FATAL RESULT. 129 



I succeeded ; but what a sight was that on which 

 I gazed when I found myself on the surface of 

 the water ! About a rod off was the whale that 

 we were fast to, thrashing the water into a foam 

 with his flukes, the ocean red with" blood, and 

 the crimson streams pouring from the wounds 

 in the whale's sides made by the harpoons. In 

 another direction I could see pieces of the boat 

 floating around. At the distance of two or 

 three miles, I could occasionally get a glimpse 

 of the ship as I rode on the top of a swell, and 

 not a human being in sight. 



Not losing heart or hope, I struck out for a 

 piece of the stern of our once beautiful boat a 

 few rods distant. The crew came up one after 

 another, catching at anything they could see to 

 help to keep them afloat. One poor fellow 

 came paddling along with two or three oars un- 

 der him, crying out that his back was broken. 

 Another of the crew and myself got him on a 



of the boat that we had hold of. His 

 thiicli was broken, and he could not move his 

 legs at all. 



The second mate soon after picked us up in 



j 



