WHALES AND WHALING. 
45 
undetermined sound.” And if they came towards him 
too closely, as if determined to catcli his eye, he would even 
turn his head to answer an imaginary question, thus jpre- 
sentirig his back to their anxious gaze. ISToticing all of 
this, I could not help hinting that I feared Mrs. Peter 
had good cause to avoid doting on him ; but he replied, 
with great earnestness of manner, that the greater part 
of them were Mormons, and consequently his spiritual 
sisters. So I thought, “ Wliat a fine thing it must be to 
be a Mormon !” and thereafter held my peace. 
Previous to our arrival at the Gentle Shepherd’s, we 
had passed a small sea-side village, called Cork Bay, which 
Peter told us was inhabited entirely by Avhale-fishermen 
and their families. We subsequently saw another of 
those whaling-establishments at Cape Town. These two, 
with that which we had previously visited at the pilot’s, 
comprised all that wm could hear of in the locality. 
Those engaged in the business do not own vessels 
which they send in search of the whale, but accomplish 
most of their work in open boats. They lounge about 
the beach until some unfortunate whale is discovered 
in the bay, when they man their boats, attack him with 
harpoon and lance, and, if victoriou.s, tow him to the 
beach, where he is hauled up by oxen, stripped of his 
blubber, and otherwise roughly handled. Wo "were told 
that they were getting very scarce of late years, however, 
and that the business no longer held out the promise of 
even a reasonable gain. We now ceased to wonder where 
so many whale-ribs had come from, the road having been 
lined with fences made of them, during the first part of 
our drive. 
