The Gam

Remarks Monday 18th of November 1867, 162nd Day

Rainy weather first part of the day but cleared by the afternoon strong winds from the SSE.

O my dear I believe we have exhausted every whale in this ocean. But maybe they have all gotten too clever for us and learned where our boats are and have gone off elsewhere. It has been several weeks since we got our last catch and in that time we have seen not even a spout. Going whaling is about patience and I am lucky that I am a patient man.

The master seems ready to take us down and around the Cape to get to the Pacific whaling grounds. We will likely stop to refresh our stocks of wood and water before we go and I hope that this will mean we take some time on shore. But of course the master will not want to let us all go on shore because shore leave at any port worth visiting means that half the greenhands will leave for good and we’ll be down crew or have to hire more. We are still early into the journey not even a full year and no one has had a chance to spend down their entire lay out of the slop chest yet. I haven’t spent any even though I lost some buttons off my shirt I’ve been carving down teeth to replace them. I’ll make some extra for you my dear. It is something to do to pass the time though I am not very good at it. I should make sure Tobey gets some teeth to try carving I don’t think he had any interest in it before but o he could do with something to pass the time other than playing cards. And I have plenty of teeth (a whale has far more than he needs it seems) so if he ever has interest I will give him some of mine. He will get bored enough with cards eventually, when he has nothing left to gamble on them.

For anyone who does get into debt I can see why it becomes a better and better idea to take your leave of the ship and discharge any debts you might have by running. But I will be wearing a jacket that’s more darns than whole fabric before I owe a man money. I sometimes wonder if I would make a good husband to you my dear I think it is the wife’s duty to be thrifty. I might work us both to the bone to save a penny…

No when I come home with my pay I will spoil you my dear. You and I will go arm in arm through New Bedford and you will get the prettiest dress made that I’ve ever laid eyes on. And that is what you will wear when we get married in the seamen’s bethel. Do you think they would marry us there? I’ve never seen a wedding there but it is a church like any other and surely plenty of sailors get married like any other men. If they won’t then Well we can get married at your family’s house under that big old apple tree. Or at First Baptist church either way it does not matter to me whatever you like. But we will have to do it in the spring since that is the prettiest time for weddings isn’t it.

O why am I dreaming about this now.

Barometer 30.1.

Remarks Tuesday 19th of November 1867, 163rd Day

Early part of the day clear but rain in the afternoon. No sign of whales. Engaged in repairing sails. Plenty of other sails on the horizon and no indication that they’re having any luck either. The master has said he does not like gaming with other ships much because he has nothing to talk about but I always enjoy it as it is a good chance to meet other fellows and if they are on their way home or at least to a port where there is a mail packet we can hand them our letters. I wish I could get a letter back from you my dear but if all I can do is send you one of my own I will be content with knowing that when you read it you are thinking of me. Barometer 30.0.

Remarks Wednesday 20th of November 1867, 164th Day

Cloudy at day light and remained cloudy all day but no rain and still air. Barometer 29.7.

Remarks Thursday 21st of November 1867, 165th Day

We are still becalmed and the weather has been quite strange everything is so hot and the air itself is heavy. The sails don’t move at all and every sound seems like it carries across the water in a way that I have never heard before. Since we are becalmed and there is no hope of seeing any whales the master lets some of the men take the boats out to fish for dinner away from the ship. I took a boat out earlier but we caught nothing still it was nice to be out on the water. I would have liked to go for a swim but I am afraid of sharks which we have seen plenty of. Tobey cannot swim I ought to teach him if we ever have liberty on shore and shallow and calm water. He doesn’t care to learn but it’s a danger to be on a whaler and not able to swim for at least a minute. If a whale stoves in your boat there are always plenty of fellows around to pull you out of the water when you’re chasing a whale and I would rather not die of drowning if I can help it. I’d rather not die of anything else either but drowning is at least one thing I can work against on my own! The rest I suppose is up to the Good Lord. Still sails on the horizon. The boats might head in that direction and say hello. Antonio is out there fishing now and he is a friendly man he’ll call out a greeting to anyone even if that’s properly the master’s job. Barometer remains still and high.

Remarks Friday 22nd of November 1867, 166th Day

No wind for another day. Antonio took an old harpoon out when they were all going fishing and he harpooned himself a shark which we all ate for dinner. He is a better harpooner than me and braver as I would be too afraid to lean over the side of the boat and spear it. What if it leapt at me? They are not like whales which I feel I can understand or at least I am familiar with. A whale never tried to eat me except to stove my boat in but sharks look like they would take great pleasure in having a bite of me. (And I think a whale would do me the mercy of swallowing me whole. I think a shark would need to chew!) But since Antonio is brave and has a good arm we can all profit from him darting a shark. They are funny looking creatures and o my dear I will admit I was a little nervous to touch it even when it was lying dead there on the deck. Its teeth are not so big as a sperm whale’s but they are much sharper. The cook had a devil time trying to get the skin off him and cut him all up for us to eat. His knife just didn’t go easy through and trying to hold it steady would leave your hand all scraped up it has a hide like an iron file. On my last voyage men darted sharks so that they could get the skin to use for sandpaper not to eat. I think a tough skin like that is something that God gave the shark to stop him from being eaten up but o I hate to think about what animal eats sharks. Aside from us of course! I never ate shark before but a good soup it made it was a better meal than most we’ve been having for weeks. We ate the last of our hens a long while ago when they stopped laying and the pig was gone before that. Only our goats are left now and so I hope when we stop at port we get some new hens. Barometer 30.1.

Remarks Saturday 23rd of November 1867, 167th Day

Still not a breath of wind in any direction. It’s a long way to the nearest other boat but since the boredom has grown tiresome for even the master we are having a little gam with them. This is the bark Henrietta and she is like ours in every way though a good few voyages older as the Wampanoag is a new ship. I’m told that the Henrietta’ s master has a wife with him on the ship which has caused a small stir on board. But since our master’s wife is tucked away in New Bedford aside from her photograph there is no reason for a woman to come visiting us here. 

Today the master took the L Boat over to them and their first mate came here. We had a very fine time as a gam is a good chance to spend time with all on deck and have some games and drink and be merry. Although the air is still and dreadfully hot the weather was good for such a thing. There was a little competition between us as the Henrietta’s first mate asked if any of us harpooners could throw a dart as hard and as far as their best his name was Frank. And as Antonio and I both have good arms we both took a try. All three of us went out on a boat along with both first mates to act as judges. We stayed up right close to the ship so that all could watch and cheer us on. Tobey yelled so loud when it was my time to throw that you probably heard him yelling my name back home or at least they must have heard him all the way over on the other ship. Their harpooner went first and he darted four fathoms. O my dear this might not sound like much but the harpoon with its iron pole is quite heavy you would be surprised at how heavy it is and how hard it can be to throw. Antonio went next and I do not think he had a fair shot or he would have won. Just as he was in the middle of his throw a little wave hit our boat and made him stumble, and he only got two fathoms and was lucky that he didn’t go for a swim. I was nervous as anything when I stood at the front of the boat and they gave me the harpoon to try I didn’t want to let everyone down. But as I said Tobey was cheering for me and that put a smile on my face and made the dart feel a lot lighter than it usually does. And not having to worry about a whale stoving me in or even having to aim at anything at all helped too.

Now we were throwing our darts along the side of the ship so that everyone could get the best view. I aimed my dart higher than I usually would so that it could go a hair further. When I threw I knew I had made a good throw the iron just leaped right out of my hand into the air. The trouble was that the wind chose that moment to blow for the first time in days and it moved my dart right to the side and o my dear I felt as embarrassed as anything my dart stuck right into the side of the ship.

Everyone started yelling O Amos did you think we were a whale and telling the first mate to get out his lance to finish the kill. You would think that I had stove the whole ship in from the way everybody was yelling. Everyone had good fun and half were drunk as they’d ever been but o my dear I am so ashamed. Even Tobey laughed at me! And Antonio said he’ll be sure to keep his boat well out of my way when we go chasing whales.

I did dart four and a half fathoms though by measuring it on how we pulled ourselves on the line up to the ship. No matter how we pulled on the line we couldn’t get the iron out of the side until the first mate took the hatchet and pulled the dart out. The hole it left was as big as my hand and splintered though it did not go all the way through the wood. We’ll put some tar on it and if it gets too bad the carpenter can replace the wood.

I should have asked if the first mate would take the damage out of my lay because I’d like to know but o I thought that asking him would remind him that he should do so.

I’m sorry it was the first mate who saw and not the master I think the master might have laughed even though it is his family’s ship. I didn’t really stove us in.

Tomorrow the first mate will make a visit to the Henrietta and I’ll get to come along. Tobey too I don’t think the first mate will mind and Tobey should get to go gamming. Someone needs to row the boat after all and the two of us are in the first mate’s crew.

Barometer 30.2.

Remarks Wednesday 27th of November 1867, 171st Day

Tobey is still in chains on the deck and I do not know what to do.