The Pirate
Most of the guests were using their toothpicks, some were beginning to
talk of what was to be done next, when, with haste in his step, fire in
his eye, and a harpoon in his hand, Eric Scambester came to announce to
the company, that there was a whale on shore, or nearly so, at the
throat of the voe! Then you might have seen such a joyous, boisterous,
and universal bustle, as only the love of sport, so deeply implanted in
our nature, can possibly inspire. A set of country squires, about to
beat for the first woodcocks of the season, were a comparison as petty,
in respect to the glee, as in regard to the importance of the object;
the battue, upon a strong cover in Ettrick Forest, for the destruction
of the foxes;(_m_) the insurrection of the sportsmen of the Lennox, when
one of the Duke's deer gets out from Inch-Mirran; nay, the joyous rally
of the fox-chase itself, with all its blithe accompaniments of hound and
horn, fall infinitely short of the animation with which the gallant sons
of Thule set off to encounter the monster, whom the sea had sent for
their amusement at so opportune a conjuncture.
The multifarious stores of Burgh-Westra were rummaged hastily for all
sorts of arms, which could be used on such an occasion. Harpoons,
swords, pikes, and halberds, fell to the lot of some; others contented
themselves with hay-forks, spits, and whatever else could be found, that
was at once long and sharp. Thus hastily equipped, one division, under
the command of Captain Cleveland, hastened to man the boats which lay in
the little haven, while the rest of the party hurried by land to the
scene of action.
Poor Triptolemus was interrupted in a plan, which he, too, had formed
against the patience of the Zetlanders, and which was to have consisted
in a lecture upon the agriculture, and the capabilities of the country,
by this sudden hubbub, which put an end at once to Halcro's poetry, and
to his no less formidable prose. It may be easily imagined, that he took
very little interest in the sport which was so suddenly substituted for
his lucubrations, and he would not even have deigned to have looked upon
the active scene which was about to take place, had he not been
stimulated thereunto by the exhortations of Mistress Baby. "Pit yoursell
forward, man," said that provident person, "pit yoursell forward--wha
kens whare a blessing may light?--they say that a' men share and share
equals-aquals in the creature's ulzie, and a pint o't wad be worth
siller, to light the cruise in the lang dark nights that they speak of.
Pit yoursell forward, man--there's a graip to ye--faint heart never wan
fair lady--wha kens but what, when it's fresh, it may eat weel eneugh,
and spare butter?"
What zeal was added to Triptolemus's motions, by the prospect of eating
fresh train-oil, instead of butter, we know not; but, as better might
not be, he brandished the rural implement (a stable-fork) with which he
was armed, and went down to wage battle with the whale.
The situation in which the enemy's ill fate had placed him, was
particularly favourable to the enterprise of the islanders. A tide of
unusual height had carried the animal over a large bar of sand, into the
voe or creek in which he was now lying. So soon as he found the water
ebbing, he became sensible of his danger, and had made desperate efforts
to get over the shallow water, where the waves broke on the bar; but
hitherto he had rather injured than mended his condition, having got
himself partly aground, and lying therefore particularly exposed to the
meditated attack. At this moment the enemy came down upon him. The front
ranks consisted of the young and hardy, armed in the miscellaneous
manner we have described; while, to witness and animate their efforts,
the young women, and the elderly persons of both sexes, took their place
among the rocks, which overhung the scene of action.
As the boats had to double a little headland, ere they opened the mouth
of the voe, those who came by land to the shores of the inlet, had time
to make the necessary reconnoissances upon the force and situation of
the enemy, on whom they were about to commence a simultaneous attack by
land and sea.
This duty, the stout-hearted and experienced general, for so the Udaller
might be termed, would intrust to no eyes but his own; and, indeed, his
external appearance, and his sage conduct, rendered him alike qualified
for the command which he enjoyed. His gold-laced hat was exchanged for a
bearskin cap, his suit of blue broadcloth, with its scarlet lining, and
loops, and frogs of bullion, had given place to a red flannel jacket,
with buttons of black horn, over which he wore a seal-skin shirt
curiously seamed and plaited on the bosom, such as are used by the
Esquimaux, and sometimes by the Greenland whale-fishers. Sea-boots of a
formidable size completed his dress, and in his hand he held a large
whaling-knife, which he brandished, as if impatient to employ it in the
operation of _flinching_ the huge animal which lay before them,--that
is, the act of separating its flesh from its bones. Upon closer
examination, however, he was obliged to confess, that the sport to which
he had conducted his friends, however much it corresponded with the
magnificent scale of his hospitality, was likely to be attended with its
own peculiar dangers and difficulties.
The animal, upwards of sixty feet in length, was lying perfectly still,
in a deep part of the voe into which it had weltered, and where it
seemed to await the return of tide, of which it was probably assured by
instinct. A council of experienced harpooners was instantly called, and
it was agreed that an effort should be made to noose the tail of this
torpid leviathan, by casting a cable around it, to be made fast by
anchors to the shore, and thus to secure against his escape, in case the
tide should make before they were able to dispatch him. Three boats were
destined to this delicate piece of service, one of which the Udaller
himself proposed to command, while Cleveland and Mertoun were to direct
the two others. This being decided, they sat down on the strand, waiting
with impatience until the naval part of the force should arrive in the
voe. It was during this interval, that Triptolemus Yellowley, after
measuring with his eyes the extraordinary size of the whale, observed,
that in his poor mind, "A wain with six owsen, or with sixty owsen
either, if they were the owsen of the country, could not drag siccan a
huge creature from the water, where it was now lying, to the sea-beach."
Trifling as this remark may seem to the reader, it was connected with a
subject which always fired the blood of the old Udaller, who, glancing
upon Triptolemus a quick and stern look, asked him what the devil it
signified, supposing a hundred oxen could not drag the whale upon the
beach? Mr. Yellowley, though not much liking the tone with which the
question was put, felt that his dignity and his profit compelled him to
answer as follows:--"Nay, sir--you know yoursell, Master Magnus Troil,
and every one knows that knows any thing, that whales of siccan size as
may not be masterfully dragged on shore by the instrumentality of one
wain with six owsen, are the right and property of the Admiral, who is
at this time the same noble lord who is, moreover, Chamberlain of these
isles."
"And I tell you, Mr. Triptolemus Yellowley," said the Udaller, "as I
would tell your master if he were here, that every man who risks his
life to bring that fish ashore, shall have an equal share and partition,
according to our ancient and loveable Norse custom and wont; nay, if
there is so much as a woman looking on, that will but touch the cable,
she will be partner with us; ay, and more than all that, if she will but
say there is a reason for it, we will assign a portion to the babe that
is unborn."(_n_)
The strict principle of equity, which dictated this last arrangement,
occasioned laughter among the men, and some slight confusion among the
women. The factor, however, thought it shame to be so easily daunted.
"_Suum cuique tribuito_," said he; "I will stand for my lord's right and
my own."
"Will you?" replied Magnus; "then, by the Martyr's bones, you shall have
no law of partition but that of God and Saint Olave, which we had before
either factor, or treasurer, or chamberlain were heard of!--All shall
share that lend a hand, and never a one else. So you, Master Factor,
shall be busy as well as other folk, and think yourself lucky to share
like other folk. Jump into that boat," (for the boats had by this time
pulled round the headland,) "and you, my lads, make way for the factor
in the stern-sheets--he shall be the first man this blessed day that
shall strike the fish."
The loud authoritative voice, and the habit of absolute command inferred
in the Udaller's whole manner, together with the conscious want of
favourers and backers amongst the rest of the company, rendered it
difficult for Triptolemus to evade compliance, although he was thus
about to be placed in a situation equally novel and perilous. He was
still, however, hesitating, and attempting an explanation, with a voice
in which anger was qualified by fear, and both thinly disguised under an
attempt to be jocular, and to represent the whole as a jest, when he
heard the voice of Baby maundering in his ear,--"Wad he lose his share
of the ulzie, and the lang Zetland winter coming on, when the lightest
day in December is not so clear as a moonless night in the Mearns?"
This domestic instigation, in addition to those of fear of the Udaller,
and shame to seem less courageous than others, so inflamed the
agriculturist's spirits, that he shook his _graip_ aloft, and entered
the boat with the air of Neptune himself, carrying on high his trident.
The three boats destined for this perilous service, now approached the
dark mass, which lay like an islet in the deepest part of the voe, and
suffered them to approach without showing any sign of animation.
Silently, and with such precaution as the extreme delicacy of the
operation required, the intrepid adventurers, after the failure of their
first attempt, and the expenditure of considerable time, succeeded in
casting a cable around the body of the torpid monster, and in carrying
the ends of it ashore, when an hundred hands were instantly employed in
securing them. But ere this was accomplished, the tide began to make
fast, and the Udaller informed his assistants, that either the fish must
be killed, or at least greatly wounded, ere the depth of water on the
bar was sufficient to float him; or that he was not unlikely to escape
from their joint prowess.
"Wherefore," said he, "we must set to work, and the factor shall have
the honour to make the first throw."
The valiant Triptolemus caught the word; and it is necessary to say that
the patience of the whale, in suffering himself to be noosed without
resistance, had abated his terrors, and very much lowered the creature
in his opinion. He protested the fish had no more wit, and scarcely more
activity, than a black snail; and, influenced by this undue contempt of
the adversary, he waited neither for a further signal, nor a better
weapon, nor a more suitable position, but, rising in his energy, hurled
his graip with all his force against the unfortunate monster. The boats
had not yet retreated from him to the distance necessary to ensure
safety, when this injudicious commencement of the war took place.
Magnus Troil, who had only jested with the factor, and had reserved the
launching the first spear against the whale to some much more skilful
hand, had just time to exclaim, "Mind yourselves, lads, or we are all
swamped!" when the monster, roused at once from inactivity by the blow