22t) TEE CRUISE OF TEE " CACEALOT." 



almost safely have been left to look after herself. After 

 what we had recently been accustomed to, the game 

 seemed trifling to get up much excitement over ; but 

 still, for a good day's sport, commend me to a few lively 

 black-fish. 



In less than ten minutes we were in the thick of the 

 crowd, with harpoons flying right and left. Such a 

 Bcene of wild confusion and uproarious merriment 

 ensued as I never saw before in my life. The skipper, 

 true to his traditions, got fast to four, all running 

 diflerent ways at once, and making the calm sea boil 

 again with their frantic gyrations. Each of the other 

 boats got hold of three ; but, the mate getting too near 

 me, our fish got so inextricably tangled up that it was 

 hopeless to try and distinguish between each other's 

 prizes. However, when we got the lances to work among 

 them, the hubbub calmed down greatly, and the big 

 bodies one by one ceased their gambols, floating supine. 



So far, all had been gay ; but the unlucky second 

 mate must needs go and do a thing that spoiled a day's 

 fun entirely. The line runs through a deep groove in 

 the boat's stem, over a brass roller so fitted that when 

 the line is running out it remains fixed, but when 

 hauling in it revolves freely, assisting the work a great 

 deal. The second mate had three fish fast, like the 

 rest of us — the first one on the end of the main line, 

 the other two on " short warps," or pieces of whale-line 

 some eight or ten fathoms long fastened to harpoons, 

 with the other ends running on the main line by means 

 of bowlines round it. By some mistake or other he had 

 allowed the two lines to be hauled together through the 

 groove in his boat's stem, and before the error was 

 noticed two fish spurted off in opposite directions, 



