256 THE WHALEMAN'S ADVENTURES. 



of the fishery whenever whales were within 

 reach. 



" Through the goodness of God, however, 

 I felt the line of duty, personally, to be other- 

 wise. The strict command concerning the Sab- 

 bath, rendered, in my apprehension, the duty 

 imperative, to refrain from labouring in a 

 worldly calling, for worldly advantage, on that 

 holy day ; and this, for several of the latter 

 voyages in which I was engaged, became our 

 undeviating rule of conduct. And here it is 

 but justice to those who were at different times 

 united with me in the adventure, to mention, that 

 they all either accorded on the same principle of 

 reverence to the Divine command, as myself, in 

 the practice I adopted, or cheerfully acceded to 

 the plan, leaving me fully at liberty to deviate 

 from the usual practice, in order to sanctify the 

 Lord's day. But we go on to one of the various 

 illustrative incidents given in these Memorials 

 of the Sea : 



"On the 13th of July, blowing hard, with rain 

 or sleet, we moored to a large and heavy floe (a 

 sheet of ice about three orfour milesin diameter), 



