CHAPTER XVIII 



BLUBBER AND SONG 



WE were cruising in open water soon 

 afterward with two whaling ships in 

 sight, the Reindeer and the Helen 

 Marr, both barkentines and carrying five boats 

 each, when we raised a school of bowheads 

 straight ahead and about five miles distant. 

 There were twenty-five or thirty whales and a 

 broad patch of sea was covered with their inces- 

 sant fountains. The other ships saw them about 

 the same time. The long-drawn, musical " Blo- 

 o-o-w! " from their mastheads came to us across 

 the water. Aboard the brig, the watch was 

 called and all hands were mustered to the boats. 

 Falls were thrown off the hooks and we stood 

 by to lower as soon as the captain gave the word. 

 There was equal bustle on the other ships. Trav- 

 eling before a favoring breeze in the same direc- 



