32 WHALING AND FISHING. 



to pieces, his boots made of brown paper, Ms hat 

 of the same material, slightly glazed, and his pea- 

 jacket, "like Jack Straw's house, neither wind' 

 tight nor water-tight," I opine that an impartial 

 consideration of all the circumstances in the case 

 would lead him to the opinion that himself was at 

 Jeast partly in fault. 



Old Bill and I enjoyed ourselves finely, for a 

 lew days, during which we visited nearly every 

 ship in the harbor, took several jaunts to Fair- 

 haven, a village directly opposite and across the 

 river from New Bedford, where, also, numbers of 

 fine whaleships are fitted out, and acquainted our- 

 selves with the destination and general character 

 of all the best looking vessels in both ports. 



On consideration, I had determined to engage 

 on board a sperm whaler. By doing this I should 

 escape the exposure to cold weather necessarily 

 incident to the pursuit of the right whale, which 

 is found in the higher latitudes, while the cachalot, 

 or sperm whale, is sought for chiefly within the 

 tropics. Moreover, all the right whalers at that 

 time fitting out, were bound around Cape Horn, 

 and thither I had already been. I finally settled 

 on the Indian Ocean, and the Japan cruising 

 ground, as the places I should most like to visit in 

 a whaleship, and determined to look out foi ao 

 opportunity to go in that direction. 



But although the work of fitting out vessels 

 was going on unusually briskly, it seemed to rat 



