A FORKED SPOUT, SIR ! 51 



SO often described, that I shall not attempt it. It is 

 preyed upon both by larger fish and by the birds. I 

 have seen the tropic birds and dolphin acting so 

 nearly in concert, as almost to convince one that 

 they understood each other's mode of operation. 

 The dolphin would chase the little creatures until 

 they would take to their wings, when the tropic bird, 

 or garnet (which is a beautiful white bird, about the 

 size of our common pigeon, with red legs and bill, 

 and a tail resembling a marling-spike, by which name 

 thc}^ usually go amongst sailors), would pounce upon 

 them ; and, tired with their atrial flight, they would 

 again resort to the water, only to become a prey to 

 their finny enemy. 



With the usual variations of weather we wended 

 our course through the South Atlantic — at one time 

 becalmed, at another struggling with a heavy gale, 

 until we arrived in the vicinity of the Islands of 

 Tristan D'Acunha, when one morning we were 

 startled by our mastheadsman shouting, " There 

 blows ! and a forked spout, sir" This informed us 

 of the presence of right whales ; their spout, unlike 

 that of other whales, being forked. Our boats were 

 lowered ; but we had no sooner got in their neigh- 

 borhood than they peaked their flukes and went to 

 windward, eyes out — which means as fixst as the 

 wind. It was useless to follow them, and we returned 

 aboard with fishermen's luck — a wet skin, and 

 hungry stomach. 



"When down in the boats at this time I had a 

 near view of a whale. We were not more than 

 a boat's length from a large one, when he sounded, 

 and, as he threw .his tail in the air, I hud an 



