126 OFF CAPE COD. 



frame, and then he turns over on his side 

 dead, stretching out nearly sixty feet, 

 with his flukes high above the water. All 

 hands agreed that this was the gamiest 

 whale they had ever killed. Any of the 

 last three shots, the mate declared, would 

 have killed a " new " whale, but when a 

 whale, he said, was mortally wounded, 

 he would die when he got ready, and you 

 couldn't hurry him by shooting him again. 

 After the death of the whale the ex- 

 citement rather increased than diminished. 

 Down comes the captain from the mast- 

 head, and thick and fast gives his orders 

 for securing the whale before he sinks. In 

 this case, however, there was no occasion 

 for hurry. It soon became evident that 

 this whale would float; and after cutting 

 off its flukes, to prevent resistance to the 

 w^ater, we soon had a cable round his tail 

 and were steaming slowly home with the 

 whale in tow. The whale had conducted 

 us nearly ten miles ofl" Race Point and the 

 chase had lasted more than five hours. 

 By five o'clock we had anchored the whale 



