The War of the Axe; Or, Adventures in South Africa. J. Percy Groves
Читать онлайн книгу.
seafaring life, and settle down in one of the colonies. Save 500 pounds, which I left in my agent’s hands, I embarked every guinea of my slender fortune in this venture; though fortunately I took the precaution to insure the barque for about half her value.
“Not wishing to be separated from my children for so long a period I determined that they should accompany me. I therefore engaged the carpenter’s wife—who had no youngsters of her own, and was a highly respectable 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 tedious and perilous voyage arrived at our fishing ground, and prepared for our campaign against the ‘spermaceti.’
“But we did not meet with the success I had anticipated; three months passed away and still we had a clean hold; the whales seemed to have disappeared from those seas!
“This continued ill-luck sent my hopes of realising a modest competence down to zero, and, moreover, it dispirited the crew, rendering them discontented and sullen.
“At length one morning we observed many polypi, medusae, and squid—”
“And what?” interrupted Tom Flinders, who was listening to Weston’s narrative “auribus erectis.” “What on earth is squid?”
“Squid isn’t on earth at all,” retorted Mr. Weston; “it floats on the surface of the water, and is nothing more or less than a sort of jelly-fish upon which the whale feeds. Well, the sight of this raised our hopes, for we knew that we should probably fall in with a whale before long; and sure enough we were soon roused to action by the welcome cry: ‘There she spouts!’
“I was on deck at the moment, and springing up the shrouds to the main-top-mast head, I descried three whales right ahead of us and at no great distance. Two of them appeared to be half grown, or what we South Sea whalers call ‘forty-barrel bulls,’ forty barrels being about the quantity of oil we usually get out of them; the third was a regular old stager, a magnificent fellow of enormous proportions.
“In a very few minutes we had four boats in the water manned and ready to push off; I went as ‘headsman’ of the largest, of which—at his special request—Doctor McDougal pulled the stroke-oar; the second and third mates and the boatswain took charge of the others.
“Now I must tell you that the older and larger whales, besides proving the most valuable prizes, are by far the easiest to kill; whereas the ‘forty-barrel bulls’ are difficult to come up with, and dangerous customers to tackle. So I directed my second mate and the boatswain to go in chase of the old whale, whilst I and the third mate—a very experienced headsman—attacked the young bulls.
“Away we pulled, and in a short time approached within four hundred yards of the young whales, when the one nearest to us ‘peaked his flukes’—that is, went down head foremost; but his companion remained above water and showed no inclination to avoid us.
“ ‘We’ll make sure of that fellow and leave the other alone for the present,’ I shouted to the third mate. ‘Give way, my lads!’ Then the two boats raced through the smooth water, and we were soon within striking distance of our prey.
“Up to this time the two boat-steerers had been pulling the bow-oars of their respective boats, whilst the headsman steered; but now they laid in their oars, and, seizing their harpoons, stood up ready to strike. My boat was the first in action, and the harpoon flew from the steersman’s grasp and sank deep into the whale’s body, just as he was in the act of ‘sounding;’ down, down he went, and our line uncoiling rapidly from its tub ran out with a loud whirring noise. I now changed places with my boat-steerer, and, armed with several lances, took my stand in the bow, ready to give the whale the coup de grâce the instant he reappeared.
“In less than half an hour the stricken monster rose to the surface about a quarter of a mile distant, and set off at a good ten knots an hour, towing the two boats after him, for the mate had bent his line on to mine. Suddenly he stopped and commenced plunging furiously, lashing the water into a boiling foam, and spurting jets of blood from his blow-holes—a sign of approaching death. (Apertures or nostrils placed on 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 quickly we backed our boats out of harm’s way. Soon the whale ceased his struggles and lay like a huge log on the bloodstained water, apparently exhausted; then once more we dashed forward, and as the boats came alongside, the mate and I thrust our lances up to the stocks into his carcass, close to the fin.
“Alas, in our eagerness to make sure of our prize we forgot our usual caution! The leviathan was not yet vanquished, but still had sufficient life left in him to make one final effort to avenge himself on his relentless foes!
“Without a moment’s warning the dying whale reared his enormous head and rushed open-mouthed at the mate’s boat, which, unable to avoid the charge, was capsized and sunk; then the monster gave one last mighty plunge, and with a stroke of his powerful tail sent my boat flying into the 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’s crew were even more unfortunate, for I alone escaped; the rest were either killed when the whale struck us, or else sank to rise no more. I thus lost, literally at one blow, my poor friend Angus McDougal, and seven of my best hands; also two boats with all their gear.
“The accident had been witnessed by the other boats, and the boatswain at 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 who succumbed; the cook and one of the oldest boat-steerers were the next victims, and several of the crew sickened, but recovered after laying many days in the ‘sickbay’ almost at death’s door.
“We were now so short-handed, and the survivors of the crew were so discontented and mutinous, that I resolved to abandon the cruise and make for some port where I might be able to pick up fresh hands to help take 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 increased in fury until it developed into one of the most fearful storms that it has 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 were all much exhausted, and sorely needed rest, but not a man could be spared from the pumps, for the ship had sprung a leak, which gained upon us slowly but surely. Five more of my crew, including the first mate, had gone to their last account, three having been washed overboard and two killed by the fall of the main-mast.
“By almost incredible exertions we succeeded in keeping the battered ship afloat, and the sea having gone down we were able to discover and stop the leak. We then got a spare try-sail up on the stump of the foremast, and put the barque before the wind.
“Rest was now absolutely necessary, for we had been working unceasingly for the last thirty-six hours. The second mate begged that I would take the first spell, whilst he kept watch; as he appeared the fresher of the two, I consented, and retiring to my cabin was soon fast asleep. When I awoke and returned on deck I found that my cowardly crew had deserted the ship, in the only boat that was seaworthy, leaving me and my poor children to perish.
“But a merciful Providence watched over our safety. After drifting for three or four days the barque ran on a rock, off the island where you discovered us, and as it was quite calm at the time we succeeded in getting ashore without much difficulty. A week later the poor old Sea-mew was broken up by a gale, but after she went to pieces we managed to secure some casks of provisions, and several useful articles. I also saved the ship’s papers, and other private documents of importance. On exploring the