ADVENTURES WITH WHALES. 
85 
Next day, 30th May, the same wind continuing, we 
are borne with great speed towards the north. All day 
long another kind of whale swims in our company. This 
time it is the bottle-nose (.Delphinus deductor). Five 
of these fellows play around the bows; diving for a 
moment, they appear again close to the stern. Their 
.gambols rouse our desire to test the powers of the 
harpoon-gun ; but all hands are now busy with the 
various preparations for the coming season, and a few 
rifle shots are-fired at them, until one more successful 
than the rest at last drives away our companions. The 
sailors told us that in the autumn small bottle-noses 
frequent the coasts in pursuit of the herring; and 
the fishermen, ever on the watch for these the most 
destructive of their enemies, are prepared to wage a 
war upon them whenever a fitting opportunity pre¬ 
sents itself. The bottle-noses, attracted probably by 
their prey, often incautiously enter some land-locked 
hay, and the men, seizing the chance, endeavour by 
an organised onslaught to drive them ashore. Dashing 
out in their well-manned boats, they cut off the retreat 
