SICKNESS ABOARD. 217 



out most of his line ; the third mate ran down and 

 attached his line to it, just in the nick of time, and 

 saved the whale. The whales in this vicinity plunge 

 and sound deeply, when first struck. Half an hoar 

 previous to the second mate's fastening, the first 

 mate struck a fellow that carried ofl:' all his line. 



About this time a curious malady affected a number 

 of our crew, the seeds of which were sovrn by expo- 

 sure to the rains and damp air of the South Pacific. 

 It resembled inflammatory rheumatism, causing ex- 

 cruciating pains in the joints, and resisting all appli- 

 cation of medicine. I experienced the afifection 

 myself. Having heard of the marvellous eflicacy of 

 the oil extracted from the liver of the sun fish, I 

 urged the necessity of procuring some of the article; 

 the captain, coinciding with me, lowered away a boat 

 and captured a sun fish. It was a most curious creature, 

 almost without shape ; in weight, I think it would 

 exceed five hundred pounds; it had no scales and no 

 flukes ; the after portion of the body appearing as if 

 unfinished ; on each side was a long narrow fin. The 

 skin was of a brown color, and as rough as sand- 

 paper. The eye was most beautiful, and the largest 

 and clearest of any creature's that I ever saw. The 

 bones were soft, and on being exposed to the sun 

 gradually melted away. The flesh is prepared with 

 vinegar and makes excellent eating. The oil, ex- 

 tracted from the liver by expression in the sun, is of 

 a reddish color, and foetid smell. It proved of great 

 service to me — an application to a stiff joint at night 

 rendering it pliant and free from pain in the morning. 

 Long yarns are spun by seafaring men of the won- 

 derful properties of this oil ; they assuring me that 

 19 



