WHALING AND BEAR-HUNTING 153 



we came to our change place, Lomba da Cruze, and mounted 

 a stirrupless pack-saddle on a donkey, and began an hour's 

 uphill climb through cuttings of lava deposit, overhung 

 with brambles, many laurels, heath and ferns. 



Possibly this stylo sketch in sketch-book may be a sufficient 

 description of the Seven Cities. Imagine two green absinth- 

 coloured lakes, green foliage, and a few white houses at the 

 bottom of a crater ; with this sketch you have the scene, and 

 you can fancy the charm of the fresh, keen air up the moun- 

 tains combined with Sancho's great ham sandwich and tinto, 

 but heaven fend the reader from the pain of a wooden saddle 

 on a donkey riding down such a hill again. 



The road home was wearisome to a degree, hundreds of 

 local squires or farmers, and everyone lifting hats, but why ? 

 Who knows ? The effort to respond was quite ridiculous. 

 Someone should invent an automatic hat-lifter for royalties, 

 Norwegians, and natives of the Azores. Groups of women 

 were on either side of the road shelling yellow maize, sitting 

 like Indians ; and at last and at length we got into Delgada, 

 having had more than enough of cultivated maize lanes 

 and lava dykes. 



Then to Portuguese shipping agents and to business 

 accounts, not a pleasing part of whaling. It is difficult to 

 settle our affairs, on leaving port. For instance, the harbour 

 trustees, or whatever they are called here, wanted to charge 

 for the morning's incoming pilotage after we had gone out to 

 save a wreck, but we barred that. " You old mens sleeps 

 here ashore," said Henriksen. " We's go out, slips anchor 

 dark night risks our ship, you charges us ! might have 

 been Titanic and we save thousands' lives. You say you 

 haves many tow-boats ! why nones go out ? What about 

 insurance, heh ? " They quietly dropped the subject. 



But now it's time to go and put aside the above reflections 

 and disappointments so far ; we have hope, and months, 

 possibly years, and certainly long seas in front of us, to gain 

 or to lose in. 



So we up anchor at night with a light air from the east, 

 and several weeks' sailing in front of us to Madeira and Cape 

 Town, and whales on the road, we hope. 



