, ringly towards the place where he expected the

4:10

  ,

 

gorous pulling found the foremost boats a full mile
behind the whale, when hejarose again to breathe.-—
Several boats were unluckily ahead of Seth in the’
chase, as their position at starting enabled them to take
the lead, when the animal began to push for deeper
water. But Seth’s men had been resting on their
oars, while nearly all others had exhausted their
strength, in following the whale among the ships;
and the captain judged rightly, that in darting after
his tiney prey, he would lead them all a bootlcss
dance. He had determined to wait for the retreat,
and then to hang upon the rear of the enemy. There
were others, however, acquainted with the soundings
of the bay, whose tactics-- were scarce ir_it'erior to
Seth‘s; and the advantage gained over him by se-
veral boats was proof of this, or at least of the su-
perior accuracy of their calculations. It was along‘
time since Seth had given chase to an animal of the
right-whale breed ;———he had grappled. Ollillce Only
\\ ith the spcrniacetti .—--—and, therefore. it W415 1101 *0
be wondered at, at this time, and under the circum-
stances, that some oftliose around him should beat
him in manoeuvring in the bay. But, in the S10-"~d.V
chase, he knew that he could count upon the speed
and bottom of his bozit’s crew, and he was now re.
solved to contest for the victory.

" VVe have It clear field now, my boys—-give way,’
steadily——we gain upon thein——~give the long pull——%
the grrong piill—z1nd the pull together :———keep iicr tol
it—heavc ahead, my heartics l” Such were tliei
words of Seth, as with eyes steadily fixed upon at
certain point, and with his stccriug oar slightly dip-t
ping at times, he guided the light whale boat uncr-

whale to re-appear. One by one he had dropped
his antagonists by the way, until three only re-
mained nianfully struggling between him and the.
prize. The whale again breathed at the surface, and!
the distance between the headiriost boat and the ani-

mal was found robe diminished to half a mile———

whilc the ships in the bay were run “hull down.”

The pursuers were now out upon the broad ocean.

Those who had abandoned the chasein despair, were

slowly returning to their ships. The rigging ofthe

vessels wns manned by anxious spectators. watclimg

the motions ofthe tiny specs out at sea, with heating,
hearts. The whale again casthis flocks into the air,’
and sank from the view of his pursuers. Now come

the tugvof-war.‘ A . '

"You must beat those foreigners ahead,” said
Seth, to his men, “ or crack your cars: they are of
good American ash, and will bear pulling,” contin-
ued he :——“ Give way with a will !——Pull——pull, my
lads ;—thiit whale will not sink again without a bar-
poon in his body:-—and ’twil] never do to tell of at
home, that we allowed men of other nations to beat
us. Keep your eyes steadily on your 0il1‘S ;-'—mfiTl‘i
the stroke ofthe after our, nicn—aiid give way for
the credit of the Grainpus !”

Here Seth braced himself in the stern-slieets——
seized the steering oar with his left hand, and placed
his right foot against the after car, just below the
hand of the oarsman.

“Now pull for your lives!” saidlie, “ while I add
the strength of my leg to the oar:—Once more !—
Again, my boys !~——Once more———There,-—-we pass
the Spaniard 1”

“ Diabolo .”’ exclaimed the mortified native of
Spain. i _

The additional momentum of Seth’s foot, applied
to the stroke oar, had done the job; but ‘two more
boats were to be pzissed,~aiid quickly i.oo,———or all
the labor would be lost. _ _

“At it again, my boys 1--steady—--my God, give
way !~——give way for the honor of the Grarnpus. One
pull for old Nantucket !——and——‘-there—we have
shown a. clean pair of heels to the Dutchman if’

-‘Hagel.’———D0n(lei' and bli'.rem.'" said the H01.
lander.

“There is but one heat ahead," said Seth ;~—~“ It
is the Englishman !~—VVe must beat /tint too, or we
have gained nothing! Away with her, down upon
him like men !~——Oiie pull for the Grampus, my boys !
——another for old Nantuck ”

The American noiv shot up alongside of the Eng ;
lish boat :——but the honor of the nation, too, was at
stake; and they bent to their cars with fresh vigor.
Five athletic Englishmen, each with a bare chest
that would have served for the model of a Hercules,
with arms of brawn and sinew, swayed their cars
with a precision and an earnestness, that, for a
minute, left the contest -doubtful. The English
commander, seeing how effectually Seth _mana_ge_tl
the stroke our wjt_h.h1's foot, braced himselfiu _a simi-

lar attitude of exertion ;—and his boat evidently
gained upon the Naiitucketcrl Seth saw the iii-

. whale, feeling the sting of the barb, darted off like

crease of speed of his rival with dismay. The

whale, too, was just rising ahead. The bubbles of
his blowing, and of his efforts at rising, were begin-
ning to ascend! It was it moment of intense anxiety.
The rushing train, or vertex of water, told that he
was near the surface. Both commanders encouraged
their men anew by a single word; and then, as if by
mutual consent, all was silent, except the long, mea.
sured, and vigorous stroke of the oars.

“ For old England, my lads 1” shouted the one.

“Remember old Nantucket, my boys!” was the
war-cry of the other.

Both plied their cars with apparently equal skill;
but the hot Eiiglislimzin lost his temper as the boat
of Seth shot tip again, head and head with hiin———and
he surged his foot so heavily upon the after our, that
it broke off short in tlie rowloclt ! The blade of the
broken oar became entangled with the others on the
same side, while the after oarsnian lost his balance,
and fell backward upon his leader.

“ I bid thee good bye!” said Seth, as he shot
ahead.

“ Hell and r1amnaI.i'.0n.”’ vociferated the English-
man. i

“ Way enough——peak your oars!" said Seth to his
men. The oars bristled apeak, after the fashion of
the wliale-fisi'ieriiien. The liarpooncr immediately
seized and balanced his weapon over his head, and
planted himself firmly in the bow of the boat. At
that instant the huge body of the whale rose above
the surface ; and Seth, with a single turn of his
steering oar, brought the bow dead upon the monster,
a few feet back of the fin. Simultaneously with the
striking of the boat, the well-poised harpoon was
launched deep into the flesh of the animal.

“ Strirn all J” shouted Seth.

The boat was backed off in an instant; and the

the wind! The wellcoiled line flew through the
groove of the bow-post with incomparable swiftness,
and it presently began t.o smoke and then to blaze
with the rapidity oftlic friction. Seth now took the
bow with his lance, exchanging places with the bar-
pooner, and quietly poured water upon the smoking
groove, until it was cooled. The oars were again
pcalrcil, and the handles inserted in brackets fixed on
the ceiling ofthe boat beneath the thwarts———the blades
projecting over the water like wings; and the men,
immoveable, rested from their long, but successful
pull :——and much need did they have of the relief,-—
for a more arduous, or a better contested chase, they
had never experienced.

The line in the tub was now well nigh run out ; and
the boat.steerer, with a thick buckskin mitten, or nip.
per, as it is called, for the protection of his hand,
seized hold of the line, and, in a twinkling, caught a
turn around the loggerhead, to enable the man at the
tub oar to bend on another line.

The rapidity of the animal’s flight the while was
inconceivable. The boat now plouged deeply and
laboriously, leaving banks of water on each side, as
she parted the wave, that overtopped the men’s
heads, and effectually obscured the sight of every
object on the surface. The swell of the closing wa-
ter came after them in a heavy and angry rush. The
second line was now allowed to run slowly from the
loggerhead; and a drag, or plank about eighteen
inches square, with a line proceeding from each cor.
tier, ‘and meeting at a pointlike a pyramid, was fasten.
ed to it, and thrown over to deaden the speed of the
whale. Another and another drag were added, until
the animal, feeling the strong backward pull, began
to relax his efforts :——-and presently he suddenly de-
scended, though not to the full extent of the slack-
ened line. '

It now became necessary to haul in the slack of
the line, and to coil it away in the tub carefully;
while the men pulled with their ears, to come up
_witli the whale when he should rise to the surface.
Allthings were soon ready again for the deadly at-
tack.

The ripple of the whale, as he ascended, was care-
fully marked; and when he again saw the light of
day, a deep wound, close to the barbed harpoon, was
instantly inflictcd by the hand of Seth. It was the
death blow.

“Starn all!” was the cry once more——-and the
boat was again quickly backed off by the oarsmeii.

The infuriated animal roared in agony, and lashed
the ocean into foam. The blood gushed from his
spout-holes, falling in torrents upon the men in the
boat, and coloring the sea. The whale, in his last
agony, is a fearful creature. He rose perpendicu-
larly in the water, head downwards, and again wri.
thed and lashed the sea with such force, that the
people in the retreating boats, though ten miles dis.
taut, heard the thunder of the sound distinctly. The

exertion was too violent to last long :-—it was the

AMERICAN RAILROAD JOURNAL, AND ,
 

signal of his dissolution. His life-blooNd ceased to
flow, and he turned his belly to the sun ! The waif
of the Grampus floated triumphantly above the body
of the slaughtered Leviathan of the deep——-and the
peril of the hardy crew was over.

Tamas AND SKETCIIES, sucn As may ARE, by Wm.
L. Stone, 2 vols.——Unwonted neglect on our part, and
an accidental misplacing of these sprightly and a-
greeable volumcs, have delayed this notice, which
should have been given some weeks ago. We men-
tion them now with unavoidable brevity—-our co-
lumns being crowded with matter previously pre.
pared——because we are unwilling to continue the de-
lay. In the deluge of multifarious publications
through which we wade every week, we are happy
now and then to find a work strictly American,—-
though it is seldom that we have to notice two publi-
cations on the same day to which that characteristic
applies. It is certainly no mean recommendation of
“ Tales and Sketches.” They come before the world
unpretendingly, and from a writer who, in a different
capacity, has long entertained and effectually served
the public. W's are glad to see that he can occasion.
ally depart from the drudgery ofa daily paper to lux-
uriate in the regions of fancy, and, while doing so,
can weave into his fiction so much that is valuable
and interesting of historical fact.

A BRIEF VlE\V on 'l.‘HE CONS'I‘I'I‘U'[‘ION on THE UNIT-
ED S'1‘A'l‘}-IS, by Peter S. Duponcean. LL. D. ; Phila-
delphia.——This work by the venerable provost ofthe
Law Academy of Pliiladelphiii, should be perused by
every one who would familiarize himself with the
opinions of one of the most celebrated lawyers in our
country upon the most important instrument in its
archives. The volume is for sale by Mr. Wiley
Nassau street, and also at Carvill’s.

JOHN MARSTON HALL, by the author of Richeliei ;
2 vols., Harpers.—Thc mantle of Sir Vi/alter, lile
that of Shakspeare, will hardly within the same cal-
tury, if ever, descend upon another. But amongall
the competitors for the wand of the great magicm,
Mr. James certainly deserves the palm for sucen,
in the heroic romance. He treads more graceflly,
and with more vivacity, in the steps ofhis greatnes-
ter than any of his pupils; though the measue in
contrast is still but the walk ofa minuet to the narch
of a giant. The present production will be read
with pleasure by his admirers as reviving agrcable
associations with a fo'rmerlfavorite,———the heroieing
“ Little Ball O’Fire," the spirited urchin that fi,iurea-
in so many scenes in the life of “ Henry Masterton.’
The scene oftlie story is laid at the French Cam in
the reign ofLouis the 14th, and the-detailsari man.
aged with all that minute knowledge and kecing of
costume in which Mr. James is second onlyto the
great Scottish antiquarian.

THE COMPLETE WORKS on SIR Wxnran Scorn‘,
with a Biography, &c. &c., Vol. VI. New.’ork—--
Conner &. Cooke.—ln calling the iattentioiiof our
readers again to this cheap publication, we iuld on-
ly repeat the terms of approval applied to tl previ-
ous volumes, the present one being, in evergespecti
equal to the others. It contains, with Tris of A
Grand Father, the Lives of the Novelistsmd his
Notice of Byron, &c.

LECTURES on Puni~:NoLoGv, DELIVERED BORE THE
YOUNG Mi:N’s ASSOCIATION FOR MENTAL INRUCTION.
in run CITY OF ALBANY ; by Amos Dean-‘V8 had
marked a long extract from this work, fotl10t&tl0n i
as the best mode of showing its claims 13?! the g6-
neral reader. It shall be given hereaftermd. in the
meantime, we can only observe, that tliosWl10 W0l1lCl
be readily initiated into the new sciec ill!‘ is 80
rapidly gaining ground in the teeth of a-"ldicule and
opposition, are much indebted to M993“ f0!‘ his
neat and comprehensive essay.

THE REPUBLIC or LETTERS, No 3.W€ W176 in-

tended as each successive number Feared: 10 H0-