214 TEE CRUISE OF TEE " CACEALOT:* 



philanthropy, as we all thought, since he was in a state 

 of semi-starvation ashore — to act as a kind of sailing- 

 master, so as to relieve the captain of ship duty at 

 whaling time, allowing him still to head his boat. This 

 was not altogether welcome news to me, for, much as I 

 liked the old man and admired his pluck, I could not help 

 dreading his utter recklessness when on a whale, which 

 had so often led to a smash-up that might have been 

 easily avoided. Moreover, I reasoned that if he had been 

 foolhardy before, he was likely to be much more so 

 now, having no superior to look black or use language 

 when a disaster occurred. For now I was his harpooner, 

 bound to take as many risks as he chose to incur, 

 and anxious also to earn a reputation among the more 

 seasoned whalemen for smartness sufficient to justify my 

 promotion. 



The Kanakas shipped at Honolulu were distributed 

 among the boats, two to each, being already trained 

 whalemen, and a fine lot of fellows they were. My two — 

 Samuela and Polly — were not very big men, but sturdy, 

 nimble as cats, as much at home in the water as on 

 deck, and simply bubbling over with fun and good- 

 humour. From my earliest sea-going, I have always had 

 a strong liking for natives of tropical countries, finding 

 them affectionate and amenable to kindness. Why, I 

 think, white men do not get on with darkies well, as a rule, 

 is, that they seldom make an appeal to the man in them. 

 It is very degrading to find one's self looked down upon as 

 a sort of animal without reason or feelings ; and if you 

 degrade a man, you deprive him of any incentive to make 

 himself useful, except the brute one you may feel bound 

 to apply yourself. My experience has been limited to 

 Africans (of sorts). Kanakas, natives of Hindostan, 



