2G6 MARINE MAMMALS OF THE NORTH-WESTERN COAST. 
abroad — and especially the channel which led to it — yet, soon after our arrival, 
a large fleet of ships hovered for weeks off the entrance, or along the adjacent 
coast, and six of the number succeeded in finding their way in. The whole force 
pursuing the whales that season numbered nine vessels, which lowered thirty boats. 
Of this number, at least twenty -five were daily engaged in whaling. The different 
branches of the lagoon where the whales congregated were known as the "Fish- 
pond," "Cooper's Lagoon," "Fort Lagoon," and the "Main Lagoon." The chief 
place of resort, however, was at the head -waters of the Main Lagoon, which may 
be compared to an estero, two or three miles in extent, and nearly surrounded by 
dunes, or sand -flats, which were exposed at neap tides. Here the objects of pur- 
suit were found in large numbers, and here the scene of slaughter was exceedingly 
picturesque and unusually exciting, especially on a calm morning, when the mirage 
would transform not only the boats and their crews into fantastic imagery, but the 
whales, as they sent forth their towering spouts of aqueous vapor, frequently tinted 
with blood, would appear greatly distorted. At one time, the upper sections of 
the boats, with their crews, would be seen gliding over the molten -looking surface 
of the water, with a portion of the colossal form of the whale appearing for an 
instant, like a spectre, in the advance ; or both boats and whales would assume 
ever -changing forms, while the report of the bomb -guns would sound like the 
sudden discharge of musketry ; but one can not fully realize, unless he be an eye- 
witness, the intense and boisterous excitement of the reckless pursuit, by a large 
fleet of boats from different ships, engaged in a morning's whaling foray. Numbers 
of them will be fast to whales at the same time, and the stricken animals, in their 
efforts to escape, can be seen darting in every direction through the water, or 
breaching headlong clear of its surface, coming down with a splash that sends 
columns of foam in every direction, and with a rattling report that can be heard 
beyond the surrounding shores. The men in the boats shout and yell, or con- 
verse in vehement strains, using a variety of lingo, from the Portuguese of the 
Western Islands to the Kanaka of Oceanica. In fact, the whole spectacle is 
beyond description, for it is one continually changing aquatic battle -scene. 
It was no unusual occurrence for the whales, after being struck, to run in 
different directions, thereby endangering collisions with the boats, or crossing lines ; 
and it was frequently only by the most dexterous management of the crews that 
serious disasters were avoided. Sometimes a line was cut, or let go, and again 
recovered, or the whale escaped with the harpoon. Our tenders being anchored at 
the scene of action, afforded an excellent opportunity to observe, from their mast- 
beads, all that was transpiring. One dull, quiet morning, with a light fog -cloud 
