His CAPTORS. 125 



His Power is in his Tail. The Whale Beat. 



tail were repeated and clearly heard as be- 

 fore. 



They again went down for a short time, and 

 then came up to the surface under the packet's 

 larboard quarter, the whale appearing first and 

 the serpent in pursuit, who was again seen to 

 shoot up his tail as before, which he held out of 

 water some time, waving it in the air before 

 striking, and at the same time, while his tail 

 remained in this position, he raised his head fif- 

 teen or twenty feet, as if taking a view of the 

 surface of the sea. After being seen in this po- 

 sition a few minutes, the serpent and whale 

 again sunk and disappeared, and neither were 

 seen after by any on board. It was Captain 

 West's opinion that the whale was trying to es- 

 cape, as he spouted but once at a time on coming 

 to the surface, and the last time he appeared 

 he went down before the serpent came up. 



Between all these natural foes and its preda- 

 tory human enemy, the great mammoth of 

 ocean seems doomed to extinction. But I have 

 no scruple at confessing that, since I have be- 

 come closely acquainted with the habits of the 

 great right whale, how quietly it grazes through 

 the great pasture-ground which God has or- 



