influence; soeverybody took his part, and abused me roundly. No, not everybody! Ihad one true friend--Matthew Flinders. If I were to tell all that Tom'sfather did for me during that miserable time I might keep you round thistable until we reach Table Bay. Suffice it to say, that never did poorunfortunate meet with a kinder or stauncher comrade.
"I returned to England under arrest, and the sentence of the courthaving been approved and confirmed I was broken and turned adrift. Myfather closed his doors against me, with a curt intimation that he wouldhave nothing more to say to a son who had disgraced himself and hisfamily as I had done; he would listen to no explanation, and returned myletters unopened.
"I had a few pounds in my pocket, and they represented all my means; butI was a good sailor, and had no fear but that I could earn my ownliving. Through the kind offices of Matthew Flinders, who had given mea letter to a relative of his connected with the mercantile marine, Iobtained a berth as second mate on board a merchant brig, and in her Imade three voyages to the Cape.
"An offer was then made to me to ship on board a South Sea whaler assecond mate, with the understanding that I should be promoted chief mateafter my first trip; this offer I closed with. My captain was agentleman, and a right good fellow, and I made two voyages with him; hethen retired. I succeeded him in command of the ship, and shortlyafterwards married his youngest daughter.
"Several years passed happily enough, and two children--George andGracie--blessed our union; but my happiness was short-lived, for whenGracie was nine years of age my wife died of a fever.
"Two years after this sad event I received news of my father's death,and that I was entitled to a few thousand pounds, which it was not inhis power to will away from me, for, implacable to the last, he had leftthe bulk of his fortune to a distant relative, who had already moremoney than he knew what to do with.
"I now purchased and fitted out the _Sea-mew_, a barque of 300 tons; myintention being to take a long whaling cruise in the South Seas, and, ifsuccessful, to retire altogether from a seafaring life, and settle downin one of the colonies. Save 500 pounds, which I left in my agent'shands, I embarked every guinea of my slender fortune in this venture;though fortunately I took the precaution to insure the barque for abouthalf her value.
"Not wishing to be separated from my children for so long a period Idetermined that they should accompany me. I therefore engaged thecarpenter's wife--who had no youngsters of her own, and was a highlyrespectable woman--to attend on Gracie; and the surgeon of the_Sea-mew_, Angus McDougal, an old shipmate of mine and a sound scholar,volunteered to superintend George's education.
"On the 22nd January, 1842, we sailed from England, and after a tediousand perilous voyage arrived at our fishing ground, and prepared for ourcampaign against the `spermaceti.'
"But we did not meet with the success I had anticipated; three monthspassed away and still we had a clean hold; the whales seemed to havedisappeared from those seas!
"This continued ill-luck sent my hopes of realising a modest competencedown to zero, and, moreover, it dispirited the crew, rendering themdiscontented and sullen.
"At length one morning we observed many polypi, medusae, and squid--"
"And what?" interrupted Tom Flinders, who was listening to Weston'snarrative "_auribus erectis_." "What on earth is squid?"
"Squid isn't on earth at all," retorted Mr Weston; "it floats on thesurface of the water, and is nothing more or less than a sort ofjelly-fish upon which the whale feeds. Well, the sight of this raisedour hopes, for we knew that we should probably fall in with a whalebefore long; and sure enough we were soon roused to action by thewelcome cry: `There she spouts!'
"I was on deck at the moment, and springing up the shrouds to themain-top-mast head, I descried three whales right ahead of us and at nogreat distance. Two of them appeared to be half grown, or what we SouthSea whalers call `forty-barrel bulls,' forty barrels being about thequantity of oil we usually get out of them; the third was a regular oldstager, a magnificent fellow of enormous proportions.
"In a very few minutes we had four boats in the water manned and readyto push off; I went as `headsman' of the largest, of which--at hisspecial request--Doctor McDougal pulled the stroke-oar; the second andthird mates and the boatswain took charge of the others.
"Now I must tell you that the older and larger whales, besides provingthe most valuable prizes, are by far the easiest to kill; whereas the`forty-barrel bulls' are difficult to come up with, and dangerouscustomers to tackle. So I directed my second mate and the boatswain togo in chase of the old whale, whilst I and the third mate--a veryexperienced headsman--attacked the young bulls.
"Away we pulled, and in a short time approached within four hundredyards of the young whales, when the one nearest to us `peaked hisflukes'--that is, went down head foremost; but his companion remainedabove water and showed no inclination to avoid us.
"`We'll make sure of that fellow and leave the other alone for thepresent,' I shouted to the third mate. `Give way, my lads!' Then thetwo boats raced through the smooth water, and we were soon withinstriking distance of our prey.
"Up to this time the two boat-steerers had been pulling the bow-oars oftheir respective boats, whilst the headsman steered; but now they laidin their oars, and, seizing their harpoons, stood up ready to strike.My boat was the first in action, and the harpoon flew from thesteersman's grasp and sank deep into the whale's body, just as he was inthe act of `sounding;' down, down he went, and our line uncoilingrapidly from its tub ran out with a loud whirring noise. I now changedplaces with my boat-steerer, and, armed with several lances, took mystand in the bow, ready to give the whale the _coup de grace_ theinstant he reappeared.
"In less than half an hour the stricken monster rose to the surfaceabout a quarter of a mile distant, and set off at a good ten knots anhour, towing the two boats after him, for the mate had bent his line onto mine. Suddenly he stopped and commenced plunging furiously, lashingthe water into a boiling foam, and spurting jets of blood from hisblow-holes--a sign of approaching death. [Apertures or nostrils placedon the highest part of a whale's head, through which he breathes.]
"`He's in his flurry! Stern all! stern all!' was the cry, and quicklywe backed our boats out of harm's way. Soon the whale ceased hisstruggles and lay like a huge log on the bloodstained water, apparentlyexhausted; then once more we dashed forward, and as the boats camealongside, the mate and I thrust our lances up to the stocks into hiscarcass, close to the fin.
"Alas, in our eagerness to make sure of our prize we forgot our usualcaution! The leviathan was not yet vanquished, but still had sufficientlife left in him to make one final effort to avenge himself on hisrelentless foes!
"Without a moment's warning the dying whale reared his enormous head andrushed open-mouthed at the mate's boat, which, unable to avoid thecharge, was capsized and sunk; then the monster gave one last mightyplunge, and with a stroke of his powerful tail sent my boat flying intothe air, scattering the crew into the foaming water.
"The mate, his boat-steerer, and one man must have gone down at once,but the others saved themselves by clinging to their oars. My boat'screw were even more unfortunate, for I alone escaped; the rest wereeither killed when the whale struck us, or else sank to rise no more. Ithus lost, literally at one blow, my poor friend Angus McDougal, andseven of my best hands; also two boats with all their gear.
"The accident had been witnessed by the other boats, and the boatswainat once pulled for the scene of the mishap and picked us up.
"About six weeks after this disaster sickness broke out in the_Sea-mew_. The carpenter and the carpenter's wife were the first whosuccumbed; the cook and one of the oldest boat-steerers were the nextvictims, and several of the crew sickened, but recovered after layingmany days in the `sickbay' almost at death's door.
"We were now so short-handed, and the survivors of the crew were sodiscontented and mutinous, that I resolved to abandon the cruise andmake for some port where I might be able to pick up
fresh hands to helptake the ship home, and accordingly I shaped my course for Table Bay.But my cup of misfortune was not yet full.
"A fortnight after doubling Cape Horn a stiff gale got up, and increasedin fury until it developed into one of the most fearful storms that ithas ever been my lot to cope with.
"The storm continued for a day and a night, and when it abated the poor_Sea-mew_ was left a dismasted wreck at the mercy of the waves. We wereall much exhausted, and sorely needed rest, but not a man could bespared from the pumps, for the ship had sprung a leak, which gained uponus slowly but surely. Five more of my crew, including the first mate,had gone to their last account, three having been washed overboard andtwo killed by the fall of the main-mast.
"By almost
The War of the Axe; Or, Adventures in South Africa Page 4
