TWO WHALES TAKEN BY ONE HARPOON. S55 



with the same force and violence as by a whale 

 when first struck. They repeated their signal, in- 

 dicative of a whale being struck, their shipmates 

 flocked towards them, and while every one expressed 

 a sim.ilar deo;ree of astonishment with themselves, 

 they all agTeed that a fish was fast to the line. In a 

 few minutes, they were agreeably confirmed in their 

 opinion, and relieved from suspense, by the rising of 

 a large whale close by them, exhausted with fa- 

 tigue, and having every appearance of a fast-fish. 

 It permitted itself to be struck by several harpoons 

 at once, and was speedily killed. On examining it 

 after death, for discovering the cause of such an 

 interesting accident, they found the line belonging 

 to the above ihelitioned boat in its mouth, where it 

 was still finnly fixed by the compression of its lips. 

 The occasion of this happy and puzzling accident, 

 was therefore solved ; — the end of the line, after be- 

 ing cut from the whale first killed, was in the act 

 of sinking in the water, — the fish in question, en- 

 gaged in feeding, was advancing with its mouth 

 wide open, and accidentally caught the line between 

 its extended jaws, — a sensation so utterly unusual 

 as that produced by the line, had induced it to shut 

 its mouth and grasp the line which was the cause 

 of its alarm, so firmly between its lips, as to produce 

 the effect just stated. This circumstance took 

 place many years ago, but a similar one occurred iu 

 the year 1814. 



