TEMPEST. 9 



it presents a cavity capable of containing a merchant ships 

 jolly boat. The cachalot is also a very large animal, attaining 

 sometimes fifty feet or more in length, and about thirty to 

 forty feet in circumference. One whale occasionally yields 

 more than twenty tons of pure oil, known as sperm-oil, and 

 much used in the manufacture of candles. From the great cavity 

 above the skull is extracted the oil called spermaceti, 

 which is also much used for the same purpose and for oint 

 ments. The sperm oil is obtained from the thick layer of fat, 

 or blubber, lying sometimes several feet in thickness under 

 the skin. The substance called ambergris, largely used in 

 perfumery, is a concretion formed in the intestines of the 

 sperm whale, and is found floating on the surface of the seas 

 which they inhabit. 



On the 1 2th of May, we were again assailed by a tempest 

 of wind, hail, and rain, which caused some minor damages. 

 The hail stones were of a large pea size. Until the ist of 

 June we had rough and cold weather. Sometimes the wind 

 was so strong that waves of immense size constantly shipped 

 over the deck. It was dreadful to see these gigantic waves 

 seemingly on our heads, as if they were going to swallow up 

 the ship and all. In one instant w r e were on the top of one of 

 them, as on the top of a hill with a sort of abyss under, in 

 another we were at the bottom with the waves above us. You 

 must experience it to have an exact idea of that fearful 

 spectacle. But by this time all of us were more or less sailors 

 made, and it did not affect us so much as the first gale ex 

 perienced in the channel. The only inconvenience was to be 

 obliged to remain in the saloon, and a little more or less fright 

 with some of the passengers. 



On the ist of June, we were at the same latitude as 

 VALPARAISO and in sight of JUAN FERNANDEZ ISLAND, the 

 celebrated abode of Alexander Selkirk, so well known as 

 Robinson Crusoe. 



