Driving Whales 103 



of boats, crazy-looking cobles and skiffs most of 

 them under oars, but if there is a breeze many with 

 sails move out to form a semicircle round the shoal. 

 There is a din as if Bedlam had broken loose, for the 

 object is to frighten the whales till in terror and con- 

 fusion they rush on the shallows and ground. So the 

 water is splashed with the oars, improvised and most 

 unmelodious drums are beaten, and there is a yelling 

 loud enough to wake the dead. From this unearthly 

 turmoil the shy and timid quarry gradually retreats. 

 Yet the battle is not over. If the king bull begins to 

 grow suspicious of the shore, he will turn and charge 

 through the boats. Then there is confusion, indeed, 

 for his lieges follow, and vain are all efforts to arrest 

 their flight. Guns are fired and harpoons cast ; boats 

 are upset, and the cries of half-drowned men and boys 

 mingle with the uproar. If the whales take a direc- 

 tion likely to lead them into further difficulties, chase 

 is given, and the whole business begins again. 



Should there be no stampede, the din and excite- 

 ment increase, till at last the bewildered creatures 

 rush on their doom in the shallows. The boats 

 close upon them, and then begins a murder grim and 

 great. As the islanders hack, and stab, and hew, the 

 scene changes altogether. Soon the surf is incarna- 

 dined with blood, and the shrill dying cries of the 

 whales are distinctly heard in the uproar. They 

 show no fight, for they are the least combative and 

 the gentlest of creatures ; but some die harder than 



