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| Read the following story-puzzle and see if you can get the questions at the bottom right! Answers are supplied. A couple of hundred years ago, Whales were not regarded as creatures to be cared for. Nobody bothered whether they were an endangered species or not. In fact there was a great trade from 'whaling'. Large boats with special weapons were sent out to kill whales for their meat and blubber. Candles, food, oils and other items were produced from the carcasses. The Cachelot was one such boat. One particular time, it sailed out of Whitehaven, in Cumbria - one of the most important ports in the Georgian Period. The Captain of the Cachelot chose four of whom he regarded to be his bravest whalers, Black Bill, One-Eyed Oliver, Dangerous Dan and Jolly Jack. Each had a harpoon man - Dead-Eye Dick, Greedy Gordon, Festering Fred and Sharp Simon. Each team of two men took up position in one of the following parts of the boat: Prow, Stern, Portside, Starboardside. The whales in that area were Killer Whales, Blues Whales, Humpback Whales and White Whales.The Captain had borrowed a lot of money from Derek the Debtor’s Friend at a big interest rate. He made a bet that if Derek could deduce which whaler worked with which harpoon man and which type of whale. Being helpful, the Captain gave the following information to Derek the Debtor’s Friend: 1. It was not One-Eyed Oliver who slew the White Whale. 2. The whaler served by Festering Fred, who was not Black Bill, slew the Killer Whale; this was the first of the killings. 3. The slaughter by Black Bill and that accomplished in a spot Starboardside were consecutive slaughters in one or other order, and both were accomplished before Dead-Eye Dick’s whaler went on to kill the Blue Whale. 4. The slaughter by One-Eyed Oliver, who was served by Sharp Simon, was the second of the four to be accomplished. 5. Greedy Gordon’s whaler accomplished his slaughtering in the Prow of the boat. 6. Jolly Jack’s whaling preceded that of the whaler who was working in the Portside area of the boat. First kill - Jolly Jack - Killer Whale - Festering Fred - Stern Second kill - One-eyed Oliver - Humpback Whale - Sharp Simon - Starboardside Third kill - Black Bill - White Whale - Greedy Gordon - Prow Fourth kill - Dangerous Dan - Blue Whale - Dead-Eye Dick - Portside |
