FEARFUL ENTERPRISE. 205 



ordered the remaining boat to be lowered, and, 

 leaving but one man and two boys to take care 

 of the ship, sprang into the boat with the rest 

 of the crew. 



Soon the harpoon was plunged into the 

 whale, and they were carried, with almost the 

 speed of the wind, about fifteen miles from the 

 ship. Then the whale plunged perpendicularly 

 down into the depths of the ocean. It was not 

 long ere they saw him, fathoms deep in the 

 crystal waters, rushing up, with open jaws, to 

 destroy the boat. By skilfully sheering the 

 boat, the whale missed his aim, and, thrusting 

 his mammoth head some fifteen or twenty feet 

 into the air, he fell over upon his side, and 

 again disappeared in the fathomless sea. Soon 

 he reappeared in the almost transparent abyss, 

 again rushing upward to attack the boat. 

 Again he was foiled. 



The third time he descended, and as he 



arose, with invigorated fury, he struck the boat 



in the centre of the keel, threw it some fifteen 



into the air, and, scattering the crew and 



fragments of the boat over the waves, again 



