A SHOAL OF SPERM WHALES. 107 



formidable out-jutting barrier of Nature, be- 

 tween two great oceans, which the reports of 

 weather-beaten mariners have made the abiding- 

 place of storms, it was the loveliest day we had 

 known since leaving the southern tropic ; the 

 sky cloudless, the sun genially warm, its place 

 in the heavens away off to the north of us, and 

 the ocean nearly calm. The short night, too, 

 was one of surpassing splendour, the whole 

 southern hemisphere lit up with all the glorious 

 lamps of heaven, never seen by those who dwell 

 at the north, the Magellanic clouds, and the 

 sightly constellation of the southern cross, and 

 a brilliant though small comet visible in the 

 south-west, its tail pointing upward to the 

 zenith, and about twice as long as the belt of 

 Orion. 



In the afternoon a shoal or " school" of sperm 

 whales passed us, making for the Pacific with all 

 the speed of flukes and fins. They showed them- 

 selves, for a few minutes, about a quarter of a 

 mile off, and three boats were soon lowered in 

 pursuit ; but they never let us see them again, 

 it being the habit of the sperm whale to stay 



