274 THE CRUISE OF TEE " CACHALOT:' 



CHAPTER XXII. 



FAREWELL TO VAD VAU. 



Takino it all round, our visit to the Friendly Islands 

 had not been particularly fortunate up till the time of 

 which I spoke at the conclusion of the last chapter. 

 Two-thirds of the period during which the season was 

 supposed to last had expired, but our catch had not 

 amounted to more than two hundred and fifty barrels of 

 oil. Whales had been undoubtedly scarce, for our ill- 

 success on tackling bulls was not at all in consequence 

 of our clumsiness, these agile animals being always 

 a handful, but due to the lack of cows, which drove us 

 to take whatever we could get, which, as has been noted, 

 was sometimes a severe drubbing. Energy and watch- 

 fulness had been manifested in a marked degree by 

 everybody, and when the news circulated that our stay 

 was drawing to a close, there was, if anything, an increase 

 of zeal in the hope that we might yet make a favourable 

 season. 



But none of these valuable qualities exhibited by us 

 could make up for the lack of "fish" which was 

 lamentably evident. It was not easy to understand 

 why, because these islands were noted as a breeding- 

 place for the humpbacked whale. Yet for years they 

 had not been fished, so that a plausible explanation of 



