CHAPTER XI 



THE solitary firmer we hunted disappeared, and we 

 hunted for hours towards heavy purple clouds in 

 the S.W., and the sea seemed deserted as before, 

 till towards six o'clock we saw a blow, and soon after saw 

 the crow's nest of a whaler above the horizon ; she appeared 

 to be working to and fro as if hunting a whale. 



In half-an-hour we were amongst great large whales ! and 

 began the most spectacular whale-hunt we have ever seen. 

 For two and a half days we had hunted blank, lifeless ocean, 

 then, without rhyme or reason, it was brimming with life ! 

 An indigo bank of cloud there was for background, a com- 

 plete vivid rainbow against that beneath it the swelling 

 seas, dark green with purple lights and white foam, with here 

 and there whales' white blasts catching the western sun from 

 a score or fifty enormous finners. In every direction were 

 dolphins with yellow and white stripes, and porpoises spurt- 

 ing water up like cannon shots as they dived ; overhead were 

 petrels and dark skuas. The whales' plum-coloured backs 

 caught the western light and reflected the sky on their upper 

 surface in tints of lavender as they rose, glittering and 

 powerful, in green and white foaming water, thousands of 

 pounds sterling, and millions of horse-power, in groups of 

 three or four surging along beside each other, east and west, 

 sending up mighty jets of steam, to be carried away in the wind. 



As we went in chase of a group of these we saw the other 

 whaler was fast to a whale, over which she apparently had 

 no control. 



The whales were feeding, but travelling so fast that we could 

 not come up with them, so we cut across their course, and 

 dozens of times we thought we were going to get our chance. 

 Then other bigger whales crossed, and we gave up the first 

 lot and went plunging after the others, throwing up grand 

 showers of foam over our bows and oilskins. But cold and 



So 



