114 THE INHABITANTS OF TIIE SEA. 
and then it floats inert and lifeless on the waters. As soon as 
death is certain—for to the last moment a convulsive blow of 
the mighty tail might dash the overhasty boat to pieces—the 
whale is lashed by chains to the vessel’s side, stripped of his 
valuable fat, and then left to float, a worthless carcase, on the 
heaving ocean. 
And now, man having taken his share, there begins a mags 
nificent feast for birds and fishes. Crowds of fulmars, snow 
birds, or kittiwakes, flock together from all sides to enjoy the 
delicious repast; but their delight, so rare is perfect felicity 
on earth, is but too often disturbed by their terrible rival the 
blue gull (Larus glaucus), which, while it rivals them in rapa- 
city, surpasses them all in strength, and forces them to disgorge 
the daintiest morsels). Meanwhile sharks, saw-fishes, and what- 
ever else possesses sharp teeth and boldness enough to mix 
ameng such formidable company, are busy biting, hacking, 
scooping, and cutting below the water line, so that in a short 
time, notwithstanding its vast. bulk, the carrion disappears. 
The catching of the whale does not always end so fortunately 
as I have just described. Sometimes the line becomes en- 
tangled, and drags the boat into the abyss; er the tail of the 
animal, sweeping rapidly through the air, either descends upon 
the shallop, cutting it down to the water’s edge, or encounters 
in its course some of the crew standing up (such as the heads- 
man or harpooner), who are carried away and destroyed. 
Thus Mr. Young, chief mate of the “Tuscan,” was seen flying 
through the air at a considerable height, and to the distance of 
nearly forty yards from the boat, ere he fell into the water, 
where he remained floating motionless on the surface for a few 
moments, and then sank and was seen no more. 
Sometimes, particularly among the sperm-whales, desperate 
characters are found, that without waiting for the attack, rush 
furiously against the boats sent out against them, and seem 
to love fighting for its own sake. Bennett describes an en- 
counter of this kind which he witnessed in the South Sea. The 
first effort of the whale was to rush against the boat with his 
head. Having been baffled by the crew steering clear, he next 
attempted to crush it with his jaws; failing again, through the 
unaccommodating position of his mouth, he remedied this defect 
with much sagacity, for approaching impetuously from a distance 
