A SCHOOL OF WHALES. 417 



were strenuously plied ; it drew nearer and nearer ; and 

 they were saved ! 



Dr. Scoresby relates a melancholy incident which hap- 

 pened to one of his crew while he was in command of the 

 whaling-ship Baffin. He had sighted a whale, and des- 

 patched his boats in pursuit. After an absence of some 

 hours, which had greatly alarmed him, he saw them re- 

 turning y and on their coming within hail, his anxiety in- 

 duced him to inquire if anything had happened. " A bad 

 misfortune has befallen us," replied the officer in charge 

 of the first boat ; " we have lost Carr ! " Scoresby was 

 exceedingly shocked by intelligence for which he was 

 wholly unprepared ; and some time elapsed before he felt 

 able to listen to the details of the accident which had 

 deprived him of a good seaman. 



As far as could be ascertained from the confused ac- 

 counts of the crew of Carr's boat, the circumstances were 

 as follow : 



The two boats that had been so long absent had, at the 

 outset, separated from their companions, and, allured by 

 the chase of a whale and the fineness of the weather, had 

 proceeded until they were far out of sight of the ship. 

 Their hot pursuit led them into the midst of a vast 

 " school." So numerous, indeed, was the assemblage that 

 the " blowing " was incessant j and the men believed that 

 fully a hundred " monsters " were gathered there together. 

 The whalers were puzzled by the embarras de rich esses 

 before them ! They feared lest they should alarm them 

 without striking any, and for awhile rested on their oars, 

 waiting for a favourable opportunity to deliver the attack. 



At length a w r lmle rose so near the boat of which 



