“How many times have you been in the boat, Gates?” asked our captain.
“Three times.”
“What luck?”
“None, twice—third time, uncertain. And you, Gamans?”
“Three times.”
“What luck?”
“None, twice—third time, uncertain.”
Both men saw the joke and laughed heartily.
Captain Gamans fumbled about and brought out some letter paper, a small bottle of ink, which had not been opened, and an aged penholder to which was attached a rusty pen. I dug out the cork of the bottle with a knife, and then the two captains began their dictation. There was little difference in their view of the situation and in their respective claims to the whale. The trouble seemed to be their inability to express themselves in proper English, and I was quite proud when they relied on me, occasionally, to supply a word and straighten out their sentences, although, by their manner, they seemed to regard me, all the time, as an inferior. To shorten the story, the agreement, in its final form was as follows:
It is agreed by the captains of the Oriole and Seabird as follows: The captain’s boat of the Seabird struck a bowhead in the Okhotsk sea. The harpoons held, but the lines parted, and the bowhead made off. Two Seabird’s boats followed the whale in the direction he took. It was a long pull, for the whale was out of sight. At last the two boats came up to where a boat of the Oriole had struck and was killing a bowhead. The mate of the Oriole used the lance and the bowhead rolled over after the Seabird’s boats had arrived on the spot. The captain of the Seabird claimed the whale as belonging to his ship, and the mate of the Oriole denied the claim. While a discussion was going on, the captain of the Oriole came up in his boat and interfered, and it was agreed between the captains that they should examine the whale to see if there were fresh harpoons in him. Pretty soon they found two with a small end of line attached in each case. On washing the irons, they found in them the cypher which showed that the irons belonged to the Seabird. Both captains lay claim to the whale. They have drawn up this agreement for the benefit of their owners, and, if their owners cannot agree as to who owns the whale, then this statement may be used in court as a true statement of the facts, if the court agrees to its being used. Both of us have signed our names hereto.