298 The Story of the New England Whalers 



in quick succession, pounding the wreck into 

 splinters. She must have caught sight of me, 

 for she came up on a half breach and dropped 

 her head on me, and drove me, half stunned, 

 deep into the water. Again I came up near 

 the small, and again dove under the flukes. From 

 this time she seemed to keep me in sight. Again 

 and again she would run her head in the air and 

 fall on my back, bruising and half drowning me 

 as I was driven down in the water. 



" Sometimes I caught hold of the line or some- 

 thing attached to the mad brute, and would hold 

 until a sweep of the flukes would take my legs 

 and break my hold. The second mate's boat had 

 cut long ago, and watched her chance to pick 

 up the surviving crew, but had not been able to 

 reach me; for when the whale's eye caught the 

 boat she would dash for it so wickedly that the 

 whole crew became demoralized. . . . To hus- 

 band my strength I gave over swimming, and, 

 treading water, I faced the danger and several 

 times by sinking avoiding the blow from her head. 

 As a desperate resource, I strove with the point 

 of my sheath knife to prick her nose. . . * Thus 



