Boys' Column

Wairarapa Standard, Volume XX, Issue 2090, 8 July 1887, Page 2 (Supplement)

Boys' Column

Whaling on Horseback. “1 have been a whaler myself," said a naturalist, to the captain of a whaler, who bad been showing him over the little vessel, and explaining the methods of securing the great game.

“ Indeed I" said the skipper. “ Not a long cruise, I take it ?’’

" No," replied the naturalist; "it was a very short one, and was made on horseback,"

“ What I” exclaimed the sailor; “Go &■ whaling on horseback ?’’

"That’s precisely what we did,” replied the other, with a laugh at the man's perplexity. "It was a number of years ago, when I was a student, and being very much interested in the subject of whales, I determined to spend the summer down at Cape Cod, where these animals, as yon know, are often caught. To make perfectly sure that I should see every whale that came in, I made friends all along shore, and offered to pay the men to send me word as soon as one was brought in, and 1 can assure you I saw whales enough that summer. Almost every day they would be sighted off shore, and boats would go out, and very often be successful and the large sulphur bottoms would be stranded high and dry at low tide, to be cut up by the men tor oil, or by me in the cause of education, I bad examined several whales, when one day a boy came running into my yard, crying out that Captain Palmer bad sent for me to come and see a school of whales being driven at the bend, about three miles up the beach from where I was staying. The boy had come down the beach on horseback, and as be said that was about the only way to get over the soft, yielding sand, I soon found an animal, had a shawl strapped on for a saddle, and off we went on a dead run for the whaling-ground, “If you have ever been at the Cape, you know what the sand is. Our crafts, as the boy called the horses, floundered and stumbled, like ships in a heavy sea-way. It was blowing a heavy northeaster, and the sand was flying like snow rising into the air. Great clouds were hovering overhead in fantastic shapes, then suddenly being tom apart, whirled away before the gale, that howled and shrieked as the wind can only on the Cape. So you may imagine that' we made slow work of it, just as you sailers do when beating against the wind; but finally we came in sight of the beach. The sight seemed to put new life into our hones, for they bounded on with renewed vigor. We were soon in the midst of a scene that, in the way of excitement and novelty, exceeded anything I ever saw. “ The tide was dead low, and had left a big sandy flat almost bare, on which the sea beat furiously,|and with a roar that was deafennig; but inside the bar was a stretch of water forming a little enclosed lake half a mile long, and from three to four feet deep. This was comparatively smooth, and in it were about twenty enormous black objects floundering and rushing about, lashing the water into foam, and followed by a dozen or more men, part of whom were on horseback, like ourselves, It was a school of whales and blackfish, In some way they had been trapped inside the bar, and when the tide went out they were at the mercy of the whalers on horseback. Every one was greatly excited. The horses were urged into the water, while their riders, armed with harpoons, ianccs, boat-hooks, or any other weapon that happened to be at hand, were endeavoring to capture as many of the monsters as possible. As we came down to the edge, a man handed us a long pole, land told us to drive up to the head of the bay, where the water was shoal, In we plunged, the horses at first snorting with terror, but once in the water, they seemed to share the general excitement, and plunged madly after the excited sea-hunters. Here and there were black-fish that had been wounded, and they were beating the water with their enormous tails with terrific force j others were tearing up and down with light-ning-like speed. Soon one of the horses was fairly lifted from its feet by one of the struggling fish, and thrown sprawling into the water. A roar of laughter greeted the rider as he rose from the water into which he had been thrown. The men kept up an incessant yelling and splashing, and so gradually forced the monsters up the creek, if so it could be called.

Tbc great creatures seemed to know that that they were running into a still more fatal trap. They made great efforts to break through the line of horses and men. The appearance of a great, black animal rushing at you, floundering along, beating the water with blows powerful enough to kill horse or man, gave a strong flavor of danger to the adventure. Fortunately no one was hurt, and there were no accidents except the several upsets occasioned by the blacklist] darting under the horses, Among the school of whales and blackftsh were two or three porpoises that displayed wonderful activity. I saw one that leaped at least ten feet, clearing a man who mode a lunge at it with a lance. For an hour this hunt was kept up, until, finally, one by one, the great animals were driven upon the shoal and dispatched. Among them were two small whales, while the others were the Cetaceans known as blackfish, They were all from fifteen to twentyfive feet long, and presented a curious appearance, their black bodies spotting the pure white sand. It was supposed that the animals bad been gradually driven in-sbore by the heavy sea off the beach, and bad taken shelter in the harbor. As the tide went out it formed, as shown, a perfect trap. “ There was one curious feature about this bunt that 1 never was fully satisfied about. While several blackfish were struggling on the shoal, one of the men near me cried out, ‘ Hear ’em cry 1 ’ I listened, and imagined I did hear a curious sound, but amid the roar of the surf and the sounds of yelling and sploshing, I could not be certain. The men said that they heard the cries, and that the sounds came from the whales. One old sailor told me that he had caught hundreds of them, and that he had often heard them cry ont, especially the mothers and young calves, when they were struck. If this is so, it proves that whales have a voice, but how they can communicate with one anotherunder water is difficult to understand."

Numerous examples of affection among these great animals are on record, showing them to stand high in the scale of intelligence.