Twilight in the South 



(Norwegian IV) 



BY SOME incredible and altogether unusual concatenation of 

 meteorological circumstances, a dead calm had continued for 

 three days and nights. The whalemen were frankly nervous; the 

 factory men came on deck, sniffed at the sky, and went below again 

 without looking at the sailors. The Shetland Islanders are not talka- 

 tive folk at the best of times, and having been seamen for ten thou- 

 sand years, they do not normally behave any differently when afloat 

 than when on shore, but even these mariners went about their busi- 

 ness rather quietly. Their responsibility was the running of the ship, 

 as opposed to its machinery, which was the concern of the Scots, 

 the whales, which was that of the Norwegians, or the management 

 of the whole enterprise, which was carried on in spacious quarters 

 below the bridge by an international group of technicians, office 

 personnel, and other specialists. 



A corvette delivered a pod of blue whales from Catchers II, III, 

 and IV, which had been working in splendid isolation under the 

 guiding genius of Captain Ole Olsen, followed by Captains "Beg" 



