Life and Adventure in the South Pacific

by John D. Jones

Spade and Sheath. Blubber Pike. Lance. Harpoon and Sheath. Dipper. Oil Dipper. Pike.

THE MASTHEADMAN.

From the commencement of the voyage to its close men are stationed at each masthead, on the look-out for whales, and are relieved every two hours. When a whale is seen by any one of the men aloft, he immediately sings out in a peculiar voice, “There she blows!” and repeats it as often as the whale spouts. The officer of the deck immediately cries out, “Where away?” and the look-out replies, giving the direction of the whale from the ship. The officer again asks, “How far off?” The distance is given, and, in a shorter space of time than is occupied in relating it, the captain is at masthead with his spy-glass. As soon as he ascertains the fact that they are sperm whales, he sings out, “Call all hands; get the boats ready, and stand by to lower;” at the same time giving directions to the man at the wheel to keep the ship in the proper direction.

It is impossible to describe the excitement that now prevails. All are anxious to obtain a glimpse, many for the first time, of the monster. The lethargy produced by the hitherto monotonous voyage is now shaken off, and one and all partake of the excitement. All is bustle and animation; some are at masthead, some are in the rigging, and others flying around, getting the boats in perfect order, and ready to be lowered at a moment’s notice. If the whale is to the leeward of the ship, she is kept in that direction; if to windward, the boats are sent in chase, which often proves to be an arduous task. In this instance the whale was to the leeward. When we were within proper distance, the captain coming down, called out, “Haul aback the mainyards; lower away the boats,” and the respective crews follow them down. In a moment more they are pulling for the whale. From hour to hour, and often from sunrise to sunset, do these hardy men toil at the oar, enduring suffering and fatigue, almost unnoticed under the eager excitement of the chase, to be the head boat, or the “first boat fast;” and this under a scorching tropical sun. The waist boat draws near the whale, and all is excitement; the officer crying out, “Pull, men, do pull; now, my hearties, give way; oh! men, do pull; I’ll give you any thing I’ve got, only put me alongside that whale; there he blows; only three seas off,” etc. The boat is close to him; it draws nearer and nearer; the officer orders the boat-steerer to “stand up;” he rises in his place and lifts the fatal weapon; and, when the boat is close enough, the order is given, “Give it to him; give it to him, I tell you!” The boat-steerer darts and misses him, and the whale is “gallied,” or frightened, and takes French leave. Thus ended our first chase after a whale, as did many more during the voyage, and, after having pulled nearly all day, they returned to the ship, all hands disappointed, but the captain cheering us with “better luck next time.” Having thus disposed of our “first whale,” we kept on our course, steering southeast, for the Cape Verd Islands.

On Tuesday, November 27th, we again saw sperm whales, lowered all the boats in chase, but they were going too fast for us, and, pulling a long time with no success, gave up and came on board.

The next day we saw the island of St. Antonio, and ran in toward the land. The inhabitants of this island, like all others of the Cape Verd group, are Portuguese. They subsist principally on the yam, sweet potato, cocoanut, banana, orange, etc., and fish; live in nearly a nude state; are, as a general thing, treacherous, thieving, ignorant, and superstitious. The Roman Catholic religion is the only one tolerated.

On Thursday, the 29th, we passed the island of St. Jago, another of the same group. We were now steering for Fogo, which, on the following morning at daybreak, we saw distant about nine miles. On this island is a volcano, whose summit is one and a quarter miles above the level of the sea. From this volcano the island derives its name, “Fogo, the Island of Fire.” Some years since an eruption took place, which destroyed most of the vegetation, and many of the inhabitants lost their lives. Those that escaped took boats and proceeded to the island of Bravo, a few miles distant. Our captain sent two of our boats in to the shore, for the purpose of trading with the natives, exchanging calico, beads, looking-glasses, trinkets, etc., for various fruits. The opportunity now being given us of visiting dry land once more, we accepted it joyfully. As we drew in near to the shore, the island presented a beautiful appearance; the mountains and hills were covered with green verdure; the natives were seen flocking down their sides, some loaded with baskets of fruit of various kinds, some driving a miserable-looking donkey before them, with a basket of fruit on one side and a pig on the other; here, too, might be seen a great strapping Portuguese woman, with a pig over her shoulder, shouting as loud as her burden squealed, and all hallooing to the boats; the waves breaking over the reef in thunder tones, and all together creating one of the wildest scenes of confusion we have ever witnessed. We finally found, after pulling along the shore for some distance, an opening in the reef, where we might land without danger of getting our boats stove to pieces, and pulled in. As soon as we landed we were surrounded by nearly two hundred Portuguese, and a scene now ensued that beggars description. Imagine a flock of two hundred birds, all chattering, about fifty hogs squealing, goats bleating, donkeys braying, and sailors shouting and laughing, and you have some faint idea of the real scene. Some of our men, too, went in for a little fun. One of them, Tom W., a regular wag, managed to steal a Portuguese’s donkey for a short ride up the mountain and back. When he returned, the donkey’s master wanted the moderate sum of seven dollars for the use of the animal. Tom told him he would give him his note for ten years; but the Gee would not be satisfied, until, a crowd gathering around, the matter was finally compromised by Tom’s buying his basket of oranges, containing, perhaps, a hundred, for which he gave him about one eighth of a pound of tobacco.

In the afternoon we returned to the ship, our boats loaded with fruit. We also brought off with us a wild Portugee, who was determined, in spite of the remonstrances of our officers, to “see the elephant.” He could not speak a word of English, and seemed to look on all the proceedings on board ship with a great deal of comical dignity and interest. He made the captain understand by signs that he wished to go the voyage. Accordingly they soon struck a bargain, and Manuel became a member of the ship’s company. He was furnished with a couple of suits of clothes, Tom W. gravely remarking that “it was the first suit of clothes that was ever in the family,” and sent forward. He was of noble build, being six feet three inches high, and well proportioned. He soon, however, was obliged to “cast up his accounts,” and we never saw a more pitiable-looking object than sea-sick Portugee Manuel; and, while many of the crew were passing jokes upon him, he looked as if he fully believed he had fallen into the hands of barbarians.

From this island we shaped our course for Cape Horn.