iscovered, and at noon of the
same day succeeded in making fast to one.

The mate's boat made fast to the whale, which ran with the boat for
some time, and then suddenly turning about rushed at the boat with open
jaws, crushing the little craft into splinters. Captain Deblois rescued
the boat's crew.

Later the waist boat was lowered from the ship and another attack made
upon the leviathan. The mate again in charge of the attacking boat
experienced another smashup, for in the battle the whale again turned
on the boat's crew and crushed the second boat. The crew was saved and
all hands returned to the ship, which proceeded after the whale.

The ship passed on by him, and immediately after it was discovered that
the whale was making for the ship. As he came up near her they hauled
on the wind and suffered the monster to pass her.

After he had fairly passed they kept off to overtake and attack him
again. When the ship had reached within about 50 rods of him the crew
discovered that the whale had settled down deep below the surface of
the water, and as it was near sundown, it was decided to give up the
pursuit.

The ship was moving about five knots, and while Captain Deblois stood
at the rail he suddenly saw the whale rushing at the ship at the rate
of 15 knots. In an instant the monster struck the ship with tremendous
violence, shaking her from stem to stern. She quivered under the
violence of the shock as if she had struck upon a rock.

The whale struck the ship about two feet from the keel, abreast the
foremast, knocking a great hole entirely through her bottom, through
which the water roared and rushed in impetuously. The anchors and
cables were thrown overboard, as she had a large quantity of pig iron
aboard. The ship sank rapidly, all effort to keep her afloat proving
futile.

Captain Deblois ordered all hands to take to the boats and was the last
to leave the ship, doing so by jumping from the vessel into the sea and
swimming to the nearest boat. The ship was on her beam end, her
topgallant yards under water.

They hung around in the vicinity of the Ann Alexander all that night,
and the next day the captain boarded his vessel and cutting away the
masts she righted, when they succeeded in getting stores from her hold,
with which to supply their boats, should it become necessary to make a
boat voyage to land.

On August 22 ship Nantucket, Captain Gibbs, cruising in that vicinity,
discovered the imperiled s