 21. Ship towed to land by bullocks. A few years since, the ship Ariadne, freighted principally with live cattle, started on a voyage from Quebec bound to Halifax. A gale came on which continued to increase in fury until it became a perfect hurricane. The ship was dismasted, and when the main must fell, three poor fellows were crushed to death. A little before sunset on the second day of the gale, the appalling cry of breakers ahead was raised. All eyes were instinctively turned in one direction, and about a mile off the sea was as a boiling cauldron. Toward the breakers, the hoe was now drifting unmanageable, every moment threatened with destruction. For about half an hour there was intense anxiety and an agony of suspense on board. At length, she entered the breakers. A large wave raised her, and she struck heavily on the rocks as the waves receded. It was evident, from constant striking upon the bottom, that the vessel must soon go to pieces, and the sea made a clean break over her, about half of the length from the stern. The officers and crew were huddled together upon the deck forward, and tent upon devising means of escape. At last the captain thought of a plan, which though novel, proved successful. He fastened ropes to the horns of several bullocks, and drove them into the sea. Their strong, instinctive love of life impelled them forward, and several of them reached the shore. The ropes were fastened by some men who had assembled for the relief of those on the vessel, and after much exertion and danger, all on board, were rescued from their perilous situation, and landed in safety. Destruction of a Ship by a Whale The following thrilling account of the destruction of the whale ship Anne Alexander, Captain John S. DuBlois of New Bedford, by a large sperm whale, is from the lips of the captain himself. A similar circumstance has never been known to occur, but once in the whole history of whale fishing, and that was the destruction of the ship Essex some twenty or twenty-five years ago, and which many of our readers fully remember. We proceed to the narrative as furnished by Captain DuBlois, and which is fully authenticated by nine of the crew in a protest under the seal of the United States consul Alexander Rudin Jr. at Bieta. The ship, Anne Alexander, Captain J. S. DuBlois, sailed from New Bedford, Massachusetts, June 1st, 1850, for a cruise in the South Pacific for sperm whale. Having taken about five hundred barrels of oil in the Atlantic, the ship proceeded on her voyage to the Pacific. Nothing of unusual interest occurred until, when passing Cape Horn, one of the men, named Jackson Walker of Newport, New Hampshire, was lost overboard in a storm. Reaching the Pacific she came up the coast and stopped at Valdivia on the coast of Chile for fresh provisions, and the thirty-first of May last she called a Bieta for the purpose of shipping a man. The vessel proceeded on her return voyage to the South Pacific. On the twentieth of August last she reached what is well known to all whalers as the offshore ground in latitude five degrees fifty minutes south, longitude one hundred and twenty degrees west. In the morning of that day, at about nine o'clock, whales were discovered in the neighborhood and about noon the same day they succeeded in making fast to one. Two boats had gone after the whales, the Larbird and the Starbird, the former commanded by the first mate, the latter by Captain DuBlois. The whale, which they had struck, was harpooned by the Larbird boat. After running some time the whale turned upon the boat and rushing at it with tremendous violence lifted open its enormous jaws and taking the boat in actually crushed it into fragments as small as a common chair. Captain DuBlois immediately struck for the scene of the disaster with the Starbird boat and succeeded against all expectation in rescuing the whole of the crew of the boat, nine in number. There were now eighteen men in the Starbird boat consisting of the Captain, the first mate, and the crews of both boats. The frightful disaster had been witnessed from the ship and the waste boat was called into readiness and sent to their relief. The distance from the ship was about six miles. As soon as the waste boat arrived the crews were divided and it was determined to pursue the same whale and make another attack upon him. Accordingly they separated and proceeded at some distance from each other, as is usual on such occasions, after the whale. In a short time they came up to him and prepared to give him battle. The waste boat commanded by the first mate was in advance. As soon as the whale perceived the demonstration being made upon him he turned his course suddenly and, making a tremendous dash at this boat, seized it with his widespread jaws and crushed it to atoms, allowing the men barely time to escape his vengeance by throwing themselves into the ocean. Captain DuBlois, again seeing the perilous condition of his men at the risk of meeting the same fate, directed his boat to hasten to their rescue and in a short time succeeded in saving them all from a death little less horrible than that from which they had twice as narrowly escaped. He then ordered the boat to put for the ship as speedily as possible and no sooner had the order been given than they discovered the monster of the deep making toward them with his jaws widely extended. Fortunately the monster came up and passed them at a short distance. The boat then made her way to the ship and they all got on board in safety. After reaching the ship a boat was dispatched for the oars of the demolished boat and it was determined to pursue the whale with the ship. As soon as the boat returned with the oars sail was set and the ship proceeded after the whale. In a short time she overtook him and a lance was thrown into his head. The ship passed on by him and immediately after they discovered that the whale was making for the ship. As he came up near her they hauled on the wind and suffered the monster to pass her. After he had fairly passed they kept off to overtake and attack him again. When the ship had reached within about fifty rods of him they discovered that the whale had settled down deep below the surface of the water and as it was near sundown they concluded to give up the pursuit. Captain Dubois was at this time standing in the night heads on the larbord bow with lance in hand, ready to strike the monster a deadly blow should he appear. The ship moving about five knots when working on the side of the ship he discovered the whale rushing toward her at the rate of fifteen knots. In an instant the monster struck the ship with tremendous violence shaking her from stem to stern. She quivered under the violence of the shock as if she had struck upon a rock. Captain Dubois immediately descended into the forecastle and there to his horror discovered that the monster had struck the ship two feet from the keel abreast the formus knocking a great hole entirely through her bottom. Springing to the deck he ordered the mate to cut away the anchors and set the cables overboard to keep the ship from sinking as she had a large quantity of pig iron on board. In doing this the mate succeeded in getting only one anchor and one cable clear the other having been fastened around the formus. The ship was then sinking rapidly. The captain went to the cabin where he found three feet of water he however succeeded in procuring a chronometer sextant and chart. Reaching the decks he ordered the boats to be cleared away and got water and provisions as the ship was keeling over. He again descended to the cabin but the water was rushing in so rapidly that he could procure nothing. He then came upon deck ordered all hands into the boat and was the last to leave the ship which he did by throwing himself into the sea and swimming to the nearest boat. The ship was on her beam end at top gallant yards under the water. They then pushed off some distance from the ship expecting her to sink in a very short time. Upon an examination of the stores they had been able to save he discovered that they had only twelve quarts of water and not a mouthful of provisions of any kind. The boats contained eleven men each were leaky and night coming on they were obliged to bail them all night to keep them from sinking. Next day at daylight they returned to the ship no one daring to venture on board but the captain their intention being to cut away the mast and fearful that the moment the masts were cut away that the ship would go down. With a single hatchet the captain went on board cut away the mast when the ship righted. The boat then came up and the men by the sole aid of spades cut away the chain cable from around the Formus which got the ship nearly on her keel. The men then tied ropes round their bodies, got into the sea and cut a hole through the decks to get out provisions. They could procure nothing but about five gallons of vinegar and twenty pounds of wet bread. The ship threatened to sink and they deemed it prudent to remain by her no longer so they set sail in their boats and left On the 22nd of August at about five o'clock p.m. they had the indescribable joy of seeing a ship in the distance. They made signal and were soon answered and in a short time they were reached by the ship Nantucket of Nantucket, Massachusetts Captain Gibbs who took them on board clothed and fed them and extended to them in every way the greatest possible hospitality. On the succeeding day Captain Gibbs went to the wreck of the ill-fated Anne Alexander for the purpose of trying to procure something but as the sea was rough and the attempt considered dangerous he abandoned the project. The Nantucket then set sail for Pieta where she arrived on the 15th of September and where she landed Captain de Bloy and his men. Captain de Bloy was kindly received and hospitably entertained at Pieta by Captain Bathurst, an English gentleman residing there and subsequently took passage on board the Schooner Providence Captain Starbuck for Panama. Burning of the Kent The annexed engraving represents the burning of the Kent, East Indiaman in the Bay of Biscay. She had on board an all 641 persons at the time of the accident. The fire broke out in the hold during a storm. An officer on duty finding that a spirit cask had broken loose was taking measures to secure it when a lurch of the ship caused him to drop his lantern and in his eagerness to save it he let go the cask which suddenly stowed in. The spirits communicated with the flame and the whole place was instantly in a place. Hopes of subduing the fire at first were strong, but soon heavy volumes of smoke and a pitchy smell told that it had reached the cable room. In these awful circumstances the Captain ordered the lower decks to be scuttled to admit water. This was done, several poor seamen being suffocated by the smoke, in executing the order. But now a new danger threatened. The sea rushed in so furiously that the ship was becoming waterlogged and all feared her going down. Between six and seven hundred human beings were by this time crowded on the deck. Many on their knees earnestly implored the mercy of an all-powerful god, while some old stout-hearted sailors quietly seated themselves directly over the powder magazine expecting an explosion every moment and thinking thus to put a speedier end to their torture. In this time of despair it occurred to the fourth mate to send a man to the Formus, hoping, but scarce daring to think, it probable, that some friendly sail might be inside. The man at the foretop looked around him. It was a moment of intense anxiety. Then, waving his hand, he cried out, A sail on the lee-bow! Those on deck received the news with heartfelt gratitude and answered with three cheers. Signals of distress were instantly hoisted and endeavors used to make toward the stranger, while the men at guns were fired continuously. She proved to be the brig Cambria, Captain Cook, Master, bound to Barrow crews, having twenty Cornish miners and some agents of the mining company on board. For about a quarter of an hour the crew of the Kent doubted whether the brig perceived their signals, but after a period of dreadful suspense they saw the British colors hoisted and the rig making toward them. On this the crew of the Kent bought their boats in readiness. The first was filled with women, passengers, and officers' wives, and was lowered into a sea so tempestuous as to leave small hope of their reaching the brig. They did, however, after being nearly swamped through some entanglement of the ropes, getting clear of the Kent, and were safely taken on board the Cambria, which prudently lay at some distance off. After the first trip it was found impossible for the boats to come close alongside of the Kent, and the poor women and children suffered dreadfully in being lowered over the stern into them by means of ropes. Amid this gloomy scene many beautiful examples occurred of filial and parental affection and of disinterested friendship, and many sorrowful instances of individual loss and suffering. At length, when all had been removed from the burning vessel, but a few who were so overcome by fear as to refuse to make the attempt to reach the brig, the captain acquitted his ill-fated ship. The flames which had spread along her upper deck now mounted rapidly to the mast and rigging, forming one general conflagration and lighting up the heavens to an immense distance around. One by one her stately masts fell over her sides. By half past one in the morning the fire reached the powder magazine. The looked-for explosion took place, and the burning fragments of the vessel were blown high into the air like so many rockets. The Cambria, with her crowd of sufferers, made all speed to the nearest port and reached Portsmouth in safety shortly after midnight on the 3rd of March, 1825, the accident having taken place on the 28th of February. Wonderful to tell, 14 of the poor creatures left on the Kent were rescued by another ship, the Caroline, on her passage from Alexandria to Liverpool. End of section 21. End of Thrilling Adventures by Land and Sea by James O. Brayman.