LOSE A FINE BULL. 75 



properly sleepy, and the discontented individuals in 

 the water gave the rest the alarm, so that we only 

 managed to secure four altogether. 



Solomon, our Untried harpooner, acquitted him- 

 self pretty tolerably on this his first fair trial, for 

 he killed one out of the first herd, and two at a 

 time out of the second, but on the latter occasion 

 he as nearly as possible upset the boat by allowing 

 one of the lines to run over the gunwale aft of the 

 notches at the bow : the boat most certainly would 

 have been upset had it not been that it was bal- 

 lasted with the blubber of the one already killed ; 

 as it was, she was half filled with water, and Lord 

 David and the crew were on the point of jumping 

 out, when fortunately she righted again. 



This herd consisted chiefly of cows and young 

 bulls, and they then dispersed or got out of reach 

 among the ice. 



In the forenoon we discovered a huge bull, with 

 fine tusks, by himself sound asleep on a small slop- 

 ing piece of ice, and I went in Solomon's boat to 

 attack him. The shape of the iceberg would not 

 permit us to approach within stabbing distance of 

 the bull, but as he was not more than five yards 

 from the bow of the boat, I very foolishly did not 

 fire, as I considered the harpoon a certainty ; but, to 

 my utter disgust and astonishment, Solomon threw 

 two harpoons one after the other, and missed the 

 huge animal with both ; the walrus awoke at the 

 sound the second harpoon made on the ice, and 



