THOMAS H. JENKINS
Having been requested to give an account of the sinking of the Bark Kathleen by a whale I will do the best I can, though I think that those who have read the papers know as much or more about it than I do.
We sailed from New Bedford the 22d October, 1901, and with the exception of three weeks of the worst weather I have ever had on leaving home, everything went fairly well till we arrived out on the 12-40 ground.[1 ]
The day we arrived there we raised a large whale and chased him most all day but could not seem to get any aim of him. We lost the run of him at last in a rain squall.
A few days after, the 17th of March, 1902, was one of the finest whaling days I have ever seen, smooth water and a clear sky. When they were going up to mast head I told them to look sharp for some one was going to raise a whale before night.
We steered different courses during the fore-noon and at 1 p.m. the man aloft raised a white water which proved to be sperm whales, and there was a lot of them, some heading one way, some another.
When we got within a mile of them we lowered four boats, and soon after Mr. Nichols, the first mate, struck a whale, the other whales went to leeward and I followed them with the ship till I was sure the boats saw them.
Mr. Nichols then had his whale dead about one mile to windward, so I came to wind on the port tack, but it took us some time to get up to the mate, as we could not carry any foretopsail or flying jibs as the topmast had given out.
SPERM WHALING—THE CHASE