LIFE ON A SOUTH SEA WHALER. 829 



vulsions befitting his size and energy. He raised a gigantic tail on 

 high, thrashing the water with deafening blows, rolling at the same 

 time from side to side until the surrounding sea was white with froth. 

 I felt in an agony lest we should be crushed under one of those fearful 

 strokes, for Mr. Count appeared to be oblivious of possible danger, 

 although we seemed to be now drifting back on to the writhing levia- 

 than. In the agitated condition of the sea it was a task of no ordinary 

 difficulty to unship the tall mast, which was of course the first thing 

 to be done. After a desperate struggle, and a narrow escape from 

 falling overboard of one of the men, we got the long " stick," with the 

 sail bundled around it, down and " fleeted " aft, where it was secured 

 by the simple means of sticking the " heel " under the after thwart, 

 two thirds of the mast extending out over the stern. Meanwhile, we 

 had certainly been in a position of the greatest danger, our immunity 

 from damage being unquestionably due to anything but precaution 

 taken to avoid it. 



By the time the oars were handled, and the mate had exchanged 

 places with the harpooner, our friend the enemy had " sounded " — 

 that is, he had gone below for a change of scene, marveling, no doubt, 

 what strange thing had befallen him. Agreeably to the accounts 

 which I, like most boys, had read of the whale-fishery, I looked for 

 the rushing of the line round the loggerhead (a stout wooden post 

 built into the boat aft), to raise a cloud of smoke with occasional bursts 

 of flame ; so, as it began to slowly surge round the post, I timidly asked 

 the harpooner whether I should throw any water on it. " "Wot for? ' ; 

 growled he, as he took a couple more turns with it. Not knowing 

 " what for," and hardly liking to quote my authorities here, I said no 

 more, but waited events. " Hold him up, Louey, hold him up, cain't 

 ye ? " shouted the mate, and to my horror, down went the nose of 

 the boat almost under water, while at the mate's order everybody 

 scrambled aft into the elevated stern sheets. 



The line sang quite a tune as it was grudgingly allowed to surge 

 round the loggerhead, filling one with admiration at the strength 

 shown by such a small rope. This sort of thing went on for about 

 twenty minutes, in which time we quite emptied the large tub and 

 began on the small one. 



Suddenly our boat fell backward from her " slantindicular " posi- 

 tion with a jerk, and the mate immediately shouted, " Haul line, there! 

 look lively, now! you — so on, etcetera, etcetera " (he seemed to invent 

 new epithets on every occasion). The line came in hand over hand, 

 and was coiled in a wide heap in the stern sheets, for, silky as it was, it 

 could not be expected in its wet state to lie very close. As it came 

 flying in, the mate kept a close gaze upon the water immediately be- 

 neath us, apparently for the first glimpse of our antagonist. When 



