ON TEE SOLANDER GROUNDS. 343 



have any terrors for us at least. But one afternoon 

 there crept in around the eastern horn of the harbour 

 three forlorn and half-dismantled vessels, whose weather- 

 worn crews looked wistfully at us engaged in clearing 

 up decks and putting away gear upon the finishing of 

 our trying-out. Poor fellows ! they had seen rough 

 times since that unforgettable evening when we parted 

 from them at the other end of the island, and watched 

 them slowly fade into the night. Two of them were so 

 badly damaged that no further fishing was possible for 

 them until they had undergone a thorough refit, such as 

 they could not manage there. One was leaking badly, 

 the tremendous strain put upon her hull in the vain 

 attempt to hold on to the two whales she had during the 

 gale having racked her almost all to pieces. The third 

 one was still capable of taking the ground again, with 

 sundry repairs such as could be effected by her crew. 

 But the general feeling among all three crews was that 

 there was more loss than gain to be expected here, in 

 spite of the multitude of whales visiting the place. 



As if to fill up their cup, in came the old Chance 

 again, this time with a whale on each side. Captain 

 Gilroy was on the house aft, his chubby red face in a 

 ruddy glow of delight, and his crew exuberant. When 

 he passed the American ships, as he was bound to do 

 very closely, the sight of their scowling faces seemed to 

 afford him the most exquisite amusement, and he 

 laughed loud and long. His crew, on the impulse of 

 the moment, sprang to the rail and cheered with might 

 and main. No one could gainsay that they had good 

 reason, but I really feared for a time that we should 

 have "ructions." As Paddy said, it was not wise or 

 dignified for those officers to be so angry with him on 

 account of his success, which he frankly owned was due 



