EEMINISCENCES OF THE LEWS. , 79 



and, as again M'Aulay roared out, '* They're 

 coming ! " and faced our boat hard at them, 

 they came indeed, and for some seconds — I do 

 not know how long — our boat stood on whales. 

 We all looked at one another, and thought of 

 those on shore; but it soon passed, and, to 

 our infinite delight, we found our boat floating 

 again. But it was touch and go. One crack 

 of one whale's tail would have smashed our 

 boat, and landing on the whales would not have 

 been very pleasant. There was nothing to be 

 done now but to join in the chase. We could 

 not succeed in turning or making any hand of 

 the band, and they made good their retreat to 

 sea again. A good many shots were fired, and 

 apparently a good many whales received rifle- 

 bullets, which drew blood ; but they sank, and 

 I do not think that eventually more than three 

 or four carcasses were recovered. 



We all returned home, tired and disgusted ; 

 and we certainly did not lay our heads on our 

 pillows with those feelings of Christian charity 

 towards the three women that ought to fill the 

 hearts of sinners. 



