Big Game with a Revolver 307 



so friendly that they came within forty or fifty 

 feet of the boat, for just as we were hoping to get 

 them in the camera some of the party became 

 nervous and concluded, doubtless with some rea- 

 son, that having sixty- or seventy-foot whales 

 at short range, especially when they were of a 

 curious disposition, was not exactly enjoyable. 

 So they had to be taken in and the opportunity 

 was lost. On various other occasions I have 

 seen large whales at close quarters. The steamer 

 running between Los Angeles and Avalon has 

 killed several large whales, one of which I ex- 

 amined. A seafaring friend, captain of a 

 steamer on the coast, told me that a large whale 

 once in diving threw its tail into the propeller 

 and was held during an extraordinary struggle 

 that menaced the safety of the vessel, as the 

 whale had full swing, stopping the ship and 

 literally tossing her about. In a word, the 

 whales of Southern California are friendly, and 

 so common that it is rarely that a trip is made 

 in the season without seeing one or more moving 

 up or down, north or south. 



In these waters killers are often seen, and 

 perhaps the most interesting experience of the 

 kind I ever had was with Gifford Pinchot fol- 

 lowing a school off San Clemente Island in 1909. 



The orcas, or killers, as they are called, are 

 among the most interesting denizens of the sea, 

 owing to their predatory habits. To sailors they 



