Perilous Adventure

A sliip some timo ago amved at Bristol, after a successfu] Pacific whaling voyage. . Time was when thousands oí' vessels tracked tlie grcut sea monsters in sefirch of oil, bnt the liscoveries of the mineral article bas made the trade 110 longer munerative, or, at least, mtich lesa an objoct of pursuit. The sliip referred to waa the West Wind, comrnanded by Capt. Parker, who met with a most perilous adventure during tho cruise, and which carne very near costing hini his life. i Under the most favorable circumstances i the occupation of the whaler is one of great danger and physical trial, and very few ships ever return to port ■without losing ono or moro hands by the nary exigences of the service. It secniB that Capt. Parker was out from his ship, with a boat's crew, chasing a whale, and, having fastened his harpoon to tho oreature, it dived, as usual, aud the line, coiled iii the bow of the boat, , began ti run out with lightning speed as the monster sunk to the extreme depth i of the ocean. At thÍ3 critical juncture Capt. Parker went to the forward part of ■ the boat to be sure that thero was no ; twist in tho rope to prevent its working olear. The line was running out with snch rapidity as to cause smoke to ariso from the woodwork of the boat, and the Captain threw water, as is the custoin, apon the spot. By some uuluoky hirch of the boat, ho was caivted from his position, and he naturally throw out his left j hand to prevent hunself from falLing : bnt, in doing so, he unfortunately placed it so that the rope coilod about his wrist, and he was overboard and out of sight in an instant. He was perfoctly eonscious while he . was rushing down, head foremost, and with an incredible swiftness, and it j peared to him that his arm would be torn froin the socket, so great was the resistance of the water. During these awful moments he was well aware of his ! ous situation, and that his only chance ■ for life was to cut the line. But how Qould he do tliis ? He could not move his right arm from his side, to which it j was so closely pressed by the f orce of the element through which ho was böing ; drawu. The pressure on his brain grow more and more terrible, and the roaring . as of thunder, sounded in his ears. He i opened his eyes for a single instant, and it seemed as though a stream of firo was j passing before them. And now came (bat inevitable activity of the brain which characterizes all such perilous situations, ; wliere one's whole life seems to pass in review ni an instant of time. But the Captain was a very practical man, cool j and courageous always, and ly still self-possessed. He began to stniggle with all his j muscular power to reaoh the knifo which ho ware in his belt. He feit that he was : growing weaker every instant, andit was now oiMiever with him, tliough woshould say, parenthetically, that what requires so long to describe occurred in time which was reckoned by second3 rather ! than minuten. Oh, if he could but oommand Ms right hand for ono stroke upon that fatal lino ? Now his heart began to J fail him. He did not absolutely despair, but his brain reeled, liis nérvea seemed to relax their t:nsion, light and darkness appearod to altérnate before his eye-ballR, i and his head feit as though compressed [ in an iron vice. Were these his last j ments? He thought, in spite of the agonizing pain he endured, he would make one more brave efï'ort. The line providontially slackened for a second; he reached his knife, and, as quick as thought itself , as the rope 1 came tant again, the koen edge of the blade was upon it, and by a desperate ; efï'ort of liis arm it became severed. He ! was freed, and then commencod his I ward passage, caused by tho natural I buoyancy of the human body. Afber this, he only remembered a feeling of j suöocation, a gui'gling spasm, and all ' was over until he awoke to an agonizing ! pain of reviving consciousness, in the arras of liis boat's crew. Truly, one of the most remarkable escapes from death on record.