THE AMERICAN WHALEMAN. 241 



"You see whales enough, but how to get on them is the 

 question. In my last voyage on the False Banks, South At- 

 lantic, I saw right whale laying flukes 'and fins. We ran 

 the ship well to windward and lowered, dropping one end of 

 the boat first to prevent the swash. We ran down with 

 sails, putting only the tip of the steering-oar in the water, 

 and no man spoke above a whisper. Thus we ran down si- 

 lent as a bird's flight ; but, at about a quarter of a mile, the 

 nearest rounded out his flukes and went down ; then anoth- 

 er, and another, slowly and solemnly, without white water, 

 until all were gone. Then we rounded to, so as not to run 

 into their wake, when wooshoo ! like an exhaust steam- 

 pipe, sounded the blow of a great fellow half a mile away. 

 And wooshoo ! here they were again lazily basking on the 

 surface, all on the alert and keeping exact run of the boats. 

 Do my cunning best, I didn't get nearer that day to a school 

 which would have filled my ship ten times over. It was 

 like chasing the rainbow. Now, what are you going to do 

 in such a case ?" 



"I do not know," answered Captain B , "unless we tow 



out a small balloon from the boats and drop a bomb-lance 

 with lighted fuse, and blow up their insides. I guess an 

 ingenious man might arrange that in light weather among 

 school-whales. It is evident that the fear of the whale-boat 

 has been transmitted until it has become instinctive, and we 

 must attack them from the air. When Pennsylvania's oil- 

 wells give out we will try this trick on." 



As we had seen water-spouts during the early morning, 

 this phenomenon now became a subject of discourse. Cap- 

 tain West described one which passed so near the Adeline 

 Gibbs, that with his glass he could distinguish the flying-fish 

 glancing out of the foaming base of the cone, and falling out- 

 side the influence of the vortex. In this he was confirmed 

 by seeing a number of gonees flying around the foaming col- 



11 



