Dec. 7, 1907.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 

— 

mile, we hauled up on her, and our big mate 
put her out of pain. It was like a dress re- 
hearsal, and the most of us feel more confident 
of ourselves than we did. The mates and har- 
pooners are very superstitious, and went out to 
fish on Sunday rather against their will, and on 
our return to the ship the mate saw a blackbird 
hovering over us, and said that it would bring 
us a sixty barreler the next day, but I am writ- 
ing on Monday and the whale is not yet. 
May 13.—There is an especial providence in 
the fall of a sparrow, we are told. Though ours 
has only made himself at home on board since 
last night, he has become very tame. I note his 
coming to show how far such little wayfarers 
can get from home, for we are several hundred 
miles from land. The sailors who cried out so 
|exultantly when they saw the blackfish crimson- 
ing the waters, vie with each other in finding 
morsels for our new member of the crew, and 
some of the roughest are the tenderest in specu- 
lating how long he will be with us. One pointed 
out the nook under the rail where he slept last 
night, and where he is now, probably dreaming 
} of treetops and choice worms. I cannot say that 
man is cruel or that he is not, but certain it is 
that there is some good in all of us. Perhaps 
4 we remember the fate of the man who ruthlessly 
t shot the albatross. 
¢ May 14—In the early morning before day- 
i break I saw a curious moonrise. The sea was 
fof a glossy smoothness, except for the constant 
‘swell, and the brilliant stars reigned supreme, 
funtil after pacing the deck a little white with- 
out noticing, I stopped and saw just a little way 
tabove the horizon an orange crescent of which 
ithe eye could only get a sense by an unconscious 
perspective formed by the glittering sheen that 
Mwound like a serpent toward me to the very 
tside of the ship and seemed to want to tell me 
tthe story of some mystery of the universe. In 
a few moments a haze formed itself over the 
{icrescent, which partook of and heightened the 
Neffect of the light, until it rose higher and _ be- 
“came silvery, and then the spell departed; for 
4it became but an ordinary affair, and it was sim- 
itply pretty. It shall live in my memory for a 
itlong time. 
d. This afternoon, a couple of whalers, the Chas. 
/Hodgen and the Pearl Nelson, hove-to alongside, 
Nand their captains came aboard for a “gam” and 
Istayed for supper. To me their visit was a sort 
#of intrusion, for I have grown used to our little 
world and want no outsiders. Everybody seemed 
sf have a good time though, telling of adven- 
lures, and of a large sperm that they sighted 
hast night about sundown. That was encourag- 
hing. 
4 May 15.—This noon time we were enveloped 
dn a thick fog, and we heard a “sperm” blow 
@:lose alongside. Imagine our chagrin. 
if A ship is a busy place, and I am not doing 
She work and the study that I had hoped to do, 
gor when a leisure moment presents itself I have 
Wo rest so as to prepare for the next call on 
ny energy. In the interim about all I want to 
d1o is to write these few lines a day. I am doing 
some work on board now that requires all of 
¢ny time in the day, and I am exempt from night 
iiuty for a while, and I therefore get a whole 
Siight’s sleep, which is a luxury. If you lucky 
nortals who are on dry land could only be made 
to wish for it you would be gladder of your 
Worivileges. But on the other hand the swelter- 
ang population of a summer city cannot enjoy 




c.nbvis! 
VIEW FROM THE LOOKOUT’S STATION ON A NEW BEDFORD WHALER, 
the pure ocean air. I cannot form any idea of 
how to tell the story of this trip and I am 
afraid that I am going to fail, for I have been 
out some time and have not formed any plan 
yet, and I have had no time to make the notes 
and sketches. Our sparrow has left us and we 
miss him. 
May 16.—We 
share of fog, for it is as thick 
day. Sailors despise it more than any other dis- 
agreeable feature of the and everybody 
seems to be in the dumps. 
at work making a boatboom and several other 
things that I did not have time to let it trouble 
me. 
There is nothing like being interested in some- 
thing, is there? Our only vocation here is sim- 
ply hard work in some direction if we would be 
happy, but our work should do us good and not 
retrograde us. I am beginning to wish for some 
one to talk to with ideas, for this being cooped 
up with a lot of people with little or no intel- 
lectual resource is rather tiresome. It takes a 
mountain to move their minds, and nothing 
short of an adventure with a whale will give 
them anything new to talk about. “Willie” has 
become my protégé, and I am getting so as to 
understand him better. He helps me with my 
work and keeps the tools in order. When we 
get better acquainted, I want to find out more 
about him, for he is evidently of good family, 
has some good tastes, and is quite gentlemanly. 
He is not strong enough to do the rough sailor’s 
work, and the captain has given him quarters 
aft; rather different from the sea stories we 
are enduring more than our 
as it can be to- 
sea, 
I have been so hard 
almost invariably a 
are honest 
read, where the captain is 
brute. Writers of sea life 
enough I think, but when you stop to consider 
how hard it is to tell all the facts of a case with- 
out any distortion, which is the acme of fine art, 
it is no wonder that they fail, and we are mis- 
led if we do not understand this great principle. 
Knowing how to tell the truth is what makes 
the writer or the painter great. In glancing over 
the pages of a book how readily the hungry eye 
feel akin to the 
stories 
detects this virtue, and you 
author at once. 
May 17—We get some fine atmospheric effects 
from our crow’s nest with the horizon like a 
great circle way up about us. This afternoon 
while I was up there the fog drifted like patches 
of wool from the weather side over to leeward, 
and I could look over and through them once 
in a while, and to the edge of the water's con- 
vexity. 
I was up again just before sunset, and the 
scene was very picturesque. The sea was quite 
calm, and the orange gleams that showed the 
sun behind the clouds spread a scintillating light 
if you can imagine such 

of a golden purple hue 
a thing—over the water in front of me. 
How wonderful nature is that even fancy can 
be called in to help us see. This has given “me 
a new thought, and I must follow it up and see 
what I can make out of it. 
We spoke a little vessel out for swordfish in 
the afternoon, and later on we saw some our- 
selves. One was a big fellow, and he breached 
repeatedly. 
We raised some finbacks too, but not a sperm 

