THE AMERICAN WHALEMAN. 207 



of my foot was penetrated by its black spines, which broke 

 ofE short, leaving many points envenomed and rankling in 

 the wounds, each like the fiery sting of a hornet. My pleas- 

 ure for the day was destroyed. We strove in vain to re- 

 move the shelly barbs, but they would only come away in 

 little disks. A piece of salt-pork rind was applied to draw 

 the poison, and after some hours the pain subsided, but 

 each puncture became surrounded with a dark blue ring. 

 The captain took two boats and pulled to the windward side 

 to get cocoa-nuts, which there abound. In the evening his 

 party returned, the two crews in a single boat. The other 

 boat was caught in the surf in landing, and dashed on the 

 rocks. The crew escaped to the shore, and walked some 

 distance to a point, when they were taken in the other boat. 

 The double crew loaded the boat so deeply that they could 

 not bring nuts in the face of an ugly chopping sea. 



