152 THE WHALEMAN'S ADVENTURES. 



of the ship, just as we were " going about/' by 

 which we should have gone from it. 



We all looked in that direction, and in a 

 few minutes we could plainly perceive it ; in a 

 short time we were close up with it, when, to 

 our great joy, we found the captain and all the 

 men in the boats, lying to the leeward of the 

 dead whale, which had in some measure saved 

 them from the violence of the sea. They had 

 only just been able to procure a light, having 

 unfortunately upset all their tinder through the 

 violent motion of the boats, by which it became 

 wet, but which they succeeded in igniting after 

 . immense application of the flint and steel, or their 

 lantern would have been suspended from an oar 

 directly after sunset, which is the usual practice 

 when boats are placed under such circumstances. 



After securing the whale alongside, which it 

 was feared they would lose during the night, 

 from the roughness of the weather, they all came 

 on board, when the sudden end of poor Berry 

 was spoken of with sorrow from all hands, while 

 their own deliverance served to throw a ray of 

 light amid the gloom. 



