all, it may seem surprising that it was not a particularly large individual; the largest lamina of whalebone only measuring nine feet six inches, while those affording twelve feet bone are not uncommon.* The quantity of line withdrawn from the different boats engaged in the capture was singularly great. It amounted altogether to 10,440 yards, or nearly six English miles. Of these, thirteen new lines were lost, together with the sunken boat; the harpoon connecting them to the fish having dropped out before the whale was killed.-Captain Scoresby's Voyage.

EXTRAORDINARY

ADVENTURES OF

WILLIAM RINKLE.

IN the London papers, some years ago, appeared a report respecting an application made by one William Rinkle to a metropolitan magistrate for advice and assistance under very extraordinary circumstances-so extraordinary, that the case appears to merit a more durable chronicling than that of the newspapers :

"Rinkle stated that, in the month of March 1832, he sailed from the port of London in a South-sea whaler, belonging to a very respectable firm in Rotherhithe. The ship had been at sea about fourteen months, when the crew were fortunate enough to meet with two whales. After the whales had been killed, all hands were busily employed in securing the blubber, when an accident happened to him of a very serious nature. The spade he was using slipped, and cut one of his feet very severely. One main artery was severed, and he bled so profusely, that he was obliged to leave off work. He was conveyed

*It has been frequently observed, that whales of this size are the most active of the species; and that those of very large growth are in general captured with less trouble.

below, and the captain and mate soon afterwards came to him, and accused him of cutting himself, to escape his share of the labour. He indignantly repelled the accusation, and displayed his foot, which was in such a state that he could not stand. Some words arose, and the mate gave him a severe blow on the head, which stunned him. On recovering his senses, he was conveyed to the after-hatchway, where he was confined as a close prisoner for two months, and was fed on a scanty allowance of bread and water. During this period, he suffered the most dreadful torture from the wound in his foot, owing to improper treatment and neglect. A locked-jaw ensued, and it was necessary to force open his mouth with an iron spoon, to enable him to swallow food sufficient to sustain life; indeed, on one occasion it was requisite to cut the lower lip to accomplish this object. (The man exhibited his lip, on which a large scar was distinctly visible.) After he had in some degree recovered, the captain directed that he should beg his pardon before all the ship's company. He declined doing so, and the captain immediately gave orders for him to be put on shore on an island near the Japanese dominions, from which they were not far distant. Accordingly, signs were made to the natives, who were watching the vessel from the shore, and a great number of them speedily came alongside in canoes, but they all refused to have anything to do with putting him on shore, and threats and persuasions were alike ineffectual. At length the captain gave directions to the cooper to knock off the iron hoops from some casks, and bribed the natives of the island, called St Andrews, forming one of a numerous group, to receive him. In addition to the iron, spirits were liberally supplied to the natives, and while they were rolling about in a state of intoxication, the captain contrived to smuggle two of the poor wretches on board the vessel, with whom he sailed. When complainant was put on shore, the natives all surrounded him, and seemed lost in wonder as they examined his dress, and the colour of his skin, as they had never seen a white man on the island before. He

was stripped of his clothes, which the natives tore into numberless pieces, and divided amongst themselves, and afterwards exercised their agility by dancing in a very grotesque manner around him. Rinkle remained on this island nine months, and, upon the whole, lived pretty well among the savages. Their principal food was cocoa-nuts and fish. On two or three occasions, the natives suffered much from a scarcity of food. They were not cannibals, but, thinking he might have a taste for human flesh, they once offered him a portion of the bodies of a woman and child who had died suddenly. He refused the proffered food with disgust, and made the natives to understand, that white men never ate human flesh. They appeared much surprised at this, and asked why the captain of the big canoe should take away two of their countrymen. He had been on this island about nine months or moons, when one day he perceived a ship in the offing, and made signals of distress, which, to his great joy, were perceived, and the ship hove-to. A boat was sent ashore to receive him, but the savages endeavoured to prevent him leaving the island. He, however, managed to swim to the boat amidst a shower of arrows, and was safely taken up by the crew. The vessel turned out to be the Clementina, a schooner, bound to Batavia. The captain was a Frenchman, but the rest of the crew were Malays. During the voyage, the Malay crew murdered the captain and mate, and seemed inclined to murder him, but they changed their minds, and put him ashore on Ascension Island, where he found five Europeans. Shortly afterwards, a launch or boat which had been dropped from an American ship drifted on shore. In this frail bark they went out to sea, and after suffering very great privation, and being buffeted about for four months, they reached the Sandwich Islands. They were taken on board the Mable schooner, and afterwards transferred to Her Majesty's sloop of war Imogene, in which they reached this country. He had been away for seven years, and had endured very great privations and sufferings. His friends had long since thought him dead, and

great was their surprise and joy when he presented himself amongst them.'

A respectable person gave testimony to the creditworthiness of this strange history, and some steps were ordered by the magistrate to be taken for the redress of the very great hardships suffered by Rinkle.

STORY OF SIR ROBERT INNES.

EARLY in the past century, a young gentleman, Robert Innes, fell heir to the baronetcy of Orton-a title of some standing in his name and family. By a concurrence of adverse circumstances, not one rood of land, nor any property whatever, followed the destination of the titular honours. This was particularly hard in his case, as he had received a liberal education, and such a general training, in short, as is usually bestowed on heirs-presumptive or apparent to titles that have a substantial amount of acres appended to them. After this statement, it is scarcely necessary to say that Robert Innes was brought up to no useful art or profession by which a livelihood might be won.

Few situations could be more painful than that in which the young baronet found himself, when he acquired the right to place before his name the important monosyllable which entitled him to hold a prominent place in society, while, at the same time, he was totally devoid of the means of maintaining that place with fitting credit and respectability. It is true that, having enjoyed various opportunities of viewing the ways of high life, he knew very well that many needy fashionables, and even men of title, contrive to pass their lives in apparent ease and splendour, by clinging tenaciously to the skirts of wealthy relatives and friends, or by preying on strangers not sufficiently experienced or sage to be

secure against the toils of the high-bred sharper or jockey. Sir Robert Innes knew that men in the like circumstances with himself lived, nay flourished, after this manner and fashion; but he was endowed with a spirit too honourable and manly not to revolt at the thought of eating the bread either of swindling or of servility. He therefore felt his position to be one of extreme difficulty, and was for a time altogether at a loss how to procure his maintenance, in a manner consistent with the preservation, not of his rank and dignity, but simply of honesty and independence of character. It may well be believed that he envied the craftsmanship even of the humblest artisan, who had learned to look to his hands, and his hands alone, for subsistence. But all trades, arts, and professions seemed in a measure closed against Sir Robert, since he possessed not the necessary means to train himself for any particular employment, even if that could have been effectively done at the comparatively advanced period of life which he had attained. One profession only, if it may be properly so called, remained open to him-namely, that of arms; and to this the young baronet naturally turned his attention. Had he besieged the doors of those who had known his family in better days, he might possibly have at once entered the military service in a station corresponding with his social rank; but the risk of encountering scornful refusals, and other such-like fears and feelings, caused the indigent baronet to shrink from becoming a petitioner, desirable as it would have been to attain the object in question. He therefore preserved the independence which he loved, by entering the British army in the capacity of a private soldier. The dragoons was the body in which he enrolled himself, retaining his own name, but dropping of course the title which had descended to him from his ancestors.

In this condition Sir Robert Innes remained for a considerable time, fulfilling regularly and peacefully the duties imposed upon him, and giving no expression to the regrets which could not but occasionally arise in the