198 THE WHALE AND 



Whose is the Prize ? Romance of rival Whaling. 



1 all hands stern.' Soon she was in a ( flurry,' 

 and in the course of an hour we were slowly 

 returning to our ship. That whale stowed us 

 down eighty-five barrels of oil, and shortened 

 our voyage two months." 



It is easy to see that there must be a thrilling 

 excitement in the adventurous chase of game 

 like this, that has a tinge of the romantic to 

 young and eager minds. There was romance 

 surely, as well as reality, in a whaling feat I 

 have read of, that came off in Delego Bay, South 

 Africa, a smooth nook of ocean much frequent- 

 ed a few years ago by whalers and ships from 

 different nations. A mammoth whale rose and 

 was observed in those still waters at the same 

 moment, and about equidistant from an Amer- 

 ican and an EHglish ship. From both the boats 

 were lowered, manned, and off in an instant 

 with the speed of the wind. 



The English, at first ahead, perceiving their 

 rivals gaining on them, wisely bore wide off 

 from their common game, in order to keep the 

 Americans out of reach of the whale. But when 

 the two boats were nearly abreast, the English 

 of course inside, one of the American sailors 

 sprang from his seat, and with extraordinary 



