MOVEMENTS OF TWO WHALES. 



33 



or you can never get along up there ; you can never capture such 

 things unless you do whistle.' 



" ' But,' said 1, 1 please tell me, Mr. Sterry, what do you do when 

 you see a whale V ' Oh, then we always holler •,' was his quaint 

 reply." 



I have mentioned this anecdote as characteristic of the man. 

 He was frequently the life and soul of our party, and often I shall 

 have occasion to allude to him. 



On the 12th of June we passed through a fleet of codfishing 

 schooners on the Banks of Newfoundland. Hundreds of boats 

 were out, with a man in each, rapidly appearing and disappearing 

 to our view as the fog, which was very thick, lifted, or as we 

 neared them. 



The next day preparation was made, and a close look-out kept 

 for icebergs, the thermometer having fallen rapidly; but none were 

 seen. Two whales, however, caused some interest in our vessel, 

 and especially to myself. They were moving leisurely along in 

 the same direction as the ship, and nearly under the bows. Every 

 thirty seconds or so they came up to blow, and then sank beneath 

 the water, leaving only a few feet above their backs. I saw them 

 distinctly for several minutes, without cessation, thus propelling 

 their vast bulk through the great deep. It was a most novel 

 sight to me to see these two whales simultaneously gliding side 

 by side, and even with the ship. Had they been a pair of naiads 

 harnessed to the car of Neptune, they could not have been more 

 uniform in their movements. They came up together, " blowed" 

 together, and descended together. 



Meantime two boats were lowered, with a chosen crew, to give 

 chase. Swiftly they shot toward their prey ; but the whales im- 

 mediately altered their course, the boats following after them. 

 For an hour was the chase continued ; but, in spite of all efforts, 

 the whales escaped, and our disappointed comrades returned. 



For several days after this, nothing of note occurred worth nar- 

 rating. A delicate snowbird lighted on the rigging, and, accord- 

 ing to nautical ideas, was the augury of good luck. Other ma- 

 rine birds and porpoises were seen, but there was little to relieve 

 the monotony of our life except when the winds increased to a 

 gale. Then, indeed, I found a change that in one respect I could 

 admire. To myself, who had never before been upon the vast 

 ocean, it was truly magnificent to behold the mighty workings of 

 the great deep ! On one occasion, which I well remember, the sea 



C 



