THE AMERICAN WHALEMAN. 125 



rather than, by running away, let them go still worse. My 

 mind was made up to return to America in the ship I left. 

 No more was heard of the plan, and I hoped that it was 

 dropped, for it involved some of the good men of the ship, 

 and one of our best boat-steerers. On the passage south we 

 took one small whale. A boat was capsized, but no further 

 damage done. 



As we approached the coast, a little north of Selango, we 

 passed through a tract of many miles, in which the water 

 was covered with branches of trees, some of considerable 

 size, splintered and much broken, with great quantities of 

 leaves, dead birds, and some dead monkeys. In the midst 

 of the wreck were many small striped snakes. This was 

 evidently the work of a whirlwind in the forests of the 

 neighboring coast, and we considered ourselves fortunate 

 in escaping its force. With a good breeze from the west- 

 ward, we soon afterward made land on the larboard bow, 

 and, without altering our course, steered directly into the 

 noble bay of Selango. 



