204 A YEAR WITH A WHALER 



Two boats from the Helen Marr struck 

 whales while the monsters were feeding within 

 an oar's length of each other. One whale started 

 oS. at right angles to the direction taken by the 

 other. It looked for a time as if the two lines 

 would become entangled and the boats would 

 crash together. But the whale that cut across 

 the other's course swam above the latter's line 

 and dragged its boat so swiftly after it that a 

 collision was averted by a few feet. 



One of the whales was bombed and killed after 

 a short flight. The other acted in a way that 

 whales hardly ever act. It ran hard to wind- 

 ward at first, as whales usually do when struck. 

 Then it suddenly turned and ran in an exactly 

 opposite direction. This unexpected change in 

 its course almost upset the boat, which was 

 jerked violently over on its beam-ends and spun 

 round like a top, while the crew held on for dear 

 life and barely escaped being pitched into the 

 sea. Once righted and on its way again, the 

 boat rapidly hauled up on the whale, whose fast- 

 going vitality showed in its diminished speed. 

 After a flight that had covered at least a mile, 



