266 TEE CRUISE OF TEE " CACEALOT."* 



It certainly seemed as if I was in for a regular series 

 of troubles. After cruising till nearly two p.m., we fell 

 in with the mate's boat, and were sailing quietly along 

 side by side, when we suddenly rounded a point and ran 

 almost on top of a bull-humpback that was basking in 

 the beautiful sunshine. The mate's harpooner, a 

 wonderfully smart fellow, was not so startled as to lose 

 his chance, getting an iron well home before the animal 

 realized what had befallen him. We had a lovely fight, 

 lasting over an hour, in which all the marvellous agility 

 with which this whale is gifted was exerted to the full 

 in order to make his escape. But with the bottom not 

 twenty fathoms away, we were sure of him. With all his 

 supple smartness, he had none of the dogged savagery of 

 the cachalot about him, nor did we feel any occasion to 

 beware of his rushes, rather courting them, so as to finish 

 the game as quickly as possible. 



He was no sooner dead than we hurried to secure 

 him, and had actually succeeded in passing the tow-line 

 through his lips, when, in the trifling interval that passed 

 while we were taking the line aft to begin towing, he 

 started to sink. Of course it was, " Let go all ! " If you 

 can only get the slightest way on a whale of this kind, 

 you are almost certain to be able to keep him afloat, but 

 once he begins to sink you cannot stop him. Down he 

 went, till full twenty fathoms beneath us he lay com- 

 fortably on the reef, while we looked ruefully at one 

 another. We had no gear with us fit to raise him, and 

 we were ten miles from the ship ; evening was at hand, so 

 our prospects of doing anything that night were faint. 



However, the mate decided to start off for home at 

 once, leaving us there, but promising to send back a boat 

 as speedily as possible with provisions and gear for the 

 morning. There was a stiff breeze blowing, and he was 



