146 THE WHALEMAN'S ADVENTURES. 



same rate as the captain's boat had been 

 before. 



The captain was now seen darting the lance 

 at the whale as it almost flew along, but he did 

 not seem to do so with any kind of effect, as 

 the speed of the whale did not appear in the 

 least diminished, and in a very short time they 

 all disappeared together, being at too great a 

 distance to be seen with the naked eye from 

 the deck. The officer ran aloft, and, by the aid 

 of a telescope, could just discern from the mast- 

 head, the three objects like specks upon the 

 surface of the ocean. At an alarming distance 

 he could just observe the two boats, with the 

 whale's head occasionally darting out before 

 them, with a good deal of " white water," or 

 foam, which convinced him that the whale was 

 still running. He watched with the glass un- 

 til he could no longer trace them, even in the 

 most indistinct manner, and then called to those 

 on deck, that they might take the bearing, by 

 the compass, of the direction in which he had 

 lost sight of them, so that they might continue 

 to '"beat" the ship up to that quarter. 



