A letter from Job N. Sherman, third mate of the ship Mary Ann, of Fair Haven, Mass., gives the particulars of his escape from death while pursuing a whale. The whale struck the boat and threw him right across the monster’s mouth, so that both legs were in its mouth and then went down with him. Fortunately the whale soon came up so the man could breathe, in the meantime, he had extricated one of his legs, but the whale immediately went down again, carrying Mr. Sherman down the second time. Mr. S. then thought of his sheath knife, which he used upon the whale’s under jaw, causing it to let go its hold. When Mr. S. arose to the surface of the water, about a ship’s length from the boat, and he was rescued, nearly exhausted, by seizing him by the hair of the head as he was sinking. On examination he found himself with a hole in one leg large enough to receive an egg.
The Daily Dispatch, Richmond, VA, January 24, 1861