CHAPTER XII.

AMUSEMENTS AND MODE OF LIFE ON SHIPBOARD-FISHING-MECHANICAL EMPLOYMENTS-BILL OF FARE.

Among the various amusements which make the time pass away pleasantly aboard ship, catching fish is one of the most agreeable. Vast schools of fish frequently accompany ships for several days in succession, and whalers are often surrounded for month after month by countless hosts of the finny tribe, as they float slowly along over the ocean within the tropics. A meal of fresh fish can be had at any time by trailing a fish hook overboard for a few minutes, and it is not uncommon for whalers to salt down several barrels of these fish for their own use, and to barter them away with the natives of the Pacific Islands. When a ship is seen to be surrounded by large schools of fish, it is a trick sometimes practised by a brother whaler to run down close to her, under pretence of speaking her, when a part, if not the whole of the school abandon their old friend and move off with the stranger, a piece of coquetry very similar to what obtains sometimes in a higher order of animated nature.

There are several varieties of fish that accompany ships, the most common of which, are the albacore and bonetta, or "skip jack," as he is called by the sailors. Their favorite position is a few yards in advance of the

ship, and as she moves steadily forward, parting the foam upon each side of the cutwater, they glide along gracefully from side to side of her track, now leaping in merry gambols high out of the sea, then darting forward they cut the water after the flying fish, with their eye fixed upon their trembling victim, that quivers in the air, doubling upon his pursuer, until he falls helpless into his greedy jaws, or is seized while on the wing. In catching these fish, advantage is taken of their voracious and merciless disposition towards the poor flying fish. A strong line is provided, having a white rag attached to a large hook upon one end of it, which is kept playing upon the surface of the water, under the bowsprit, to imitate the movements of their prey. If the fish are disposed to bite, they spring at the bait with the utmost eagerness and are instantly hooked. Albacore vary in size, from one foot to those that are nearly four feet long, weighing about one hundred pounds. They are a very powerful and active fish, and the largest size give ample employment to two or three men in securing them after their capture. The Albacore is a remarkably beautiful fish; his pectoral, ventral, and lateral fins, are tipped with a bright yellow, while all along from his hindmost fins towards his tail, is set, at regular intervals, a delicate fin like ruffle also tinged with the same brilliant hue.

The Bonetta, or "skip jack," is by no means as beautiful a fish as the albacore. He is usually about eighteen inches long, very similar to the albacore in the shape of his fins, but wanting those brilliant hues that characterize the latter. His size renders him better adapted for capturing with a hook and line than the albacore; but owing to the tenderness of his jaw, and his violent convulsions when caught, the hook almost always tears out

before he can be secured. If these fish are grasped with the hand while dying, their tremulous motion is so violent as to benumb the arm, as if it had been exposed to a succession of galvanic shocks. One of the officers to express this peculiar property of the bonetta, observed that "they sometimes shake so hard as to shake their own heads off."

To the invalid proposing to take a voyage, for the recovery of his health, a whale ship, under some circumstances, offers many inducements over any other mode of conveyance. The excitement of whaling operations; the preparation of the boats and their armaments; the eager enthusiasm displayed whenever any thing is seen by the lookouts, the dropping of books, writing, tailoring, and the hurrying upon deck; the breathless anxiety stimulated by hope; the rattling of blocks, running rigging and spars as the ship is "hove to"--the lowering of the boats—the dash of the oars and the fearless attack, all combine in a variety of highly interesting scenes, such as cannot but be favorable to the health of the invalid. I still recollect with pleasure the first time we took whales, and the very favorable effect it had upon my health; my bodily ills were forgotten in the engrossing interest of the novel scenes then presented. There are some persons, I know, who cannot accommodate themselves to anything, unless it happens to coincide with their accustomed mode of life, and habits of thinking. It is something of a struggle, I own, to bid farewell to home and country, it may be forever, to voyage over the mighty deep for month after month, and to submit to the privations and inconveniences of a long voyage; but the resolution that determines unshrinkingly upon the enterprise, has nerved its possessor to a fortitude that will enable him to surmount the petty obsta

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cles he encounters, and fit him to enjoy the pure atmosphere of the ocean, with the novel scenes it presents. Let me especially recommend to all who embark upon the ocean for the recovery of their health, to take a warm and active interest in every thing they see; and particularly, to exclude ennui, that incubus upon the spirits of invalids, which are already wanting in their wonted elasticity.

Aboard whale ships, there are a great variety of mechanical employments, constantly going on in good weather, which cannot fail of interesting one, particularly if he has any taste for mechanics. In this case, the carpenter's bench and chest of tools, and the turning lathe, give him a fine opportunity for exercise. There are found aboard a whaler, a great variety of small tools expressly intended for "schrimshawing" or nice mechanical contrivances for fabricating various articles out of the teeth and jaw bone of the sperm whale. It is customary aboard whalers, whenever they happen to be in the neighborhood of islands or rocks, to send off a boat or two upon a hunting and fishing expedition, which is not often the case with merchantmen whose object is to press forward as rapidly as possible.

There are several very fine large ships engaged in the whaling business, and as a general thing they are very fast sailers, an important qualification often in securing success. The Sperm Whale Fishery claims the finest vessels, and many of them are commanded by very gentlemanly men. In the fitting out of a whale ship, a liberality on the part of the owners is observed, which is almost profuse in providing every thing that can be thought of for so long a voyage. A whale ship must be a little world within itself, as she is to be an isolated

wanderer upon the face of the deep for several years; and she must have on board every convenience that can be thought of, from a paper of needles up to the sheet anchor. When a whale ship goes into port to recruit, supplies are purchased with no parsimonious hand, as we shall probably have occasion to witness.

As far as safety is concerned, the preference most unquestionably belongs to whale ships. In the American merchant service a much less number of men are shipped to navigate a given tonnage than is the case in the whaling service. In a ship of four hundred tons for instance, sixteen or seventeen men "all told" would be considered her complement, giving to each watch seven men perhaps, whose duty is alternately to take care of the ship. A whaler of this tonnage, would carry over thirty men, giving to each watch double the force of the merchantmen. There are many occasions when it is extremely necessary to shorten sail with rapidity, or execute some maneuvre with great expedition-as for instance, when the ship is "taken aback" in a gale of wind or heavy squall, one of the most dangerous positions she can be placed in. In such critical emergencies that demand instant action, there would be a sufficient amount of force in the watch aboard a whaler to brace around the yards, whereas the merchant ship is sometimes torn to pieces or carried down stern first, while waiting for the watch below to come upon deck, from an inability of those upon deck to work the ship.

The variety of climate which the whaler passes through in his wanderings, is extremely favorable to the recovery of one's health. From the cold and bracing air of the high latitudes, he makes his way to the lovely regions within the tropics, possessing a climate unrivalled