GENEROSITY OF THE EUROPA. 269 



Blie was enabled to get an offing that secured her 

 safety. 



From this time up to July 4th we saw little and 

 done less, with the single exception of lowering 

 away for a sperm whale on June the 6th, but seeing 

 nothing of him after we had dropped our boats. On 

 the 4th, whilst in company with the Europa, making 

 for the Abrolhas' Ishands, we sighted sperm whales, 

 lowered, struck, and killed one. Previous to striking 

 we had hoisted our ensign, which was imitated by 

 the Europa. This signal was a bond of copartner- 

 ship between the two ships during the day's opera- 

 tions, each being entitled to half the proceeds of the 

 day's capture. The Europa did not fasten, but chased 

 the whales to windward, in which pursuit we lost 

 sight of her ; meantime we tried out our whale and 

 stowed it between decks, so that we would have but 

 little trouble in giving her her half of it when we 

 met. After some days we fell in with her, when her 

 captain, with a generosity unusual with liis profes- 

 sion, declined taking any part of it, assigning as a 

 reason our long-continued bad luck; saying, that 

 after having taken but one whale in six months, it 

 would be too bad to deprive us of half of that. 



The Europa had experienced a hard time of it 

 since we had last seen her, meeting with several of 

 those accidents which the vicissitudes of a seaman's 

 life render him ever liable to — having, in the firet 

 place, shipped a sea that went completely over her, 

 and stove the three larboard boats almost beyond 

 repair ; then, again, having run close in towards the 

 land in hopes of seeing us, she had been jammed 

 between the Turtle Dove, Abrolhas' and main land, 



