148 THE WHALE AND 



Something not looked for. The sudden Catastrophe. 



round the loggerhead, and was holding on as 

 much as the boat would bear, when, all at once, 

 another large whale, that we knew nothing 

 about, shot up out of the water nearly her whole 

 length, in a slanting position, hanging directly 

 over the boat. I threw off the turns from the 

 loggerhead, and shouted to the men to " stern." 

 But it was of no use ; she fell the whole length 

 of her body on the boat. 



I heard a crash ! and, as I went down, I felt 

 a pressure of water directly over my head, 

 caused, as I thought, by the whale's flukes as 

 she struck. How long I was under water I 

 know not ; but I remember that all looked dark 

 above me, and that I tried very hard to shove 

 my head through in order to breathe. At last 

 I succeeded ; but what a sight was that on 

 which I gazed when I found myself on the sur- 

 face of the water ! About a rod off was the 

 whale that we were fast to, thrashing the water 

 into a foam with his flukes, the ocean red with 

 blood, and the crimson streams pouring from 

 the wounds in the whale's sides made by the 

 harpoons. In another direction I could see 

 pieces of the boat floating around. At the dis- 

 tance of two or three miles, I could occasional- 



