into the fog, like strange steamers, unknown 

 and unnamed. Now a shoal of playing dol- 

 phins would go rushing, rolling past with a 

 purring roar of smitten water like the low 

 surge of breakers on the beach ; while over 

 the mad stampede single individuals hurled 

 themselves into the air in sheer exuberance 

 of life and animal spirits. Again a troop of 

 little whales of some unknown species would 

 gather silently around the fishing punts, spy- 

 ing and peeking, as inquisitive as so many 

 blue jays. Once a stray right-whale, and again 

 an unmeasured monster — a sulphur-bottom, 

 I judged, from his enormous length and his 

 high spouting — steamed past like an express 

 train, making the Wild Duck seem of no 

 size or consequence whatever. Sometimes a 

 dozen of the leviathans would be in sight at 

 once ; again a solitary rorqual would cross 

 our bows ponderously, always alone, yet 

 maintaining apparently a secret communi- 

 cation with others of his kind scattered over 

 twenty miles of ocean ; for, though I never 

 saw them approach each other, they always 2 

 appeared and vanished, turning to east 



281 



Outofffie 



