AND ITS EEWAED. 83 



those which come within sight of the vessel. 

 I must leave to theologians to decide how far 

 these men are justified by the peculiar nature 

 of their occupation in this entire or partial 

 desecration of the Sabbath ; but of one thing 

 I am certain, and that is, that they are no 

 gainers by it in the long run, for, whether it 

 was attributable to our energies — mental and 

 bodily — being recruited by a day of rest, or 

 to the fact of the animals, the objects of pur- 

 suit, having time to settle during twenty-four 

 hours' respite from bullets and harpoons, some- 

 ho.w Monday always was with us the most suc- 

 cessful day of the week. 



Verily a day of rest once a week is of essen- 

 tial importance to man and beast, even if on no 

 other grounds than those of physical require- 

 ments. 



We always considered Sunday to terminate 

 punctually at midnight ; in these regions it is 

 just as light in July at midnight as midday, 

 and it was a singular circumstance (might I 

 not venture, without being deemed presump- 

 tuous, to suggest that this might be moi^e 

 than merely accidental ?) that we saw our first 

 bear a few minutes after this Sunday had ex- 

 pired. 



G, 2 



