"THE GREAT RAIN." 181 



decided, any one was at liberty to strike what he 

 could get on to. This restriction was rendered 

 necessary by the fact the male humpback invari- 

 ably runs on being struck, and moreover, turns 

 out for his size a much smaller quantity of oil 

 than the female. 



1 fell asleep, earnestly hoping that it would rail 

 no more while we remained here, and anticipating, 

 from the beautiful starlit and cloudless sky with 

 which I had regaled my eyes before going .below, 

 that to-morrow, at any rate, would be a fine day. 

 At ten o'clock four bells in the first watch I 

 was called out to take an anchor watch, and on 

 proceeding to the deck, found the sky of a leaden 

 color, not a star visible, and everything looking 

 as though "the great rain" was about to set in. 

 At eleven o'clock, the skies opened, and it began 

 to pour down in such sheets and masses as can 

 only be witnessed in the tropics ; and thus it con- 

 tinued without intermission until eleven o'clock 

 the next day, when the sea-breeze set in, the sky 

 became clear, the air once more bracing, the sun 

 shone out cheerily, and nature resumed her Sun- 

 day look. 



At five A. M., when we lowered, the rain wae 

 pouring down in such torrents that one man 

 was obliged continually to bail rain water out of 

 the boat ; while we could not see two ship's lengths 

 ahead through the sheets of water. The yester- 

 day's maneuvers pulling to the bottom of the 

 bay, there saJing about when the breeze would 



