CHEATS AND HOAXES. A3 
of whose existence is for ever settled, and, I trust I shall be ex- 
cused in saying, by Yankee intrepidity. On the morning of January 
13, when in lat. 3 deg. 10 min. south, and long. 131 deg. 50 
min. west, the man on the look out, seated on the foretopmast 
cross-trees, sang out: “White Water’ and in reply to my “Where 
away?” said “Two points on the lee bow’. Supposing it to be 
made by sperm whales, and being very anxious to obtain oil, I 
ordered my ship to be kept off, and immediately went aloft with 
my spyglass. I will observe that for several days we had been 
struggling along with very light and baffling winds, but at day- 
light of the morning of the 13th. the wind had drawn to the 
south-south-west, become steady, and threatened to blow a gale. 
I was aloft nearly half an hour before I observed anything like 
“white water’ and then I presumed it to be made by a “school”, 
or rather schoal of porpoises; but wishing to be certain, I ordered 
the mate, as it was seven bells, to turn up all hands, square in 
the yards, and send out the port studding sails. It being my 
breakfast hour I urged the man to keep both eyes open, and 
came down; but before I reached the deck my attention was 
called to the sudden and vehement cry of Onnetu Vanjau, a Mar- 
quesan Islander, “Oh! look! look! Me see! — too much — too 
much!’ All eyes were instantly directed to the savage to ascertain 
where he was looking, and then all eyes turned to the lee quarter. 
I had just time to see “black skin” when it disappeared. The 
native was excited, and in reply to my question said: “No whale 
— too much — too big — too long. Me no see all same dat fellar 
— me fraid”. Not being able to tell which way the animal or 
fish was bound, I luffed and came aback, ordering the lines into 
the boat and the crews to “stand by”. The horizon was scanned 
in every direction for nearly an hour, when giving up all hopes | 
braced forward and went below. The native continued to look 
with eagerness, pushed on by the observations of the crew, who 
asserted that he had seen nothing, but he proved the truth of 
his sight in a few minutes by uttering another cry, and with 
more vehemence than the first. I rushed on deck, and the first 
look, not a mile to leeward, rested on the strangest creature I 
had ever seen in the ocean. It was apparently still, but “shobbing” 
up and down, as we say of sperm whales. I knew it was not a 
whale. The head I could not see, but the body had a motion like 
the waving of a rope when shaken and held in the hand. Every 
eye in the ship regarded it attentively, and not a word was spoken 
