BAD WEATHER. 29 



porpoise. The sailor's "dolphin," on the other hand, is 

 a veritable fish, with vertical tail fin instead of the 

 horizontal one which distinguishes all the whale family, 

 scales and gills. 



It is well known to literature, under its sea-name, for 

 its marvellous brilliancy of colour, and there are few 

 objects more dazzling than a dolphin leaping out of a 

 calm sea into the sunshine. The beauty of a dying 

 dolphin, however, though sanctioned by many genera- 

 tions of writers, is a delusion, all the glory of the fish 

 departing as soon as he is withdrawn from his native 

 element. 



But this habit of digression grows upon one, and I 

 must do my best to check it, or I shall never get through 

 my task. 



To resume then : when this school of dolphin (I can't 

 for the life of me call them Coryphsena liippuris) came 

 alongside, a rush was made for the " granes " — a sort of 

 five-pronged trident, if I may be allowed a baby bull. 

 It was universally agreed among the fishermen that 

 trying a hook and line was only waste of time and pro- 

 vocative of profanity ! since every sailor knows that all 

 the deep-water big fish require a living or apparently 

 living bait. The fish, however, sheered off, and would 

 not be tempted within reach of that deadly fork by any 

 lure. Then did I cover myself with glory. For he who 

 can fish cleverly and luckily may be sure of fairly good 

 times in a whaler, although he may be no great things 

 at any other work. I had a line of my own, and begging 

 one of the small fish that had been hauled up in the Gulf 

 weed, I got permission to go aft and fish over the taffrail. 

 The little fish was carefully secured on the hook, the 

 point of which just protruded near his tail. Then I 



