Heat._--The effect of heat in expanding iron is strongly shown by a gate of that material in this town.--In the cool of the morning it shuts with a considerable spare space, (in the winter perhaps an 8th of an inch) in the middle of a hot day the joints touch, and some force is necessary to close it. The gate is about 3-1/2 feet wide.

[_Boston Pal._