THE AMERICAN WHALEMAN. 203 



the heavens and earth were coming together; and when I 

 come to and got the infernal hum out of my ears I was settin' 

 on a bench in a cabin at the foot of one of the Adirondacks, 

 about thirty-five mile back of Plattsburg, and they told me 

 the fight was over, and we had licked the Britishers. I 

 jumped right on end and hooraed for dear life, for I kuow'd 

 we could lick 'em." 



Chips has a habit on Sunday mornings of combing his hair 

 and mounting a pair of green spectacles, so as to distinguish 

 the Sabbath from other days, and he would not give a " con- 

 tinental cuss," as he expresses it, for the chances of a man 

 who holds that the maintop-sail is white on this day. Bar- 

 ring these weaknesses, Chips is a good*workman, and can re- 

 pair a chawed boat neatly and expeditiously. 



During this rough weather we have had many porpoises 

 under the bows. One of the boat-steerers standing on the 

 martingale pitched the porpoise -iron into one, and with 

 much noise and confusion it was hauled, on deck. It was a 

 beautiful right whale porpoise, distinguished by a broad 

 stripe of pure white running from the tip of the snout to 

 the end of its flukes, and contrasting perfectly with the pol- 

 ished jet of the rest of its body. We stripped the thin blub- 

 ber from the body, and let the cook try it out for the fore- 

 castle lamp, thus saving two gallons of sperm-oil. From the 

 body we took some dark nfeat which, with onions, made a 

 savory fry. This was the beef that Major Williams prom- 

 ised us, granting that we might eat all we could catch. It 

 is a frequent dish, for we neglect no chance to banish salt- 

 beef from our table by the capture of this beautiful little 

 whale. The lower jaw is closely set with polished, curved, 

 and sharp teeth, which make no bad substitute for a comb, 

 having the necessary strength to straighten unkempt locks, 

 and to bring away such tangles as gather in a week's repose. 

 In the base, or pan, of the lower jaw is a marrowy fat, which 



