208 Inactivity. 



lay clotted about in small clusters or patches, and 

 it would not require a great stretch of imagination 

 to represent these patches of ice as sheep huddled 

 together in numerous flocks, with here and there 

 single animals scattered about, straying from their 

 fellows, in a delightfully smooth and rich pasturage, 

 the greenish colour of the water materially assisting 

 the illusion. A few small bergs, raising their crests 

 a short distance above the horizon, might easily be 

 taken for cottages or shepherds' huts, and thus 

 complete the landscape, while to add to the beauty 

 of this charming picture, there was a bright sun, 

 about five degrees above the horizon, yet not so lus- 

 trous but that it was possible to look at it without 

 pain to the eyes. Overhead there was a glorious 

 sky, what is generally termed a " mackerel sky," 

 the blue and white of which were gradually blended 

 together as they descended towards the horizon, 

 having rich tints of various bright hues, in regular 

 and separate layers, directly opposite and round the 

 sun. It was truly a delightful night, but it is 

 utterly impossible for me to describe it so as to do- 

 any justice to the scene. To-day there is a light 

 breeze from the southward, which makes the chance 

 of getting fish a little better. We have never, 

 since our arrival on the fishing-ground, been so long 

 idle, and it is all the more tantalizing, when we only 

 require four or five more whales to complete our 

 cargo, and enable us to spread our wings for a home- 



