THE WILD. 



risen from below, to sport in these phosphorescent 

 billows. 



"The vapour jetted forth was far more radiant 

 than any portion of the sea ; ascribable, perhaps, 

 to the originally luminous fluid, contracting still 

 more brilliancy from its passage through the 

 spouting canal of the whales. 



"We were in gnat fear lest, without any vicious 

 intention, the leviathans might destroy us by 

 coining into close contact with our boat. We 

 would have shunned them, but they were all 

 round and round us. Nevertheless we were safe ; 

 for, as we parted the pallid brine, the peculiar ir- 

 radiation which shot from about our keel seemed 

 to deter them. Apparently discovering us of a 

 sudden, many of them plunged headlong down 

 into the water, tossing their fiery tails high into 

 the air, and leaving the sea still more sparkling 

 from the violent surging of their descent. 



"Their general course seemed the same as our 

 own; to the westward. To remove from them, 

 we at last out oars, and pulled towards the 

 north. So doing, we were steadily pursued by a 

 solitary whale that must have taken our boat for 

 a kindred fish. Spite of all our efforts, he drew 

 near and nearer ; at length rubbing his fiery flank 

 against the gunwale, here and there leaving long- 

 strips of the glossy transparent substance, which, 

 thin as a gossamer, invests the body of the cacha- 

 lot. 



"In terror at a sight so new, Samoa shrank. 

 But Jarl and I, more used to the intimate com- 

 panionship of the whales, pushed the boat away 

 from it with our oars ; a thing often done in the 

 fishery. 



"But, to my great joy, the monster at last 

 departed ; rejoining the shoal, whose lofty spout- 

 218 



