38 A Fruitless Attempt. 



either to the timidity of the whales, or the extreme 

 clearness of the water. 



During the absence of the boats, we on board 

 were fully occupied in the multifarious duties con- 

 nected with the working of the ship ; and taking 

 into consideration the few remaining hands left, we 

 succeeded in tacking several times in a very credit- 

 able manner. 



There seems no doubt that we have hit off the 

 right spot, and all, though a little disappointed at 

 the result of the day's exertions, confidently look 

 forward to the prospect of plenty of work during 

 the ensuing ten days. 



It is a great thing to be the first ship on the 

 ground, as the whales will not have been frightened 

 by previous attempts at capture. The engines are 

 not now used, as the slightest noise made by the 

 screw, or in fact anything under water, would at 

 once, to use a whaler's phrase, " scare the fish." 



The whalers are very arbitrary in their phrase- 

 ology, for although a whale is not a fish, with them 

 nothing is a fish but the Greenland whale. For 

 the future I shall adopt their ways, and call the 

 mammal, the capture of which is our great object, a 

 fish. 



Our days are now very long, the night seldom 

 being of more than three or four hours' duration ; 

 and the reflection of the sun, which is a very short 

 distance below the horizon, is clearly visible to a 

 very late and at a very early hour. 



