Bryce Courtenay - The Potato Factory

The Blue Sally Challenge was a grand contest known to the crew of every whaling ship that sailed the Pacific Ocean. The Blue Sally was treasured among whalemen above anything else they took to sea, and some of the more superstitious considered it a matter of life or death that the vessel they sailed in carried it flying from the topmast, even though it was nothing more than a modest piece of bunting, a white flag with the outline in blue of a sperm whale stitched upon it. It was common enough in whaling ports around the world for a ship's master or agent recruiting whalemen for the season to be asked two questions: the crewman's share of the catch and, 'Capt'n, do she sail under a Blue Sally?' So important had the flying of the Blue Sally become that a whaling ship sailing into a Pacific port without the blue and white bunting flying from her masthead was the subject of more than a little raucous innuendo as to the masculine nature of the men aboard her.

How this peculiar and unique contest first came about is a story best told by Sperm Whale Sally herself. She recounted it to Ikey early one morning when she was sufficiently sober, having eliminated that night's Blue Sally challenger with such a degree of ease that she was still happily tucking into a leg of pork alone at the challenge table, her opponent stretched out unconscious under it, both arms folded across his chest.

'As you knows, lovey, eatin' is me passion, and drinkin' is me Gawd given gift! So I decides to combine both in a grand competition. If them fuckers won't pay 'arf a crown for me body, they'll do so for me north and south, for me great cake 'ole.' Sperm Whale Sally laughed.

'I needs a story, whalemen being most superstitious and given to legends and the like. So I invents me own. It be a real beauty, lots of adventure and a grand opportunity for me voice, me bein' an actress an' all. I even invents a song what goes with it. That done the trick, the song, the sea shanty what o' course you've heard a hundred times or more.'

Sperm Whale Sally began to sing in the clear, sweet voice the whalemen loved.

Come gather around me, you jack tars and doxies I'll sing you the glorious whaleman's tale Let me tell you the story, of death and the glory of Rackham… who rode on the tail of a Whale So take up your doxy and drink down your ale And dance a fine jig to a fine fishy tale We'll fly the Blue Sally wherever we sail and drink to the health o' the great sperm whale!

It started at dawn on a bright Sabbath morning When Lord Nelson's body came 'ome pickled in rum Every jack tar mourned the great British sailor And drank to their hero as church bells were rung I be born to the sound o' the bells of St Paul's Where they buried the sealord all solemn and proper That very same day harpooner John Rackham Rode the tail of a whale around Davey Jones' locker The watch up the mainmast gave out a great shout, 'A six pod to starboard all swimming in strong!'

So they lowered a whale boat, harpoon gun and line Three cheers for the crew then the whale hunt was on John Rackham, he stood to his harpoon and line 'Row the boat close, lads, 'til we see its great chest Steady she goes now, keep the bow straight Or this great fearless fish will bring all to their rest!'

The boat's bow, on a crest, held still for a moment Sufficient for Rackham to make good his aim Then the harpoon flew screaming to carry the line And buried its head in a great crimson stain 'Steady now, lads, let the fish make his dive Then he'll turn for the top and the fight'll begin Ship your oars, boys, take the ride as he runs For the sperm has a courage that comes from within'

Ten fathoms down the fish turned from its dive As the harpoon worked in, on the way to his heart Then he spied the boat's belly directly above him And he knew they'd pay for this terrible dart!

Fifty tons rose as the fish drove like thunder Like a cork in a whirlpool the boat spun around The jaws of the whale smashed through its planking And the sharks made a meal o' the pieces they found!

John Rackham was saved as the fish drove him upwards he found himself up on the nose of the whale With a snort he was tossed sky high and then backwards and landed most neatly on the great creature's tail 'Let me live! Master Whale, I've a child to be born!

Spare my life and I promise to name it for you!'

'That's a fanciful tale,' cried the furious whale 'But how can I know what you say will be true?'

John Rackham he pondered then started to smile 'Not only its name, but its soul to you too!

And we'll make a white flag with your picture upon it A great sperm whale emblazoned in blue!'

The great fish turned and swam straight to the ship With a flick of his tail threw him safe in a sail Then the deadly dart finally pierced his great heart Now we fly the Blue Sally to honour the whale!

So take up your doxy and drink down your ale And dance a fine jig to a fine fishy tale We'll fly the Blue Sally wherever we sail and drink to the health o' the great sperm whale!

Sperm Whale Sally started to laugh. 'It were the song and the story. Some likes the song and others the story. Whalemen loves to dance a jig and sing a shanty and they loves a good story too, and so I made 'em two o' the very best I could!'

Sperm Whale Sally always told the story with the utmost sincerity so that the whalemen, anxious for a new sea legend, wanted to believe it and many of them did. Sperm Whale Sally never told the story without singing the song about her dearest papa, whaleman John Rackham, and how he had been nearly killed and then saved by a great sperm whale while hunting in Antarctic waters on the same day that she had been born and Lord Nelson was brought back to England from Cape Trafalgar in Spain, his body pickled in rum to preserve it.

Though Sperm Whale Sally had been born a normal size baby, she immediately started to grow at an alarming rate, and she needed the breasts of four wet nurses to keep her satisfied. Her concerned mother took her to see a Romany woman who told her that she saw death and life in the form of a great fish. That the fish was her child's birth sign and it had stolen her spirit and exchanged it for its own, so she had a whale as a child, which would continue to grow, and nothing could stop her.

The gypsy prophesied that one day 'the child of the Great Fish' would return to the hunting grounds where the nearest of all fish were to be found. That her fish spirit, looking to find its natural home so that her own human spirit might return to her, would guide the hunters in their quest for the whale. But this only if there was one among them who could match the strength and endurance of the great female fish, and consummate this by entering her. This man would earn for his crew a talisman in the form of the fish flag. Those who flew it would be protected at sea and have bountiful luck in hunting the great sperm whale.

'Ah, Ikey, lovey! It were a feeble enough legend and a not very good song, both most contrived to begin with, but you know 'ow these things grow with a little bit added 'ere and a bit more there. The first season I were dead lucky, the ships o' Black Boss Cape Town and Tomahawk were the only two that 'ad earned a Blue Sally, though thank Gawd there were a great many others who tried and met with the greatest o' good luck. They took the biggest catches o' the season and not a jack tar among them were lost overboard or killed in a whale boat.'

Sperm Whale Sally laughed uproariously. 'That were all it took! When the Sturmvogel and the Merryweather come into port flyin' the Blue Sally, the legend were truly born. Suddenly I were the reincarnation o' the great fishy, the talisman, the good luck a whaleman takes to sea.' Sperm Whale Sally's great carcass wobbled again as she laughed. 'Blimey, it were on for one an' all!' She paused and wiped the sweat from her brow and sighed. 'Thank Gawd it ain't stopped since and I eats like a queen, and when the whalin' ships are in I earns sufficient to live well after they be gorn orf again to 'unt.'