232 TEE CRUISE OF THE "CACHALOT:' 



with eyes that saw not, filled with wonder and admiration. 

 I must have been looking directly at the same spot for 

 quite a quarter of an hour, when suddenly, as if I had but 

 just opened my eyes, I saw the well-known bushy spout 

 of a sperm whale. I raised the usual yell, which rang 

 through the stillness discordantly, startling all hands 

 out of their lethargy like bees out of a hive. After the 

 usual preliminaries, we were all afloat with sails set, 

 gliding slowly over the sleeping sea towards the un- 

 conscious objects of our attention. The captain did not 

 lower this time, as there only appeared to be three fish, 

 none of them seeming large. Though at any distance 

 it is extremely difficult to assess the size of whales, the 

 spout being very misleading. Sometimes a full-sized 

 whale will show a small spout, while a twenty-barrel 

 cow will exhale a volume of vapour extensive enough for 

 two or three at once. 



Now although, according to etiquette, I kept my 

 position in the rear of my superior officers, I had fully 

 determined in my own mind, being puffed up with 

 previous success, to play second fiddle to no one, if I 

 could help it, this time. Samuela was decidedly of the 

 same opinion ; indeed, I believe he would have been 

 delighted to tackle a whole school single-handed, while 

 my crew were all willing and eager for the fight. We 

 had a long, tedious journey before we came up with them, 

 the wind being so light that even with the occasional 

 assistance of the paddles our progress was wretchedly 

 slow. When at last we did get into their water, and 

 the mate's harpooner stood up to dart, his foot slipped, 

 and down he came with a clatter enough to scare a 

 cachalot twenty miles away. It gallied our friends 

 effectually, sending them flying in different directions at 



