Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 159

This installment of "The Lost Captain: Skipper Jabez Coffin's Cruise to the Open Polar Sea" by Captain Fred Whittaker follows retired Nantucket whaler Uncle Jabez Coffin and his two young nephews, Reuben and Jonathan Macy, on a fishing excursion. While blue-fishing near Nantucket in the Lively Sally, they encounter and harpoon an enormous horse-mackerel estimated at two thousand pounds. The creature, struck by Jonathan with a harpoon, tows their small boat at accelerating speed after the line pays out completely. The narrative contrasts the brothers: Jonathan, nineteen, an experienced practical seaman with minimal education; and Reuben, seventeen, a pale, bookish Harvard student fascinated by science. Their father Jonathan Macy commands a sealing vessel in the Arctic. The story emphasizes maritime adventure and technical sailing detail.