342 TEE CRUISE OF TEE " CACEALOT." 



were, besides a large quantity of dismembered squid of 

 great size, a number of fish, such as rock-cod, barra- 

 couta, schnapper, and the hke, whose presence there was 

 a revelation to me. How in the name of wonder so huge 

 and unwieldly a creature as the cachalot could manage 

 to catch those nimble members of the finny tribe, I could 

 not for the life of me divine ! Unless — and after much 

 cogitation it was the only feasible explanation that I 

 could see — as the cachalot swims about with his lower 

 jaw hanging down in its normal position, and his huge 

 gullet gaping like some submarine cavern, the fish 

 unwittingly glide down it, to find egress impossible. 

 This may or may not be the case ; but I, at any rate, can 

 find no more reasonable theory, for it is manifestly 

 absurd to suppose the whale capable of catching fish in 

 the ordinary sense, indicating pursuit. 



Every part of the animal yielded oil. Even the 

 bones, broken up into pieces capable of entering the pot, 

 were boiled ; and by the time we had finished our trying- 

 out, the result of the Maories' labour was ready for us. 

 Less than a week had sufficed to yield them a net sum 

 of six guineas each, even at the very low rate for which 

 they sold us the oil. Except that it was a little darker in 

 colour, a defect that would disappear when mixed with 

 our store, there was no difference between the products 

 that could be readily detected. And at the price we 

 paid for it, there was a clear profit of cent per cent, even 

 had we kept it separate and sold it for what it was. 

 But I suppose it was worth the Maories' while thus to 

 dispose of it and quickly realize their hard earnings. 



So far, our last excursion had been entirely satis- 

 factory. We had not suffered any loss or endured any 

 hardship ; and if only such comfortable proceedings 

 were more frequent, the Solander ground would not 



