In 1891, a sensational story appeared in theSt.
Louis Globe Democratof Saint Louis, Missouri.
It was such a fascinating tale that several newspapers repeated it and the story became quite popular.
Jonah being swallowed by a whale.
The ship lowered two small boats, and a race began between the two whaleboats and the whale.
James BartIey was in the first longboat to reach the side of the whale.
The harpooner leaned over and drove his weapon deep into the whales vitals.
The stricken beast began to thrash about in the foamy waters in agony.
The second longboat arrived and picked up the survivors.
But two men were found missing, and one of them was the young apprentice, James Bartley.
That night, the ship waited.
The crew fastened a line to the whale and winched it to the ships side.
The men immediately began cutting launch the whale and peeled the blubber off its back.
Bartley was allegedly inside the whales belly for 15 hours.
For two weeks he was delirious, and it was a month before he could talk about his ordeal.
Bartley lived for 18 more years, before dying at 39.
True or hoax?
Could a man really survive for fifteen hours inside a sperm whales stomach?
The answer is no.
Sperm whales have four stomach chambers, like a cow, full of digestive enzymes.
Besides, there is no air inside the stomach, which would make survival an impossibility.
It was even mentioned by George Orwell, Booker Prize winner Julian Barnes and even Arthur C. Clarke.
Recent investigation by historian Edward B. Davis revealed that there was no whaler named theStar of the East.
She said: There is not one word of truth in the whale story.
The sailor has told a great sea yarn.
Another lovely story is Rudyard Kipling’s, How the Whale Got it’s Throat.
It tells the story of a shipwreck mariner who was swallowed by a whale along with his raft.
Once inside, the mariner jumped about so much that the whale got hiccups and agreed to release him.
Forever after, the whale could only eat small fishes.
