174 WHALING AND FISHING. 



CHAPTER X. 



SOMETHING furtner concerning the habits of Whales Tb 

 Humpback Their liability to Sink when dead Antongil 

 Bay Our Anchorage The denizens of the Jungle Our first 

 Whaling day A Word concerning the Weal/her Actions of 

 Whales Close of the first Day The Night Another Del- 

 ugeWe get fast The Whale spouts Blood Tenacity of 

 Life Towing a dead Whale Cutting-in Trying out A 

 ** Cow and a Calf" Strong affection of the Mother-Whale 

 How Whalemen take advantage of this The Calf is killed 

 The Sharks eat up our Whale Scaring a HumpbackIts 

 Results. 



A FEW days after seeing the St. Mary's shoal, 

 and hearing its story as related in the last chapter, 

 we sailed into Antongil bay. This is a large inlet 

 on the east coast of the island of Madagascar, in 

 about latitude 16 south, and longitude 50 east. 

 It is over fifty miles deep, and about twenty-five 

 miles wide at the mouth. At the bottom of this 

 extensive bay, and under lee of a small island, 

 our two ships were brought to anchor, and here 

 it was determined we should remain at least a 

 month, to try for humpbacks. 



The females of these whales, as well as of the 

 right whale, frequent bays and shallow waters 

 yearly, when their time of calving comes on, to 

 drop their young, remaining in the smooth wateri 



