A Tale from Frobisher. 165 



under water." A few days after they fell in with 

 a dead whale, supposed to have been the one struck 

 by the " Salamander." The only part of this story 

 which appears doubtful is that in which it says the 

 whale made a noise, as no sound except their blast 

 is ever heard from them when struck by a harpoon ; 

 the simple striking of a whale with the stem of a 

 ship, and such a ship as Frobisher had in his expe- 

 dition, would not in my opinion cause its death, as 

 experience shows the enormous amount of killing 

 some of them require. 



The men were turned out at four, having an hour 

 given them to collect their scattered senses and to 

 get some breakfast, dinner, or tea (it is impossible 

 to say by which name this meal ought to be called), 

 and were then set to work " making off" the 

 blubber of the last five fish that were caught. 

 Words cannot describe the filthy state of the 

 ship. Casks of provisions are lashed to the bul- 

 warks round the fore part of the upper deck, so 

 as to make room in the fore hold for coal, which 

 has been indiscriminately shovelled into the space 

 vacated. The whole of the quarter-deck is covered 

 with coal and whalebone ; saw-dust is sprinkled 

 everywhere to prevent the men slipping in the 

 slimy matter with which the deck is coated, and 

 this, combined with the grease and coal-dust, clogs 

 and sticks to the soles of our boots, rendering it 

 quite impossible to avoid bringing it down into the 



