96 SUNDAY V.'IIALIXG. 



do, to save it. I noticed tlirongbout tliis arduous 

 day's work, the general alacrity of the crew in striving 

 to do their utmost, and could not but comment on 

 the advantages of giving each man a proportion of 

 the vessel's earnings, instead of monthly wages ; in 

 our case all felt themselves personally interested, and 

 conducted themselves accordingly. 



It will be noticed that three-fifths of our whaling up 

 to this time, has been on Sunday, and, subsequently, 

 this day of days proved equall}' fortunate for us. I 

 do not wish to defend the practice of Sunda}- whaling, 

 and think that if a man makes it an invariable rule 

 to whale only on week days, that Providence would 

 so dispose it that he should not be a loser. We saw 

 several of these Sunday ships, as they are called, and 

 in each instance they had quite as much oil as their 

 neighbors; at the same time, it takes a strong 

 religious bias to induce a man who depends upon the 

 capture of whales for an early return to home and 

 friends, after being separated from all tbat he holds 

 dear, perhaps for years, to forego attempting their 

 capture on a Sunday. In fact, the temptation is 

 strong; and, strange to say, most whalers see greater 

 numbers of whales on the Sabbath than on any other 

 day. 



Soon afterwards we met the James Allen. Since we 

 last saw her she had captured a whale, her first — 

 whose lower jaw was snapped short oE- — probably in 

 conflict with another of his species. These creatures 

 are often terribly scarred, and their teeth indented 

 and broken, as if another whale had locked jaws 

 with them ; in which case something must start. 



In the month of May we gammoned the barque 



