WRITTEN BY J, SIDLOW BAXTER. I QUOTE: IN THE DAILY MAIL, A NEWSPAPER OF DECEMBER 14, 1928, MR. G.H. HANN, A RESIDENT OF BIRMINGHAM, GAVE THE FOLLOWING TESTIMONY. " MY OWN EXPERIENCE WAS IN BIRMINGHAM , ENGLAND, ABOUT TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO WHEN THE CARCASS OF A WHALE WAS DISPLAYED FOR A WEEK. I WAS ONE OF TWELVE MEN WHO WENT INTO HIS MOUTH, PASSED THROUGH ITS THROAT AND MOVED ABOUT IN WHAT WAS EQUIVALENT TO A FAR SIZE ROOM. ITS THROAT WAS LARGE ENOUGH TO SERVE AS A DOOR. OBVIOUSLY, IT WOULD BE QUITE EASY FOR A WHALE OF THIS KIND TO SWALLOW A MAN."
IN THE LATE SIR FRANCIS FOX'S BOOK, SIXTY- YEARS OF ENGINEERING, THE MANAGER OF A WHALING STATION INFORMS US THAT THE SPERM WHALE SWALLOWS LUMPS OF FOOD EIGHT FEET IN DIAMETER AND THAT IN ONE OF THESE WHALES THEY ACTUALLY FOUND A SHARK SIXTEEN IN LENGTH. THERE IS A INCIDENT RELATED BY FOX WHICH, ASSURES US, WAS INVESTIGATED BY TWO SCIENTISTS , ONE OF WHOM WAS M.dePARVILLE, THE SCIENTIFIC EDITOR OF JOURNAL d' DUBOIS, OF PARIS, WELL KNOWN AS A MAN OF SOUND JUDGMENT AND A CAREFUL WRITER. THE INCIDENT IS AS FOLLOWS: IN FEBRUARY, 1891, THE WHALESHIP "STAR OF THE EAST" WAS IN THE VICINITY OF THE FALKLAND ISLANDS WHEN THE LOOKOUT SPOTTED A LARGE SPERM WHALE THREE MILES AWAY. TWO BOATS WERE LOWERED, AND IN A SHORT TIME ONE OF THE HARPOONERS WAS ENABLED TO SPEAR THE FISH. THE SECOND BOAT ATTACKED THE WHALE BUT WAS UP SET BY A LASH OF ITS TAIL AND THE MEN THROWN INTO THE SEA, ONE BEING DROWNED AND ANOTHER, JAMES BARTLEY, HAVING DISAPPEARED, COULD NOT BE FOUND. THE WHALE WAS KILLED AND IN A FEW HOURS THE GREAT BODY WAS LYING IN THE SHIP'S SIDE AND THE CREW WAS BUSY WITH AXES AND SPADES REMOVING THE BLUBBER. THEY WORKED ALL DAY AND PART OF THE NIGHT. THE NEXT DAY THEY ATTACHED SOME TACKLE TO THE STOMACH WHICH WAS HOISTED ON DECK. THE SAILORS WERE STARTLED BY SPASMODIC SIGNS OF LIFE AND INSIDE THE STOMACH WAS FOUND THE MISSING SAILOR DOUBLED UP AND UNCONSCIOUS. HE WAS LAID ON THE DECK AND TREATED TO A BATH OF SEA WATER WHICH SOON REVIVED HIM, BUT HIS MIND WAS NOT CLEAR AND HE WAS PLACED IN THE CAPTAIN'S QUARTERS WHERE HE REMAINED FOR TWO WEEKS, A RAVING LUNATIC. HE WAS KINDLY AND CAREFULLY TREATED BY THE CAPTAIN AND BU OFFICERS OF THE SHIP AND GRADUALLY REGAINED POSSESSION OF HIS SENSES. AT THE END OF THE THIRD WEEK HE HAD ENTIRELY RECOVERED FROM SHOCK. DURING HIS SOJOURN IN THE WHALES STOMACH, BARTLEY'S SKIN, WHERE EXPOSED TO THE ACTION OF THE GASTRIC JUICE UNDERWENT A STRIKING CHANGE. HIS FACE, NECK, AND HANDS WERE BLEACHED TO A DEADLY WHITENESS AND TOOK ON THE APPEARANCE OF PARCHMENT BARTLEY'S AFFIRMED THAT HE WOULD HAVE STARVED, FOR HE LOST HIS SENSES THROUGH FRIGHT, AND NOT FOR LACK OF AIR. BARTLEY ALSO SAID AFTER BEING HURLED INTO THE SEA, THE LASHING OF THE WHALE'S TAIL, HE WAS DRAWN ALONG IN DARKNESS AND FOUND HIMSELF IN A GREAT PLACE WHERE THE HEAT WAS INTENSE. HE FELT AROUND FOR AN EXIT AND FOUND ONLY SLIMY WALLS AROUND HIM. THE AWFUL TRUTH RUSHED INTO HIS MIND AND HE BECAME UNCONSCIOUS UNTIL THE SEAWATER BATH REVIVED HIM ON THE SHIP'S DECK.
AND NOW WHERE ARE THE CRITICS WHO HAVE DECLARED THE SWALLOWING UP OF JONAH TO BE AN IMPOSSIBLE FEAT.
No comments:
Post a Comment