160 NIMBOD OF THE SJSA; OB, 



or six feet long, and a handle as long, with a light warp 

 to recover it. A hatchet and a sharp knife are placed in 

 the bow-box, convenient for cutting the line, and a water- 

 keg, fire apparatus, candles, lantern, compass, and bandages 

 for wounds, with waif flags on poles, a fluke-spade, a boat- 

 liook, and a " drug," or dragging float, complete the equip- 

 ment of a whale-boat. Among this crowd of dangerous 

 lines and threatening cutting gear, are six pair of legs, be- 

 longing to six skilled boatmen. Such a whale-boat is ours 

 as she floats two miles from the ship, each man in the crew 

 watching under the blade of his peaked oar for the rising 

 whale, and the captain and boat-steerer standing on the 

 highest point, carefully sweeping the horizon with trained 

 eye to catch the first spout, and secure the chance of " get- 

 ting on." 



At this moment of rest, when on the point of entering a 

 contest in which the chances of mishap seem wonderfully 

 provided for, I found that a green hand is apt to run back 

 over his life with something of regret always, or forward, 

 with a half-vow that from then and there, for ever and ever, 

 he will be a better boy. The Frenchwoman found goodness 

 possible when she was well dressed. I found evil hateful 

 when I was near a sperm-whale. But how one wakes up 

 from such moralizing as the captain lightly drops from his 

 perch, runs out his steering-oar, and lays the boat around, 

 with the words, " Take your oars, and spring ; the whale's 

 half a mile off!" That means that we are just four min- 

 utes from the whale, provided he is not running. 



It would cheer a club man's heart to watch the move- 

 ments of the crew, the splendid stroke and time, the perfect 

 feather of the oars, their silent dip on entering the foaming 

 whirl of the lifted water, the ashen shaft working silently in 

 the oiled mat, the poise of the crew, as the five trained ath- 

 letes urge their perfect structure through the waves. Long 

 , and careful training under danger breeds a unity in the men. 



