WHALE HUNTING.

New Zealander, Volume 3, Issue 177, 9 February 1848, Page 3

WHALE HUNTING.

Whaling is indeed a glorious sport, as far supm ior to young salmon fishing and fox hunting, as ihosr diversions are to bobbing for gudgeon and ebasing rat? with, a terrier. And whilst the excitement it occasions muit, we apprehend, be the strongest possible to be known, short of that of the battle-licld, it jilus lhe advantage of bein^ much less dangerous than it looks. The ideas suggested by a landsman by the desei iption of an attack on a whale, are those of extreme peril to all engaged in it, a peul fiom which the chancps against their escapini? ulive are at least ten to one. A few hardy fellows pull up to a creature th^t looks like a suiiill ibland on the surface of the sph, and one sweep of whose tail or flukes is sufficient to knock their frail baik into Rplmtprj ; they dash their harpoons into his huge flanks, and submit to be towed through the waves by the maddened monster ut a rate that makes the water boil lound their bow,. Such is the power of the fish, that if he comes in contact with a ship, during his headlong course, his weight and impetus would stave in her siJes. Sometimes he runs stiai«htfonrard ; at others in circles, with iuegular rapidi'y. Still the boat htioks to him, unUlhe smart of his hurt subsiding, or through fatigue, he slacken* liis speed, enabling his enemies to approach and to pierce him with fie»h wounds. At last, when the waters around are leddened with his blood, comes the death fury " Stein all. The boats stand clear, <<nd the (ibh dusapears in the cloud of spray that he dashes up in his dying agonies. His flukes quiver, he plunges heavily, and all is over. Perhapn, and. this frequently happens, in the course of the contest a. boat has been cut in two, or so far damaged as to fill and sink. But the crew are seldom lost. They support themselves by aid of theoais, until their comrades pick them up. Whaling seamen are paid !jy shares on the profits of the voiage, wliicli arrangement, of course contributes to render them zealous and daring.—Adventures on the Western Coast ifSonlh America, $c, by Dr. Coulter. Death of the Impfrtal Princr of Brazil. — We have to announce the death of Don Alronso, only son of Don Pedro 11., and late heir apparent to the throne of Brazil. No particulars are stated of the nature or the disease whi'h thus ptoved fatal. la the Journal da Commcrcio, of Rio de Janeno, of the 12th ol June, it is simply stated that the president of the Chamber of Deputies had communicated an official notification of the event, and that in consequence, his Imperial Majesty cou d not receive the deputation appointed to wait on him with the address in answer to the speech from the throne, on opsninjj the session on the 13th, as had been previously arranged. The subsequent journals desciibe the affliction and resignation of the impeiidl family, and the preparations making for the funeral. The Modern Ru/ns or the Modern Athens. — A new movement is making in Scotland towards a rear wal of the works, in imitation ot the Athenian Parthenon on the Calton-hill of the northern capital. It is now proposed, wo are told, to cut away the church and sepulchre clauses from the actot its erection, and to devote the edifice at large for the purpose of a " Scottish Pantheon, or Gallery of Honoui, for the reception of monumental busts and statues of great and distinguished men, whether suite«men, warriors, poets, men of literatuie, science, artists, &c, not limited to Scotland or even G.eat Britain, but open to great men of all nations." The pediments and metopes, together with the friezss o£ the peristyle, are to be decotated with national *culp<uie, and the in« terior with paintings illustrative of Srottish and British achievements, in fresco, encaustic, or oil, as may be decided upon. A new act is to be applied for, providing lor the establishment of 5/. shares to the amount of 150,000/., instead ol 25/ shaies to the amount of 100,000/ , formerly proposed. The mere laying of the foundations of the original plan, and the rearing of the picturesque pillars which have so longs', ood on the hill at once an ornament and a rebuke, cost, it is said, no less a sura than 15,000/. — Globe. Fossil Remains — The Constitutionnel contains the following letter, dated Djon, lltii nibt., announcing an interesting discoveiy: — "In the course of raising gravel from the bed of the Sione, the engineer employed discovereda fossil phenomenon, of which the gigantic proportions correspond with the antediluvian animals remarked by Cuvier. Those fossils consist of the tooth and the tu«k ot an elephant. The latter which is only a fragment, is 42 feet long, and 3 feet 10 inches in diameter. Tjie municipal council of Dijon has claimed those objects of nstural hiotoiy, but it is said piobably they may be forwarded to the Museum of Natural Ili-toryin Paris. A Lawyer's Toast.— At a late dinner of a provincial law society, the pre&ident called upon the senior solicitor pi eaent to give as a toast the person whom he^ considered the best friend of the profession. " Then," responded the sly old fox, " I'll give you —'The man who makes his own will." At a recent sitting of the Cheltenham police court, an application was made to the magistrates, to shorten the unnecessary length of ladies' dresses ; which, as they sweep along the street, are said to raise the dust in such quantities as to spoil shopkeepers' goods. By a Parliamentary return just printed, it appears that, to the 21st ulr., £y 0 , 773, 789, 145. Bd. was paid and .£11,830,761 13s. lud. remained to be paid by the several railway companies having had purchase, sale, lease, or amalgamation bills befoie Parliament in the last Session. The services of the electric telegraph have at length been called into requisition for the put poses of the press. The second edition of the Manchester Ttmei of. Saturday last contains a report of a public meeting supplied by the above means ; being lhe first time that the electric telegraph has been made available for such a purpose. It was stated last week on the hustings at Darlington, that John Bowes, Esq., the former member, had «pent the large sum of ,£ J 30,000 in two contests for South Durham. There is now in the St. Katberine's Docks, the great quantity of 60 000 barrels of wheaten flout- (.float, awaiting quay-room to discharge ; besides a large quantity of Indian corn meal anil corn. Comimnations of Wickedness would overwhelm the world by the advantage which licentious piinciples afford, did not those who have long practised perfidy grow faithless t» each other. FtUBNDSHiF.— It is delightful when young girls form a mutual attachment in love and kindness, and play to,, c her like the waves on ihe sea-shore, like young leaves entwined by the w.ntl ; but moie lovely it is, whfn women of noble chaiacters a\d fixed piii - opes meet, and learn to value ejeh other, when they form a bond of friendship together. Such friendships are more irequenjy met with in life th.tu <s gem rally believed ; and wherever i see two kinale friends living undo the same loof, I lcel glad ax heart, tor then I know that there is what reiuksu life agreeable and the day ch.erful and happy. The height of pitieiue m.'i\ bz considered to be a deaf man listen:/^ foi the tijuugot n sim-di 1.