168 TEE CRUISE OF TEE " CACEALOT." 



could hope for a successful season, knowing the utterly 

 despondent state of the crew, which even affected the 

 officers, who, not so callous or cruel as the skipper, 

 seemed to he getting rather tired of the constant drive 

 and kick, now the normal condition of affairs. But the 

 skipper's vigilance was great. Whether he noted any sign 

 of slackness or indifference on the part of his coadjutors 

 or not, of course I cannot say, but he certainly seemed to 

 put more vigour into his attentions than had been his 

 wont, and so kept everybody up to the mark. 



Hitherto we had always had our fishing to ourselves ; 

 we were now to see something of the ways of other men 

 employed in the same manner. For though the general 

 idea or plan of campaign against the whales is the same 

 in all American whalers, every ship has some individual 

 peculiarity of tactics, which, needless to say, are always 

 far superior to those of any other ship. When we com- 

 menced our cruise on this new ground, there were seven 

 whalers in sight, all quite as keen on the chase as our- 

 selves, so that I anticipated considerable sport of the 

 liveliest kind should we " raise " whales with such a 

 fleet close at hand. 



But for a whole week we saw nothing but a grampus 

 or so, a few loitering finbacks, and an occasional lean 

 humpback bull certainly not worth chasing. On the 

 seventh afternoon, however, I was in the main crow's- 

 nest with the chief, when I noticed a ship to windward of 

 us alter her course, keeping away three or four points 

 on an angle that would presently bring her across our 

 bows a good way ahead. I was getting pretty well 

 versed in the tricks of the trade now, so I kept mum, 

 but strained my eyes in the direction for which the other 

 ship was steering. The chief was looking astern at some 



