REMARKABLE EVENTS. 197 



On the 28th of May, 1817, the Koyal 

 Bounty, an English ship, fell in with a great 

 number of whales in 70 25' north latitude, 

 and longitude 5 east. There was neither ice nor 

 land in sight. The boats were manned and sent 

 in pursuit, and after a chase of five hours, one 

 of them, which had rowed out of sight of the 

 ship, struck one of the whales. This was 

 about four o'clock in the morning. The captain 

 directed the course of the ship to the point 

 where he had last seen the boats, and about 

 eight o'clock got sight of one, which displayed 

 the signal of being fast. Soon after, another 

 boat approached the first, and struck a second 

 harpoon ; and by mid-day two more harpoons 

 were made fast. 



But such was the astonishing vigour of this 

 whale, that although it constantly dragged 

 through the water from four to six boats, to- 

 gether with sixteen hundred fathoms of line, 

 yet it pursued its flight nearly as fast as a boat 

 could row, and whenever one passed beyond its 

 tail it would dive. All endeavours to lance it 

 were therefore vain, and the crews of the loose 



