178 
CHASE AND CAPTURE 
better ordering the signals to them, or working of the 
ship. All those who were down after the whale, ap- 
peared as feverish with anxiety as ourselves, for every 
now and then they were to be seen shifting their posi» 
tions a little, thinking to do so with advantage ; then 
they would cease rowing, and stand upon the seats of 
the boats, and look all round over the smooth surface of 
the ocean with ardent gaze. But one hour and ten 
minutes expired before the monster of the deep thought 
proper to break cover, and when he did, then a rattling 
chase commenced with the whole of the boats, and they 
really flew along in fine style, some of them actually 
appearing to be lifted quite on the surface of the water 
from the great power of the rowers ; and we had the 
satisfaction of observing, that our boats were quite 
equal to the others in the speed with which they were 
propelled. But it was again a useless task, as the old 
“ schoolmaster ” had outwitted those in the boats, by 
having gone— while under water— much further than 
any of his pursuers had anticipated, and they again had 
the mortification of witnessing the turning of his flukes 
as he once more descended into the depths of his vast 
domain. We now knew to a minute the time that he 
would remain below, while the people in the boats con- 
tinued to row slowly onwards the whole time. A fine 
breeze now sprang up, so that we w T ere enabled to keep 
company with the boats, keeping a little to windward of 
them, as the whale was going “ on a wind,” as a sea- 
man would say, meaning that it was blowing across 
him. 
