The Man Who Rivaled Jonah

By Shannon Webber (Summary and Analysis)

Don't fight a whale, because you'll lose, you stupid human.

Off the coast of England on August 25^th, 1891 something extraordinary happened…supposedly. A crew of a whaling ship known as the Star of the East was trying to capture a school of sperm whales when one of the whales became very angry and crushed one of the smaller whaling boats in half with his jaw. The sailors on the boat attempted to flee to safety, but one sailor was much less lucky than the rest. Steersman James Bartley was swallowed whole by the whale and as such his fellow crew members believed him to be dead. The rest of the crew managed to get to safety and later found the same whale dead in the water. Initially they did not realize that it was the same whale, but once it occurred to them that it could be, they cut open the belly of the whale and found Bartley inside, still alive. The steersman was in very bad condition. Not only was he having extreme hallucinations, but his skin garnered a purplish hue, a horrifying site for his fellow crew members to witness. Soon the men had Bartley cleaned up and back on English soil. Bartley as well as the rest of the crew of the Star of the East told of their experience under oath, with the hopes that it would be more believable to the general public (Snow, 126-8). According to Edward Rowe Snow’s account of the story the only lasting effect that Bartley suffered as a result of this incident was “a recurring nightmare in which he relived his sensation in a whale’s stomach” (Snow, 128).

Yes. You did in fact read that correctly. A man got swallowed whole by a whale, survived for days inside of said whale, and then lived to tell the tale. Absurd, I know, but what is the significance of this story? The answer to this question can be found in a fantastic article written by Dr. Edward B. Davis entitled “A Whale of a Tale: Fundamentalist Fish Stories.” Dr. Davis took a deep dive into this story in order to find if there was any truth to it and discovered that it is in fact all lies. However, Dr. Davis points out a very important point that “If there is no truth in the Bartley story itself, there is still much to be learned from the story of the story…” (234). The excellent research conducted by Dr. Davis has brought many important facts to light, such as the truth that the Star of the East was not a whaling ship and that Bartley was never a crew member of the brig. Dr. Davis also learned that there was a whale in 1891 known as the Gorleston whale that,

“ran up against a pier off the town of Gorleston, just south of Great Yarmouth. It was soon pursued by several boats and, after numerous attempts to harpoon it with fishing gear, it ran aground and was killed. Hung up by a rope around its tail, the whale was placed on exhibit for two days, drawing 2200 folk curious enough to pay an admission charge” (228).

The fame of this particular whale, Davis believes, inspired James Bartley, whoever he may be, to come up with a story to profit off of. Davis paints a picture saying,

“Suppose there was at that time an imaginative young man, let’s call him James Bartley, who happened one day to see this whale and to read a newspaper account of its capture and disembowelment. As he reflected upon this monster from the deep his thoughts moved to consider the plight of Jonah, and Gorleston whale. Having been graced by nature with an unusual complexion, he might easily pass for Jonah himself, so much so that he becomes a circus side show in the spirit of the Gorleston whale, billing himself as “The Jonah of the Twentieth Century.” He also spins a yarn, complete with a real ship that really was in the South Atlantic in February 1891 in case anyone should make inquiries, that is printed by at least one provincial newspaper just two months after the story of the Gorleston whale. Perhaps he even has a friend pose as the captain of this vessel (who is, conveniently enough, not named in the original accounts) to attest to those facts that a man who spent thirty hours inside a whale’s belly could not have known about” (233).

The question then arises, who in 1891 would believe this story? How could James Bartley profit off such a ludicrous tale? The answer to this revolves around a story older than most, Jonah and the Whale.

Jonah and the Whale is a Biblical story of a man who was swallowed by a whale, lived inside of said whale for three days, and was then spit out on to dry land safe and sound. In the late nineteenth century, the idea of the Bible as not being completely historically accurate was gaining popularity and preachers were attempting to prove the accuracy of the Bible by any means necessary. This particular story was “living proof of the veracity of scripture against the onslaught of the scientists and the higher critics…” who did not believe in the words of the Bible as absolute truth (Davis, 234). Preachers at the time “wanted more than anything else to give people reasons to believe, to strengthen their faith in the gospels by strengthening their faith in the literal words of the Bible, to debunk the claims of atheistic scientists and apostate theologians” (Davis, 234). This story gave them the opportunity to do so. James Bartley, if that was even his real name, was probably just a guy who knew how to manipulate people, and as such has left an interesting mark on history. He may not be a biblical prophet like Jonah, but he certainty made an historical impact for the ages.

Sources

Davis, Edward. “A Whale of a Tale: Fundamentalist Fish Stories.” Perspectives on science and Christian faith: journal of the American Scientific Affiliation 43 (1991): 224-237. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320170620_A_Whale_of_a_Tale_Fundamentalist_Fish_Stories.

Snow, Edward Rowe. Mysteries and Adventures Along the Atlantic Coast. Updated by Jeremy D’Entremont. Forward by Joseph E. Garland. 1948. Reprint, Carlisle, MA: Commonwealth Editions, 2004.

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A REAL LIVING JONAH: BIBLICAL HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF IN MODERN TIMES: A REAL LIVING JONAH ------ BIBLICAL HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF IN MODERN TIMES ------ The Plain Story of James Bartley’s Sojourn in the Stomach of a Whale—He Gives an Intelligent Description of His Feelings as He Was Swallowed. The whaling vessel Star of the East arrived here after a cruise of two years and a half in the South Atlantic waters. She had on board a man who is a veritable Jonah, having existed in a whale’s belly thirty-six hours. The man’s statement is vouched for by the captain and crew of the vessel, and today he is an object of great curiosity among the sailors. The man’s name is James Bartley, and he hails from New Bedford, where he was born thirty-eight years ago. He has made two voyages from this port on the Star of the East, and notwithstanding his exciting experience during his last trip, he says that he will ship for another voyage as soon as opportunity to do so offers itself. The strange story told by him is in substance as follows: The Star of the East was in the vicinity of the Falkland islands searching for whales, which were very scarce. One morning the lookout sighted a whale about three miles away on the starboard quarter. Two boats were manned. In a short time one of the boats was near enough to enable the harpooner to send a spear into the whale, which proved to be an exceedingly large one. With the shaft in his side the animal sounded and then sped away, dragging the boat after him with terrible speed. He swam straight away about five miles, when he turned and came back almost directly toward the spot where he has been harpooned. The second boat waiting for him, and when but a short distance away from it he arose to the surface. As soon as his back showed above the surface of the water the harpooner in the second boat drove another spear into him. SWALLOWED BY A BIG FISH The pain apparently crazed the whale, for it thrashed about fearfully, and it was feared that the boats would be swamped and the crews drowned. Finally the whale swam away, dragging the two boats after him. He went about three miles and sounded or sank, and his whereabouts could not be exactly told. The lines attached to the harpooners began slowly to draw them in and coil them in the tubs. As soon as they were taughted the whale arose to the surface and beat about with his tail in the maddest fashion. The boats attempted to get beyond the reach of the animal, which was apparently in its death agonies, and one of them succeeded, but the other was less fortunate. The whale struck it with his nose and upset it. The men were thrown into the water, and before the crew of the other boat could pick them up one man was drowned and James Bartley had disappeared. When the whale became quiet from exhaustion the waters were searched for Bartley, but he could not be found, and, under the impression that he had been struck by the whale’s tail and sunk to the bottom the survivors rowed back to the ship. The whale was dead, and in a few hours the great body was lying by the ship’s side, and the men were busy with axes and spades cutting through the flesh to secure the fat. They worked all day and a part of the night. They resumed operations the next forenoon, and were soon down to the stomach, which was to be hoisted to the deck. The workmen were startled while laboring to clear it and to fasten the chain about it to discover something doubled up in it that gave spasmodic signs of life. BARTLEY’S STORY The vast pouch was hoisted to the deck and cut open, and inside was found the missing sailor doubled up and unconscious. He was laid out o the deck and treated to a bath of sea water, which soon revived him, but his mind was not clear, and he was placed in the captain’s quarters, where he remained two weeks, a raving lunatic. He was carefully treated by the captain and officers of the ship, and he finally began to get possession of his senses. At the end of the third week he had entirely recovered from the shock and resumed his duties. During his brief sojourn in the whale’s belly Bartley’s skin, where it was exposed to the action of the gastric juices, underwent a striking change. His face and hands were bleached to a deathly whiteness and the skin was wrinkled, giving the man the appearance of having been parboiled. Bartley affirms that he would probably have lived inside his house of flesh until he starved, for he lost his senses through fright and not through lack of air. He says that he remembers the sensation of being lifted into the air by the nose of the whale and of falling into the water; then there was a fearful rushing sound, which he believed to be the beating of the water by the whale’s tail; then he was encompassed by a fearful darkness, and he felt himself slipping along a smooth passage of some sort that seemed to move and carry him forward. This sensation lasted but an instant, then he felt that he had more room. HOW HE FELT INSIDE A WHALE He felt about him, and his hands came in contact with a yielding, slimy substance that seemed to shrink from his touch. It finally dawned upon him that he had been swallowed by the whale, and he was overcome with horror at the situation. He could breathe easily, but the heat was terrible. It was not of a scorching, stifling nature, but it seemed to open the pores of his skin and to draw out his vitality. He became very weak and grew sick at his stomach. He knew that there was no hope of escape from his strange prison. Death stared him in the face, and he tried to look at it bravely, but the awful quiet, the fearful darkness, the horrible knowledge of his environments and the terrible heat finally overcame him, and he must have fainted, for the next he remembered being in the captain’s cabin. Bartley is not a man of a timid nature, but he says that it was many weeks before he could pass a night without having his sleep disturbed with harrowing dreams of angry whales and the horrors of his fearful prison. The skin on the face and hands of Bartley has never recovered its natural appearance. It is yellow and wrinkled and looks like old parchment. The health of the man does not seem to have been affected by his terrible experience; he is in splendid spirits and apparently fully enjoys all the. Blessings of life that come his way. The whaling captains who sail from this port say that they never knew a parallel case to this before. They say that it frequently occurs that men are swallowed by whales who became infuriated by the pain of the harpoon and attack the boats, but they have never known a man to go through the3 ordeal that Bartley did and come out alive.—New London (Conn.) Cor. St. Louis Globe Democrat ~ Source: Newspapers.com ~ Creator: Harrisburg Telegraph (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) ~ Date: July 22, 1891

Jonah Could Have Had Four Rooms Inside Whale Says Omaha Pastor To Prove Famous Bible Story: Jonah Could Have Had Four Rooms Inside Whale Says Omaha Pastor To Prove Famous Bible Story. ------ To Visualize Proof, Preacher-Scientist Carries Four Lantern Slides on Lecture Tour. ------ By N.E.A. Service Scientific proof, illustrated by scientifically prepared lantern slides, has been assembled at Omaha, Neb., by a scientist-preacher to prove that Jonah not only could live in the belly of a whale for three days but that he did. There was, in fact, room in the great fish’s belly for a three-room and bath apartment. The scientist-preacher who proves this is a Seventh Day Adventist pastor, Rev. C.G. Bellah, who is field secretary for the church in the middle west. The Rev. Mr. Bellah has assembled all his information prepatory to a lecture tour of his district in which he hopes to convince to world that the Jonah story, just as it comes from the Bible is fact. SLIDES GIVE EVIDENCE. “It makes my blood boil,” says Dr. Bellah, “when so-called wise men say to me. ‘Prove it,’ when I preach that Jonah was actually swallowed by a whale and spit out again.” Dr. Bellah, nevertheless, can and does prove it, to his own satisfaction, at least. To visualize his proof, the preacher-scientist has prepared four lantern slides, which will go with his lectures. One of the slides shows a cross section of the whale reputed to be 80 feet long. Dr. Bellah has etched in his visualization of the modern three-room apartment which he says, shows the room Jonah had inside his living cage. Jonah is seated in the parlor, reading with all the comforts of a home. A chair, table, sideboard and stove occupy the kitchenette and a bed and chair the imaginary bedroom. In another of Dr. Bellah’s slides he shows how Jonah was tossed out of the ship and how he looked just before he was devoured by the sea monster. In the third slide, Jonah is seen paying his fare preparatory to going on board ship. Slide four shows Jonah being cast upon the shore by the whale. His chief, proof, however, is the alleged true story of one James Bartley, the modern Jonah, who was swallowed by a whale and lived to tell the story. M.P. Courbet, writing in Cosmos—a magazine published in Paris, calls attention to a report that was presented to the Academy of Science by M. Joubin, furnishing proof of concrete cases where the sperm whale caught by whalers had actually swallow animals, taller and heavier than man. “The Bible story,” says M. Coubert, “is perfectly confirmed by the facts of these points.” He then furnishes the concrete case of a man who was swallowed by a whale and lived to tell the tale. “In the month of February, 1891, the whaler, Star of the East, launched two whale boats with an equipment of men to pursue sperm whale that was observed at some distance. “The huge creature was harpooned, and wounded to death. While it was in its last agonies one of the whale boats was struck by its tail and shattered in pieces. The sailros who were in the boat were thrown in the water; all but two were later rescued. The body of one was recovered, but the other, that of a man named James Bartley, could not be found. “When the monster had ceased moving and it was quite certain that it was dead, it was hoisted along-side the ship and the work of cutting it up started. “A day and a night were devoted to this task. When it was ended the stomach of the whale was opened. AND THERE HE WAS. “What was the surprise of the whalemen to find in it their lost comrade, James Bartley, unconscious but still alive. “They had much trouble in reviving him. For several days he was delirious, and could not speak an intelligent word. Not until three weeks had elapsed did he recover his reason and was he able to narrate his impressions. “‘I remember very well,’ said he, “the moment when the whale threw me into the air. Then I was swallowed and found my self enclosed in a firm, slippery channel, whose contradictions forced me continually to slide downward. This lasted only on instant. Then I found myself in a very large space, and by feeling about realized I had been swallowed by a whale, and that I was in his stomach. I could still breathe through with much difficulty. I had a feeling of unsupportable heat and it seemed as if I were being boiled alive. TANNED BY GASTRIC JUICE. “‘The horrible thought that I was doomed to perish in the whale’s belly tortured me and my anguish was intensified by the calm and silence that reigned about me. Finally I lost the consciousness of my frightful situation.’” “James Bartley, the English papers added, is known as one of the hardiest fishermen at the trade. But his experience in the whale’s stomach was so terrible that he was required to undergo treatment in London on his return there. “Nevertheless his general state of health was not seriously affected by his accident. The only effect was that his skin was as if it were tanned by the action of the gastric juice. “The captain of the Star of the East adds that cases where furious whales have swallowed men are not rare, but that this was the first time that he ever saw the victim come out alive.” DR. BELLAH COMMENTS. “Our theologians who have discarded the scriptual narrative of Jonah and the Whale as a literal account have treated it as an allegory to be told to little children as bedtime tales for entertainment will have to find some other explanation now in order to stand in with real science,” says Dr. Bellah. HOW THE BIBLE TELLS JONAH’S STORY ------ Now the Lord has prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish’s belly. And the Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upton the dry land.—Jonah i:17; ii: 1 and ii: 10. (Copyright, 1927, N.E.A. Service, Inc.) ~ Source: Newspapers.com ~ Creator: The Pittsburgh Press (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) ~ Date: July 30, 1927

Rescue of a Modern Jonah: RESCUE OF A MODERN JONAH --- SWALLOWED BY A WHALE Last February, the whaling ship Star of the East was in the vicinity of the Falkland Islands searching for whales, which were very scarce. One morning the look-out sighted a whale about three miles away on the starboard quarter. Two boats were manned. In a short time one of the boats was near enough to enable the harpooner to send a spear into the whale, which probed to be an exceedingly large one. With the shaft in his side the animal sounded and then sped away, dragging the boat after him with terrible speed. He swam straight away about five miles, when he turned and came back, almost directly toward the spot where he had been harpooned. The second boat waited for him, and when but a short distance away from it, he rose to the surface. As soon as his back showed above the surface of the water, the harpooner in the second boat drove another spear into him. The pain apparently crazed the whale, for it threshed about fearfully, and it was feared that the boats would be swamped and the crews drowned. Finally the whale swam away, dragging the two boats after him. He went about three miles and sounded or sank, and his whereabouts could not be exactly told. The lines attached to the harpoons were slack, and the harpooners began slowly to draw them in and roll them in the tubs. As soon as they were taughtened the whale arose to the surf ace and beat about with its tail in the maddest fashion. The boats attempted to get beyond the reach of the animal, which was apparently in its death agonies, and one of them succeeded, but the other was less fortunate. The whale struck it with his nose and upset it. The men were thrown into the water, and before the crew of the other boat could pick them up one man was drowned and James Bartley had disappeared. When the whale became quiet from exhaustion the waters were searched for Bartley, but he could not be found, and under the impression that he had been struck by the whale’s tail and sunk to the bottom, the survitors rowed back to the ship. The whale was dead, and in a few hours the great body was lying by the ship’s side, and the men were busy with axes and spades cutting through the flesh to secure the fat. They worked all day and a part of the night. They resumed operations the next forenoon, and were soon down to the stomach, which was to be hoisted to the deck. The workmen were startled while labouring to clear it, and to fasten the chain about it to discover something doubled up in it that gave spasmodic signs of life. The vast pouch was hoisted to the deck and cut open, and inside was found the missing sailor doubled up and unconscious. He was laid out on the deck and treated to a bath of sea water, which soon revived him, but his mind was not clear, and he was placed in the captain’s quarters, where he remained two weeks, a raving lunatic. He was carefully treated by the captain and officers of the ship, and he finally began to get possession of his senses. At the end of the third week he had entirely recovered from the shock, and resumed his duties. During the brief sojourn in the whale’s belly Barley’s skin, where it was exposed to the action of the gastric juices, underwent a striking change. His face and hands were bleached to a deathly whiteness, and the skin was wrinkled giving the man the appearance of having been parboiled. Bartley affirms that he would probably have lived inside his house of flesh until he starved, for he lost his senses through fright and not through lack of air. He says that he remembers the sensation of being lifted into the air by the nose of the whale and of falling into the water; then there was a fearful rushing sound, which he believed to be the bearing of the water by the whale’s tail; then he was encompassed by a fearful darkness, and he felt himself slipping along a smooth passage of some sort that seemed to move and carry him forward. This sensation lasted but an instant, then he felt that he had more room. He felt about him, and his hands came in contact with a yielding, slimy substance that seemed to shrink from his touch. It finally dawned upon him that he had been swallowed by a whale, and he was overcome by horror at the situation. He could breathe easily, but the heat was terrible. It was not of a scorching, stifling nature, but it seemed to open the pores of his skin, and to draw out his vitality. He became very weak and grew sick at his stomach. He knew that there was no hope of escape from his strange prison. Death stared him in the face, and he tried to look at it bravely, but the awful quiet, the fearful darkness, the horrible knowledge of his environments, and the terrible heat finally overcame him, and he must have fainted, for the next he remembered being in the captains cabin. Bartley is not a man of a timid nature but he says that it was many weeks before he could pass a night without having his sleep disturbed with harrowing dreams of angry whales and the horrors of his fearful prison. The skin on the face and hands of Bartley has never recovered its natural appearance. It is yellow and wrinkled, and looks like old parchment. The health of the man does not seem to have been affected by his terrible experience; he is in splendid spirits and apparently fully enjoys all the blessings of life that come his way. The whaling captains say that they never knew a parallel case to this before. They say that it frequently occurs that men are swallowed by whales who become infuriated by the pain at the harpoon and attack the boats, but they have never known a man to go through the ordeal that Bartley did and come out alive. ~ Source: Newspapers.com ~ Creator: The Yorkshire Herald and the York Herald (York, North Yorkshire, England) ~ Date: July 28, 1891

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Shannon Webber (Summary and Analysis), “The Man Who Rivaled Jonah,” Histories or Stories? The Power of Historical Narratives, accessed April 19, 2024, https://dh2020.rawhistories.com/items/show/2.

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Published on Jan 28, 2020. Last updated on Feb 15, 2020.

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