Mate of the Famous “Splendid.”

Mr. Cook, who sometimes writes reminiscences under the style of “Lonehander,” was chief officer of the whaling barque “Splendid,” more than half a century ago. This was the wonderful old ship which Frank Bullen described in his “Cruise of the Cachalot.” The “Captain Count” of his book was really Captain Earle, an excellent specimen of the American sailor and whaleman. The “Splendid” alias “Cachalot,” was then a New Bedford-owned vessel. Later she was bought by a Dunedin firm, and cruised around the New Zealand coast and other whaling grounds, still commanded by Captain Earle, and it was under him that Mr. Cook served, and he speaks with admiration of his fine old Yankee skipper's qualities as a friend and a sailor.