34 Autobiography of a Sperm Whale 



of the deep, though knowing nothing of the cause of 

 quarrel or of the prize of victory. 



Still I bided my time, to the wonder of my compan- 

 ions, until a younger generation was fast approaching 

 the time when it too would attain to full whalehood 

 and free citizenship of the ocean. Meanwhile, I always 

 kept close to the chief, watching his every movement, 

 noting all his wise ways, and absorbing all that he had 

 to teach, until at last, as we fed around the bases of that 

 lonely rock in mid South Atlantic, Inaccessible Island, 

 while the furious southern storm raged around us and 

 lifted its vast waves towards the sky, I calmly chall- 

 enged his supremacy. He had given the signal to 

 depart northwards in consequence of the inclemency 

 of the sea. And I questioned his wisdom. I pointed 

 out that here was abundant food, that the storms did 

 not affect us, that all were well content to remain here 

 but he, and that it appeared as if the leadership of such 

 a school as we were was becoming a task beyond his 

 powers. Other family matters I touched upon which 

 need not be enlarged about here, such as the dwindling 

 numbers of our new calves, quite insufficient to supply 

 the waste of departures. And I concluded by offering 

 to contest the headship with him at once. 



During all this time the rest of the school lay in a 

 wide circle of which we two were the centre, their huge 

 black bodies almost motionless, like wave-beaten rocks 

 protruding above the surface of the foaming sea. He 

 and I lay nearly head on to each other without move- 

 ment, not seeing each other, but that mysterious sense 

 of ours, which I have before mentioned, in full activity. 

 Well was it for me that I had waited so long, and had 

 rehearsed to myself all possibilities of his behaviour 

 when I should challenge him. For suddenly, as if 

 hurled by a stupendous wave, he launched himself at 



