364 TEE CBUISE OF THE " CACHALOT:' 



through my mind, while, with my eyes glued to the huge 

 bulk of my antagonist or the hissing vortices above him 

 when he settled, I manoeuvred my pretty craft with all 

 the skill I could summon. For what seemed a period of 

 about twenty minutes we dodged him as he made the 

 ugliest rushes at us. I had not yet changed ends with 

 Samuela, as customary, for I felt it imperative to keep 

 the helm while this game was being played. My trusty 

 Kanaka, however, had a lance ready, and I knew, if he 

 only got the ghost of a chance, no man living would or 

 could make better use of it. 



The whole affair was growing monotonous as well as 

 extremely wearying. Perhaps I was a little off my guard ; 

 at any rate, my heart almost leaped into my mouth 

 when just after an ugly rush past us, which I thought 

 bad carried him to a safe distance, he stopped dead, lifted 

 his flukes, and brought them down edgeways with a 

 vicious sweep that only just missed the boat's gunwale, 

 and shore off the two oars on that side as if they had 

 been carrots. This serious disablement would certainly 

 have led to disaster but for Samuela. Prompt and 

 vigorous, he seized the opportune moment when the 

 whale's side was presented just after the blow, sending 

 his lance quivering home all its length into the most 

 vital part of the leviathan's anatomy. Turning his 

 happy face to me, he shouted exultingly, *' How's dat 

 fer high ? " — a bit of slang he had picked up, and his 

 use of which never failed to make me smile. "High " 

 it was indeed — a master-stroke. It must have pierced 

 the creature's heart, for he immediately began to spout 

 blood in masses, and without another wound went into 

 his flurry and died. 



Then came the reaction. I must have exerted myself 

 beyond what I had any idea of, for to Samuela I was 



