THE AMERICAN WHALEMAN. 43 



the neighborhood of the Cape Verd Islands, where it joined 

 us, until we lost headway in the port of Callao, Peru, it ac- 

 companied us. Undaunted by the cold and the storms of the 

 cape, it led the way into lat. 62 S., and during a fearful scud 

 before a south-east gale, which drove us for forty hours at 

 an average of nearly fifteen miles an hour, we carried it into 

 the shoal and perhaps too foul waters of a Peruvian harbor. 

 The whole distance run by this little fish, allowing for trav- 

 erses, was over 14,000 miles; time 122 days, or a daily aver- 

 age of 115 miles. In all these days, there was not a moment 

 when the ship had such headway on her that our pilot might 

 not be seen distinctly in front of the cut-water. By day, we 

 could see it near the surface at our rising and falling bow ; 

 by night, in the phosphorescent seas it shot along, a gleam- 

 ing flame, just in advance of the scintillations caused by the 

 spurt of the cut-water. Our little companion obtained the 

 interest of the crew, and word that it was still with us was 

 passed from watch to watch. It finally entered into the su- 

 perstitions of our ship, and its leaving us would have caused 

 concern to many minds on board. Among men and officers 

 there was no doubt that it was the same fish that joined us 

 on the coast of Africa, and followed us south 77 degrees of 

 latitude, thence north 50 degrees, making west 60 equatori- 

 al degrees, boarding itself meanwhile, without a watch be- 

 low for sleep or rest. Let any boy or girl turn to the map 

 of the world, and trace this long track of a fish not over 

 twelve inches long, and think how wonderful are God's ways 

 even with the smallest creatures ways so wonderful that 

 they are past finding out by grown men, even professors in 

 natural history. 



In the days that gradually grew longer as we approached 

 the cape, the time of the watch on deck (or half the crew in 

 turns of four hours each) was employed in pulling old rig- 

 ging into yarn, knotting the yarn and winding it into con- 



