THE AMERICAN WHALEMAN-. 



ing agitation of the albicores, however. They huddled as 

 closely as they could, and coursed round and round the ship, 

 and in a short time more, as by a common impulse, the dense 

 array started away at fullest speed. But it was in vain. 

 Their pursuer, now ss close to the surface that his back-fin 

 and part of his tail could be seen, was almost instantly in 

 the midst of the flying throng, and with cut and thrust of 

 his sword, too rapid for the eye to follow, he killed several 

 instantly. Then he gave up the chase, and the now scattered 

 school returned directly to the ship. The captain, who had 

 been watching his opportunity, ordered the boat to be cleared 

 and lowered, and approaching cautiously with paddles, he 

 succeeded in harpooning the tyrannous sword-fish and bring- 

 ing it on board. A fine feast for several days it will be, as 

 it is the most toothsome of all the deep-water fish. The 

 sword was finely edged and pointed nearly* three feet long. 

 As I observed his motions, I saw an explanation why the 

 sword-fish occasionally strikes the bottom of a vessel and 

 drives his formidable weapon through the planks. It is 

 simply done in his overeagerness to catch his prey. 



At 10 A.M. we raised sperm-whale to leeward. After a 

 chase of two hours, the third mate had a chance ; he darted, 

 missed, and gallied the whales beyond all chance of pursuit. 

 So we came on board mad, and blessed the unfortunate boat- 

 steerer in 'a left-handed fashion. The boats were scarcely 

 hoisted, and the decks cleared, when a whale rose within a 

 few hundred yards of the ship. The mate called for an in- 

 stant crew. I jumped for the bow-oar, quite forgetting my 

 new-fledged dignity, and in five minutes we formed an at- 

 tachment, close and lasting. Not in the least appreciative, 

 the whale sounded out nearly all our line, and remained down 

 one hour and ten minutes. When he came up he' was thor- 

 oughly exhausted, and lay quiet while the mate set on him 

 with the lance. He was in his death-flurry within a quarter 



