The Cruise of the "Cachalot" Round the World After Sperm Whales

CHAPTER V--ACTUAL WARFARE. OUR FIRST WHALE Premonitions--Discussion

on whaling from unknown premisses--I wake in a fright--Sperm whales

at last--The war begins--Warning--We get fast--and get loose--In

trouble--an uncomfortable situation--No Pity-Only one whale--Rigging the

"cutting-stage"--Securing the whale alongside.

CHAPTER VI--"DIRTY WORK FOR CLEAN MONEY" Goliath in trouble--Commence

"cutting-in"--A heavy head--A tank of spermaceti--Decks running

with oil--A "Patent" mincing-machine--Extensive cooking--Dangerous

work--Three tuns of oil--A horrible mess--A thin-skinned monster--A fine

mouth of teeth.

CHAPTER VII--GETTING SOUTHWARD Captain Slocum's

amenities--Expensive beer--St. Paul's Rocks--"Bonito"--"Showery"

weather--Waterspouts--Calms--A friendly finback--A disquisition on

whales by Mistah Jones--Flying-fishing.

CHAPTER VIII--ABNER'S WHALE Abner in luck--A big "fish" at last--A feat

of endurance--A fighting whale--The sperm whale's food--Ambergris--A

good reception--Hard labour--Abner's reward--"Scrimshaw".

CHAPTER IX--OUR FIRST CALLING-PLACE A forced march--Tristan

d'Acunha--Visitors--Fresh provisions--A warm welcome--Goliath's

turn--a feathered host--Good gear--A rough time--Creeping

north--Uncertainty--"Rule of thumb"--navigation--The Mozambique Channel.

CHAPTER X--A VISIT TO SOME STRANGE PLACES Tropical thunderstorms--A

"record" day's fishing--Cetacean frivolities--Mistah Jones moralizes--A

snug harbour--Wooding and watering--Catching a turtle--Catching a

"Tartar"--A violent death--A crooked jaw--Aldabra Island--Primeval

inhabitants--A strange steed--"Pirate" birds--Good eggs--Green

cocoa-nuts--More turtle--A school of "kogia".

CHAPTER XI--ROUND THE COCOS AND SEYCHELLES We encounter a "cyclone"--A

tremendous gust--a foundering ship--To anchor for repairs--The

Cocos--Repairing damages--Around the Seychelles--A "milk" sea--A

derelict prahu--A ghastly freight--A stagnant sea.

CHAPTER XII--WHICH TREATS OF THE KRAKEN "Eyes and no eyes" at sea--Of

big mollusca--The origin of sea-serpent stories--Rediscovery of the

"Kraken"--A conflict of monsters--"The insatiable nightmares of the

sea"--Spermaceti running to waste--The East Indian maze.

CHAPTER XIII--OFF TO THE JAPAN GROUNDS A whale off Hong Kong--The

skipper and his "'bomb-gun"--Injury to the captain--Unwelcome

visitors--The heathen Chinee--We get safe off--"Death of Portagee

Jim"--The Funeral--The Coast of Japan--Port Lloyd--Meeting of

whale-ships.

CHAPTER XIV--LIBERTY DAY--AND AFTER Liberty day--I foregather with

a "beach-comber"--A big fight--Goliath on the war-path--A

court-martial--Wholesale flogging--a miserable crowd--Quite a fleet of

whale-ships--I "raise" a sperm whale--Severe competition--An unfortunate

stroke--The skipper distinguishes himself.

CHAPTER XV--WHICH COMES UNCOMFORTABLY NEAR BEING THE LAST I come

to grief--Emulating Jonah--Sharing a flurry--A long spell of

sick-leave--The whale's "sixth sense"--Off to the Kuriles--Prepare for

"bowhead" fishing--The Sea of Okhotsk--Abundant salmon--The "daintiness"

of seamen.

CHAPTER XVI--"BOWHEAD" FISHING Difference between whales--Popular ideas

exploded--The gentle mysticetus--Very tame work--Fond of tongue--Goliath

confides in me--An awful affair--Captain Slocum's death--"Not Amurath an

Amurath succeeds"--I am promoted.

CHAPTER XVII--VISIT TO HONOLULU Towards Honolulu--Missionaries and their

critics--The happy Kanaka--Honolulu--A pleasant holiday.

CHAPTER XVIII--ON THE "LINE" GROUNDS I get my opportunity--A

new harpooner--Feats under the skipper's eye--Two whales on one

line--Compliments Heavy towage--A grand haul.

CHAPTER XIX--EDGING SOUTHWARD Monotony--A school of blackfish--A boat

ripped in half--A multitude of sharks--A curious backbone--Christmas

Day--A novel Christmas dinner--A find of ambergris.

CHAPTER XX--"HUMPBACKING" AT VAU VAU "Gamming" again--a

Whitechapel rover--arrive at Vau Vau--Valuable friends--a Sunday

ashore--"Hollingside"--The natives at church--Full-dress--Very

"mishnally"--Idyllic cruising--Wonderful mother-love--A mighty feast.

CHAPTER XXI--PROGRESS OF THE "HUMPBACK" SEASON A fruitless chase--Placid

times--a stirring adventure--a vast cave--Unforeseen company--A night

of terror--We provide a feast for the sharks--the death of Abner--An

impressive ceremony--an invitation to dinner--Kanaka cookery.

CHAPTER XXII--FAREWELL TO VAU VAU Ignorance of the habits of whales--A

terrific encounter--VAE VICTIS--Rewarding our "flems"--We leave Van

Vau--The Outward bounder--Sailors' "homes"--A night of horror--Sudden

death--Futuna.

CHAPTER XXIII--AT FUTUNA, RECRUITING A fleet of nondescripts--"Tui

Tongoa" otherwise Sam--Eager recruits--Devout Catholics--A visit to

Sunday Island--A Crusoe family--Their eviction--Maori cabbage--Fine

fishing--Away for New Zealand--Sight the "Three Kings"--The Bay of

Islands.

CHAPTER XXIV--THE BAY OF ISLANDS AND NEW ZEALAND COAST Sleepy

hollow--Wood and water--liberty day--A plea for the sailors'

recreation--Our picnic--A a whiff of "May"--A delightful excursion--To

the southward again--Wintry weather--Enter Foveaux Straits.

CHAPTER XXV--ON THE SOLANDER GROUNDS Firstfruits of the Solander--An

easy catch--Delights of the Solander--Port William--The

old CHANCE--"Paddy Gilroy"--Barbarians from the East

End--Barracouta-Fishing--Wind-bound--An enormous school of

cachalots--Misfortune--A bursting whale--Back on the Solander

again--Cutting-in at Port William--Studying anatomy--Badly battered

Yankees--Paddy in luck again.

CHAPTER XXVI--PADDY'S LATEST EXPLOIT We try Preservation Inlet--An

astounding feat of Paddy Gilroy's.

CHAPTER XXVII--PORT PEGASUS Port Pegasus--Among old

acquaintances--"Mutton birds"--Skilled auxiliaries--A gratifying

catch--Leave port again--Back to the Solander--A grim escape--Our last

whales--Into Port William again--Paddy's assistance--We part with our

Kanakas--Sam's plans of conquest.

CHAPTER XXVIII--TO THE BLUFF, AND HOME And last--In high-toned

company--Another picnic--Depart from the Bluff--Hey for the Horn!--Among

the icebergs--"Scudding"--Favouring trades--A narrow escape from

collision--Home at last.

INTRODUCTION

Without attempting the ambitious task of presenting a comprehensive

sketch of the origin, rise, and fall of whale-fishing as a whole, it

seems necessary to give a brief outline of that portion of the subject

bearing upon the theme of the present book before plunging into the

first chapter.

This preliminary is the more needed for the reason alluded to in

the Preface--the want of knowledge of the subject that is apparent

everywhere. The Greenland whale fishery has been so popularized that

most people know something about it; the sperm whale fishery still

awaits its Scoresby and a like train of imitators and borrowers.

Cachalots, or sperm whales, must have been captured on the coasts of

Europe in a desultory way from a very early date, by the incidental

allusions to the prime products spermaceti and ambergris which are found

in so many ancient writers, Shakespeare's reference--"The sovereign'st

thing on earth was parmaceti for an inward bruise"--will be familiar to

most people, as well as Milton's mention of the delicacies at Satan's

feast--"Grisamber steamed"--not to carry quotation any further.

But in the year 1690 the brave and hardy fishermen of the north-east

coasts of North America established that systematic pursuit of the

cachalot which has thriven so wonderfully ever since, although it must

be confessed that the last few years have witnessed a serious decline in

this great branch of trade.

For many years the American colonists completely engrossed this branch

of the whale fishery, contentedly leaving to Great Britain and the

continental nations the monopoly of the northern or Arctic fisheries,

while they cruised the stormy, if milder, seas around their own shores.

For the resultant products, their best customer was the mother country,

and a lucrative commerce steadily grew up between the two countries. But

when the march of events brought the unfortunate and wholly unnecessary

War of Independence, this flourishing trade was the first to suffer, and

many of the daring fishermen became our fiercest foes on board their own

men-of-war.

The total stoppage of the importation of sperm oil and spermaceti was

naturally severely felt in England, for time had not permitted the

invention of substitutes. In consequence of this, ten ships were

equipped and sent out to the sperm whale fishery from England in 1776,

most of them owned by one London firm, the Messrs. Enderby. The next

year, in order to encourage the infant enterprise, a Government bounty,

graduated from L500 to L1000 per ship, was granted. Under this

fostering care the number of ships engaged in the sperm whale fishery

progressively increased until 1791, when it attained its maximum.

This method of whaling being quite new to our whalemen, it was

necessary, at great cost, to hire American officers and harpooners

to instruct them in the ways of dealing with these highly active

and dangerous cetacea. Naturally, it was by-and-by found possible

to dispense with the services of these auxiliaries; but it must be

confessed that the business never seems to have found such favour, or to

have been prosecuted with such smartness, among our whalemen as it has

by the Americans.

Something of an exotic the trade always was among us, although it did

attain considerable proportions at one time. At first the fishing was

confined to the Atlantic Ocean; nor for many years was it necessary to

go farther afield, as abundance of whales could easily be found.

As, however, the number of ships engaged increased, it was inevitable

that the known grounds should become exhausted, and in 1788 Messrs.

Enderby's ship, the EMILIA, first ventured round Cape Horn, as the

pioneer of a greater trade than ever. The way once pointed out, other

ships were not slow to follow, until, in 1819, the British whale-ship

SYREN opened up the till then unexplored tract of ocean in the western

part of the North Pacific, afterwards familiarly known as the "Coast

of Japan." From these teeming waters alone, for many years an average

annual catch of 40,000 barrels of oil was taken, which, at the average

price of L8 per barrel, will give some idea of the value of the trade

generally.

The Australian colonists, early in their career, found the sperm whale

fishery easy of access from all their coasts, and especially lucrative.

At one time they bade fair to establish a whale fishery that should

rival the splendid trade of the Americans; but, like the mother country,

they permitted the fishery to decline, so that even bounties could not

keep it alive.

Meanwhile, the Americans added to their fleet continually, prospering

amazingly. But suddenly the advent of the civil war let loose among

those peaceable cruisers the devastating ALABAMA, whose course was

marked in some parts of the world by the fires of blazing whale-ships. A

great part, of the Geneva award was on this account, although it must be

acknowledged that many pseudo-owners were enriched who never owned aught

but brazen impudence and influential friends to push their fictitious

claims. The real sufferers, seamen especially, in most cases never

received any redress whatever.

From this crushing blow the American sperm whale fishery has never fully

recovered. When the writer was in the trade, some twenty-two years ago,

it was credited with a fleet of between three and four hundred sail; now

it may be doubted whether the numbers reach an eighth of that amount. A

rigid conservatism of method hinders any revival of the industry, which

is practically conducted to-day as it was fifty, or even a hundred

years ago; and it is probable that another decade will witness the

final extinction of what was once one of the most important maritime

industries in the world.

THE CRUISE OF THE "CACHALOT"

CHAPTER I. OUTWARD BOUND

At the age of eighteen, after a sea-experience of six years from the

time when I dodged about London streets, a ragged Arab, with wits

sharpened by the constant fight for food, I found myself roaming the

streets of New Bedford, Massachusetts. How I came to be there, of all

places in the world, does not concern this story at all, so I am not

going to trouble my readers with it; enough to say that I WAS there, and

mighty anxious to get away. Sailor Jack is always hankering for shore

when he is at sea, but when he is "outward bound"--that is, when his

money is all gone--he is like a cat in the rain there.

So as MY money was all gone, I was hungry for a ship; and when a long,

keen-looking man with a goat-like beard, and mouth stained with dry

tobacco-juice, hailed me one afternoon at the street-corner, I answered

very promptly, scenting a berth. "Lookin' fer a ship, stranger?" said

he. "Yes; do you want a hand?" said I, anxiously. He made a funny little

sound something like a pony's whinny, then answered, "Wall, I should

surmise that I want between fifty and sixty hands, ef yew kin lay me

onto 'em; but, kem along, every dreep's a drop, an' yew seem likely

enough." With that he turned and led the way until we reached a building

around which were gathered one of the most nondescript crowds I had ever

seen. There certainly did not appear to be a sailor among them. Not

so much by their rig, though that is not a great deal to go by, but

by their actions and speech. One thing they all had in common, tobacco

chewing but as nearly every male I met with in America did that, it was

not much to be noticed. I had hardly done reckoning them up when two or

three bustling men came out and shepherded us all energetically into a

long, low room, where some form of agreement was read out to us. Sailors

are naturally and usually careless about the nature of the "articles"

they sign, their chief anxiety being to get to sea, and under somebody's

charge. But had I been ever so anxious to know what I was going to sign

this time, I could not, for the language might as well have been Chinese

for all I understood of it. However, I signed and passed on, engaged to

go I knew not where, in some ship I did not know even the name of, in

which I was to receive I did not know how much, or how little, for my

labour, nor how long I was going to be away. "What a young fool!" I hear

somebody say. I quite agree, but there were a good many more in that

ship, as in most ships that I have ever sailed in.

From the time we signed the articles, we were never left to ourselves.

Truculent-looking men accompanied us to our several boarding-houses,

paid our debts for us, finally bringing us by boat to a ship lying out

in the bay. As we passed under her stern, I read the name CACHALOT, of

New Bedford; but as soon as we ranged alongside, I realized that I was

booked for the sailor's horror--a cruise in a whaler. Badly as I wanted

to get to sea, I had not bargained for this, and would have run some

risks to get ashore again; but they took no chances, so we were all soon

aboard. Before going forward, I took a comprehensive glance around, and

saw that I was on board of a vessel belonging to a type which has almost

disappeared off the face of the waters. A more perfect contrast to the

trim-built English clipper-ships that I had been accustomed to I could

hardly imagine. She was one of a class characterized by sailors as

"built by the mile, and cut off in lengths as you want 'em," bow and

stern almost alike, masts standing straight as broomsticks, and bowsprit

soaring upwards at an angle of about forty-five degrees. She was as

old-fashioned in her rig as in her hull; but I must not go into the

technical differences between rigs, for fear of making myself tedious.

Right in the centre of the deck, occupying a space of about ten feet by

eight, was a square erection of brickwork, upon which my wondering gaze

rested longest, for I had not the slightest idea what it could be. But

I was rudely roused from my meditations by the harsh voice of one of the

officers, who shouted, "Naow then, git below an' stow yer dunnage, 'n

look lively up agin." I took the broad hint, and shouldering my traps,

hurried forward to the fo'lk'sle, which was below deck. Tumbling down

the steep ladder, I entered the gloomy den which was to be for so long

my home, finding it fairly packed with my shipmates. A motley crowd

they were. I had been used in English ships to considerable variety of

nationality; but here were gathered, not only the representatives of

five or six nations, but 'long-shoremen of all kinds, half of whom had

hardly ever set eyes on a ship before! The whole space was undivided

by partition, but I saw at once that black men and white had separated

themselves, the blacks taking the port side and the whites the

starboard. Finding a vacant bunk by the dim glimmer of the ancient

teapot lamp that hung amidships, giving out as much smoke as light, I

hurriedly shifted my coat for a "jumper" or blouse, put on an old cap,

and climbed into the fresh air again. For a double reason, even MY

seasoned head was feeling bad with the villainous reek of the place, and

I did not want any of those hard-featured officers on deck to have

any cause to complain of my "hanging back." On board ship, especially

American ships, the first requisite for a sailor who wants to be treated

properly is to "show willing," any suspicion of slackness being noted

immediately, and the backward one marked accordingly. I had hardly

reached the deck when I was confronted by a negro, the biggest I ever

saw in, my life. He looked me up and down for a moment, then opening his

ebony features in a wide smile, he said, "Great snakes! why, here's a

sailor man for sure! Guess thet's so, ain't it, Johnny?" I said "yes"

very curtly, for I hardly liked his patronizing air; but he snapped me

up short with "yes, SIR, when yew speak to me, yew blank lime-juicer.

I'se de fourf mate ob dis yar ship, en my name's Mistah Jones, 'n yew,

jest freeze on to dat ar, ef yew want ter lib long'n die happy. See,

sonny." I SAW, and answered promptly, "I beg your pardon, sir, I didn't

know." "Ob cawse yew didn't know, dat's all right, little Britisher;

naow jest skip aloft 'n loose dat fore-taupsle." "Aye, aye, sir," I

answered cheerily, springing at once into the fore-rigging and up the

ratlines like a monkey, but not too fast to hear him chuckle, "Dat's a

smart kiddy, I bet." I had the big sail loose in double quick time, and

sung out "All gone, the fore-taupsle," before any of the other sails

were adrift. "Loose the to-gantsle and staysles" came up from below in a

voice like thunder, and I bounded up higher to my task. On deck I could

see a crowd at the windlass heaving up anchor. I said to myself, "They

don't waste any time getting this packet away." Evidently they were not

anxious to test any of the crew's swimming powers. They were wise, for

had she remained at anchor that night I verily believe some of the poor

wretches would have tried to escape.

The anchor came aweigh, the sails were sheeted home, and I returned on

deck to find the ship gathering way for the heads, fairly started on her

long voyage.

What a bear-garden the deck was, to be sure! The black portion of the

crew--Portuguese natives from the Western and Canary Islands--were doing

their work all right in a clumsy fashion; but the farmers, and bakers,

and draymen were being driven about mercilessly amid a perfect hurricane

of profanity and blows. And right here I must say that, accustomed as

I had always been to bad language all my life, what I now heard was a

revelation to me. I would not, if I could, attempt to give a sample

of it, but it must be understood that it was incessant throughout

the voyage. No order could be given without it, under the impression,

apparently, that the more curses the more speed.

Before nightfall we were fairly out to sea, and the ceremony of dividing

the crew into watches was gone through. I found myself in the chief

mate's or "port" watch (they called it "larboard," a term I had never

heard used before, it having long been obsolete in merchant ships),

though the huge negro fourth mate seemed none too well pleased that

I was not under his command, his being the starboard watch under the

second mate.

As night fell, the condition of the "greenies," or non-sailor portion of

the crew, was pitiable. Helpless from sea-sickness, not knowing where

to go or what to do, bullied relentlessly by the ruthless petty

officers--well, I never felt so sorry for a lot of men in my life. Glad

enough I was to get below into the fo'lk'sle for supper, and a brief

rest and respite from that cruelty on deck. A bit of salt junk and

a piece of bread, i.e. biscuit, flinty as a pantile, with a pot of

something sweetened with "longlick" (molasses), made an apology for a

meal, and I turned in. In a very few minutes oblivion came, making me as

happy as any man can be in this world.

CHAPTER II. PREPARING FOR ACTION

The hideous noise always considered necessary in those ships when

calling the watch, roused me effectively at midnight, "eight bells."

I hurried on deck, fully aware that no leisurely ten minutes would be

allowed here. "Lay aft the watch," saluted me as I emerged into the keen

strong air, quickening my pace according to where the mate stood waiting

to muster his men. As soon as he saw me, he said, "Can you steer?" in

a mocking tone; but when I quietly answered, "Yes, sir," his look of

astonishment was delightful to see. He choked it down, however, and

merely telling me to take the wheel, turned forrard roaring frantically

for his watch. I had no time to chuckle over what I knew was in store

for him, getting those poor greenies collected from their several holes

and corners, for on taking the wheel I found a machine under my hands

such as I never even heard of before.

The wheel was fixed upon the tiller in such a manner that the whole

concern travelled backwards and forwards across the deck in the maddest

kind of way. For the first quarter of an hour, in spite of the September

chill, the sweat poured off me in streams. And the course--well, if was

not steering, it was sculling; the old bumboat was wobbling all

around like a drunken tailor with two left legs. I fairly shook with

apprehension lest the mate should come and look in the compass. I had

been accustomed to hard words if I did not steer within half a point

each way; but here was a "gadget" that worked me to death, the result

being a wake like a letter S. Gradually I got the hang of the thing,

becoming easier in my mind on my own account. Even that was not an

unmixed blessing, for I had now some leisure to listen to the goings-on

around the deck.

Such brutality I never witnessed before. On board of English ships

(except men-of-war) there is practically no discipline, which is bad,

but this sort of thing was maddening. I knew how desperately ill all

those poor wretches were, how helpless and awkward they would be if

quite hale and hearty; but there was absolutely no pity for them, the

officers seemed to be incapable of any feelings of compassion whatever.

My heart sank within me as I thought of what lay before me, although

I did not fear that their treatment would also be mine, since I was

at least able to do my duty, and willing to work hard to keep out of

trouble. Then I began to wonder what sort of voyage I was in for, how

long it would last, and what my earnings were likely to be, none of

which things I had the faintest idea of.

Fortunately, I was alone in the world. No one, as far as I knew, cared

a straw what became of me; so that I was spared any worry on that head.

And I had also a very definite and well-established trust in God, which

I can now look back and see was as fully justified as I then believed

it to be. So, as I could not shut my ears to the cruelties being carried

on, nor banish thought by hard work, I looked up to the stately stars,

thinking of things not to be talked about without being suspected of

cant. So swiftly passed the time that when four bells struck: (two

o'clock) I could hardly believe my ears.

I was relieved by one of the Portuguese, and went forward to witness a

curious scene. Seven stalwart men were being compelled to march up and

down on that tumbling deck, men who had never before trodden anything

less solid than the earth.

The third mate, a waspish, spiteful little Yankee with a face like an

angry cat, strolled about among them, a strand of rope-yarns in his

hand, which he wielded constantly, regardless where he struck a man.

They fell about, sometimes four or five at once, and his blows flew

thick and fast, yet he never seemed to weary of his ill-doing. It made

me quite sick, and I longed to be aft at the wheel again. Catching sight

of me standing irresolute as to what I had better do, he ordered me on

the "look-out," a tiny platform between the "knight heads," just where

the bowsprit joins the ship. Gladly I obeyed him, and perched up there

looking over the wide sea, the time passed quickly away until eight

bells (four o'clock) terminated my watch. I must pass rapidly over the

condition of things in the fo'lk'sle, where all the greenies that were

allowed below, were groaning in misery from the stifling atmosphere

which made their sickness so much worse, while even that dreadful

place was preferable to what awaited them on deck. There was a

rainbow-coloured halo round the flame of the lamp, showing how very bad

the air was; but in spite of that I turned in and slept soundly till

seven bells (7.20 a.m.) roused us to breakfast.

American ships generally have an excellent name for the way they feed

their crews, but the whalers are a notable exception to that good rule.

The food was really worse than that on board any English ship I have

ever sailed in, so scanty also in quantity that it kept all the foremast

hands at starvation point. But grumbling was dangerous, so I gulped down

the dirty mixture mis-named coffee, ate a few fragments of biscuit, and

filled up (?) with a smoke, as many better men are doing this morning.

As the bell struck I hurried on deck--not one moment too soon--for as

I stepped out of the scuttle I saw the third mate coming forward with a

glitter in his eye that boded no good to laggards.

Before going any farther I must apologize for using so many capital I's,

but up till the present I had been the only available white member of

the crew forrard.

The decks were scrubbed spotlessly clean, and everything was neat and

tidy as on board a man-of-war, contrary to all usual notions of the

condition of a whaler. The mate was in a state of high activity, so

I soon found myself very busily engaged in getting up whale-lines,

harpoons, and all the varied equipment for the pursuit of whales. The

number of officers carried would have been a good crew for the ship, the

complete afterguard comprising captain, four mates, four harpooners or

boat-steerers, carpenter, cooper, steward and cook. All these worthies

were on deck and working with might and main at the preparations, so

that the incompetence of the crowd forrard was little hindrance. I was

pounced upon by "Mistah" Jones, the fourth mate, whom I heard addressed

familiarly as "Goliath" and "Anak" by his brother officers, and ordered

to assist him in rigging the "crow's-nest" at the main royal-mast head.

It was a simple affair. There were a pair of cross-trees fitted to the

mast, upon which was secured a tiny platform about a foot wide on each

side of the mast, while above this foothold a couple of padded hoops

like a pair of giant spectacles were secured at a little higher than

a man's waist. When all was fast one could creep up on the platform,

through the hoop, and, resting his arms upon the latter, stand

comfortably and gaze around, no matter how vigorously the old

barky plunged and kicked beneath him. From that lofty eyrie I had

a comprehensive view of the vessel. She was about 350 tons and full

ship-rigged, that is to say, she carried square sails on all three

masts. Her deck was flush fore and aft, the only obstructions being the

brick-built "try-works" in the waist, the galley, and cabin skylight

right aft by the taffrail. Her bulwarks were set thickly round with

clumsy looking wooden cranes, from which depended five boats. Two more

boats were secured bottom up upon a gallows aft, so she seemed to be

well supplied in that direction. Mistah Jones, finding I did not presume

upon his condescension, gradually unbent and furnished me with many

interesting facts about the officers. Captain Slocum, he said, was "de

debbil hisself, so jess yew keeps yer lamps trim' fer him, sonny, taint

helthy ter rile him." The first officer, or the mate as he is always

called PAR EXCELLENCE, was an older man than the captain, but a good

seaman, a good whaleman, and a gentleman. Which combination I found to

be a fact, although hard to believe possible at the time. The second

mate was a Portuguese about forty years of age, with a face like one of

Vandyke's cavaliers, but as I now learned, a perfect fiend when angered.

He also was a first-class whaleman, but an indifferent seaman. The third

mate was nothing much but bad temper--not much sailor, nor much whaler,

generally in hot water with the skipper, who hated him because he was an

"owner's man." "An de fourf mate," wound up the narrator, straightening

his huge bulk, "am de bes' man in de ship, and de bigges'. Dey aint

no whalemen in Noo Bedford caynt teach ME nuffin, en ef it comes ter

man-handlin'; w'y I jes' pick 'em two't a time 'n crack 'em togerrer

like so, see!" and he smote the palms of his great paws against each

other, while I nodded complete assent.

The weather being fine, with a steady N.E. wind blowing, so that the

sails required no attention, work proceeded steadily all the morning.

The oars were sorted, examined for flaws, and placed in the boats; the

whale-line, manilla rope like yellow silk, 1 1/2 inch round, was brought

on deck, stretched and coiled down with the greatest care into tubs,

holding, some 200 fathoms, and others 100 fathoms each. New harpoons

were fitted to poles of rough but heavy wood, without any attempt at

neatness, but every attention to strength. The shape of these weapons

was not, as is generally thought, that of an arrow, but rather like an

arrow with one huge barb, the upper part of which curved out from the

shaft. The whole of the barb turned on a stout pivot of steel, but was

kept in line with the shaft by a tiny wooden peg which passed through

barb and shaft, being then cut off smoothly on both sides. The point

of the harpoon had at one side a wedge-shaped edge, ground to razor

keenness, the other side was flat. The shaft, about thirty inches long,

was of the best malleable iron, so soft that it would tie into a knot

and straighten out again without fracture. Three harpoons, or "irons" as

they were always called, were placed in each boat, fitted one above the

other in the starboard bow, the first for use being always one unused

before, Opposite to them in the boat were fitted three lances for the

purpose of KILLING whales, the harpoons being only the means by which

the boat was attached to a fish, and quite useless to inflict a fatal

wound. These lances were slender spears of malleable iron about four

feet long, with oval or heart-shaped points of fine steel about two

inches broad, their edges kept keen as a surgeon's lancet. By means of

a socket at the other end they were attached to neat handles, or

"lance-poles," about as long again, the whole weapon being thus about

eight feet in length, and furnished with a light line, or "lance-warp,"

for the purpose of drawing it back again when it had been darted at a

whale.

Each boat was fitted with a centre-board, or sliding keel, which was

drawn up, when not in use, into a case standing in the boat's middle,

very much in the way. But the American whalemen regard these clumsy

contrivances as indispensable, so there's an end on't. The other

furniture of a boat comprised five oars of varying lengths from sixteen

to nine feet, one great steering oar of nineteen feet, a mast and two

sails of great area for so small a craft, spritsail shape; two tubs of

whale-line containing together 1800 feet, a keg of drinking water, and

another long narrow one with a few biscuits, a lantern, candles and

matches therein; a bucket and "piggin" for baling, a small spade, a flag

or "wheft," a shoulder bomb-gun and ammunition, two knives and two small

axes. A rudder hung outside by the stern.

With all this gear, although snugly stowed, a boat looked so loaded that

I could not help wondering how six men would be able to work in her; but

like most "deep-water" sailors, I knew very little about boating. I was

going to learn.

All this work and bustle of preparation was so rapidly carried on, and

so interesting, that before supper-time everything was in readiness to

commence operations, the time having gone so swiftly that I could hardly

believe the bell when it sounded four times, six o'clock.

CHAPTER III. FISHING BEGINS

During all the bustle of warlike preparation that had been going on,

the greenhorns had not suffered from inattention on the part of those

appointed to look after them. Happily for them, the wind blew steadily,

and the weather, thanks to the balmy influence of the Gulf Stream, was

quite mild and genial. The ship was undoubtedly lively, as all good

sea-boats are, but her motions were by no means so detestable to a

sea-sick man as those of a driving steamer. So, in spite of their

treatment, perhaps because of it, some of the poor fellows were

beginning to take hold of things "man-fashion," although of course sea

legs they had none, their getting about being indeed a pilgrimage of

pain. Some of them were beginning to try the dreadful "grub" (I cannot

libel "food" by using it in such a connection), thereby showing that

their interest in life, even such a life as was now before them, was

returning. They had all been allotted places in the various boats,

intermixed with the seasoned Portuguese in such a way that the officer

and harpooner in charge would not be dependant upon them entirely in

case of a sudden emergency. Every endeavour was undoubtedly made to

instruct them in their duties, albeit the teachers were all too apt

to beat their information in with anything that came to hand, and

persuasion found no place in their methods.

The reports I had always heard of the laziness prevailing on board

whale-ships were now abundantly falsified. From dawn to dark work went

on without cessation. Everything was rubbed and scrubbed and scoured

until no speck or soil could be found; indeed, no gentleman's yacht or

man-of-war is kept more spotlessly clean than was the CACHALOT.

A regular and severe routine of labour was kept up; and, what was most

galling to me, instead of a regular four hours' watch on and off, night

and day, all hands were kept on deck the whole day long, doing quite

unnecessary tasks, apparently with the object of preventing too much

leisure and consequent brooding over their unhappy lot. One result of

this continual drive and tear was that all these landsmen became rapidly

imbued with the virtues of cleanliness, which was extended to the den in

which we lived, or I verily believe sickness would have soon thinned us

out.

On the fourth day after leaving port we were all busy as usual except

the four men in the "crow's-nests," when a sudden cry of "Porps! porps!"

brought everything to a standstill. A large school of porpoises had just

joined us, in their usual clownish fashion, rolling and tumbling around

the bows as the old barky wallowed along, surrounded by a wide ellipse

of snowy foam. All work was instantly suspended, and active preparations

made for securing a few of these frolicsome fellows. A "block," or

pulley, was hung out at the bowsprit end, a whale-line passed through

it and "bent" (fastened) on to a harpoon. Another line with a running

"bowline," or slip-noose, was also passed out to the bowsprit end, being

held there by one man in readiness. Then one of the harpooners ran out

along the backropes, which keep the jib-boom down, taking his stand

beneath the bowsprit with the harpoon ready. Presently he raised his

iron and followed the track of a rising porpoise with its point until

the creature broke water. At the same instant the weapon left his grasp,

apparently without any force behind it; but we on deck, holding the

line, soon found that our excited hauling lifted a big vibrating body

clean out of the smother beneath. "'Vast hauling!" shouted the mate,

while as the porpoise hung dangling, the harpooner slipped the ready

bowline over his body, gently closing its grip round the "small" by the

broad tail. Then we hauled on the noose-line, slacking away the harpoon,

and in a minute had our prize on deck. He was dragged away at once and

the operation repeated. Again and again we hauled them in, until the

fore part of the deck was alive with the kicking, writhing sea-pigs, at

least twenty of them. I had seen an occasional porpoise caught at

sea before, but never more than one at a time. Here, however, was a

wholesale catch. At last one of the harpooned ones plunged so furiously

while being hauled up that he literally tore himself off the iron,

falling, streaming with blood, back into the sea.

Away went all the school after him, tearing at him with their long

well-toothed jaws, some of them leaping high in the air in their

eagerness to get their due share of the cannibal feast. Our fishing was

over for that time. Meanwhile one of the harpooners had brought out

a number of knives, with which all hands were soon busy skinning the

blubber from the bodies. Porpoises have no skin, that is hide, the

blubber or coating of lard which encases them being covered by a black

substance as thin as tissue paper. The porpoise hide of the boot maker

is really leather, made from the skin of the BELUGA, or "white whale,"

which is found only in the far north. The cover was removed from the

"tryworks" amidships, revealing two gigantic pots set in a frame of

brickwork side by side, capable of holding 200 gallons each. Such a

cooking apparatus as might have graced a Brobdingnagian kitchen. Beneath

the pots was the very simplest of furnaces, hardly as elaborate as the

familiar copper-hole sacred to washing day. Square funnels of sheet-iron

were loosely fitted to the flues, more as a protection against the oil

boiling over into the fire than to carry away the smoke, of which from

the peculiar nature of the fuel there was very little. At one side of

the try-works was a large wooden vessel, or "hopper," to contain the raw

blubber; at the other, a copper cistern or cooler of about 300 gallons

capacity, into which the prepared oil was baled to cool off, preliminary

to its being poured into the casks. Beneath the furnaces was a space as

large as the whole area of the try-works, about a foot deep, which, when

the fires were lighted, was filled with water to prevent the deck from

burning.

It may be imagined that the blubber from our twenty porpoises made but

a poor show in one of the pots; nevertheless, we got a barrel of very

excellent oil from them. The fires were fed with "scrap," or pieces

of blubber from which the oil had been boiled, some of which had been

reserved from the previous voyage. They burnt with a fierce and steady

blaze, leaving but a trace of ash. I was then informed by one of the

harpooners that no other fuel was ever used for boiling blubber at any

time, there being always amply sufficient for the purpose.

The most interesting part of the whole business, though, to us poor

half-starved wretches, was the plentiful supply of fresh meat. Porpoise

beef is, when decently cooked, fairly good eating to a landsman; judge,

then, what it must have been to us. Of course the tit-bits, such as the

liver, kidneys, brains, etc., could not possibly fall to our lot; but

we did not complain, we were too thankful to get something eatable, and

enough of it. Moreover, although few sailors in English ships know it,

porpoise beef improves vastly by keeping, getting tenderer every day the

longer it hangs, until at last it becomes as tasty a viand as one could

wish to dine upon. It was a good job for us that this was the case,

for while the porpoises lasted the "harness casks," or salt beef

receptacles, were kept locked; so if any man had felt unable to eat

porpoise--well, there was no compulsion, he could go hungry.

We were now in the haunts of the Sperm Whale, or "Cachalot," a brilliant

look-out being continually kept for any signs of their appearing. One

officer and a foremast hand were continually on watch during the day

in the main crow's-nest, one harpooner and a seaman in the fore one.

A bounty of ten pounds of tobacco was offered to whoever should first

report a whale, should it be secured, consequently there were no sleepy

eyes up there. Of course none of those who were inexperienced stood much

chance against the eagle-eyed Portuguese; but all tried their best,

in the hope of perhaps winning some little favour from their hard

taskmasters. Every evening at sunset it was "all hands shorten sail,"

the constant drill rapidly teaching even these clumsy landsmen how to

find their way aloft, and do something else besides hold on to anything

like grim death when they got there.

At last, one beautiful day, the boats were lowered and manned, and away

went the greenies on their first practical lesson in the business of the

voyage. As before noticed, there were two greenies in each boat, they

being so arranged that whenever one of them "caught a crab," which of

course was about every other stroke, his failure made little difference

to the boat's progress. They learned very fast under the terrible

imprecations and storm of blows from the iron-fisted and iron-hearted

officers, so that before the day was out the skipper was satisfied of

our ability to deal with a "fish" should he be lucky enough to "raise"

one. I was, in virtue of my experience, placed at the after-oar in the

mate's boat, where it was my duty to attend to the "main sheet" when the

sail was set, where also I had the benefit of the lightest oar except

the small one used by the harpooner in the bow.

The very next day after our first exhaustive boat drill, a school of

"Black Fish" was reported from aloft, with great glee the officers

prepared for what they considered a rattling day's fun.

The Black Fish (PHOCAENA SP.) is a small toothed whale, not at all

unlike a miniature cachalot, except that its head is rounded at the

front, while its jaw is not long and straight, but bowed. It is as

frolicsome as the porpoise, gambolling about in schools of from twenty

to fifty or more, as if really delighted to be alive. Its average size

is from ten to twenty feet long, and seven or eight feet in girth,

weight from one to three tons. Blubber about three inches thick, while

the head is almost all oil, so that a good rich specimen will make

between one and two barrels of oil of medium quality.

The school we were now in sight of was of middling size and about

average weight of individuals, and the officers esteemed it a fortunate

circumstance that we should happen across them as a sort of preliminary

to our tackling the monarchs of the deep.

All the new harpoons were unshipped from the boats, and a couple of

extra "second" irons, as those that have been used are called, were put

into each boat for use if wanted. The sails were also left on board. We

lowered and left the ship, pulling right towards the school, the noise

they were making in their fun effectually preventing them from hearing

our approach. It is etiquette to allow the mate's boat first place,

unless his crew is so weak as to be unable to hold their own; but as the

mate always has first pick of the men this seldom happens. So, as usual,

we were first, and soon I heard the order given, "Stand up, Louey, and

let 'em have it!" Sure enough, here we were right among them. Louis let

drive, "fastening" a whopper about twenty feet long. The injured animal

plunged madly forward, accompanied by his fellows, while Louis calmly

bent another iron to a "short warp," or piece of whale-line, the loose

end of which he made a bowline with around the main line which was fast

to the "fish." Then he fastened another "fish," and the queer sight was

seen of these two monsters each trying to flee in opposite directions,

while the second one ranged about alarmingly as his "bridle" ran along

the main line. Another one was secured in the same way, then the game

was indeed great. The school had by this time taken the alarm and

cleared out, but the other boats were all fast to fish, so that didn't

matter. Now, at the rate our "game" were going it would evidently be

a long while before they died, although, being so much smaller than a

whale proper, a harpoon will often kill them at a stroke. Yet they were

now so tangled or "snarled erp," as the mate said, that it was no easy

matter to lance them without great danger of cutting the line. However,

we hauled up as close to them as we dared, and the harpooner got a good

blow in, which gave the biggest of the three "Jesse," as he said, though

why "Jesse" was a stumper. Anyhow, it killed him promptly, while almost

directly after another one saved further trouble by passing in his own

checks. But he sank at the same time, drawing the first one down with

him, so that we were in considerable danger of having to cut them adrift

or be swamped. The "wheft" was waved thrice as an urgent signal to the

ship to come to our assistance with all speed, but in the meantime our

interest lay in the surviving Black Fish keeping alive. Should HE die,

and, as was most probable, sink, we should certainly have to cut and

lose the lot, tools included.

We waited in grim silence while the ship came up, so slowly, apparently,

that she hardly seemed to move, but really at a good pace of about four

knots an hour, which for her was not at all bad. She got alongside of us

at last, and we passed up the bight of our line, our fish all safe, very

much pleased with ourselves, especially when we found that the other

boats had only five between the three of them.

The fish secured to the ship, all the boats were hoisted except one,

which remained alongside to sling the bodies. During our absence the

ship-keepers had been busy rigging one of the cutting falls, an immense

fourfold tackle from the main lowermast-head, of four-inch rope through

great double blocks, large as those used at dockyards for lifting ships'

masts and boilers. Chain-slings were passed around the carcases, which

gripped the animal at the "small," being prevented from slipping off by

the broad spread of the tail. The end of the "fall," or tackle-rope,

was then taken to the windlass, and we hove away cheerily, lifting the

monsters right on deck. A mountainous pile they made. A short spell was

allowed, when the whole eight were on board, for dinner; then all hands

turned to again to "flench" the blubber, and prepare for trying-out.

This was a heavy job, keeping all hands busy until it was quite

dark, the latter part of the work being carried on by the light of

a "cresset," the flames of which were fed with "scrap," which blazed

brilliantly, throwing a big glare over all the ship. The last of the

carcases was launched overboard by about eight o'clock that evening, but

not before some vast junks of beef had been cut off and hung up in the

rigging for our food supply.

The try-works were started again, "trying-out" going on busily all

night, watch and watch taking their turn at keeping the pots supplied

with minced blubber. The work was heavy, while the energetic way in

which it was carried on made us all glad to take what rest was allowed

us, which was scanty enough, as usual.

By nightfall the next day the ship had resumed her normal appearance,

and we were a tun and a quarter of oil to the good. Black Fish oil is of

medium quality, but I learned that, according to the rule of "roguery

in all trades," it was the custom to mix quantities such as we had just

obtained with better class whale-oil, and thus get a much higher price

than it was really worth.

Up till this time we had no sort of an idea as to where our first

objective might be, but from scraps of conversation I had overheard

among the harpooners, I gathered that we were making for the Cape

Verde Islands or the Acores, in the vicinity of which a good number

of moderate-sized sperm whales are often to be found. In fact, these

islands have long been a nursery for whale-fishers, because the cachalot

loves their steep-to shores, and the hardy natives, whenever and

wherever they can muster a boat and a little gear, are always ready to

sally forth and attack the unwary whale that ventures within their ken.

Consequently more than half of the total crews of the American whaling

fleet are composed of these islanders. Many of them have risen to the

position of captain, and still more are officers and harpooners;

but though undoubtedly brave and enterprising, they are cruel and

treacherous, and in positions of authority over men of Teutonic or

Anglo-Saxon origin, are apt to treat their subordinates with great

cruelty.

CHAPTER IV. BAD WEATHER

Nautical routine in its essential details is much the same in all ships,

whether naval, merchant, or whaling vessels. But while in the ordinary

merchantman there are decidedly "no more cats than can catch mice,"

hardly, indeed, sufficient for all the mousing that should be done, in

men-of-war and whaleships the number of hands carried, being far more

than are wanted for everyday work, must needs be kept at unnecessary

duties in order that they may not grow lazy and discontented.

For instance, in the CACHALOT we carried a crew of thirty-seven all

told, of which twenty-four were men before the mast, or common seamen,

our tonnage being under 400 tons. Many a splendid clipper-ship carrying

an enormous spread of canvas on four masts, and not overloaded with 2500

tons of cargo on board, carries twenty-eight or thirty all told, or even

less than that. As far as we were concerned, the result of this was that

our landsmen got so thoroughly drilled, that within a week of leaving

port they hardly knew themselves for the clumsy clodhoppers they at

first appeared to be.

We had now been eight days out, and in our leisurely way were making

fair progress across the Atlantic, having had nothing, so far, but

steady breezes and fine weather. As it was late autumn the first week

in October--I rather wondered at this, for even in my brief experience I

had learned to dread a "fall" voyage across the "Western Ocean."

Gradually the face of the sky changed, and the feel of the air, from

balmy and genial, became raw and cheerless. The little wave tops broke

short off and blew backwards, apparently against the wind, while the

old vessel had an uneasy, unnatural motion, caused by a long, new swell

rolling athwart the existing set of the sea. Then the wind became fitful

and changeable, backing half round the compass, and veering forward

again as much in an hour, until at last in one tremendous squall

it settled in the N.W. for a business-like blow, Unlike the hurried

merchantman who must needs "hang on" till the last minute, only

shortening the sail when absolutely compelled to do so, and at the first

sign of the gales relenting, piling it on again, we were all snug long

before the storm burst upon us, and now rode comfortably under the

tiniest of storm staysails.

We were evidently in for a fair specimen of Western Ocean weather, but

the clumsy-looking, old-fashioned CACHALOT made no more fuss over it

than one of the long-winged sea-birds that floated around, intent only

upon snapping up any stray scraps that might escape from us. Higher rose

the wind, heavier rolled the sea, yet never a drop of water did we ship,

nor did anything about the deck betoken what a heavy gale was blowing.

During the worst of the weather, and just after the wind had shifted

back into the N.E., making an uglier cross sea than ever get up,

along comes an immense four-masted iron ship homeward bound. She was

staggering under a veritable mountain of canvas, fairly burying her bows

in the foam at every forward drive, and actually wetting the clews of

the upper topsails in the smothering masses of spray, that every few

minutes almost hid her hull from sight.

It was a splendid picture; but--for the time--I felt glad I was not on

board of her. In a very few minutes she was out of our ken, followed

by the admiration of all. Then came, from the other direction, a huge

steamship, taking no more notice of the gale than as if it were calm.

Straight through the sea she rushed, dividing the mighty rollers to the

heart, and often bestriding three seas at once, the centre one spreading

its many tons of foaming water fore and aft, so that from every orifice

spouted the seething brine. Compared with these greyhounds of the wave,

we resembled nothing so much as some old lightship bobbing serenely

around, as if part and parcel of the mid-Atlantic.

Our greenies were getting so well seasoned by this time that even this

rough weather did not knock any of them over, and from that time forward

they had no more trouble from sea-sickness.

The gale gradually blew itself out, leaving behind only a long and very

heavy swell to denote the deep-reaching disturbance that the ocean had

endured. And now we were within the range of the Sargasso Weed, that

mysterious FUCUS that makes the ocean look. like some vast hayfield, and

keeps the sea from rising, no matter how high the wind. It fell a dead

calm, and the harpooners amused themselves by dredging up great masses

of the weed, and turning out the many strange creatures abiding therein.

What a world of wonderful life the weed is, to be sure! In it the

flying fish spawn and the tiny cuttle-fish breed, both of them preparing

bounteous provision for the larger denizens of the deep that have

no other food. Myriads of tiny crabs and innumerable specimens of

less-known shell-fish, small fish of species as yet unclassified in

any work on natural history, with jelly-fish of every conceivable and

inconceivable shape, form part of this great and populous country in the

sea. At one haul there was brought on board a mass of flying-fish spawn,

about ten pounds in weight, looking like nothing so much as a pile of

ripe white currants, and clinging together in a very similar manner.

Such masses of ova I had often seen cast up among the outlying rocks on

the shores of the Caribbean Sea, when as a shipwrecked lad I wandered

idly about unburying turtle eggs from their snug beds in the warm sand,

and chasing the many-hued coral fish from one hiding-place to another.

While loitering in these smooth waters, waiting for the laggard wind, up

came a shoal of dolphin, ready as at all times to attach themselves for

awhile to the ship. Nothing is more singular than the manner in

which deep-sea fish will accompany a vessel that is not going too

fast--sometimes for days at a time. Most convenient too, and providing

hungry Jack with many a fresh mess he would otherwise have missed. Of

all these friendly fish, none is better known than the "dolphin," as

from long usage sailors persist in calling them, and will doubtless do

so until the end of the chapter. For the true dolphin (DELPHINIDAE) is

not a fish at all, but a mammal a warm-blooded creature that suckles

its young, and in its most familiar form is known to most people as

the porpoise. The sailor's "dolphin," on the other hand, is a veritable

fish, with vertical tail fin instead of the horizontal one which

distinguishes all the whale family, scales and gills.

It is well known to literature, under its sea-name, for its marvellous

brilliancy of colour, and there are few objects more dazzling than a

dolphin leaping out of a calm sea into the sunshine. The beauty of

a dying dolphin, however, though sanctioned by many generations of

writers, is a delusion, all the glory of the fish departing as soon as

he is withdrawn from his native element.

But this habit of digression grows upon one, and I must do my best to

check it, or I shall never get through my task.

To resume then: when this school of dolphin (I can't for the life of me

call them CORIPHAENA HIPPURIS) came alongside, a rush was made for the

"granes"--a sort of five-pronged trident, if I may be allowed a baby

bull. It was universally agreed among the fishermen that trying a hook

and line was only waste of time and provocative of profanity! since

every sailor knows that all the deep-water big fish require a living or

apparently living bait. The fish, however, sheered off, and would not be

tempted within reach of that deadly fork by any lure. Then did I cover

myself with glory. For he who can fish cleverly and luckily may be sure

of fairly good times in a whaler, although he may be no great things

at any other work. I had a line of my own, and begging one of the small

fish that had been hauled up in the Gulf weed, I got permission to go

aft and fish over the taffrail. The little fish was carefully secured

on the hook, the point of which just protruded near his tail. Then I

lowered him into the calm blue waters beneath, and paid out line very

gently, until my bait was a silvery spot about a hundred feet astern.

Only a very short time, and my hopes rose as I saw one bright gleam

after another glide past the keel, heading aft. Then came a gentle

drawing at the line, which I suffered to slip slowly through my fingers

until I judged it time to try whether I was right or wrong, A long hard

pull, and my heart beat fast as I felt the thrill along the line that

fishermen love. None of your high art here, but haul in hand over hand,

the line being strong enough to land a 250 pound fish. Up he came, the

beauty, all silver and scarlet and blue, five feet long if an inch, and

weighing 35 pounds. Well, such a lot of astonished men I never saw. They

could hardly believe their eyes. That such a daring innovation should

be successful was hardly to be believed, even with the vigorous evidence

before them. Even grim Captain Slocum came to look and turned upon me

as I thought a less lowering brow than usual, while Mr. Count, the mate,

fairly chuckled again at the thought of how the little Britisher had

wiped the eyes of these veteran fishermen. The captive was cut open,

and two recent flying-fish found in his maw, which were utilized for

new bait, with the result that there was a cheerful noise of hissing and

spluttering in the galley soon after, and a mess of fish for all hands.

Shortly afterwards a fresh breeze sprang up, which proved to be the

beginning of the N.E. trades, and fairly guaranteed us against any very

bad weather for some time to come.

Somehow or other it had leaked out that we were to cruise the Cape Verd

Islands for a spell before working south, and the knowledge seemed to

have quite an enlivening effect upon our Portuguese shipmates.

Most of them belonged there, and although there was but the faintest

prospect of their getting ashore upon any pretext whatever, the

possibility of seeing their island homes again seemed to quite transform

them. Hitherto they had been very moody and exclusive, never associating

with us on the white side, or attempting to be at all familiar. A mutual

atmosphere of suspicion, in fact, seemed to pervade our quarters, making

things already uncomfortable enough, still more so. Now, however, they

fraternized with us, and in a variety of uncouth ways made havoc of the

English tongue, as they tried to impress us with the beauty, fertility

and general incomparability of their beloved Cape Verds. Of the eleven

white men besides myself in the forecastle, there were a middle-aged

German baker, who had bolted from Buffalo; two Hungarians, who looked

like noblemen disguised--in dirt; two slab-sided Yankees of about 22

from farms in Vermont; a drayman from New York; a French Canadian

from the neighbourhood of Quebec; two Italians from Genoa; and two

nondescripts that I never found out the origin of. Imagine, then, the

babel of sound, and think--but no, it is impossible to think, what sort

of a jargon was compounded of all these varying elements of language.

One fortunate thing, there was peace below. Indeed, the spirit seemed

completely taken out of all of them, and by some devilish ingenuity

the afterguard had been able to sow distrust between them all, while

treating them like dogs, so that the miseries of their life were

never openly discussed. My position among them gave me at times some

uneasiness. Though I tried to be helpful to all, and was full of

sympathy for their undeserved sufferings, I could not but feel that they

would have been more than human had they not envied me my immunity from

the kicks and blows they all shared so impartially. However, there was

no help for it, so I went on as cheerily as I could.

A peculiarity of all these vessels, as I afterwards learned, was that no

stated allowance of anything was made. Even the water was not served out

to us, but was kept in a great scuttle-butt by the cabin door, to which

every one who needed a drink had to go, and from which none might be

carried away. No water was allowed for washing except from the sea; and

every one knows, or should know, that neither flesh nor clothes can be

cleansed with that. But a cask with a perforated top was lashed by the

bowsprit and kept filled with urine, which I was solemnly assured by

Goliath was the finest dirt-extractor in the world for clothes. The

officers did not avail themselves of its virtues though, but were

content with lye, which was furnished in plenty by the ashes from the

galley fire, where nothing but wood was used as fuel. Of course when

rain fell we might have a good wash, if it was night and no other work

was toward; but we were not allowed to store any for washing purposes.

Another curious but absolutely necessary custom prevailed in consequence

of the short commons under which we lived. When the portion of meat

was brought down in its wooden kid, or tub, at dinner-time, it was duly

divided as fairly as possible into as many parts as there were mouths.

Then one man turned his back on the carver, who holding up each portion,

called out, "Who's this for?" Whatever name was mentioned by the

arbitrator, that man owning it received the piece, and had perforce to

be satisfied therewith. Thus justice was done to all in the only way

possible, and without any friction whatever.

As some of us were without clothes except what we stood upright in, when

we joined, the "slop chest" was opened, and every applicant received

from the steward what Captain Slocum thought fit to let him have, being

debited with the cost against such wages as he might afterwards earn.

The clothes were certainly of fairly good quality, if the price was

high, and exactly suited to our requirements. Soap, matches, and tobacco

were likewise supplied on the same terms, but at higher prices than

I had ever heard of before for these necessaries. After much careful

inquiry I ascertained what, in the event of a successful voyage, we were

likely to earn. Each of us were on the two hundredth "lay" or share

at $200 per tun, which meant that for every two hundred barrels of oil

taken on board, we were entitled to one, which we must sell to the ship

at the rate of L40 per tun or L4 per barrel. Truly a magnificent outlook

for young men bound to such a business for three or four years.

CHAPTER V. ACTUAL WARFARE. OUR FIRST WHALE

Simultaneous ideas occurring to several people, or thought transference,

whatever one likes to call the phenomenon is too frequent an occurrence

in most of our experience to occasion much surprise. Yet on the occasion

to which I am about to refer, the matter was so very marked that few of

us who took part in the day's proceedings are ever likely to forget it.

We were all gathered about the fo'lk'sle scuttle one evening, a few days

after the gale referred to in the previous chapter, and the question of

whale-fishing came up for discussion. Until that time, strange as it

may seem, no word of this, the central idea of all our minds, had been

mooted. Every man seemed to shun the subject, although we were in

daily expectation of being called upon to take an active part in

whale-fighting. Once the ice was broken, nearly all had something to say

about it, and very nearly as many addle-headed opinions were ventilated

as at a Colney Hatch debating society. For we none of us KNEW anything

about it. I was appealed to continually to support this or that theory,

but as far as whaling went I could only, like the rest of them, draw

upon my imagination for details. How did a whale act, what were the

first steps taken, what chance was there of being saved if your boat got

smashed, and so on unto infinity. At last, getting very tired of this

"Portugee Parliament" of all talkers and no listeners, I went aft to

get a drink of water before turning in. The harpooners and other petty

officers were grouped in the waist, earnestly discussing the pros and

cons of attack upon whales. As I passed I heard the mate's harpooner

say, "Feels like whale about. I bet a plug (of tobacco) we raise sperm

whale to-morrow." Nobody took his bet, for it appeared that they were

mostly of the same mind, and while I was drinking I heard the officers

in dignified conclave talking over the same thing. It was Saturday

evening, and while at home people were looking forward to a day's

respite from work and care, I felt that the coming day, though never

taken much notice of on board, was big with the probabilities of strife

such as I at least had at present no idea of. So firmly was I possessed

by the prevailing feeling.

The night was very quiet. A gentle breeze was blowing, and the sky was

of the usual "Trade" character, that is, a dome of dark blue fringed at

the horizon with peaceful cumulus clouds, almost motionless. I turned

in at four a.m. from the middle watch and, as usual, slept like a babe.

Suddenly I started wide awake, a long mournful sound sending a thrill

to my very heart. As I listened breathlessly other sounds of the same

character but in different tones joined in, human voices monotonously

intoning in long drawn-out expirations the single word "bl-o-o-o-o-w."

Then came a hurricane of noise overhead, and adjurations in no gentle

language to the sleepers to "tumble up lively there, no skulking, sperm

whales." At last, then, fulfilling all the presentiments of yesterday,

the long dreaded moment had arrived. Happily there was no time for

hesitation, in less than two minutes we were all on deck, and hurrying

to our respective boats. There was no flurry or confusion, and except

that orders were given more quietly than usual, with a manifest air of

suppressed excitement, there was nothing to show that we were not

going for an ordinary course of boat drill. The skipper was in the main

crow's-nest with his binoculars presently he shouted, "Naow then, Mr.

Count, lower away soon's y'like. Small pod o'cows, an' one'r two bulls

layin' off to west'ard of 'em." Down went the boats into the water

quietly enough, we all scrambled in and shoved off. A stroke or two of

the oars were given to get clear of the ship, and one another, then oars

were shipped and up went the sails. As I took my allotted place at the

main-sheet, and the beautiful craft started off like some big bird, Mr.

Count leant forward, saying impressively to me, "Y'r a smart youngster,

an' I've kinder took t'yer; but don't ye look ahead an' get gallied, 'r

I'll knock ye stiff wi' th' tiller; y'hear me? N' don't ye dare to make

thet sheet fast, 'r ye'll die so sudden y' won't know whar y'r hurted."

I said as cheerfully as I could, "All right, sir," trying to look

unconcerned, telling myself not to be a coward, and all sorts of things;

but the cold truth is that I was scared almost to death because I

didn't know what was coming. However, I did the best thing under the

circumstances, obeyed orders and looked steadily astern, or up into the

bronzed impassive face of my chief, who towered above me, scanning

with eagle eyes the sea ahead. The other boats were coming flying along

behind us, spreading wider apart as they came, while in the bows of each

stood the harpooner with his right hand on his first iron, which

lay ready, pointing over the bow in a raised fork of wood called the

"crutch."

All of a sudden, at a motion of the chief's hand, the peak of our

mainsail was dropped, and the boat swung up into the wind, laying

"hove to," almost stationary. The centre-board was lowered to stop her

drifting to leeward, although I cannot say it made much difference that

ever I saw. NOW what's the matter, I thought, when to my amazement the

chief addressing me said, "Wonder why we've hauled up, don't ye?" "Yes,

sir, I do," said I. "Wall," said he, "the fish hev sounded, an' 'ef we

run over 'em, we've seen the last ov'em. So we wait awhile till they

rise agin, 'n then we'll prob'ly git thar' 'r thareabonts before they

sound agin." With this explanation I had to be content, although if

it be no clearer to my readers than it then was to me, I shall have to

explain myself more fully later on. Silently we lay, rocking lazily upon

the gentle swell, no other word being spoken by any one. At last Louis,

the harpooner, gently breathed "blo-o-o-w;" and there, sure enough,

not half a mile away on the lee beam, was a little bushy cloud of steam

apparently rising from the sea. At almost the same time as we kept away

all the other boats did likewise, and just then, catching sight of the

ship, the reason for this apparently concerted action was explained. At

the main-mast head of the ship was a square blue flag, and the ensign

at the peak was being dipped. These were signals well understood and

promptly acted upon by those in charge of the boats, who were thus

guided from a point of view at least one hundred feet above the sea.

"Stand up, Louey," the mate murmured softly. I only just stopped myself

in time from turning my head to see why the order was given. Suddenly

there was a bump, at the same moment the mate yelled, "Give't to him,

Louey, give't to him!" and to me, "Haul that main sheet, naow haul, why

don't ye?" I hauled it flat aft, and the boat shot up into the wind,

rubbing sides as she did so with what to my troubled sight seemed an

enormous mass of black india-rubber floating. As we CRAWLED up into the

wind, the whale went into convulsions befitting his size and energy.

He raised a gigantic tail on high, threshing the water with deafening

blows, rolling at the same time from side to side until the surrounding

sea was white with froth. I felt in an agony lest we should be crushed

under one of those fearful strokes, for Mr. Count appeared to be

oblivious of possible danger, although we seemed to be now drifting back

on to the writhing leviathan. In the agitated condition of the sea, it

was a task of no ordinary difficulty to unship the tall mast, which was

of course the first thing to be done. After a desperate struggle, and a

narrow escape from falling overboard of one of the men, we got the lone

"stick," with the sail bundled around it, down and "fleeted" aft, where

it was secured by the simple means of sticking the "heel" under the

after thwart, two-thirds of the mast extending out over the stern.

Meanwhile, we had certainly been in a position of the greatest danger,

our immunity from damage being unquestionably due to anything but

precaution taken to avoid it.

By the time the oars were handled, and the mate had exchanged places

with the harpooner, our friend the enemy had "sounded," that is, he had

gone below for a change of scene, marvelling no doubt what strange thing

had befallen him. Agreeably to the accounts which I, like most boys, had

read of the whale fishery, I looked for the rushing of the line round

the logger-head (a stout wooden post built into the boat aft), to raise

a cloud of smoke with occasional bursts of flame; so as it began to

slowly surge round the post, I timidly asked the harpooner whether I

should throw any water on it. "Wot for?" growled he, as he took a couple

more turns with it. Not knowing "what for," and hardly liking to quote

my authorities here, I said no more, but waited events. "Hold him up,

Louey, bold him up, cain't ye?" shouted the mate, and to my horror, down

went the nose of the boat almost under water, while at the mate's order

everybody scrambled aft into the elevated stern sheets.

The line sang quite a tune as it was grudgingly allowed to surge round

the loggerhead, filling one with admiration at the strength shown by

such a small rope. This sort of thing went on for about twenty minutes,

in which time we quite emptied the large tub and began on the small one.

As there was nothing whatever for us to do while this was going on, I

had ample leisure for observing the little game that was being played

about a quarter of a mile away. Mr. Cruce, the second mate, had got a

whale and was doing his best to kill it; but he was severely handicapped

by his crew, or rather had been, for two of them were now temporarily

incapable of either good or harm. They had gone quite "batchy" with

fright, requiring a not too gentle application of the tiller to their

heads in order to keep them quiet. The remedy, if rough, was effectual,

for "the subsequent proceedings interested them no more." Consequently

his manoeuvres were not so well or rapidly executed as he, doubtless,

could have wished, although his energy in lancing that whale was

something to admire and remember. Hatless, his shirt tail out of the

waist of his trousers streaming behind him like a banner, he lunged and

thrust at the whale alongside of him, as if possessed of a destroying

devil, while his half articulate yells of rage and blasphemy were

audible even to us.

Suddenly our boat fell backward from her "slantindicular" position

with a jerk, and the mate immediately shouted, "Haul line, there! look

lively, now, you--so on, etcetera, etcetera" (he seemed to invent new

epithets on every occasion). The line came in hand over hand, and was

coiled in a wide heap in the stern sheets, for silky as it was, it could

not be expected in its wet state to lie very close. As it came flying

in the mate kept a close gaze upon the water immediately beneath us,

apparently for the first glimpse of our antagonist. When the whale broke

water, however, he was some distance off, and apparently as quiet as a

lamb. Now, had Mr. Count been a prudent or less ambitious man, our task

would doubtless have been an easy one, or comparatively so; but, being

a little over-grasping, he got us all into serious trouble. We were

hauling up to our whale in order to lance it, and the mate was standing,

lance in hand, only waiting to get near enough, when up comes a large

whale right alongside of our boat, so close, indeed, that I might have

poked my finger in his little eye, if I had chosen. The sight of that

whale at liberty, and calmly taking stock of us like that, was too much

for the mate. He lifted his lance and hurled it at the visitor, in

whose broad flank it sank, like a knife into butter, right up to the

pole-hitches. The recipient disappeared like a flash, but before one had

time to think, there was an awful crash beneath us, and the mate shot

up into the air like a bomb from a mortar. He came down in a sitting

posture on the mast-thwart; but as he fell, the whole framework of the

boat collapsed like a derelict umbrella. Louis quietly chopped the line

and severed our connection with the other whale, while in accordance

with our instructions we drew each man his oar across the boat and

lashed it firmly down with a piece of line spliced to each thwart for

the purpose. This simple operation took but a minute, but before it was

completed we were all up to our necks in the sea. Still in the boat,

it is true, and therefore not in such danger of drowning as if we were

quite adrift; but, considering that the boat was reduced to a mere

bundle of loose planks, I, at any rate, was none too comfortable.

Now, had he known it, was the whale's golden opportunity; but he, poor

wretch, had had quite enough of our company, and cleared off without any

delay, wondering, no doubt, what fortunate accident had rid him of our

very unpleasant attentions.

I was assured that we were all as safe as if we were on board the

ship, to which I answered nothing; but, like Jack's parrot, I did some

powerful thinking. Every little wave that came along swept clean over

our heads, sometimes coming so suddenly as to cut a breath in half. If

the wind should increase--but no--I wouldn't face the possibility of

such a disagreeable thing. I was cool enough now in a double sense, for

although we were in the tropics, we soon got thoroughly chilled.

By the position of the sun it must have been between ten a.m. and noon,

and we, of the crew, had eaten nothing since the previous day at supper,

when, as usual, the meal was very light. Therefore, I suppose we felt

the chill sooner than the better-nourished mate and harpooner, who

looked rather scornfully at our blue faces and chattering teeth.

In spite of all assurances to the contrary, I have not the least doubt

in my own mind that a very little longer would have relieved us of ALL

our burdens finally. Because the heave of the sea had so loosened the

shattered planks upon which we stood that they were on the verge of

falling all asunder. Had they done so we must have drowned, for we

were cramped and stiff with cold and our constrained position. However,

unknown to us, a bright look-out upon our movements had been kept

from the crow's-nest the whole time. We should have been relieved long

before, but that the whale killed by the second mate was being secured,

and another boat, the fourth mate's, being picked up, having a hole in

her bilge you could put you head through. With all these hindrances,

especially securing the whale, we were fortunate to be rescued as

soon as we were, since it is well known that whales are of much higher

commercial value than men.

However, help came at last, and we were hauled alongside. Long exposure

had weakened us to such an extent that it was necessary to hoist us on

board, especially the mate, whose "sudden stop," when he returned to

us after his little aerial excursion, had shaken his sturdy frame

considerably, a state of body which the subsequent soaking had by

no means improved. In my innocence I imagined that we should be

commiserated for our misfortunes by Captain Slocum, and certainly be

relieved from further duties until we were a little recovered from

the rough treatment we had just undergone. But I never made a greater

mistake. The skipper cursed us all (except the mate, whose sole fault

the accident undoubtedly was) with a fluency and vigour that was, to put

it mildly, discouraging. Moreover, we were informed that he "wouldn't

have no adjective skulking;" we must "turn to" and do something after

wasting the ship's time and property in such a blanked manner. There was

a limit, however, to our obedience, so although we could not move at all

for awhile, his threats were not proceeded with farther than theory.

A couple of slings were passed around the boat, by means of which she

was carefully hoisted on board, a mere dilapidated bundle of sticks and

raffle of gear. She was at once removed aft out of the way, the business

of cutting in the whale claiming precedence over everything else just

then. The preliminary proceedings consisted of rigging the "cutting

stage." This was composed of two stout planks a foot wide and ten feet

long, the inner ends of which were suspended by strong ropes over the

ship's side about four feet from the water, while the outer extremities

were upheld by tackles from the main rigging, and a small crane abreast

the try-works.

These planks were about thirty feet apart, their two outer ends being

connected by a massive plank which was securely bolted to them. A

handrail about as high as a man's waist, supported by light iron

stanchions, ran the full length of this plank on the side nearest the

ship, the whole fabric forming an admirable standing-place from whence

the officers might, standing in comparative comfort, cut and carve at

the great mass below to their hearts' content.

So far the prize had been simply held alongside by the whale-line, which

at death had been "rove" through a hole cut in the solid gristle of the

tail; but now it became necessary to secure the carcase to the ship in

some more permanent fashion. Therefore, a massive chain like a small

ship's cable was brought forward, and in a very ingenious way, by means

of a tiny buoy and a hand-lead, passed round the body, one end brought

through a ring in the other, and hauled upon until it fitted tight round

the "small" or part of the whale next the broad spread of the tail. The

free end of the fluke-chain was then passed in through a mooring-pipe

forward, firmly secured to a massive bitt at the heel of the bowsprit

(the fluke-chain-bitt), and all was ready.

But the subsequent proceedings were sufficiently complicated to demand a

fresh chapter.

CHAPTER VI. "DIRTY WORK FOR CLEAN MONEY"

If in the preceding chapter too much stress has been laid upon the

smashing of our own boat and consequent sufferings, while little or no

notice was taken of the kindred disaster to Mistah Jones' vessel, my

excuse must be that the experience "filled me right up to the chin," as

the mate concisely, if inelegantly, put it. Poor Goliath was indeed to

be pitied, for his well-known luck and capacity as a whaleman seemed

on this occasion to have quite deserted him. Not only had his boat been

stove upon first getting on to the whale, but he hadn't even had a run

for his money. It appeared that upon striking his whale, a small, lively

cow, she had at once "settled," allowing the boat to run over her; but

just as they were passing, she rose, gently enough, her pointed hump

piercing the thin skin of half-inch cedar as if it had been cardboard.

She settled again immediately, leaving a hole behind her a foot long

by six inches wide, which effectually put a stop to all further fishing

operations on the part of Goliath and his merry men for that day, at any

rate. It was all so quiet, and so tame and so stupid, no wonder Mistah

Jones felt savage. When Captain Slocum's fluent profanity flickered

around him, including vehemently all he might be supposed to have any

respect for, he did not even LOOK as if he would like to talk back; he

only looked sick and tired of being himself.

The third mate, again, was of a different category altogether. He had

distinguished himself by missing every opportunity of getting near a

whale while there was a "loose" one about, and then "saving" the crew of

Goliath's boat, who were really in no danger whatever. His iniquity was

too great to be dealt with by mere bad language. He crept about like a

homeless dog--much, I am afraid, to my secret glee, for I couldn't help

remembering his untiring cruelty to the green hands on first leaving

port.

In consequence of these little drawbacks we were not a very jovial crowd

forrard or aft. Not that hilarity was ever particularly noticeable among

us, but just now there was a very decided sense of wrong-doing over us

all, and a general fear that each of us was about to pay the penalty due

to some other delinquent. But fortunately there was work to be done.

Oh, blessed work! how many awkward situations you have extricated people

from! How many distracted brains have you soothed and restored, by

your steady irresistible pressure of duty to be done and brooking of no

delay!

The first thing to be done was to cut the whale's head off. This

operation, involving the greatest amount of labour in the whole of the

cutting in, was taken in hand by the first and second mates, who, armed

with twelve-feet spades, took their station upon the stage, leaned over

the handrail to steady themselves, and plunged their weapons vigorously

down through the massive neck of the animal--if neck it could be said to

have--following a well-defined crease in the blubber. At the same time

the other officers passed a heavy chain sling around the long, narrow

lower jaw, hooking one of the big cutting tackles into it, the "fall" of

which was then taken to the windlass and hove tight, turning the whale

on her back. A deep cut was then made on both sides of the rising jaw,

the windlass was kept going, and gradually the whole of the throat was

raised high enough for a hole to be cut through its mass, into which the

strap of the second cutting tackle was inserted and secured by passing

a huge toggle of oak through its eye. The second tackle was then hove

taut, and the jaw, with a large piece of blubber attached, was cut off

from the body with a boarding-knife, a tool not unlike a cutlass blade

set into a three-foot-long wooden handle.

Upon being severed the whole piece swung easily inboard and was lowered

on deck. The fast tackle was now hove upon while the third mate on

the stage cut down diagonally into the blubber on the body, which the

purchase ripped off in a broad strip or "blanket" about five feet

wide and a foot thick. Meanwhile the other two officers carved away

vigorously at the head, varying their labours by cutting a hole right

through the snout. This when completed received a heavy chain for the

purpose of securing the head. When the blubber had been about half

stripped off the body, a halt was called in order that the work of

cutting off the head might be finished, for it was a task of incredible

difficulty. It was accomplished at last, and the mass floated astern

by a stout rope, after which the windlass pawls clattered merrily, the

"blankets" rose in quick succession, and were cut off and lowered into

the square of the main batch or "blubber-room." A short time sufficed to

strip off the whole of the body-blubber, and when at last the tail was

reached, the backbone was cut through, the huge mass of flesh floating

away to feed the innumerable scavengers of the sea. No sooner was the

last of the blubber lowered into the hold than the hatches were put on

and the head hauled up alongside. Both tackles were secured to it and

all hands took to the windlass levers. This was a small cow whale of

about thirty barrels, that is, yielding that amount of oil, so it was

just possible to lift the entire head on board; but as it weighed as

much as three full-grown elephants, it was indeed a heavy lift for even

our united forces, trying our tackle to the utmost. The weather was very

fine, and the ship rolled but little; even then, the strain upon the

mast was terrific, and right glad was I when at last the immense cube of

fat, flesh, and bone was eased inboard and gently lowered on deck.

As soon as it was secured the work of dividing it began. From the snout

a triangular mass was cut, which was more than half pure spermaceti.

This substance was contained in spongy cells held together by layers

of dense white fibre, exceedingly tough and elastic, and called by the

whalers "white-horse." The whole mass, or "junk" as it is called, was

hauled away to the ship's side and firmly lashed to the bulwarks for the

time being, so that it might not "take charge" of the deck during the

rest of the operations.

The upper part of the head was now slit open lengthwise, disclosing an

oblong cistern or "case" full of liquid spermaceti, clear as water. This

was baled out with buckets into a tank, concreting as it cooled into a

wax-like substance, bland and tasteless. There being now nothing more

remaining about the skull of any value, the lashings were loosed, and

the first leeward roll sent the great mass plunging overboard with a

mighty splash. It sank like a stone, eagerly followed by a few small

sharks that were hovering near.

As may be imagined, much oil was running about the deck, for so

saturated was every part of the creature with it that it really gushed

like water during the cutting-up process. None of it was allowed to run

to waste, though, for the scupper-holes which drain the deck were all

carefully plugged, and as soon as the "junk" had been dissected all the

oil was carefully "squeegeed" up and poured into the try-pots.

Two men were now told off as "blubber-room men," whose duty it became

to go below, and squeezing themselves in as best they could between

the greasy masses of fat, cut it up into "horse-pieces" about eighteen

inches long and six inches square. Doing this they became perfectly

saturated with oil, as if they had taken a bath in a tank of it; for

as the vessel rolled it was impossible to maintain a footing, and

every fall was upon blubber running with oil. A machine of wonderful

construction had been erected on deck in a kind of shallow trough about

six feet long by four feet wide and a foot deep. At some remote period

of time it had no doubt been looked upon as a triumph of ingenuity,

a patent mincing machine. Its action was somewhat like that of a

chaff-cutter, except that the knife was not attached to the wheel, and

only rose and fell, since it was not required to cut right through the

"horse-pieces" with which it was fed. It will be readily understood

that in order to get the oil quickly out of the blubber, it needs to be

sliced as thin as possible, but for convenience in handling the refuse

(which is the only fuel used) it is not chopped up in small pieces, but

every "horse-piece" is very deeply scored as it were, leaving a thin

strip to hold the slices together. This then was the order of work. Two

harpooners attended the try-pots, replenishing them with minced blubber

from the hopper at the port side, and baling out the sufficiently

boiled oil into the great cooling tank on the starboard. One officer

superintended the mincing, another exercised a general supervision over

all. There was no man at the wheel and no look-out, for the vessel was

"hove-to" under two close-reefed topsails and fore-topmast-staysail,

with the wheel lashed hard down. A look-out man was unnecessary, since

we could not run anybody down, and if anybody ran us down, it would only

be because all hands were asleep, for the glare of our try-works fire,

to say nothing of the blazing cresset before mentioned, could have been

seen for many miles. So we toiled watch and watch, six hours on and six

off, the work never ceasing for an instant night or day. Though the

work was hard and dirty, and the discomfort of being so continually wet

through with oil great, there was only one thing dangerous about the

whole business. That was the job of filling and shifting the huge casks

of oil. Some of these were of enormous size, containing 350 gallons when

full, and the work of moving them about the greasy deck of a rolling

ship was attended with a terrible amount of risk. For only four men at

most could get fair hold of a cask, and when she took it into her silly

old hull to start rolling, just as we had got one half-way across

the deck, with nothing to grip your feet, and the knowledge that one

stumbling man would mean a sudden slide of the ton and a half weight,

and a little heap of mangled corpses somewhere in the lee scuppers--well

one always wanted to be very thankful when the lashings were safely

passed.

The whale being a small one, as before noted, the whole business was

over within three days, and the decks scrubbed and re-scrubbed until

they had quite regained their normal whiteness. The oil was poured by

means of a funnel and long canvas hose into the casks stowed in the

ground tier at the bottom of the ship, and the gear, all carefully

cleaned and neatly "stopped up," stowed snugly away below again.

This long and elaborate process is quite different from that followed

on board the Arctic whaleships, whose voyages are of short duration,

and who content themselves with merely cutting the blubber up small and

bringing it home to have the oil expressed. But the awful putrid mass

discharged from a Greenlander's hold is of very different quality and

value, apart from the nature of the substance, to the clear and sweet

oil, which after three years in cask is landed from a south-seaman as

inoffensive in smell and flavour as the day it was shipped. No attempt

is made to separate the oil and spermaceti beyond boiling the "head

matter," as it is called, by itself first, and putting it into casks

which are not filled up with the body oil. Spermaceti exists in all

the oil, especially that from the dorsal hump; but it is left for

the refiners ashore to extract and leave the oil quite free from any

admixture of the wax-like substance, which causes it to become solid at

temperatures considerably above the freezing-point.

Uninteresting as the preceding description may be, it is impossible to

understand anything of the economy of a south-sea whaler without giving

it, and I have felt it the more necessary because of the scanty notice

given to it in the only two works published on the subject, both of them

highly technical, and written for scientific purposes by medical men.

Therefore I hope to be forgiven if I have tried the patience of my

readers by any prolixity.

It will not, of course, have escaped the reader's notice that I have not

hitherto attempted to give any details concerning the structure of the

whale just dealt with. The omission is intentional. During this, our

first attempt at real whaling, my mind was far too disturbed by the

novelty and danger of the position in which I found myself for the first

time, for me to pay any intelligent attention to the party of the second

part.

But I may safely promise that from the workman's point of view, the

habits, manners, and build of the whales shall be faithfully described

as I saw them during my long acquaintance with them, earnestly hoping

that if my story be not as technical or scientific as that of Drs.

Bennett and Beale, it may be found fully as accurate and reliable; and

perhaps the reader, being like myself a mere layman, so to speak, may be

better able to appreciate description free from scientific formula and

nine-jointed words.

Two things I did notice on this occasion which I will briefly allude to

before closing this chapter. One was the peculiar skin of the whale. It

was a bluish-black, and as thin as gold-beater's skin. So thin, indeed,

and tender, that it was easily scraped off with the finger-nail.

Immediately beneath it, upon the surface of the blubber, was a layer or

coating of what for want of a better simile I must call fine short fur,

although unlike fur it had no roots or apparently any hold upon the

blubber. Neither was it attached to the skin which covered it; in fact,

it seemed merely a sort of packing between the skin and the surface of

the thick layer of solid fat which covered the whole area of the whale's

body. The other matter which impressed me was the peculiarity of the

teeth. For up till that time I had held, in common with most seamen, and

landsmen, too, for that matter, the prevailing idea that a "whale" lived

by "suction" (although I did not at all know what that meant), and that

it was impossible for him to swallow a herring. Yet here was a mouth

manifestly intended for greater things in the way of gastronomy than

herrings; nor did it require more than the most casual glances to

satisfy one of so obvious a fact. Then the teeth were heroic in size,

protruding some four or five inches from the gum, and solidly set more

than that into its firm and compact substance. They were certainly not

intended for mastication, being, where thickest, three inches apart, and

tapering to a short point, curving slightly backwards. In this specimen,

a female, and therefore small as I have said, there were twenty of

them on each side, the last three or four near the gullet being barely

visible above the gum.

Another most convincing reason why no mastication could have been

possible was that there were no teeth visible in the upper jaw. Opposed

to each of the teeth was a socket where a tooth should apparently have

been, and this was conclusive evidence of the soft and yielding nature

of the great creature's food. But there were signs that at some period

of the development of the whale it had possessed a double row of teeth,

because at the bottom of these upper sockets we found in a few cases

what seemed to be an abortive tooth, not one that was growing, because

they had no roots, but a survival of teeth that had once been perfect

and useful, but from disuse, or lack of necessity for them, had

gradually ceased to come to maturity. The interior of the mouth and

throat was of a livid white, and the tongue was quite small for so large

an animal. It was almost incapable of movement, being somewhat like a

fowl's. Certainly it could not have been protruded even from the angle

of the mouth, much less have extended along the parapet of that lower

mandible, which reminded one of the beak of some mighty albatross or

stork.

CHAPTER VII. GETTING SOUTHWARD

Whether our recent experience had altered the captain's plans or not

I do not know, but much to the dismay of the Portuguese portion of the

crew, we did but sight, dimly and afar off, the outline of the Cape

Verde Islands before our course was altered, and we bore away for the

southward like any other outward-bounder. That is, as far as our course

went; but as to the speed, we still retained the leisurely tactics

hitherto pursued, shortening sail every night, and, if the weather was

very fine, setting it all again at daybreak.

The morose and sullen temper of the captain had been, if anything, made

worse by recent events, and we were worked as hard as if the success of

the voyage depended upon our ceaseless toil of scrubbing, scraping,

and polishing. Discipline was indeed maintained at a high pitch of

perfection, no man daring to look awry, much less complain of any

hardship, however great. Even this humble submissiveness did not satisfy

our tyrant, and at last his cruelty took a more active shape. One of

the long Yankee farmers from Vermont, Abner Cushing by name, with the

ingenuity which seems inbred in his 'cute countrymen, must needs try

his hand at making a villainous decoction which he called "beer," the

principal ingredients in which were potatoes and molasses. Now potatoes

formed no part of our dietary, so Abner set his wits to work to steal

sufficient for his purpose, and succeeded so far that he obtained half

a dozen. I have very little doubt that one of the Portuguese in the

forecastle conveyed the information aft for some reason best known to

himself, any more than we white men all had that in a similar manner

all our sayings and doings, however trivial, became at once known to the

officers. However, the fact that the theft was discovered soon became

painfully evident, for we had a visit from the afterguard in force one

afternoon, and Abner with his brewage was haled to the quarter-deck.

There, in the presence of all hands, he was arraigned, found guilty of

stealing the ship's stores, and sentence passed upon him. By means of

two small pieces of fishing line he was suspended by his thumbs in the

weather rigging, in such a manner that when the ship was upright his

toes touched the deck, but when she rolled his whole weight hung from

his thumbs. This of itself one would have thought sufficient torture for

almost any offence, but in addition to it he received two dozen lashes

with an improvised cat-o'-nine-tails, laid on by the brawny arm of

one of the harpooners. We were all compelled to witness this, and our

feelings may be imagined. When, after what seemed a terribly long

time to me (Heaven knows what it must have been to him!), he fainted,

although no chicken I nearly fainted too, from conflicting emotions of

sympathy and impotent rage.

He was then released in leisurely fashion, and we were permitted to take

him forward and revive him. As soon as he was able to stand on his feet,

he was called on deck again, and not allowed to go below till his watch

was over. Meanwhile Captain Slocum improved the occasion by giving us a

short harangue, the burden of which was that we had now seen a LITTLE of

what any of us might expect if we played any "dog's tricks" on him. But

you can get used to anything, I suppose: so after the first shock of the

atrocity was over, things went on again pretty much as usual.

For the first and only time in my experience, we sighted St. Paul's

Rocks, a tiny group of jagged peaks protruding from the Atlantic nearly

on the Equator. Stupendous mountains they must be, rising almost sheer

for about four and a half miles from the ocean bed. Although they appear

quite insignificant specks upon the vast expanse of water, one could not

help thinking how sublime their appearance would be were they visible

from the plateau whence they spring. Their chief interest to us at the

time arose from the fact that, when within about three miles of them,

we were suddenly surrounded by a vast school of bonito, These fish,

so-named by the Spaniards from their handsome appearance, are a species

of mackerel, a branch of the SCOMBRIDAE family, and attain a size

of about two feet long and forty pounds weight, though their average

dimensions are somewhat less than half that. They feed entirely upon

flying-fish and the small leaping squid or cuttle-fish, but love to

follow a ship, playing around her, if her pace be not too great, for

days together. Their flesh resembles beef in appearance, and they are

warm-blooded; but, from their habitat being mid-ocean, nothing is known

with any certainty of their habits of breeding.

The orthodox method of catching them on board ship is to cover a

suitable hook with a piece of white rag a couple of inches long, and

attach it to a stout line. The fisherman then takes his seat upon the

jibboom end, having first, if he is prudent, secured a sack to the

jibstay in such a manner that its mouth gapes wide. Then he unrolls his

line, and as the ship forges ahead the line, blowing out, describes a

curve, at the end of which the bait, dipping to--the water occasionally,

roughly represents a flying-fish. Of course, the faster the ship is

going, the better the chance of deceiving the fish, since they have less

time to study the appearance of the bait. It is really an exaggerated

and clumsy form of fly-fishing, and, as with that elegant pastime, much

is due to the skill of the fisherman.

As the bait leaps from crest to crest of the wavelets thrust aside by

the advancing ship, a fish more adventurous or hungrier than the rest

will leap at it, and in an instant there is a dead, dangling weight of

from ten to forty pounds hanging at the end of your line thirty feet

below. You haul frantically, for he may be poorly hooked, and you cannot

play him. In a minute or two, if all goes well, he is plunged in the

sack, and safe. But woe unto you if you have allowed the jeers of your

shipmates to dissuade you from taking a sack out with you.

The struggles of these fish are marvellous, and a man runs great risk of

being shaken off the boom, unless his legs are firmly locked in between

the guys. Such is the tremendous vibration that a twenty-pound bonito

makes in a man's grip, that it can be felt in the cabin at the other and

of the ship; and I have often come in triumphantly with one, having lost

all feeling in my arms and a goodly portion of skin off my breast and

side, where I have embraced the prize in a grim determination to hold

him at all hazards, besides being literally drenched with his blood.

Like all our fishing operations on board the CACHALOT, this day's

fishing was conducted on scientific principles, and resulted in

twenty-five fine fish being shipped, which were a welcome addition to

our scanty allowance. Happily for us, they would not take the salt in

that sultry latitude soon enough to preserve them; for, when they can be

salted, they become like brine itself, and are quite unfit for food.

Yet we should have been compelled to eat salt bonito, or go without meat

altogether, if it had been possible to cure them.

We were now fairly in the "horse latitudes," and, much to our relief,

the rain came down in occasional deluges, permitting us to wash well

and often. I suppose the rains of the tropics have been often enough

described to need no meagre attempts of mine to convey an idea of them;

yet I have often wished I could make home-keeping friends understand how

far short what they often speak of as a "tropical shower" falls of the

genuine article. The nearest I can get to it is the idea of an ocean

suspended overhead, out, of which the bottom occasionally falls. Nothing

is visible or audible but the glare and roar of falling water, and a

ship's deck, despite the many outlets, is full enough to swim about in

in a very few minutes. At such times the whole celestial machinery

of rain-making may be seen in full working order. Five or six mighty

waterspouts in various stages of development were often within easy

distance of us; once, indeed, we watched the birth, growth, and death

of one less than a mile away. First, a big, black cloud, even among that

great assemblage of NIMBI, began to belly downward, until the centre

of it tapered into a stem, and the whole mass looked like a vast,

irregularly-moulded funnel. Lower and lower it reached, as if feeling

for a soil in which to grow, until the sea beneath was agitated

sympathetically, rising at last in a sort of pointed mound to meet the

descending column. Our nearness enabled us to see that both descending

and rising parts were whirling violently in obedience to some invisible

force, and when they had joined each other, although the spiral motion

did not appear to continue, the upward rush of the water through what

was now a long elastic tube was very plainly to be seen. The cloud

overhead grew blacker and bigger, until its gloom was terrible. The

pipe, or stem, got thinner gradually, until it became a mere thread;

nor, although watching closely, could we determine when the connection

between sea and sky ceased--one could not call it severed. The point

rising from the sea settled almost immediately amidst a small commotion,

as of a whirlpool. The tail depending from the cloud slowly shortened,

and the mighty reservoir lost the vast bulge which had hung so

threateningly above. Just before the final disappearance of the last

portion of the tube, a fragment of cloud appeared to break off. It fell

near enough to show by its thundering roar what a body of water it must

have been, although it looked like a saturated piece of dirty rag in its

descent.

For whole days and nights together we sometimes lay almost "as idle as

a painted ship upon a painted ocean," when the deep blue dome above

matched the deep blue plain below, and never a fleck of white appeared

in sky or sea. This perfect stop to our progress troubled none, although

it aggravates a merchant skipper terribly. As for the objects of our

search, they had apparently all migrated other-whither, for never a sign

of them did we see. Finbacks, a species of rorqual, were always pretty

numerous, and as if they knew how useless they were to us, came and

played around like exaggerated porpoises. One in particular kept us

company for several days and nights. We knew him well, from a great

triangular scar on his right side, near the dorsal fin. Sometimes he

would remain motionless by the side of the ship, a few feet below the

surface, as distinctly in our sight as a gold-fish in a parlour globe;

or he would go under the keel, and gently chafe his broad back to and

fro along it, making queer tremors run through the vessel, as if she

were scraping over a reef. Whether from superstition or not I cannot

tell, but I never saw any creature injured out of pure wantonness,

except sharks, while I was on board the CACHALOT. Of course, injuries to

men do not count. Had that finback attempted to play about a passenger

ship in such a fashion, all the loungers on board would have been

popping at him with their revolvers and rifles without ever a thought

of compunction; yet here, in a vessel whose errand was whale-fishing,

a whale enjoyed perfect immunity. It was very puzzling. At last my

curiosity became too great to hear any longer, and I sought my friend

Mistah Jones at what I considered a favourable opportunity. I found him

very gracious and communicative, and I got such a lecture on the natural

history of the cetacea as I have never forgotten--the outcome of a

quarter-century's experience of them, and afterwards proved by me to be

correct in every detail, which latter is a great deal more than can be

said of any written natural history that ever I came across. But I will

not go into that now. Leaning over the rail, with the great rorqual

laying perfectly still a few feet below, I was told to mark how slender

and elegant were his proportions. "Clipper-built," my Mentor termed him.

He was full seventy feet long, but his greatest diameter would not reach

ten feet. His snout was long and pointed, while both top and bottom of

his head were nearly flat. When he came up to breathe, which he did out

of the top of his head, he showed us that, instead of teeth, he had a

narrow fringe of baleen (whalebone) all around his upper jaws, although

"I kaint see whyfor, kase he lib on all sort er fish, s'long's dey

ain't too big. I serpose w'en he kaint get nary fish he do de same ez

de 'bowhead'--go er siftin eout dem little tings we calls whale-feed wiv

dat ar' rangement he carry in his mouf." "But why don't we harpoon him?"

I asked. Goliath turned on me a pitying look, as he replied, "Sonny,

ef yew wuz ter go on stick iron inter dat ar fish, yew'd fink de hole

bottom fell eout kerblunk. W'en I uz young 'n foolish, a finback range

'longside me one day, off de Seychelles. I just done gone miss' a spam

whale, and I was kiender mad,--muss ha' bin. Wall, I let him hab it blam

'tween de ribs. If I lib ten tousan year, ain't gwine ter fergit dat ar.

Wa'nt no time ter spit, tell ye; eberybody hang ober de side ob de boat.

Wiz--poof!--de line all gone. Clar to glory, I neber see it go. Ef it

hab ketch anywhar, nobody eber see US too. Fus, I t'ought I jump ober

de side--neber face de skipper any mo'. But he uz er good ole man, en

he only say, 'Don't be sech blame jackass any more.' En I don't." From

which lucid narration I gathered that the finback had himself to thank

for his immunity from pursuit. "'Sides," persisted Goliath, "wa' yew

gwine do wiv' him? Ain't six inch uv blubber anywhere 'bout his long

ugly carkiss; en dat, dirty lill' rag 'er whalebone he got in his mouf,

'taint worf fifty cents. En mor'n dat, we pick up, a dead one when I

uz in de ole RAINBOW--done choke hisself, I spec, en we cut him in. He

stink fit ter pison de debbil, en, after all, we get eighteen bar'l ob

dirty oil out ob him. Wa'nt worf de clean sparm scrap we use ter bile

him. G' 'way!" Which emphatic adjuration, addressed not to me, but to

the unconscious monster below, closed the lesson for the time.

The calm still persisted, and, as usual, fish began to abound,

especially flying-fish. At times, disturbed by some hungry bonito or

dolphin, a shoal of them would rise--a great wave of silver--and skim

through the air, rising and falling for perhaps a couple of hundred

yards before they again took to the water; or a solitary one of larger

size than usual would suddenly soar into the air, a heavy splash behind

him showing by how few inches he had missed the jaws of his pursuer.

Away he would go in a long, long curve, and, meeting the ship in his

flight, would rise in the air, turn off at right angles to his former

direction, and spin away again, the whir of his wing-fins distinctly

visible as well as audible. At last he would incline to the water, but

just as he was about to enter it there would be an eddy--the enemy

was there waiting--and he would rise twenty, thirty feet, almost

perpendicularly, and dart away fully a hundred yards on a fresh course

before the drying of his wing membranes compelled him to drop. In the

face of such a sight as this, which is of everyday occurrence in these

latitudes, how trivial and misleading the statements made by the natural

history books seem.

They tell their readers that the EXOCETUS VOLITANS "does not fly; does

not flutter its wings; can only take a prolonged leap," and so on. The

misfortune attendant upon such books seems, to an unlearned sailor like

myself, to be that, although posing as authorities, most of the authors

are content to take their facts not simply at second-hand, but even unto

twenty-second-hand. So the old fables get repeated, and brought up to

date, and it is nobody's business to take the trouble to correct them.

The weather continued calm and clear, and as the flying-fish were about

in such immense numbers, I ventured to suggest to Goliath that we might

have a try for some of them. I verily believe he thought I was mad. He

stared at me for a minute, and then, with an indescribable intonation,

said, "How de ol' Satan yew fink yew gwain ter get'm, hey? Ef yew spects

ter fool dis chile wiv any dem lime-juice yarns, 'bout lanterns 'n boats

at night-time, yew's 'way off." I guessed he meant the fable current

among English sailors, that if you hoist a sail on a calm night in a

boat where flying-fish abound, and hang a lantern in the middle of it,

the fish will fly in shoals at the lantern, strike against the sail, and

fall in heaps in the boat. It MAY be true, but I never spoke to anybody

who has seen it done, nor is it the method practised in the only place

in the world where flying-fishing is followed for a living. So I told

Mr. Jones that if we had some circular nets of small mesh made and

stretched on wooden hoops, I was sure we should be able to catch some.

He caught at the idea, and mentioned it to the mate, who readily gave

his permission to use a boat. A couple of "Guineamen" (a very large

kind of flying-fish, having four wings) flew on board that night, as if

purposely to provide us with the necessary bait.

Next morning, about four bells, the sea being like a mirror, unruffled

by a breath of wind, we lowered and paddled off from the ship about a

mile. When far enough away, we commenced operations by squeezing in the

water some pieces of fish that had been kept for the purpose until they

were rather high-flavoured. The exuding oil from this fish spread a

thin film for some distance around the boat, through which, as through a

sheet of glass, we could see a long way down. Minute specks of the bait

sank slowly through the limpid blue, but for at least an hour there

was no sign of life. I was beginning to fear that I should be called

to account for misleading all hands, when, to my unbounded delight,

an immense shoal of flying-fish came swimming round the boat, eagerly

picking up the savoury morsels. We grasped our nets, and, leaning over

the gunwale, placed them silently in the water, pressing them downward

and in towards the boat at the same time. Our success was great

and immediate. We lifted the wanderers by scores, while I whispered

imploringly, "Be careful not to scare them; don't make a sound." All

hands entered into the spirit of the thing with great eagerness. As for

Mistah Jones, his delight was almost more than he could bear. Suddenly

one of the men, in lifting his net, slipped on the smooth bottom of the

boat, jolting one of the oars. There was a gleam of light below as the

school turned--they had all disappeared instanter. We had been so busy

that we had not noticed the dimensions of our catch; but now, to our

great joy, we found that we had at least eight hundred fish nearly as

large as herrings. We at once returned to the ship, having been absent

only two hours, during which we had caught sufficient to provide all

hands with three good meals. Not one of the crew had ever seen or heard

of such fishing before, so my pride and pleasure may be imagined. A

little learning may be a dangerous thing at times, but it certainly

is often handy to have about you. The habit of taking notice

and remembering has often been the means of saving many lives in

suddenly-met situations of emergency, at sea perhaps more than anywhere

else, and nothing can be more useful to a sailor than the practice of

keeping his weather-eye open.

In Barbadoes there is established the only regular flying-fishery in the

world, and in just the manner I have described, except that the boats

are considerably larger, is the whole town supplied with delicious fish

at so trifling a cost as to make it a staple food among all classes.

But I find that I am letting this chapter run to an unconscionable

length, and it does not appear as if we were getting at the southward

very fast either. Truth to tell, our progress was mighty slow; but

we gradually crept across the belt of calms, and a week after our

never-to-be-forgotten haul of flying-fish we got the first of the

south-east trades, and went away south at a good pace--for us. We made

the Island of Trinidada with its strange conical-topped pillar, the

Ninepin Rock, but did not make a call, as the skipper was beginning to

get fidgety at not seeing any whales, and anxious to get down to where

he felt reasonably certain of falling in with them. Life had been

very monotonous of late, and much as we dreaded still the prospect of

whale-fighting (by "we," of course, I mean the chaps forward), it began

to lose much of its terror for us, so greatly did we long for a little

change. Keeping, as we did, out of the ordinary track of ships, we

hardly ever saw a sail. We had no recreations; fun was out of the

question; and had it not been for a Bible, a copy of Shakespeare, and a

couple of cheap copies of "David Copperfield" and "Bleak House," all of

which were mine, we should have had no books.

CHAPTER VIII. ABNER'S WHALE

In a previous chapter I have referred to the fact of a bounty being

offered to whoever should first sight a useful whale, payable only in

the event of the prize being secured by the ship. In consequence of our

ill-success, and to stimulate the watchfulness of all, that bounty was

now increased from ten pounds of tobacco to twenty, or fifteen dollars,

whichever the winner chose to have. Most of us whites regarded this

as quite out of the question for us, whose untrained vision was as the

naked eye to a telescope when pitted against the eagle-like sight of the

Portuguese. Nevertheless, we all did our little best, and I know, for

one, that when I descended from my lofty perch, after a two hours'

vigil, my eyes often ached and burned for an hour afterwards from the

intensity of my gaze across the shining waste of waters.

Judge, then, of the surprise of everybody, when one forenoon watch,

three days after we had lost sight of Trinidada, a most extraordinary

sound was heard from the fore crow's-nest. I was, at the time, up at the

main, in company with Louis, the mate's harpooner, and we stared across

to see whatever was the matter, The watchman was unfortunate Abner

Cushing, whose trivial offence had been so severely punished a short

time before, and he was gesticulating and howling like a madman. Up from

below came the deep growl of the skipper, "Foremast head, there, what

d'ye say?" "B-b-b-blow, s-s-sir," stammered Abner; "a big whale right in

the way of the sun, sir." "See anythin', Louey?" roared the skipper to

my companion, just as we had both "raised" the spout almost in the glare

cast by the sun. "Yessir," answered Louis; "but I kaint make him eout

yet, sir." "All right; keep yer eye on him, and lemme know sharp;" and

away he went aft for his glasses.

The course was slightly altered, so that we headed direct for the whale,

and in less than a minute afterwards we saw distinctly the great black

column of a sperm whale's head rise well above the sea, scattering a

circuit of foam before it, and emitting a bushy, tufted burst of vapour

into the clear air. "There she white-waters! Ah bl-o-o-o-o-o-w, blow,

blow!" sang Louis; and then, in another tone, "Sperm whale, sir; big,

'lone fish, headin' 'beout east-by-nothe." "All right. 'Way down

from aloft," answered the skipper, who was already half-way up the

main-rigging; and like squirrels we slipped out of our hoops and down

the backstays, passing the skipper like a flash as he toiled upwards,

bellowing orders as he went. Short as our journey down had been, when we

arrived on deck we found all ready for a start. But as the whale was

at least seven miles away, and we had a fair wind for him, there was no

hurry to lower, so we all stood at attention by our respective boats,

waiting for the signal. I found, to my surprise, that, although I was

conscious of a much more rapid heart-beat than usual, I was not half so

scared as I expected to be--that the excitement was rather pleasant

than otherwise. There were a few traces of funk about some of the others

still; but as for Abner, he was fairly transformed; I hardly knew the

man. He was one of Goliath's boat's crew, and the big darkey was quite

proud of him. His eyes sparkled, and he chuckled and smiled constantly,

as one who is conscious of having done a grand stroke of business, not

only for himself, but for all hands. "Lower away boats!" came pealing

down from the skipper's lofty perch, succeeded instantly by the rattle

of the patent blocks as the falls flew through them, while the four

beautiful craft took the water with an almost simultaneous splash.

The ship-keepers had trimmed the yards to the wind and hauled up the

courses, so that simply putting the helm down deadened our way, and

allowed the boats to run clear without danger of fouling one another. To

shove off and hoist sail was the work of a few moments, and with a fine

working breeze away we went. As before, our boat, being the chief's,

had the post of honour; but there was now only one whale, and I rather

wondered why we had all left the ship. According to expectations, down

he went when we were within a couple of miles of him, but quietly and

with great dignity, elevating his tail perpendicularly in the air, and

sinking slowly from our view. Again I found Mr. Count talkative.

"Thet whale 'll stay down fifty minutes, I guess," said he, "fer he's

every gill ov a hundred en twenty bar'l; and don't yew fergit it." "Do

the big whales give much more trouble than the little ones?" I asked,

seeing him thus chatty. "Wall, it's jest ez it happens, boy--just ez

it happens. I've seen a fifty-bar'l bull make the purtiest fight I ever

hearn tell ov--a fight thet lasted twenty hours, stove three boats, 'n

killed two men. Then, again, I've seen a hundred 'n fifty bar'l whale

lay 'n take his grooel 'thout hardly wunkin 'n eyelid--never moved ten

fathom from fust iron till fin eout. So yew may say, boy, that they're

like peepul--got thair iudividooal pekyewlyarities, an' thars no

countin' on 'em for sartin nary time." I was in great hopes of getting

some useful information while his mood lasted; but it was over, and

silence reigned. Nor did I dare to ask any more questions; he looked so

stern and fierce. The scene was very striking. Overhead, a bright blue

sky just fringed with fleecy little clouds; beneath, a deep blue sea

with innumerable tiny wavelets dancing and glittering in the blaze of

the sun; but all swayed in one direction by a great, solemn swell that

slowly rolled from east to west, like the measured breathing of some

world-supporting monster. Four little craft in a group, with twenty-four

men in them, silently waiting for battle with one of the mightiest of

God's creatures--one that was indeed a terrible foe to encounter were he

but wise enough to make the best use of his opportunities. Against

him we came with our puny weapons, of which I could not help reminding

myself that "he laugheth at the shaking of a spear." But when the man's

brain was thrown into the scale against the instinct of the brute, the

contest looked less unequal than at first sight, for THERE is the secret

of success. My musings were very suddenly interrupted. Whether we had

overrun our distance, or the whale, who was not "making a passage," but

feeding, had changed his course, I do not know; but, anyhow, he broke

water close ahead, coming straight for our boat. His great black head,

like the broad bow of a dumb barge, driving the waves before it, loomed

high and menacing to me, for I was not forbidden to look ahead now.

But coolly, as if coming alongside the ship, the mate bent to the

big steer-oar, and swung the boat off at right angles to her course,

bringing her back again with another broad sheer as the whale passed

foaming. This manoeuvre brought us side by side with him before he

had time to realize that we were there. Up till that instant he had

evidently not seen us, and his surprise was correspondingly great. To

see Louis raise his harpoon high above his head, and with a hoarse grunt

of satisfaction plunge it into the black, shining mass beside him up to

the hitches, was indeed a sight to be remembered. Quick as thought he

snatched up a second harpoon, and as the whale rolled from us it flew

from his hands, burying itself like the former one, but lower down the

body. The great impetus we had when we reached the whale carried us a

long way past him, out of all danger from his struggles. No hindrance

was experienced from the line by which we were connected with the whale,

for it was loosely coiled in a space for the purpose in the boat's bow

to the extent of two hundred feet, and this was cast overboard by the

harpooner as soon as the fish was fast. He made a fearful to-do over it,

rolling completely over several times backward and forward, at the same

time smiting the sea with his mighty tail, making an almost deafening

noise and pother. But we were comfortable enough, while we unshipped the

mast and made ready for action, being sufficiently far away from him

to escape the full effect of his gambols. It was impossible to avoid

reflecting, however, upon what WOULD happen if, in our unprepared and

so far helpless state, he were, instead of simply tumbling about in an

aimless, blind sort of fury, to rush at the boat and try to destroy it.

Very few indeed would survive such an attack, unless the tactics were

radically altered. No doubt they would be, for practices grow up in

consequence of the circumstances with which they have to deal.

After the usual time spent in furious attempts to free himself from our

annoyance, he betook himself below, leaving us to await his return, and

hasten it as much as possible by keeping a severe strain upon the line.

Our efforts in this direction, however, did not seem to have any effect

upon him at all. Flake after flake ran out of the tubs, until we were

compelled to hand the end of our line to the second mate to splice his

own on to. Still it slipped away, and at last it was handed to the third

mate, whose two tubs met the same fate. It was now Mistah Jones' turn to

"bend on," which he did with many chuckles as of a man who was the last

resource of the unfortunate. But his face grew longer and longer as the

never-resting line continued to disappear. Soon he signalled us that he

was nearly out of line, and two or three minutes after he bent on his

"drogue" (a square piece of plank with a rope tail spliced into its

centre, and considered to hinder a whale's progress at least as much as

four boats), and let go the end. We had each bent on our drogues in the

same way, when we passed our ends to one another. So now our friend was

getting along somewhere below with 7200 feet of 1 1/2-inch rope, and

weight additional equal to the drag of sixteen 30-feet boats.

Of course we knew that, unless he were dead and sinking, he could not

possibly remain much longer beneath the surface. The exhibition of

endurance we had just been favoured with was a very unusual one, I was

told, it being a rare thing for a cachalot to take out two boats' lines

before returning to the surface to spout.

Therefore, we separated as widely as was thought necessary, in order

to be near him on his arrival. It was, as might be imagined, some time

before we saw the light of his countenance; but when we did, we had no

difficulty in getting alongside of him again. My friend Goliath, much

to my delight, got there first, and succeeded in picking up the bight of

the line. But having done so, his chance of distinguishing himself was

gone. Hampered by the immense quantity of sunken line which was attached

to the whale, he could do nothing, and soon received orders to cut the

bight of the line and pass the whale's end to us. He had hardly obeyed,

with a very bad grace, when the whale started off to windward with us at

a tremendous rate. The other boats, having no line, could do nothing to

help, so away we went alone, with barely a hundred fathoms of line, in

case he should take it into his head to sound again. The speed at which

he went made it appear as if a gale of wind was blowing and we flew

along the sea surface, leaping from crest to crest of the waves with

an incessant succession of cracks like pistol-shots. The flying spray

drenched us and prevented us from seeing him, but I fully realized

that it was nothing to what we should have to put up with if the wind

freshened much. One hand was kept bailing the water out which came so

freely over the bows, but all the rest hauled with all their might upon

the line, hoping to get a little closer to the flying monster. Inch

by inch we gained on him, encouraged by the hoarse objurgations of the

mate, whose excitement was intense. After what seemed a terribly long

chase, we found his speed slackening, and we redoubled our efforts. Now

we were close upon him; now, in obedience to the steersman, the boat

sheered out a bit, and we were abreast of his labouring flukes; now the

mate hurls his quivering lance with such hearty good-will that every

inch of its slender shaft disappears within the huge body. "Layoff! Off

with her, Louey!" screamed the mate; and she gave a wide sheer away from

the whale, not a second too soon. Up flew that awful tail, descending

with a crash upon the water not two feet from us. "Out oars! Pull, two!

starn, three!" shouted the mate; and as we obeyed our foe turned to

fight. Then might one see how courage and skill were such mighty factors

in the apparently unequal contest. The whale's great length made it no

easy job for him to turn, while our boat, with two oars a-side, and

the great leverage at the stern supplied by the nineteen-foot steer-oar

circled, backed, and darted ahead like a living thing animated by the

mind of our commander. When the leviathan settled, we gave a wide berth

to his probable place of ascent; when he rushed at us, we dodged him;

when he paused, if only momentarily, in we flew, and got home a fearful

thrust of the deadly lance.

All fear was forgotten now--I panted, thirsted for his life. Once,

indeed, in a sort of frenzy, when for an instant we lay side by side

with him, I drew my sheath-knife, and plunged it repeatedly into the

blubber, as if I were assisting is his destruction. Suddenly the mate

gave a howl: "Starn all--starn all! oh, starn!" and the oars bent like

canes as we obeyed. There was an upheaval of the sea just ahead; then

slowly, majestically, the vast body of our foe rose into the air. Up,

up it went, while my heart stood still, until the whole of that immense

creature hung on high, apparently motionless, and then fell--a

hundred tons of solid flesh--back into the sea. On either side of that

mountainous mass the waters rose in shining towers of snowy foam, which

fell in their turn, whirling and eddying around us as we tossed and fell

like a chip in a whirlpool. Blinded by the flying spray, baling for very

life to free the boat from the water with which she was nearly full,

it was some minutes before I was able to decide whether we were still

uninjured or not. Then I saw, at a little distance, the whale lying

quietly. As I looked he spouted, and the vapour was red with his blood.

"Starn all!" again cried our chief, and we retreated to a considerable

distance. The old warrior's practised eye had detected the coming climax

of our efforts, the dying agony or "furry" of the great mammal. Turning

upon his side, he began to move in a circular direction, slowly at

first, then faster and faster, until he was rushing round at tremendous

speed, his great head raised quite out of water at times, clashing his

enormous jaws. Torrents of blood poured from his spout-hole, accompanied

by hoarse bellowings, as of some gigantic bull, but really caused by the

labouring breath trying to pass through the clogged air passages. The

utmost caution and rapidity of manipulation of the boat was necessary to

avoid his maddened rush, but this gigantic energy was short-lived. In a

few minutes he subsided slowly in death, his mighty body reclined on one

side, the fin uppermost waving limply as he rolled to the swell, while

the small waves broke gently over the carcass in a low, monotonous surf,

intensifying the profound silence that had succeeded the tumult of

our conflict with the late monarch of the deep. Hardly had the flurry

ceased, when we hauled up alongside of our hard-won prize, in order to

secure a line to him in a better manner than at present for hauling

him to the ship. This was effected by cutting a hole through the tough,

gristly substance of the flukes with the short "boat-spade," carried for

the purpose. The end of the line, cut off from the faithful harpoon that

had held it so long, was then passed through this hole and made fast.

This done, it was "Smoke-oh!" The luxury of that rest and refreshment

was something to be grateful for, coming, as it did, in such complete

contrast to our recent violent exertions.

The ship was some three or four miles off to leeward, so we reckoned she

would take at least an hour and a half to work up to us. Meanwhile, our

part of the performance being over, and well over, we thoroughly enjoyed

ourselves, lazily rocking on the gentle swell by the side of a catch

worth at least L800. During the conflict I had not noticed

what now claimed attention--several great masses of white,

semi-transparent-looking substance floating about, of huge size and

irregular shape. But one of these curious lumps came floating by as we

lay, tugged at by several fish, and I immediately asked the mate if he

could tell me what it was and where it came from. He told me that, when

dying, the cachalot always ejected the contents of his stomach, which

were invariably composed of such masses as we saw before us; that he

believed the stuff to be portions of big cuttle-fish, bitten off by the

whale for the purpose of swallowing, but he wasn't sure. Anyhow, I could

haul this piece alongside now, if I liked, and see. Secretly wondering

at the indifference shown by this officer of forty years' whaling

experience to such a wonderful fact as appeared to be here presented,

I thanked him, and, sticking the boat-hook into the lump, drew it

alongside. It was at once evident that it was a massive fragment of

cuttle-fish--tentacle or arm--as thick as a stout man's body, and with

six or seven sucking-discs or ACETABULA on it. These were about as large

as a saucer, and on their inner edge were thickly set with hooks or

claws all round the rim, sharp as needles, and almost the shape and size

of a tiger's.

To what manner of awful monster this portion of limb belonged, I could

only faintly imagine; but of course I remembered, as any sailor would,

that from my earliest sea-going I had been told that the cuttle-fish was

the biggest in the sea, although I never even began to think it might be

true until now. I asked the mate if he had ever seen such creatures as

this piece belonged to alive and kicking. He answered, languidly, "Wall,

I guess so; but I don't take any stock in fish, 'cept for provisions

er ile--en that's a fact." It will be readily believed that I vividly

recalled this conversation when, many years after, I read an account by

the Prince of Monaco of HIS discovery of a gigantic squid, to which

his naturalist gave the name of LEPIDOTEUTHIS GRIMALDII! Truly the

indifference and apathy manifested by whalers generally to everything

except commercial matters is wonderful--hardly to be credited. However,

this was a mighty revelation to me. For the first time, it was possible

to understand that, contrary to the usual notion of a whale's being

unable to swallow a herring, here was a kind of whale that could

swallow--well, a block four or five feet square apparently; who lived

upon creatures as large as himself, if one might judge of their bulk by

the sample to hand; but being unable, from only possessing teeth in one

jaw, to masticate his food, was compelled to tear it in sizable pieces,

bolt it whole, and leave his commissariat department to do the rest.

While thus ruminating, the mate and Louis began a desultory conversation

concerning what they termed "ambergrease." I had never even heard

the word before, although I had a notion that Milton, in "Paradise

Regained," describing the Satanic banquet, had spoken of something

being "grisamber steamed." They could by no means agree as to what this

mysterious substance was, how it was produced, or under what conditions.

They knew that it was sometimes found floating near the dead body of a

sperm whale--the mate, in fact, stated that he had taken it once from

the rectum of a cachalot--and they were certain that it was of great

value--from one to three guineas per ounce. When I got to know more of

the natural history of the sperm whale, and had studied the literature

of the subject, I was so longer surprised at their want of agreement,

since the learned doctors who have written upon the subject do not seem

to have come to definite conclusions either.

By some it is supposed to be the product of a diseased condition of the

creature; others consider that it is merely the excreta, which, normally

fluid, has by some means become concreted. It is nearly always found

with cuttle-fish beaks imbedded in its substance, showing that these

indigestible portions of the sperm whale's food have in some manner

become mixed with it during its formation in the bowel. Chemists have

analyzed it with scanty results. Its great value is due to its property

of intensifying the power of perfumes, although, strange to say, it

has little or no odour of its own, a faint trace of musk being perhaps

detectable in some cases. The Turks are said to use it for a truly

Turkish purpose, which need not be explained here, while the Moors are

credited with a taste for it in their cookery. About both these latter

statements there is considerable doubt; I only give them for what they

are worth, without, committing myself to any definite belief in them.

The ship now neared us fast, and as soon as she rounded-to, we left

the whale and pulled towards her, paying out line as we went. Arriving

alongside, the line was handed on board, and in a short time the prize

was hauled to the gangway. We met with a very different reception this

time. The skipper's grim face actually looked almost pleasant as he

contemplated the colossal proportions of the latest addition to our

stock. He was indeed a fine catch, being at least seventy feet long,

and in splendid condition. As soon as he was secured alongside in the

orthodox fashion, all hands were sent to dinner, with an intimation to

look sharp over it. Judging from our slight previous experience, there

was some heavy labour before us, for this whale was nearly four times as

large as the one caught off the Cape Verds. And it was so. Verily those

officers toiled like Titans to get that tremendous head off even the

skipper taking a hand. In spite of their efforts, it was dark before the

heavy job was done. As we were in no danger of bad weather, the head

was dropped astern by a hawser until morning, when it would be safer

to dissect it. All that night we worked incessantly, ready to drop with

fatigue, but not daring to suggest, the possibility of such a thing.

Several of the officers and harpooners were allowed a few hours off,

as their special duty of dealing with the head at daylight would be so

arduous as to need all their energies. When day dawned we were allowed a

short rest, while the work of cutting up the head was undertaken by the

rested men. At seven bells (7.30) it was "turn to" all hands again. The

"junk" was hooked on to both cutting tackles, and the windlass manned by

everybody who could get hold. Slowly the enormous mass rose, canting the

ship heavily as it came, while every stick and rope aloft complained of

the great strain upon them. When at last it was safely shipped, and

the tackles cast off, the size of this small portion of a full-grown

cachalot's body could be realized, not before.

It was hauled from the gangway by tackles, and securely lashed to the

rail running round beneath the top of the bulwarks for that purpose--the

"lash-rail"--where the top of it towered up as high as the third ratline

of the main-rigging. Then there was another spell, while the "case" was

separated from the skull. This was too large to get on board, so it was

lifted half-way out of water by the tackles, one hooked on each side;

then they were made fast, and a spar rigged across them at a good

height above the top of the case. A small block was lashed to this spar,

through which a line was rove. A long, narrow bucket was attached to

one end of this rope; the other end on deck was attended by two men. One

unfortunate beggar was perched aloft on the above-mentioned spar, where

his position, like the main-yard of Marryatt's verbose carpenter was

"precarious and not at all permanent." He was provided with a pole, with

which he pushed the bucket down through a hole cut in the upper end

of the "case," whence it was drawn out by the chaps on deck full of

spermaceti. It was a weary, unsatisfactory process, wasting a great

deal of the substance being baled out; but no other way was apparently

possible. The grease blew about, drenching most of us engaged in an

altogether unpleasant fashion, while, to mend matters, the old barky

began to roll and tumble about in an aimless, drunken sort of way, the

result of a new cross swell rolling up from the south-westward. As the

stuff was gained, it was poured into large tanks in the blubber-room,

the quantity being too great to be held by the try-pots at once.

Twenty-five barrels of this clear, wax-like substance were baled from

that case; and when at last it was lowered a little, and cut away from

its supports, it was impossible to help thinking that much was still

remaining within which we, with such rude means, were unable to save.

Then came the task of cutting up the junk. Layer after layer, eight to

ten inches thick, was sliced off, cut into suitable pieces, and passed

into the tanks. So full was the matter of spermaceti that one could

take a piece as large as one's head in the hands, and squeeze it like a

sponge, expressing the spermaceti in showers, until nothing remained

but a tiny ball of fibre. All this soft, pulpy mass was held together by

walls of exceedingly tough, gristly integrument ("white horse"), which

was as difficult to cut as gutta-percha, and, but for the peculiar

texture, not at all unlike it.

When we had finished separating the junk, there was nearly a foot of oil

on deck in the waist, and uproarious was the laughter when some hapless

individual, losing his balance, slid across the deck and sat down with a

loud splash in the deepest part of the accumulation.

The lower jaw of this whale measured exactly nineteen feet in length

from the opening of the mouth, or, say the last of the teeth, to the

point, and carried twenty-eight teeth on each side. For the time, it was

hauled aft out of the way, and secured to the lash-rail. The subsequent

proceedings were just the same as before described, only more so. For a

whole week our labours continued, and when they were over we had stowed

below a hundred and forty-six barrels of mingled oil and spermaceti, or

fourteen and a half tuns.

It was really a pleasant sight to see Abner receiving as if being

invested with an order of merit, the twenty pounds of tobacco to which

he was entitled. Poor fellow! he felt as if at last he were going to be

thought a little of, and treated a little better. He brought his bounty

forrard, and shared it out as far as it would go with the greatest

delight and good nature possible. Whatever he might have been thought of

aft, certainly, for the time, he was a very important personage forrard;

even the Portuguese, who were inclined to be jealous of what they

considered an infringement of their rights, were mollified by the

generosity shown.

After every sign of the operations had been cleared away, the jaw was

brought out, and the teeth extracted with a small tackle. They were set

solidly into a hard white gum, which had to be cut away all around them

before they would come out. When cleaned of the gum, they were headed up

in a small barrel of brine. The great jaw-pans were sawn off, and placed

at the disposal of anybody who wanted pieces of bone for "scrimshaw," or

carved work. This is a very favourite pastime on board whalers, though,

in ships such as ours, the crew have little opportunity for doing

anything, hardly any leisure during daylight being allowed. But our

carpenter was a famous workman at "scrimshaw," and he started half a

dozen walking-sticks forthwith. A favourite design is to carve the bone

into the similitude of a rope, with "worming" of smaller line along its

lays. A handle is carved out of a whale's tooth, and insets of baleen,

silver, cocoa-tree, or ebony, give variety and finish. The tools used

are of the roughest. Some old files, softened in the fire, and filed

into grooves something like saw-teeth, are most used; but old knives,

sail-needles, and chisels are pressed into service. The work turned

out would, in many cases, take a very high place in an exhibition of

turnery, though never a lathe was near it. Of course, a long time is

taken over it, especially the polishing, which is done with oil and

whiting, if it can be got--powdered pumice if it cannot. I once had

an elaborate pastry-cutter carved out of six whale's teeth, which I

purchased for a pound of tobacco from a seaman of the CORAL whaler,

and afterwards sold in Dunedin, New Zealand, for L2 10s., the purchaser

being decidedly of opinion that he had a bargain.

CHAPTER IX. OUR FIRST CALLING-PLACE

Perhaps it may hastily be assumed, from the large space already devoted

to fishing operations of various kinds, that the subject will not bear

much more dealing with, if my story is to avoid being monotonous. But I

beg to assure you, dear reader, that while of course I have most to say

in connection with the business of the voyage, nothing is farther from

my plan than to neglect the very interesting portion of our cruise

which relates to visiting strange, out-of-the-way corners of the world.

If--which I earnestly deprecate--the description hitherto given of sperm

whale-fishing and its adjuncts be found not so interesting as could be

wished, I cry you mercy. I have been induced to give more space to

it because it has been systematically avoided in the works upon

whale-fishing before mentioned, which, as I have said, were not intended

for popular reading. True, neither may my humble tome become popular

either; but, if it does not, no one will be so disappointed as the

author.

We had made but little progress during the week of oil manufacture, very

little attention being paid to the sails while that work was about; but,

as the south-east trades blew steadily, we did not remain stationary

altogether. So that the following week saw us on the south side of the

tropic of Capricorn, the south-east trade done, and the dirty weather

and variable squalls, which nearly always precede the "westerlies,"

making our lives a burden to us. Here, however, we were better off than

in an ordinary merchantman, where doldrums are enough to drive you

mad. The one object being to get along, it is incessant "pully-hauly,"

setting and taking in sail, in order, on the one hand, to lose no time,

and, on the other, to lose no sails. Now, with us, whenever the weather

was doubtful or squally-looking, we shortened sail, and kept it fast

till better weather came along, being quite careless whether we made one

mile a day or one hundred. But just because nobody took any notice of

our progress as the days passed, we were occasionally startled to find

how far we had really got. This was certainly the case with all of us

forward, even to me who had some experience, so well used had I now

become to the leisurely way of getting along. To the laziest of ships,

however, there comes occasionally a time when the bustling, hurrying

wind will take no denial, and you've got to "git up an' git," as the

Yanks put it. Such a time succeeded our "batterfanging" about, after

losing the trades. We got hold of a westerly wind that, commencing

quietly, gently, steadily, taking two or three days before it gathered

force and volume, strengthened at last into a stern, settled gale that

would brook no denial, to face which would have been misery indeed. To

vessels bound east it came as a boon and blessing, for it would be a

crawler that could not reel off her two hundred and fifty miles a day

before the push of such a breeze. Even the CACHALOT did her one hundred

and fifty, pounding and bruising the ill-used sea in her path, and

spreading before her broad bows a far-reaching area of snowy foam, while

her wake was as wide as any two ordinary ships ought to make. Five or

six times a day the flying East India or colonial-bound English ships,

under every stitch of square sail, would appear as tiny specks on the

horizon astern, come up with us, pass like a flash, and fade away ahead,

going at least two knots to our one. I could not help feeling a bit

home-sick and tired of my present surroundings, in spite of their

interest, when I saw those beautiful ocean-flyers devouring the distance

which lay before them, and reflected that in little more than one month

most of them would be discharging in Melbourne, Sydney, Calcutta, or

some other equally distant port, while we should probably be dodging

about in our present latitude a little farther east.

After a few days of our present furious rate of speed, I came on deck

one morning, and instantly recognized an old acquaintance. Right ahead,

looking nearer than I had ever seen it before, rose the towering mass of

Tristan d'Acunha, while farther away, but still visible, lay Nightingale

and Inaccessible Islands. Their aspect was familiar, for I had sighted

them on nearly every voyage I had made round the Cape, but I had never

seen them so near as this. There was a good deal of excitement among

us, and no wonder. Such a break in the monotony of our lives as we were

about to have was enough to turn our heads. Afterwards, we learned to

view these matters in a more philosophic light; but now, being new and

galled by the yoke, it was a different thing. Near as the island seemed,

it was six hours before we got near enough to distinguish objects on

shore. I have seen the top of Tristan peeping through a cloud nearly

a hundred miles away, for its height is tremendous. St. Helena looks

a towering, scowling mass when you approach it closely but Tristan

d'Acunha is far more imposing, its savage-looking cliffs seeming to

sternly forbid the venturesome voyager any nearer familiarity with their

frowning fastnesses. Long before we came within working distance of the

settlement, we were continually passing broad patches of kelp (FUCUS

GIGANTEA), whose great leaves and cable-laid stems made quite reef-like

breaks in the heaving waste of restless sea. Very different indeed were

these patches of marine growth from the elegant wreaths of the Gulf-weed

with which parts of the North Atlantic are so thickly covered. Their

colour was deep brown, almost black is some cases, and the size of many

of the leaves amazing, being four to five feet long, by a foot wide,

with stalks as thick as one's arm. They have their origin around these

storm-beaten rocks, which lie scattered thinly over the immense area of

the Southern Ocean, whence they are torn, in masses like those we saw,

by every gale, and sent wandering round the world.

When we arrived within about three miles of the landing-place, we saw

a boat coming off, so we immediately hove-to and awaited her arrival.

There was no question of anchoring; indeed, there seldom is in these

vessels, unless they are going to make a long stay, for they are past

masters in the art of "standing off and on." The boat came alongside--a

big, substantially-built craft of the whale-boat type, but twice the

size--manned by ten sturdy-looking fellows, as unkempt and wild-looking

as any pirates. They were evidently put to great straits for clothes,

many curious makeshifts being noticeable in their rig, while it was so

patched with every conceivable kind of material that it was impossible

to say which was the original or "standing part." They brought with them

potatoes, onions, a few stunted cabbages, some fowls, and a couple of

good-sized pigs, at the sight of which good things our eyes glistened

and our mouths watered. Alas! none of the cargo of that boat ever

reached OUR hungry stomachs. We were not surprised, having anticipated

that every bit of provision would be monopolized by our masters; but of

course we had no means of altering such a state of things.

The visitors had the same tale to tell that seems universal--bad trade,

hard times, nothing doing. How very familiar it seemed, to be

sure. Nevertheless, it could not be denied that their sole means of

communication with the outer world, as well as market for their goods,

the calling whale-ships, were getting fewer and fewer every year; so

that their outlook was not, it must be confessed, particularly bright.

But their wants are few, beyond such as they can themselves supply.

Groceries and clothes, the latter especially, as the winters are very

severe, are almost the only needs they require to be supplied with from

without. They spoke of the "Cape" as if it were only across the way, the

distance separating them from that wonderful place being over thirteen

hundred miles in reality. Very occasionally a schooner from Capetown

does visit them; but, as the seals are almost exterminated, there is

less and less inducement to make the voyage.

Like almost all the southern islets, this group has been in its time the

scene of a wonderfully productive seal-fishery. It used to be customary

for whaling and sealing vessels to land a portion of their crews, and

leave them to accumulate a store of seal-skins and oil, while the

ships cruised the surrounding seas for whales, which were exceedingly

numerous, both "right" and sperm varieties. In those days there was no

monotony of existence in these islands, ships were continually coming

and going, and the islanders prospered exceedingly. When they increased

beyond the capacity of the islands to entertain them, a portion migrated

to the Cape, while many of the men took service in the whale-ships, for

which they were eminently suited.

They are, as might be expected, a hybrid lot, the women all mulattoes,

but intensely English in their views and loyalty. Since the visit of

H.M.S. GALATEA, in August, 1867, with the Duke of Edinburgh on board,

this sentiment had been intensified, and the little collection of

thatched cottages, nameless till then, was called Edinburgh, in honour

of the illustrious voyager. They breed cattle, a few sheep, and pigs,

although the sheep thrive but indifferently for some reason or another.

Poultry they have in large numbers, so that, could they commend a

market, they would do very well.

The steep cliffs, rising from the sea for nearly a thousand feet, often

keep their vicinity in absolute calm, although a heavy gale may be

raging on the other side of the island, and it would be highly dangerous

for any navigator not accustomed to such a neighbourhood to get too

near them. The immense rollers setting inshore, and the absence of wind

combined, would soon carry a vessel up against the beetling crags,

and letting go an anchor would not be of the slightest use, since the

bottom, being of massive boulders, affords no holding ground at all. All

round the island the kelp grows thickly, so thickly indeed as to make a

boat's progress through it difficult. This, however, is very useful in

one way here, as we found. Wanting more supplies, which were to be had

cheap, we lowered a couple of boats, and went ashore after them. On

approaching the black, pebbly beach which formed the only landing-place,

it appeared as if getting ashore would be a task of no ordinary danger

and difficulty. The swell seemed to culminate as we neared the beach,

lifting the boats at one moment high in air, and at the next lowering

them into a green valley, from whence nothing could be seen but the

surrounding watery summits. Suddenly we entered the belt of kelp,

which extended for perhaps a quarter of a mile seaward, and, lo! a

transformation indeed. Those loose, waving fronds of flexible weed,

though swayed hither and thither by every ripple, were able to arrest

the devastating rush of the gigantic swell, so that the task of landing,

which had looked so terrible, was one of the easiest. Once in among the

kelp, although we could hardly use the oars, the water was quite smooth

and tranquil. The islanders collected on the beach, and guided us to the

best spot for landing, the huge boulders, heaped in many places, being

ugly impediments to a boat.

We were as warmly welcomed as if we had been old friends, and hospitable

attentions were showered upon us from every side. The people were

noticeably well-behaved, and, although there was something Crusoe-like

in their way of living, their manners and conversation were distinctly

good. A rude plenty was evident, there being no lack of good food--fish,

fowl, and vegetables. The grassy plateau on which the village stands is

a sort of shelf jutting out from the mountain-side, the mountain being

really the whole island. Steep roads were hewn out of the solid rock,

leading, as we were told, to the cultivated terraces above. These

reached an elevation of about a thousand feet. Above all towered the

great, dominating peak, the summit lost in the clouds eight or nine

thousand feet above. The rock-hewn roads and cultivated land certainly

gave the settlement an old-established appearance, which was not

surprising seeing that it has been inhabited for more than a hundred

years. I shall always bear a grateful recollection of the place,

because my host gave me what I had long been a stranger to--a good,

old-fashioned English dinner of roast beef and baked potatoes. He

apologized for having no plum-pudding to crown the feast. "But, you

see," he said, "we kaint grow no corn hyar, and we'm clean run out

ov flour; hev ter make out on taters 's best we kin." I sincerely

sympathized with him on the lack of bread-stuff among them, and wondered

no longer at the avidity with which they had munched our flinty biscuits

on first coming aboard. His wife, a buxom, motherly woman of about

fifty, of dark, olive complexion, but good features, was kindness

itself; and their three youngest children, who were at home, could not,

in spite of repeated warnings and threats, keep their eyes off me, as

if I had been some strange animal dropped from the moon. I felt very

unwilling to leave them so soon, but time was pressing, the stores we

had come for were all ready to ship, and I had to tear myself away from

these kindly entertainers. I declare, it seemed like parting with old

friends; yet our acquaintance might have been measured by minutes, so

brief it had been. The mate had purchased a fine bullock, which had been

slaughtered and cut up for us with great celerity, four or five dozen

fowls (alive), four or five sacks of potatoes, eggs, etc., so that we

were heavily laden for the return journey to the ship. My friend had

kindly given me a large piece of splendid cheese, for which I was

unable to make him any return, being simply clad in a shirt and pair of

trousers, neither of which necessary garments could be spared.

With hearty cheers from the whole population, we shoved off and ploughed

through the kelp seaweed again. When we got clear of it, we found the

swell heavier than when we had come, and a rough journey back to the

ship was the result. But, to such boatmen as we were, that was a trifle

hardly worth mentioning, and after an hour's hard pull we got

alongside again, and transhipped our precious cargo. The weather being

threatening, we at once hauled off the land and out to sea, as night was

falling and we did not wish to be in so dangerous a vicinity any longer

than could be helped in stormy weather. Altogether, a most enjoyable

day, and one that I have ever since had a pleasant recollection of.

By daybreak next morning the islands were out of sight, for the wind had

risen to a gale, which, although we carried little sail, drove us along

before it some seven or eight knots an hour.

Two days afterwards we caught another whale of medium size, making us

fifty-four barrels of oil. As nothing out of the ordinary course marked

the capture, it is unnecessary to do more than allude to it in passing,

except to note that the honours were all with Goliath. He happened to be

close to the whale when it rose, and immediately got fast. So dexterous

and swift were his actions that before any of the other boats could

"chip in" he had his fish "fin out," the whole affair from start to

finish only occupying a couple of hours. We were now in the chosen

haunts of the great albatross, Cape pigeons, and Cape hens, but never in

my life had I imagined such a concourse of them as now gathered around

us. When we lowered there might have been perhaps a couple of dozen

birds in sight, but no sooner was the whale dead than from out of the

great void around they began to drift towards us. Before we had got him

fast alongside, the numbers of that feathered host were incalculable.

They surrounded us until the sea surface was like a plain of snow,

and their discordant cries were deafening. With the exception of one

peculiar-looking bird, which has received from whalemen the inelegant

name of "stinker," none of them attempted to alight upon the body of the

dead monster. This bird, however, somewhat like a small albatross,

but of dirty-grey colour, and with a peculiar excrescence on his beak,

boldly took his precarious place upon the carcase, and at once began to

dig into the blubber. He did not seem to make much impression, but he

certainly tried hard.

It was dark before we got our prize secured by the fluke-chain, so that

we could not commence operations before morning. That night it blew

hard, and we got an idea of the strain these vessels are sometimes

subjected to. Sometimes the ship rolled one way and the whale another,

being divided by a big sea, the wrench at the fluke-chain, as the two

masses fell apart down different hollows, making the vessel quiver from

truck to keelson as if she was being torn asunder. Then we would come

together again with a crash and a shock that almost threw everybody

out of their bunks. Many an earnest prayer did I breathe that the chain

would prove staunch, for what sort of a job it would be to go after

that whale during the night, should he break loose, I could only

faintly imagine. But all our gear was of the very best; no thieving

ship-chandler had any hand in supplying our outfit with shoddy rope and

faulty chain, only made to sell, and ready at the first call made upon

it to carry away and destroy half a dozen valuable lives. There was one

coil of rope on board which the skipper had bought for cordage on the

previous voyage from a homeward-bound English ship, and it was the butt

of all the officers' scurrilous remarks about Britishers and their

gear. It was never used but for rope-yarns, being cut up in lengths, and

untwisted for the ignominious purpose of tying things up--"hardly good

enough for that," was the verdict upon it.

Tired as we all were, very little sleep came to us that night--we were

barely seasoned yet to the exigencies of a whaler's life--but afterwards

I believe nothing short of dismasting or running the ship ashore would

wake us, once we got to sleep. In the morning we commenced operations

in a howling gale of wind, which placed the lives of the officers on the

"cutting in" stage in great danger. The wonderful seaworthy qualities

of our old ship shone brilliantly now. When an ordinary modern-built

sailing-ship would have been making such weather of it as not only to

drown anybody about the deck, but making it impossible to keep your

footing anywhere without holding on, we were enabled to cut in this

whale. True, the work was terribly exhausting and decidedly dangerous,

but it was not impossible, for it was done. By great care and constant

attention, the whole work of cutting in and trying out was got through

without a single accident; but had another whale turned up to continue

the trying time, I am fully persuaded that some of us would have gone

under from sheer fatigue. For there was no mercy shown. All that I have

ever read of "putting the slaves through for all they were worth" on the

plantations was fully realized here, and our worthy skipper must have

been a lineal descendent of the doughty Simon Legree.

The men were afraid to go on to the sick-list. Nothing short of total

inability to continue would have prevented them from working, such was

the terror with which that man had inspired us all. It may be said that

we were a pack of cowards, who, without the courage to demand better

treatment, deserved all we got. While admitting that such a conclusion

is quite a natural one at which to arrive, I must deny its truth. There

were men in that forecastle as good citizens and as brave fellows as you

would wish to meet--men who in their own sphere would have commanded and

obtained respect. But under the painful and abnormal circumstances in

which they found themselves--beaten and driven like dogs while in the

throes of sea-sickness, half starved and hopeless, their spirit had been

so broken, and they were so kept down to that sad level by the display

of force, aided by deadly weapons aft, that no other condition could

be expected for them but that of broken-hearted slaves. My own case

was many degrees better than that of the other whites, as I have before

noted; but I was perfectly well aware that the slightest attempt on my

part to show that I resented our common treatment would meet with the

most brutal repression, and, in addition, I might look for a dreadful

time of it for the rest of the voyage.

The memory of that week of misery is so strong upon me even now that my

hand trembles almost to preventing me from writing about it. Weak and

feeble do the words seem as I look at them, making me wish for the fire

and force of Carlyle or Macaulay to portray our unnecessary sufferings.

Like all other earthly ills, however, they came to an end, at least

for a time, and I was delighted to note that we were getting to the

northward again. In making the outward passage round the Cape, it is

necessary to go well south, in order to avoid the great westerly set of

the Agulhas current, which for ever sweeps steadily round the southern

extremity of the African continent at an average rate of three or four

miles an hour. To homeward-bound ships this is a great boon. No matter

what the weather may be--a stark calm or a gale of wind right on end in

your teeth--that vast, silent river in the sea steadily bears you on at

the same rate in the direction of home. It is perfectly true that with

a gale blowing across the set of this great current, one of the very

ugliest combinations of broken waves is raised; but who cares for that,

when he knows that, as long as the ship holds together, some seventy or

eighty miles per day nearer home must be placed to her credit? In like

manner, it is of the deepest comfort to know that, storm or calm, fair

or foul, the current of time, unhasting, unresting, bears us on to the

goal that we shall surely reach--the haven of unbroken rest.

Not the least of the minor troubles on board the CACHALOT was the

uncertainty of our destination; we never knew where we were going.

It may seem a small point, but it is really not so unimportant as a

landsman might imagine. On an ordinary passage, certain well-known signs

are as easily read by the seaman as if the ship's position were given

out to him every day. Every alteration of the course signifies some

point of the journey reached, some well-known track entered upon, and

every landfall made becomes a new departure from whence to base one's

calculations, which, rough as they are, rarely err more than a few days.

Say, for instance, you are bound for Calcutta. The first of the

north-east trades will give a fair idea of your latitude being about the

edge of the tropics somewhere, or say from 20deg. to 25deg. N., whether

you have sighted any of the islands or not. Then away you go before the

wind down towards the Equator, the approach to which is notified by the

loss of the trade and the dirty, changeable weather of the "doldrums."

That weary bit of work over, along come the south-east trades, making

you brace "sharp up," and sometimes driving you uncomfortably near the

Brazilian coast. Presently more "doldrums," with a good deal more

wind in them than in the "wariables" of the line latitude. The brave

"westerly" will come along by-and-by and release you, and, with a

staggering press of sail carried to the reliable gale, away you go for

the long stretch of a hundred degrees or so eastward. You will very

likely sight Tristan d'Acunha or Gough Island; but, if not, the course

will keep you fairly well informed of your longitude, since most ships

make more or less of a great circle track. Instead of steering due East

for the whole distance, they make for some southerly latitude by running

along the arc of a great circle, THEN run due east for a thousand miles

or so before gradually working north again. These alterations in the

courses tell the foremast hand nearly all he wants to know, slight as

they are. You will most probably sight Amsterdam Island or St. Paul's in

about 77deg. E.; but whether you do or not, the big change made in the

course, to say nothing of the difference in the weather and temperature,

say loudly that your long easterly run is over, and you are bound to

the northward again. Soon the south-east trades will take you gently

in hand, and waft you pleasurably upward to the line again, unless you

should be so unfortunate as to meet one of the devastating meteors known

as "cyclones" in its gyration across the Indian Ocean. After losing the

trade, which signals your approach to the line once more, your guides

fluctuate muchly with the time of year. But it may be broadly put

that the change of the monsoon in the Bay of Bengal is beastliness

unadulterated, and the south-west monsoon itself, though a fair wind for

getting to your destination, is worse, if possible. Still, having got

that far, you are able to judge pretty nearly when, in the ordinary

course of events, you will arrive at Saugor, and get a tug for the rest

of the journey.

But on this strange voyage I was quite as much in the dark concerning

our approximate position as any of the chaps who had never seen salt

water before they viewed it from the bad eminence of the CACHALOT's

deck. Of course, it was evident that we were bound eastward, but whether

to the Indian seas or to the South Pacific, none knew but the skipper,

and perhaps the mate. I say "perhaps" advisedly. In any well-regulated

merchant ship there is an invariable routine of observations performed

by both captain and chief officer, except in very big vessels, where the

second mate is appointed navigating officer. The two men work out their

reckoning independently of each other, and compare the result, so that

an excellent check upon the accuracy of the positions found is

thereby afforded. Here, however, there might not have been, as far as

appearances went, a navigator in the ship except the captain, if it be

not a misuse of terms to call him a navigator. If the test be ability

to take a ship round the world, poking into every undescribed,

out-of-the-way corner you can think of, and return home again without

damage to the ship of any kind except by the unavoidable perils of

the sea, then doubtless he WAS a navigator, and a ripe, good one. But

anything cruder than the "rule-of-thumb" way in which he found his

positions, or more out of date than his "hog-yoke," or quadrant, I have

never seen. I suppose we carried a chronometer, though I never saw it or

heard the cry of "stop," which usually accompanies a.m. or p.m. "sights"

taken for longitude. He used sometimes to make a deliberate sort of

haste below after taking a sight, when he may have been looking at a

chronometer perhaps. What I do know about his procedure is, that he

always used a very rough method of equal altitudes, which would make a

mathematician stare and gasp; that his nautical almanac was a ten-cent

one published by some speculative optician is New York; that he never

worked up a "dead reckoning;" and that the extreme limit of time that

he took to work out his observations was ten minutes. In fact, all

our operations in seamanship or navigation were run on the same

happy-go-lucky principle. If it was required to "tack" ship, there was

no formal parade and preparation for the manoeuvre, not even as much as

would be made in a Goole billy-boy. Without any previous intimation,

the helm would be put down, and round she would come, the yards being

trimmed by whoever happened to be nearest to the braces. The old tub

seemed to like it that way, for she never missed stays or exhibited

any of that unwillingness to do what she was required that is such a

frequent characteristic of merchantmen. Even getting under way or coming

to an anchor was unattended by any of the fuss and bother from which

those important evolutions ordinarily appear inseparable.

To my great relief we saw no more whales of the kind we were after

during our passage round the Cape. The weather we were having was

splendid for making a passage, but to be dodging about among those

immense rollers, or towed athwart them by a wounded whale in so small

a craft as one of our whale-boats, did not have any attractions for me.

There was little doubt in any of our minds that, if whales were seen,

off we must go while daylight lasted, let the weather be what it might.

So when one morning I went to the wheel, to find the course N.N.E.

instead of E. by N., it may be taken for granted that the change was

a considerable relief to me. It was now manifest that we were bound up

into the Indian Ocean, although of course I knew nothing of the position

of the districts where whales were to be looked for. Gradually we crept

northward, the weather improving every day as we left the "roaring

forties" astern. While thus making northing we had several fine catches

of porpoises, and saw many rorquals, but sperm whales appeared to have

left the locality. However, the "old man" evidently knew what he was

about, as we were not now cruising, but making a direct passage for some

definite place.

At last we sighted land, which, from the course which we had been

steering, might have been somewhere on the east coast of Africa, but

for the fact that it was right ahead, while we were pointing at the

time about N.N.W. By-and-by I came to the conclusion that it must be

the southern extremity of Madagascar, Cape St. Mary, and, by dint of the

closest, attention to every word I heard uttered while at the wheel by

the officers, found that my surmise was correct. We skirted this point

pretty closely, heading to the westward, and, when well clear of it,

bore up to the northward, again for the Mozambique Channel. Another

surprise. The very idea of WHALING in the Mozambique Channel seemed

too ridiculous to mention; yet here we were, guided by a commander

who, whatever his faults, was certainly most keen in his attention to

business, and the unlikeliest man imaginable to take the ship anywhere

unless he anticipated a profitable return for his visit.

CHAPTER X. A VISIT TO SOME STRANGE PLACES

We had now entered upon what promised to be the most interesting part of

our voyage. As a commercial speculation, I have to admit that the voyage

was to me a matter of absolute indifference. Never, from the first week

of my being on board, had I cherished any illusions upon that score, for

it was most forcibly impressed on my mind that, whatever might be the

measure of success attending our operations, no one of the crew forward

could hope to benefit by it. The share of profits was so small, and the

time taken to earn it so long, such a number of clothes were worn out

and destroyed by us, only to be replaced from the ship's slop-chest at

high prices, that I had quite resigned myself to the prospect of leaving

the vessel in debt, whenever that desirable event might happen. Since,

therefore, I had never made it a practice to repine at the inevitable,

and make myself unhappy by the contemplation of misfortunes I was

powerless to prevent, I tried to interest myself as far as was possible

in gathering information, although at that time I had no idea, beyond a

general thirst for knowledge, that what I was now learning would ever

be of any service to me. Yet I had been dull indeed not to have seen how

unique were the opportunities I was now enjoying for observation of some

of the least known and understood aspects of the ocean world and its

wonderful inhabitants, to say nothing of visits to places unvisited,

except by such free lances as we were, and about which so little is

really known.

The weather of the Mozambique Channel was fairly good, although subject

to electric storms of the most terrible aspect, but perfectly harmless.

On the second evening after rounding Cape St. Mary, we were proceeding,

as usual, under very scanty sail, rather enjoying the mild, balmy

air, scent-laden, from Madagascar. The moon was shining in tropical

splendour, paling the lustre of the attendant stars, and making the

glorious Milky Way but a faint shadow of its usual resplendent road.

Gradually from the westward there arose a murky mass of cloud, fringed

at its upper edges with curious tinted tufts of violet, orange, and

crimson. These colours were not brilliant, but plainly visible against

the deep blue sky. Slowly and solemnly the intruding gloom overspread

the sweet splendour of the shining sky, creeping like a death-shadow

over a dear face, and making the most talkative feel strangely quiet and

ill at ease. As the pall of thick darkness blotted out the cool light,

it seemed to descend until at last we were completely over-canopied by

a dome of velvety black, seemingly low enough to touch the mast-heads.

A belated sea-bird's shrill scream but emphasized the deep silence

which lent itself befittingly to the solemnity of nature. Presently thin

suggestions of light, variously tinted, began to thread the inky

mass. These grew brighter and more vivid, until at last, in fantastic

contortions, they appeared to rend the swart concave asunder, revealing

through the jagged clefts a lurid waste of the most intensely glowing

fire. The coming and going of these amazing brightnesses, combined with

the Egyptian dark between, was completely blinding. So loaded was the

still air with electricity that from every point aloft pale flames

streamed upward, giving the ship the appearance of a huge candelabrum

with innumerable branches. One of the hands, who had been ordered aloft

on some errand of securing a loose end, presented a curious sight.

He was bareheaded, and from his hair the all pervading fluid arose,

lighting up his features, which were ghastly beyond description. When he

lifted his hand, each separate finger became at once an additional point

from which light streamed. There was no thunder, but a low hissing and a

crackling which did not amount to noise, although distinctly audible to

all. Sensations most unpleasant of pricking and general irritation were

felt by every one, according to their degree of susceptibility.

After about an hour of this state of things, a low moaning of thunder

was heard, immediately followed by a few drops of rain large as dollars.

The mutterings and grumblings increased until, with one peal that made

the ship tremble as though she had just struck a rock at full speed,

down came the rain. The windows of heaven were opened, and no man might

stand against the steaming flood that descended by thousands of tons

per minute. How long it continued, I cannot say; probably, in its utmost

fierceness, not more than half an hour. Then it slowly abated, clearing

away as it did so the accumulation of gloom overhead, until, before

midnight had struck, all the heavenly host were shedding their beautiful

brilliancy upon us again with apparently increased glory, while the

freshness and invigorating feel of the air was inexpressibly delightful.

We did not court danger by hugging too closely any of the ugly reefs and

banks that abound in this notably difficult strait, but gave them all a

respectfully wide berth. It was a feature of our navigation that, unless

we had occasion to go near any island or reef for fishing or landing

purposes, we always kept a safe margin of distance away, which probably

accounts for our continued immunity from accident while in tortuous

waters. Our anchors and cables were, however, always kept ready for use

now, in case of an unsuspected current or sudden storm; but beyond that

precaution, I could see little or no difference in the manner of our

primitive navigation.

We met with no "luck" for some time, and the faces of the harpooners

grew daily longer, the great heat of those sultry waters trying all

tempers sorely. But Captain Slocum knew his business, and his scowling,

impassive face showed no signs of disappointment, or indeed any other

emotion, as day by day we crept farther north. At last we sighted the

stupendous peak of Comoro mountain, which towers to nearly nine thousand

feet from the little island which gives its name to the Comoro group

of four. On that same day a school of medium-sized sperm whales were

sighted, which appeared to be almost of a different race to those with

which we had hitherto had dealings. They were exceedingly fat and lazy,

moving with the greatest deliberation, and, when we rushed in among

them, appeared utterly bewildered and panic-stricken, knowing not which

way to flee. Like a flock of frightened sheep they huddled together,

aimlessly wallowing in each other's way, while we harpooned them with

the greatest ease and impunity. Even the "old man" himself lowered

the fifth boat, leaving the ship to the carpenter, cooper, cook, and

steward, and coming on the scene as if determined to make a field-day of

the occasion. He was no "slouch" at the business either. Not that there

was much occasion or opportunity to exhibit any prowess. The record of

the day's proceedings would be as tame as to read of a day's work in a

slaughter-house. Suffice it to say, that we actually killed six whales,

none of whom were less than fifty barrels, no boat ran out more than

one hundred fathoms of line, neither was a bomb-lance used. Not the

slightest casualty occurred to any of the boats, and the whole work of

destruction was over in less than four hours.

Then came the trouble. The fish were, of course somewhat widely

separated when they died, and the task of collecting all those immense

carcasses was one of no ordinary magnitude. Had it not been for the

wonderfully skilful handling of the ship, the task would, I should

think, have been impossible, but the way in which she was worked

compelled the admiration of anybody who knew what handling a ship meant.

Still, with all the ability manifested, it was five hours after the last

whale died before we had gathered them all alongside, bringing us to

four o'clock in the afternoon.

A complete day under that fierce blaze of the tropical sun, without

other refreshment than an occasional furtive drink of tepid water, had

reduced us to a pitiable condition of weakness, so much so that the

skipper judged it prudent, as soon as the fluke-chains were passed, to

give us a couple of hours' rest. As soon as the sun had set we were all

turned to again, three cressets were prepared, and by their blaze we

toiled the whole night through. Truth compels me to state, though, that

none of us foremast hands had nearly such heavy work as the officers on

the stage. What they had to do demanded special knowledge and skill; but

it was also terribly hard work, constant and unremitting, while we at

the windlass had many a short spell between the lifting of the pieces.

Even the skipper took a hand, for the first time, and right manfully did

he do his share.

By the first streak of dawn, three of the whales had been stripped of

their blubber, and five heads were bobbing astern at the ends of as many

hawsers. The sea all round presented a wonderful sight. There must have

been thousands of sharks gathered to the feast, and their incessant

incursions through the phosphorescent water wove a dazzling network of

brilliant tracks which made the eyes ache to look upon. A short halt was

called for breakfast, which was greatly needed, and, thanks to the cook,

was a thoroughly good one. He--blessings on him!--had been busy fishing,

as we drifted slowly, with savoury pieces of whale-beef for bait, and

the result was a mess of fish which would have gladdened the heart of an

epicure. Our hunger appeased, it was "turn to" again, for there was now

no time to be lost. The fierce heat soon acts upon the carcass of a

dead whale, generating an immense volume of gas within it, which, in a

wonderfully short space of time, turns the flesh putrid and renders the

blubber so rotten that it cannot be lifted, nor, if it could, would it

be of any value. So it was no wonder that our haste was great, or that

the august arbiter of our destinies himself condescended to take his

place among the toilers. By nightfall the whole of our catch was on

board, excepting such toll as the hungry hordes of sharks had levied

upon it in transit. A goodly number of them had paid the penalty of

their rapacity with their lives, for often one would wriggle his way

right up on to the reeking carcass, and, seizing a huge fragment of

blubber, strive with might and main to tear it away. Then the lethal

spade would drop upon his soft crown, cleaving it to the jaws, and with

one flap of his big tail he would loose his grip, roll over and over,

and sink, surrounded by a writhing crowd of his fellows, by whom he was

speedily reduced into digestible fragments.

The condition of the CACHALOT's deck was now somewhat akin to chaos.

From the cabin door to the tryworks there was hardly an inch of

available space, and the oozing oil kept some of us continually baling

it up, lest it should leak out through the interstices in the bulwarks.

In order to avoid a breakdown, it became necessary to divide the crew

into six-hour watches, as although the work was exceedingly urgent on

account of the weather, there were evident signs that some of the crew

were perilously near giving in. So we got rest none too soon, and the

good effects of it were soon apparent. The work went on with much more

celerity than one would have thought possible, and soon the lumbered-up

decks began to resume their normal appearance.

As if to exasperate the "old man" beyond measure on the third day of

our operations a great school of sperm whales appeared, disporting all

around the ship, apparently conscious of our helplessness to interfere

with them. Notwithstanding our extraordinary haul, Captain Slocum went

black with impotent rage, and, after glowering at the sportive monsters,

beat a retreat below, unable to bear the sight any longer. During his

absence we had a rare treat. The whole school surrounded the ship, and

performed some of the strangest evolutions imaginable. As if instigated

by one common impulse, they all elevated their massive heads above

the surface of the sea, and remained for some time in that position,

solemnly bobbing up and down amid the glittering wavelets like movable

boulders of black rock. Then, all suddenly reversed themselves, and,

elevating their broad flukes in the air, commenced to beat them slowly

and rhythmically upon the water, like so many machines. Being almost a

perfect calm, every movement of the great mammals could be plainly seen;

some of them even passed so near to us that we could see how the lower

jaw hung down, while the animal was swimming in a normal position.

For over an hour they thus paraded around us, and then, as if startled

by some hidden danger, suddenly headed off to the westward, and in a few

minutes were out of our sight.

We cruised in the vicinity of the Comoro Islands for two months, never

quite out of sight of the mountain while the weather was clear. During

the whole of that time we were never clear of oil on deck, one catch

always succeeding another before there had been time to get cleared

up. Eight hundred barrels of oil were added to our cargo, making the

undisciplined hearts of all to whom whaling was a novel employment beat

high with hopes of a speedy completion of the cargo, and consequent

return. Poor innocents that we were! How could we know any better?

According to Goliath, with whom I often had a friendly chat, this was

quite out of the ordinary run to have such luck in the "Channel."

"'Way back in de dark ages, w'en de whaleships war de pi'neers

ob commerce, 'n day wan't no worryin', poofity-plukity steamboats

a-poundin' along, 'nough ter galley ebery whale clean eout ob dere skin,

dey war plenty whaleships fill up in twelve, fifteen, twenty monf' after

leabin' home. 'N er man bed his pick er places, too--didn' hab ter go

moseyin erroun' like some ol' hobo lookin' fer day's work, 'n prayin'

de good Lord not ter let um fine it. No, sah; roun yer China Sea, coas'

Japan, on de line, off shore, Vasquez, 'mong de islan's, ohmos' anywhar,

you couldn' hardly git way from 'em. Neow, I clar ter glory I kaint

imagine WAR dey all gone ter, dough we bin eout only six seven monf' 'n

got over tousan bar'l below. But I bin two year on er voy'ge and

doan hardly SEE a sparm while, much less catch one. But"--and here he

whispered mysteriously--"dish yer ole man's de bery debbil's own chile,

'n his farder lookin' after him well--dat's my 'pinion. Only yew keep

yer head tight shut, an' nebber say er word, but keep er lookin', 'n

sure's death you'll see." This conversation made a deep and lasting

impression upon me, for I had not before heard even so much as a

murmur from an officer against the tyranny of the skipper. Some of the

harpooners were fluent enough, too.

Yet I had often thought that his treatment of them, considering the

strenuous nature of their toil, and the willingness with which they

worked as long as they had an ounce of energy left, was worth at least a

little kindness and courtesy on his part.

What the period may have been during which whales were plentiful here,

I do not know, but it was now May, and for the last few days we had not

seen a solitary spout of any kind. Preparations, very slight it is

true, were made for departure; but before we left those parts we made

an interesting call for water at Mohilla, one of the Comoro group,

which brought out, in unmistakable fashion, the wonderful fund of local

knowledge possessed by these men. At the larger ports of Johanna and

Mayotte there is a regular tariff of port charges, which are somewhat

heavy, and no whaleman would be so reckless as to incur these unless

driven thereto by the necessity of obtaining provisions; otherwise, the

islands offer great inducements to whaling captains to call, since none

but men hopelessly mad would venture to desert in such places. That

qualification is the chief one for any port to possess in the eyes of a

whaling captain.

Our skipper, however, saw no necessity for entering any port. Running up

under the lee of Mohilla, we followed the land along until we came to

a tiny bight on the western side of the island, an insignificant inlet

which no mariner in charge of a vessel like ours could be expected even

to notice, unless he were surveying. The approaches to this tiny harbour

(save the mark) were very forbidding. Ugly-looking rocks showed up here

and there, the surf over them frequently blinding the whole entry.

But we came along, in our usual leisurely fashion, under two topsails,

spanker, and fore-topmast staysail, and took that ugly passage like a

sailing barge entering the Medway. There was barely room to turn round

when we got inside, but all sail had been taken off her except the

spanker, so that her way was almost stopped by the time she was fairly

within the harbour. Down went the anchor, and she was fast--anchored for

the first time since leaving New Bedford seven months before. Here we

were shut out entirely from the outer world, for I doubt greatly whether

even a passing dhow could have seen us from seaward. We were not here

for rest, however, but wood and water; so while one party was supplied

with well-sharpened axes, and sent on shore to cut down such small trees

as would serve our turn, another party was busily employed getting out

a number of big casks for the serious business of watering. The cooper

knocked off the second or quarter hoops from each of these casks, and

drove them on again with two "beckets" or loops of rope firmly jammed

under each of them in such a manner that the loops were in line

with each other on each side of the bunghole. They were then lowered

overboard, and a long rope rove through all the beckets. When this was

done, the whole number of casks floated end to end, upright and secure.

We towed them ashore to where, by the skipper's directions, at about

fifty yards from high-water mark, a spring of beautiful water bubbled

out of the side of a mass of rock, losing itself in a deep crevice

below. Lovely ferns, rare orchids, and trailing plants of many kinds

surrounded this fairy-like spot in the wildest profusion, making a

tangle of greenery that we had considerable trouble to clear away.

Having done so, we led a long canvas hose from the spot whence the water

flowed down to the shore where the casks floated. The chief officer,

with great ingenuity, rigged up an arrangement whereby the hose, which

had a square month about a foot wide, was held up to the rock, saving us

the labour of bailing and filling by hand. So we were able to rest and

admire at our ease the wonderful variety of beautiful plants which grew

here so lavishly, unseen by mortal eye from one year's end to another.

I have somewhere read that the Creator has delight in the beautiful work

of His will, wherever it may be; and that while our egotism wonders at

the waste of beauty, as we call it, there is no waste at all, since the

Infinite Intelligence can dwell with complacency upon the glories of His

handiwork, perfectly fulfilling their appointed ends.

All too soon the pleasant occupation came to an end. The long row of

casks, filled to the brim and tightly bunged, were towed off by us to

the ship, and ranged alongside. A tackle and pair of "can-hooks" was

overhauled to the water and hooked to a cask. "Hoist away!" And as the

cask rose, the beckets that had held it to the mother-rope were cut,

setting it quite free to come on board, but leaving all the others still

secure. In this way we took in several thousand gallons of water in a

few hours, with a small expenditure of labour, free of cost; whereas,

had we gone into Mayotte or Johanna, the water would have been bad, the

price high, the labour great, with the chances of a bad visitation of

fever in the bargain.

The woodmen had a much more arduous task. The only wood they could find,

without cutting down big trees, which would have involved far too much

labour in cutting up, was a kind of iron-wood, which, besides being very

heavy, was so hard as to take pieces clean out of their axe-edges,

when a blow was struck directly across the grain. As none of them were

experts, the condition of their tools soon made their work very hard.

But that they had taken several axes in reserve, it is doubtful whether

they would have been able to get sufficient fuel for our purpose.

When they pitched the wood off the rocks into the harbour, it sank

immediately, giving them a great deal of trouble to fish it up again.

Neither could they raft it as intended, but were compelled to load it

into the boats and make several journeys to and fro before all they had

cut was shipped. Altogether, I was glad that the wooding had not fallen

to my share. On board the ship fishing had been going on steadily most

of the day by a few hands told off for the purpose. The result of their

sport was splendid, over two hundred-weight of fine fish of various

sorts, but all eatable, having been gathered in.

We lay snugly anchored all night, keeping a bright look-out for any

unwelcome visitors either from land or sea, for the natives are not to

be trusted, neither do the Arab mongrels who cruise about those waters

in their dhows bear any too good a reputation. We saw none, however,

and at daylight we weighed and towed the ship out to sea with the boats,

there being no wind. While busy at this uninteresting pastime, one of

the boats slipped away, returning presently with a fine turtle, which

they had surprised during his morning's nap. One of the amphibious

Portuguese slipped over the boat's side as she neared the sleeping

SPHARGA, and, diving deep, came up underneath him, seizing with crossed

hands the two hind flippers, and, with a sudden, dexterous twist, turned

the astonished creature over on his back. Thus rendered helpless, the

turtle lay on the surface feebly waving his flippers, while his captor,

gently treading water, held him in that position till the boat reached

the pair and took them on board. It was a clever feat, neatly executed,

as unlike the clumsy efforts I had before seen made with the same object

as anything could possibly be.

After an hour's tow, we had got a good offing, and a light air springing

up, we returned on board, hoisted the boats, and made sail to the

northward again.

With the exception of the numerous native dhows that crept lazily about,

we saw no vessels as we gradually drew out of the Mozambique Channel and

stood away towards the Line. The part of the Indian Ocean in which we

now found ourselves is much dreaded by merchantmen, who give it a wide

berth on account of the numerous banks, islets, and dangerous currents

with which it abounds. We, however, seemed quite at home here, pursuing

the even tenor of our usual way without any special precautions being

taken. A bright look-out, we always kept, of course--none of your drowsy

lolling about such as is all too common on the "fo'lk'sle head" of many

a fine ship, when, with lights half trimmed or not shown at all, she is

ploughing along blindly at twelve knots or so an hour. No; while we were

under way during daylight, four pairs of keen eyes kept incessant vigil

a hundred feet above the deck, noting everything, even to a shoal

of small fish, that crossed within the range of vision. At night we

scarcely moved, but still a vigilant lookout was always kept both fore

and aft, so that it would have been difficult for us to drift upon a

reef unknowingly.

Creeping steadily northward, we passed the Cosmoledo group of atolls

without paying them a visit, which was strange, as, from their

appearance, no better fishing-ground would be likely to come in our way.

They are little known, except to the wandering fishermen from Reunion

and Rodriguez, who roam about these islets and reefs, seeking anything

that may be turned into coin, from wrecks to turtle, and in nowise

particular as to rights of ownership. When between the Cosmoledos

and Astove, the next island to the northward, we sighted a "solitary"

cachalot one morning just as the day dawned. It was the first for some

time--nearly three weeks--and being all well seasoned to the work now,

we obeyed the call to arms with great alacrity. Our friend was making a

passage, turning neither to the right hand nor the left as he went. His

risings and number of spouts while up, as well as the time he remained

below, were as regular as the progress of a clock, and could be counted

upon with quite as much certainty.

Bearing in mind, I suppose, the general character of the whales we had

recently met with, only two boats were lowered to attack the new-comer,

who, all unconscious of our coming, pursued his leisurely course

unheeding.

We got a good weather gage of him, and came flying on as usual getting

two irons planted in fine style. But a surprise awaited us. As we

sheered up into the wind away from him, Louis shouted, "Fightin' whale,

sir; look out for de rush!" Look out, indeed? Small use in looking out

when, hampered as we always were at first with the unshipping of the

mast, we could do next to nothing to avoid him. Without any of the

desperate flounderings generally indulged in on first feeling the iron,

he turned upon us, and had it not been that he caught sight of the

second mate's boat, which had just arrived, and turned his attentions

to her, there would have been scant chance of any escape for us. Leaping

half out of water, he made direct for our comrades with a vigour and

ferocity marvellous to see, making it a no easy matter for them to avoid

his tremendous rush. Our actions, at no time slow, were considerably

hastened by this display of valour, so that before he could turn his

attentions in our direction we were ready for him. Then ensued a really

big fight, the first, in fact, of my experience, for none of the other

whales had shown any serious determination to do us an injury, but had

devoted all their energies to attempts at escape. So quick were the

evolutions, and so savage the appearance of this fellow, that even

our veteran mate looked anxious as to the possible result. Without

attempting to "sound," the furious monster kept mostly below the

surface; but whenever he rose, it was either to deliver a fearful blow

with his tail, or, with jaws widespread, to try and bite one of our

boats in half. Well was it for us that he was severely handicapped by

a malformation of the lower jaw. At a short distance from the throat

it turned off nearly at right angles to his body, the part that thus

protruded sideways being deeply fringed with barnacles, and plated with

big limpets.

Had it not been for this impediment, I verily believe he would have

beaten us altogether. As it was, he worked us nearly to death with his

ugly rushes. Once he delivered a sidelong blow with his tail, which, as

we spun round, shore off the two oars on that side as if they had been

carrots. At last the second mate got fast to him, and then the character

of the game changed again. Apparently unwearied by his previous

exertions, he now started off to windward at top speed, with the

two boats sheering broadly out upon either side of his foaming wake.

Doubtless because he himself was much fatigued, the mate allowed him to

run at his will, without for the time attempting to haul any closer to

him, and very grateful the short rest was to us. But he had not gone

a couple of miles before he turned a complete somersault in the water,

coming up BEHIND us to rush off again in the opposite direction at

undiminished speed. This move was a startler. For the moment it seemed

as if both boats would be smashed like egg-shells against each other,

or else that some of us would be impaled upon the long lances with which

each boat's bow bristled. By what looked like a handbreadth, we cleared

each other, and the race continued. Up till now we had not succeeded

in getting home a single lance, the foe was becoming warier, while the

strain was certainly telling upon our nerves. So Mr. Count got out his

bomb-gun, shouting at the same time to Mr. Cruce to do the same. They

both hated these weapons, nor ever used them if they could help it; but

what was to be done?

Our chief had hardly got his gun ready, before we came to almost a

dead stop. All was silent for just a moment; then, with a roar like a

cataract, up sprang the huge creature, head out, jaw wide open, coming

direct for us. As coolly as if on the quarter-deck, the mate raised his

gun, firing the bomb directly down the great livid cavern of a throat

fronting him. Down went that mountainous head not six inches from us,

but with a perfectly indescribable motion, a tremendous writhe, in fact;

up flew the broad tail in air, and a blow which might have sufficed

to stave in the side of the ship struck the second mate's boat fairly

amidships. It was right before my eyes, not sixty feet away, and the

sight will haunt me to my death. The tub oarsman was the poor German

baker, about whom I have hitherto said nothing, except to note that he

was one of the crew. That awful blow put an end summarily to all his

earthly anxieties. As it shore obliquely through the centre of the boat,

it drove his poor body right through her timbers--an undistinguishable

bundle of what was an instant before a human being. The other members of

the crew escaped the blow, and the harpooner managed to cut the line, so

that for the present they were safe enough, clinging to the remains of

their boat, unless the whale should choose to rush across them.

Happily, his rushing was almost over. The bomb fired by Mr. Count, with

such fatal result to poor Bamberger, must have exploded right in the

whale's throat. Whether his previous titanic efforts had completely

exhausted him, or whether the bomb had broken his massive backbone, I do

not know, of course, but he went into no flurry, dying as peacefully as

his course had been furious. For the first time in my life, I had been

face to face with a violent death, and I was quite stunned with the

awfulness of the experience. Mechanically, as it seemed to me, we

obeyed such orders as were given, but every man's thoughts were with the

shipmate so suddenly dashed from amongst us. We never saw sign of him

again.

While the ship was running down to us, another boat had gone to rescue

the clinging crew of the shattered boat, for the whole drama had been

witnessed from the ship, although they were not aware of the death of

the poor German. When the sad news was told on board, there was a deep

silence, all work being carried on so quietly that we seemed like a crew

of dumb men. With a sentiment for which I should not have given our grim

skipper credit, the stars and stripes were hoisted half-mast, telling

the silent sky and moaning sea, sole witnesses besides ourselves, of the

sudden departure from among us of our poor shipmate. We got the whale

cut in as usual without any incident worth mentioning, except that the

peculiar shape of the jaw made it an object of great curiosity to all

of us who were new to the whale-fishing. Such malformations are not very

rare. They are generally thought to occur when the animal is young, and

its bones soft; but whether done in fighting with one another, or

in some more mysterious way, nobody knows. Cases have been known, I

believe, where the deformed whale does not appear to have suffered from

lack of food in consequence of his disability; but in each of the three

instances which have come under my own notice, such was certainly not

the case. These whales were what is termed by the whalers "dry-skins;"

that is, they were in poor condition, the blubber yielding less than

half the usual quantity of oil. The absence of oil makes it very hard

to cut up, and there is more work in one whale of this kind than in two

whose blubber is rich and soft. Another thing which I have also noticed

is, that these whales were much more difficult to tackle than others,

for each of them gave us something special to remember them by. But I

must not get ahead of my yarn.

The end of the week brought us up to the Aldabra Islands, one of

the puzzles of the world. For here, in these tiny pieces of earth,

surrounded by thousands of miles of sea, the nearest land a group of

islets like unto them, is found the gigantic tortoise, and in only one

other place in the wide world, the Galapagos group of islands in the

South Pacific. How, or by what strange freak of Dame Nature these

curious reptiles, sole survivals of another age, should come to be

found in this lonely spot, is a deep mystery, and one not likely to be

unfolded now. At any rate, there they are, looking as if some of them

might be coeval with Noah, so venerable and storm-beaten do they appear.

We made the island early on a Sunday morning, and, with the usual

celerity, worked the vessel into the fine harbour, called, from one

of the exploring ships, Euphrates Bay or Harbour. The anchor down, and

everything made snug below and aloft, we were actually allowed a run

ashore free from restraint. I could hardly believe my ears. We had got

so accustomed to our slavery that liberty was become a mere name; we

hardly knew what to do with it when we got it. However, we soon got used

(in a very limited sense) to being our own masters, and, each following

the bent of his inclinations, set out for a ramble. My companion and I

had not gone far, when we thought we saw one of the boulders, with which

the island was liberally besprinkled, on the move. Running up to examine

it with all the eagerness of children let out of school, we found it to

be one of the inhabitants, a monstrous tortoise. I had some big turtle

around the cays of the Gulf of Mexico, but this creature dwarfed them

all. We had no means of actually measuring him, and had to keep clear

of his formidable-looking jaws, but roughly, and within the mark, he was

four feet long by two feet six inches wide. Of course he was much more

dome-shaped than the turtle are, and consequently looked a great deal

bigger than a turtle of the same measurement would, besides being much

thicker through. As he was loth to stay with us, we made up our minds to

go with him, for he was evidently making for some definite spot, by the

tracks he was following, which showed plainly how many years that same

road had been used. Well, I mounted on his back, keeping well astern,

out of the reach of that serious-looking head, which having rather a

long neck, looked as if it might be able to reach round and take a

piece out of a fellow without any trouble. He was perfectly amicable,

continuing his journey as if nothing had happened, and really getting

over the ground at a good rate, considering the bulk and shape of him.

Except for the novelty of the thing, this sort of ride had nothing to

recommend it; so I soon tired of it, and let him waddle along in peace.

By following the tracks aforesaid, we arrived at a fine stream of water

sparkling out of a hillside, and running down a little ravine. The sides

of this gully were worn quite smooth by the innumerable feet of the

tortoises, about a dozen of which were now quietly crouching at the

water's edge, filling themselves up with the cooling fluid. I did not

see the patriarch upon whom a sailor once reported that he had read the

legend carved, "The Ark, Captain Noah, Ararat for orders"; perhaps he

had at last closed his peaceful career. But strange, and quaint as this

exhibition of ancient reptiles was, we had other and better employment

for the limited time at our disposal. There were innumerable curious

things to see, and, unless we were to run the risk of going on board

again and stopping there, dinner must be obtained. Eggs of various

kinds were exceedingly plentiful; in many places the flats were almost

impassable for sitting birds, mostly "boobies."

But previous experience of boobies' eggs in other places had not

disposed me to seek them where others were to be obtained, and as I had

seen many of the well-known frigate or man-o'-war birds hovering

about, we set out to the other side of the island in search of the

breeding-place.

These peculiar birds are, I think, misnamed. They should be called

pirate or buccaneer birds, from their marauding habits. Seldom or never

do they condescend to fish for themselves, preferring to hover high in

the blue, their tails opening and closing like a pair of scissors

as they hang poised above the sea. Presently booby--like some honest

housewife who has been a-marketing--comes flapping noisily home, her maw

laden with fish for the chicks. Down comes the black watcher from above

with a swoop like an eagle. Booby puts all she knows into her flight,

but vainly; escape is impossible, so with a despairing shriek she

drops her load. Before it has touched the water the graceful thief has

intercepted it, and soared slowly aloft again, to repeat the performance

as occasion serves.

When we arrived on the outer shore of the island, we found a large

breeding-place of these birds, but totally different to the haunt of

the boobies. The nests, if they might be so called, being at best a few

twigs, were mostly in the hollows of the rocks, the number of eggs

being two to a nest, on an average. The eggs were nearly as large as a

turkey's. But I am reminded of the range of size among turkeys' eggs,

so I must say they were considerably larger than a small turkey's egg.

Their flavour was most delicate, as much so as the eggs of a moor-fed

fowl. We saw no birds sitting, but here and there the gaunt skeleton

forms of birds, who by reason of sickness or old age were unable to

provide for themselves, and so sat waiting for death, appealed most

mournfully to us. We went up to some of these poor creatures, and ended

their long agony; but there were many of them that we were obliged to

leave to Nature.

We saw no animals larger than a rat, but there were a great many

of those eerie-looking land-crabs, that seemed as if almost humanly

intelligent as they scampered about over the sand or through the

undergrowth, busy about goodness knows what. The beautiful cocoa-nut

palm was plentiful, so much so that I wondered why there were no

settlers to collect "copra," or dried cocoa-nut, for oil. My West Indian

experience came in handy now, for I was able to climb a lofty tree in

native fashion, and cut down a grand bunch of green nuts, which form one

of the most refreshing and nutritious of foods, as well as a cool and

delicious drink. We had no line with us, so we took off our belts,

which, securely joined together, answered my purpose very well. With

them I made a loop round the tree and myself; then as I climbed I pushed

the loop up with me, so that whenever I wanted a rest, I had only to

lean back in it, keeping my knees against the trunk, and I was almost as

comfortable as if on the ground.

After getting the nuts, we made a fire and roasted some of our eggs,

which, with a biscuit or two, made a delightful meal. Then we fell

asleep under a shady tree, upon some soft moss; nor did we wake again

until nearly time to go on board. A most enjoyable swim terminated our

day's outing, and we returned to the beach abreast of the ship very

pleased with the excursion.

We had no adventures, found no hidden treasure or ferocious animals, but

none the less we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. While we sat waiting for

the boat to come and fetch us off, we saw a couple of good-sized turtle

come ashore quite close to us. We kept perfectly still until we were

sure of being able to intercept them. As soon as they had got far enough

away from their native element, we rushed upon them, and captured them

both, so that when the boat arrived we were not empty-handed. We had

also a "jumper," or blouse, full of eggs, and a couple of immense

bunches of cocoa-nuts. When we got on board we felt quite happy, and,

for the first time since leaving America, we had a little singing. Shall

I be laughed at when I confess that our musical efforts were confined

to Sankey's hymns? Maybe, but I do not care. Cheap and clap-trap as the

music may be, it tasted "real good," as Abner said, and I am quite sure

that that Sunday night was the best that any of us had spent for a very

long time.

A long, sound sleep was terminated at dawn, when we weighed and stood

out through a narrow passage by East Island, which was quite covered

with fine trees--of what kind I do not know, but they presented a

beautiful sight. Myriads of birds hovered about, busy fishing from the

countless schools that rippled the placid sea. Beneath us, at twenty

fathoms, the wonderful architecture of the coral was plainly visible

through the brilliantly-clear sea, while, wherever the tiny builders had

raised their fairy domain near the surface, an occasional roller would

crown it with a snowy garland of foam--a dazzling patch of white against

the sapphire sea. Altogether, such a panorama was spread out at our

feet, as we stood gazing from the lofty crow's-nest, as was worth a year

or two of city life to witness. I could not help pitying my companion,

one of the Portuguese harpooners, who stolidly munched his quid with no

eyes for any of these glorious pictures, no thought of anything but a

possible whale in sight.

My silent rhapsodies were rudely interrupted by something far away on

the horizon. Hardly daring to breathe, I strained my eyes, and--yes,

it was--"Ah blow-w-w-w!" I bellowed at the top of my lung-power, never

before had I had the opportunity of thus distinguishing myself, and I

felt a bit sore about it.

There was a little obliquity about the direction of the spout that made

me hopeful, for the cachalot alone sends his spout diagonally upward,

all the others spout vertically. It was but a school of kogia, or

"short-headed" cachalots; but as we secured five of them, averaging

seven barrels each, with scarcely any trouble, I felt quite pleased with

myself. We had quite an exciting bit of sport with them, they were so

lively; but as for danger--well, they only seemed like big "black fish"

to us now, and we quite enjoyed the fun. They were, in all respects,

miniature sperm whales, except that the head was much shorter and

smaller in proportion to the body than their big relations.

CHAPTER XI. ROUND THE COCOS AND SEYCHELLES

Hitherto, with the exception of a couple of gales in the North and

South Atlantic, we had been singularly fortunate in our weather. It does

happen so sometimes.

I remember once making a round voyage from Cardiff to Hong Kong and the

Philippines, back to London, in ten months, and during the whole of that

time we did not have a downright gale. The worst weather we encountered

was between Beachy Head and Portland, going round from London to

Cardiff.

And I once spoke the barque LUTTERWORTH, a companion ship to us from

Portland, Oregon to Falmouth, whose mate informed me that they carried

their royals from port to port without ever furling them once, except

to shift the suit of sails. But now a change was evidently imminent. Of

course, we forward had no access to the barometer; not that we should

have understood its indications if we had seen it, but we all knew that

something was going to be radically wrong with the weather. For instead

of the lovely blue of the sky we had been so long accustomed to by

day and night, a nasty, greasy shade had come over the heavens,

which, reflected in the sea, made that look dirty and stale also. That

well-known appearance of the waves before a storm was also very marked,

which consists of an undecided sort of break in their tops. Instead of

running regularly, they seemed to hunch themselves up in little heaps,

and throw off a tiny flutter of spray, which generally fell in the

opposite direction to what little wind there was. The pigs and fowls

felt the approaching change keenly, and manifested the greatest

uneasiness, leaving their food and acting strangely. We were making

scarcely any headway, so that the storm was longer making its appearance

than it would have been had we been a swift clipper ship running down

the Indian Ocean. For two days we were kept in suspense; but on the

second night the gloom began to deepen, the wind to moan, and a very

uncomfortable "jobble" of a sea got up. Extra "gaskets" were put upon

the sails, and everything movable about the decks was made as secure as

it could be. Only the two close-reefed topsails and two storm stay-sails

were carried, so that we were in excellent trim for fighting the bad

weather when it did come. The sky gradually darkened and assumed a livid

green tint, the effect of which was most peculiar.

The wind blew fitfully in short, gusts, veering continually back and

forth over about a quarter of the compass. Although it was still light,

it kept up an incessant mournful moan not to be accounted for in

any way. Darker and darker grew the heavens, although no clouds were

visible, only a general pall of darkness. Glimmering lightnings played

continually about the eastern horizon, but not brilliant enough to show

us the approaching storm-cloud. And so came the morning of the third

day from the beginning of the change. But for the clock we should hardly

have known that day had broken, so gloomy and dark was the sky. At last

light came in the east, but such a light as no one would wish to see. It

was a lurid glare, such as may be seen playing over a cupola of Bessemer

steel when the speigeleisen is added, only on such an extensive scale

that its brilliancy was dulled into horror. Then, beneath it we saw the

mountainous clouds fringed with dull violet and with jagged sabres of

lightning darting from their solid black bosoms. The wind began to rise

steadily but rapidly, so that by eight a.m. it was blowing a furious

gale from E.N.E. In direction it was still unsteady, the ship coming up

and falling off to it several points. Now, great masses of torn,

ragged cloud hurtled past us above, so low down as almost to touch the

mastheads. Still the wind increased, still the sea rose, till at last

the skipper judged it well to haul down the tiny triangle of storm

stay-sail still set (the topsail and fore stay-sail had been furled long

before), and let her drift under bare poles, except for three square

feet of stout canvas in the weather mizen-rigging. The roar of the

wind now dominated every sound, so that it might have been thundering

furiously, but we should not have heard it. The ship still maintained

her splendid character as a sea-boat, hardly shipping a drop of water;

but she lay over at a most distressing angle, her deck sloping off fully

thirty-five to forty degrees. Fortunately she did not roll to windward.

It may have been raining in perfect torrents, but the tempest tore off

the surface of the sea, and sent it in massive sheets continually flying

over us, so that we could not possibly have distinguished between fresh

water and salt.

The chief anxiety was for the safety of the boats. Early on the second

day of warning they had been hoisted to the topmost notch of the cranes,

and secured as thoroughly as experience could suggest; but at every lee

lurch we gave it seemed as if we must dip them under water, while the

wind threatened to stave the weather ones in by its actual solid weight.

It was now blowing a furious cyclone, the force of which has never been

accurately gauged (even by the present elaborate instruments of various

kinds in use). That force is, however, not to be imagined by any one who

has not witnessed it, except that one notable instance is on record by

which mathematicians may get an approximate estimate.

Captain Toynbee, the late highly respected and admired Marine

Superintendent of the British Meteorological Office, has told us how,

during a cyclone which he rode out in the HOTSPUR at Sandheads, the

mouth of the Hooghly, the three naked topgallant-masts of his ship,

though of well-tested timber a foot in diameter, and supported by all

the usual network of stays, and without the yards, were snapped off and

carried away solely by the violence of the wind. It must, of course,

have been an extreme gust, which did not last many seconds, for no cable

that was ever forged would have held the ship against such a cataclysm

as that. This gentleman's integrity is above suspicion, so that no

exaggeration could be charged against him, and he had the additional

testimony of his officers and men to this otherwise incredible fact.

The terrible day wore on, without any lightening of the tempest, till

noon, when the wind suddenly fell to a calm. Until that time, the sea,

although heavy, was not vicious or irregular, and we had not shipped

any heavy water at all. But when the force of the wind was suddenly

withdrawn, such a sea arose as I have never seen before or since. Inky

mountains of water raised their savage heads in wildest confusion,

smashing one another in whirlpools of foam. It was like a picture of the

primeval deep out of which arose the new-born world. Suddenly out of

the whirling blackness overhead the moon appeared, nearly in the zenith,

sending down through the apex of a dome of torn and madly gyrating cloud

a flood of brilliant light. Illumined by that startling radiance, our

staunch and seaworthy ship was tossed and twirled in the hideous vortex

of mad sea until her motion was distracting. It was quite impossible to

loose one's hold and attempt to do anything without running the imminent

risk of being dashed to pieces. Our decks were full of water now, for

it tumbled on board at all points; but as yet no serious weight of a sea

had fallen upon us, nor had any damage been done. Such a miracle as that

could not be expected to continue for long. Suddenly a warning shout

rang out from somewhere--"Hold on all, for your lives!" Out of the

hideous turmoil around arose, like some black, fantastic ruin, an awful

heap of water. Higher and higher it towered, until it was level with our

lower yards, then it broke and fell upon us. All was blank. Beneath that

mass every thought, every feeling, fled but one--"How long shall I

be able to hold my breath?" After what seemed a never-ending time, we

emerged from the wave more dead than alive, but with the good ship still

staunch underneath us, and Hope's lamp burning brightly. The moon

had been momentarily obscured, but now shone out again, lighting up

brilliantly our bravely-battling ship. But, alas for others!--men,

like ourselves, whose hopes were gone. Quite near us was the battered

remainder of what had been a splendid ship. Her masts were gone, not

even the stumps being visible, and it seemed to our eager eyes as if she

was settling down. It was even so, for as we looked, unmindful of our

own danger, she quietly disappeared--swallowed up with her human freight

in a moment, like a pebble dropped into a pond.

While we looked with hardly beating hearts at the place where she had

sunk, all was blotted out in thick darkness again. With a roar, as of

a thousand thunders, the tempest came once more, but from the opposite

direction now. As we were under no sail, we ran little risk of being

caught aback; but, even had we, nothing could have been done, the vessel

being utterly out of control, besides the impossibility of getting

about. It so happened, however, that when the storm burst upon us again,

we were stern on to it, and we drove steadily for a few moments until we

had time to haul to the wind again. Great heavens! how it blew! Surely,

I thought, this cannot last long--just as we sometimes say of the

rain when it is extra heavy. It did last, however, for what seemed an

interminable time, although any one could see that the sky was getting

kindlier. Gradually, imperceptibly, it took off, the sky cleared, and

the tumult ceased, until a new day broke in untellable beauty over a

revivified world.

Years afterwards I read, in one of the hand-books treating of hurricanes

and cyclones, that "in the centre of these revolving storms the sea is

so violent that few ships can pass through it and live." That is true

talk. I have been there, and bear witness that but for the build and

sea-kindliness of the CACHALOT, she could not have come out of that

horrible cauldron again, but would have joined that nameless unfortunate

whom we saw succumb, "never again heard of." As it was, we found two

of the boats stove in, whether by breaking sea or crushing wind nobody

knows. Most of the planking of the bulwarks was also gone, burst outward

by the weight of the water on deck. Only the normal quantity of water

was found in the well on sounding, and not even a rope-yarn was gone

from aloft. Altogether, we came out of the ordeal triumphantly, where

many a gallant vessel met her fate, and the behaviour of the grand old

tub gave me a positive affection for her, such as I have never felt for

a ship before or since.

There was now a big heap of work for the carpenter, so the skipper

decided to run in for the Cocos or Keeling islands, in order to lay

quietly and refit. We had now only three boats sound, the one smashed

when poor Bamberger died being still unfinished--of course, the repairs

had practically amounted to rebuilding. Therefore we kept away for this

strange assemblage of reefs and islets, arriving off them early the next

day.

They consist of a true "atoll," or basin, whose rim is of coral

reefs, culminating occasionally in sandy islands or cays formed by the

accumulated debris washed up from the reef below, and then clothed upon

with all sorts of plants by the agency of birds and waves.

These islands have lately been so fully described in many different

journals, that I shall not burden the reader with any twice-told tales

about them, but merely chronicle the fact that for a week we lay at

anchor off one of the outlying cays, toiling continuously to get the

vessel again in fighting trim.

At last the overworked carpenter and his crew got through their heavy

task, and the order was given to "man the windlass." Up came the anchor,

and away we went again towards what used to be a noted haunt of the

sperm whale, the Seychelle Archipelego. Before the French, whose flag

flies over these islands, had with their usual short-sighted policy,

clapped on prohibitive port charges, Mahe was a specially favoured place

of call for the whalers. But when whale-ships find that it does not pay

to visit a place, being under no compulsion as regards time, they soon

find other harbours that serve their turn. We, of course, had no need to

visit any port for some time to come, having made such good use of our

opportunities at the Cocos.

We found whales scarce and small, so, although we cruised in this

vicinity for nearly two months, six small cow cachalots were all we were

able to add to our stock, representing less then two hundred barrels

of oil. This was hardly good enough for Captain Slocum. Therefore, we

gradually drew away from this beautiful cluster of islands, and crept

across the Indian Ocean towards the Straits of Malacca. On the way, we

one night encountered that strange phenomenon, a "milk" sea. It was a

lovely night, with scarcely any wind, the stars trying to make up for

the absence of the moon by shining with intense brightness. The water

had been more phosphorescent than usual, so that every little fish left

a track of light behind him, greatly disproportionate to his size. As

the night wore on, the sea grew brighter and brighter, until by midnight

we appeared to be sailing on an ocean of lambent flames. Every little

wave that broke against the ship's side sent up a shower of diamond-like

spray, wonderfully beautiful to see, while a passing school of porpoises

fairly set the sea blazing as they leaped and gambolled in its glowing

waters. Looking up from sea to sky, the latter seemed quite black

instead of blue, and the lustre of the stars was diminished till they

only looked like points of polished steel, having quite lost for the

time their radiant sparkle. In that shining flood the blackness of the

ship stood out in startling contrast, and when we looked over the side

our faces were strangely lit up by the brilliant glow.

For several hours this beautiful appearance persisted, fading away

at last as gradually as it came. No satisfactory explanation of this

curious phenomenon has ever been given, nor does it appear to portend

any change of weather. It cannot be called a rare occurrence, although

I have only seen it thrice myself--once in the Bay of Cavite, in the

Philippine Islands; once in the Pacific, near the Solomon Islands; and

on this occasion of which I now write. But no one who had ever witnessed

it could forget so wonderful a sight.

One morning, a week after are had taken our departure from the

Seychelles, the officer at the main crow's-nest reported a vessel of

some sort about five miles to the windward. Something strange in her

appearance made the skipper haul up to intercept her. As we drew nearer,

we made her out to be a Malay "prahu;" but, by the look of her, she

was deserted. The big three-cornered sail that had been set, hung in

tattered festoons from the long, slender yard, which, without any gear

to steady it, swung heavily to and fro as the vessel rolled to the long

swell. We drew closer and closer, but no sign of life was visible on

board, so the captain ordered a boat to go and investigate.

In two minutes we were speeding away towards her, and, making a sweep

round her stern, prepared to board her. But we were met by a stench

so awful that Mr. Count would not proceed, and at once returned to the

ship. The boat was quickly hoisted again, and the ship manoeuvred to

pass close to windward of the derelict. Then, from our mast-head, a

horrible sight became visible. Lying about the weather-beaten deck,

in various postures, were thirteen corpses, all far advanced in decay,

which horrible fact fully accounted for the intolerable stench that had

driven us away. It is, perhaps, hardly necessary to say that we promptly

hauled our wind, and placed a good distance between us and that awful

load of death as soon as possible. Poor wretches! What terrible calamity

had befallen them, we could not guess; whatever it was, it had been

complete; nor would any sane man falling across them run the risk of

closer examination into details than we had done. It was a great pity

that we were not able to sink the prahu with her ghastly cargo, and so

free the air from that poisonous foetor that was a deadly danger to any

vessel getting under her lee.

Next day, and for a whole week after, we had a stark calm such a calm as

one realizes who reads sympathetically that magical piece of work, the

"Ancient Mariner." What an amazing instance of the triumph of the human

imagination! For Coleridge certainly never witnessed such a scene as he

there describes with an accuracy of detail that is astounding. Very

few sailors have noticed the sickening condition of the ocean when the

life-giving breeze totally fails for any length of time, or, if they

have, they have said but little about it. Of course, some parts of the

sea show the evil effects of stagnation much sooner than others; but,

generally speaking, want of wind at sea, if long continued, produces

a condition of things dangerous to the health of any land near by.

Whale-ships, penetrating as they do to parts carefully avoided by

ordinary trading vessels, often afford their crews an opportunity of

seeing things mostly hidden from the sight of man, when, actuated by

some mysterious impulse, the uncanny denizens of the middle depths of

the ocean rise to higher levels, and show their weird shapes to the sun.

CHAPTER XII. WHICH TREATS OF THE KRAKEN

It has often been a matter for considerable surprise to me, that while

the urban population of Great Britain is periodically agitated over the

great sea-serpent question, sailors, as a class, have very little to say

on the subject. During a considerable sea experience in all classes of

vessels, except men-of-war, and in most positions, I have heard a fairly

comprehensive catalogue of subjects brought under dog-watch discussion;

but the sea-serpent has never, within my recollection, been one of them.

The reasons for this abstinence may vary a great deal, but chief among

them is--sailors, as a class, "don't believe in no such a pusson." More

than that, they do believe that the mythical sea-serpent is "boomed"

at certain periods, in the lack of other subjects, which may not be

far from the fact. But there is also another reason, involving a

disagreeable, although strictly accurate, statement. Sailors are, again

taken as a class, the least observant of men. They will talk by the

hour of trivialities about which they know nothing; they will spin

interminable "cuffers" of debaucheries ashore all over the world; pick

to pieces the reputation of all the officers with whom they have ever

sailed; but of the glories, marvels, and mysteries of the mighty deep

you will hear not a word. I can never forget when on my first voyage to

the West Indies, at the age of twelve, I was one night smitten with awe

and wonder at the sight of a vast halo round the moon, some thirty or

forty degrees in diameter. Turning to the man at the wheel, I asked him

earnestly "what THAT was." He looked up with an uninterested eye for

an instant in the direction of my finger, then listlessly informed me,

"That's what they call a sarcle." For a long time I wondered what he

could mean, but it gradually dawned upon me that it was his Norfolk

pronunciation of the word "circle." The definition was a typical one, no

worse than would be given by the great majority of seamen of most of the

natural phenomena they witness daily. Very few seamen could distinguish

between one whale and another of a different species, or give an

intelligible account of the most ordinary and often-seen denizens of the

sea. Whalers are especially to be blamed for their blindness. "Eyes and

no Eyes; or the Art of Seeing" has evidently been little heard of among

them. To this day I can conceive of no more delightful journey for a

naturalist to take than a voyage in a southern whaler, especially if he

were allowed to examine at his leisure such creatures as were caught.

But on board the CACHALOT I could get no information at all upon the

habits of the strange creatures we met with, except whales, and very

little about them.

I have before referred to the great molluscs upon which the sperm whale

feeds, portions of which I so frequently saw ejected from the stomach of

dying whales. Great as my curiosity naturally was to know more of these

immense organisms, all my inquiries on the subject were fruitless. These

veterans of the whale-fishery knew that the sperm whale lived on big

cuttlefish; but they neither knew, nor cared to know, anything more

about these marvellous molluscs. Yet, from the earliest dawn of history,

observant men have been striving to learn something definite about the

marine monsters of which all old legends of the sea have something to

say.

As I mentioned in the last chapter, we were gradually edging across the

Indian Ocean towards Sumatra, but had been checked in our course by a

calm lasting a whole week. A light breeze then sprang up, aided by which

we crept around Achin Head, the northern point of the great island of

Sumatra. Like some gigantic beacon, the enormous mass of the Golden

Mountain dominated the peaceful scene. Pulo Way, or Water Island, looked

very inviting, and I should have been glad to visit a place so well

known to seamen by sight, but so little known by actual touching at.

Our recent stay at the Cocos, however, had settled the question of our

calling anywhere else for some time decidedly in the negative, unless we

might be compelled by accident; moreover, even in these days of law

and order, it is not wise to go poking about among the islands of the

Malayan seas unless you are prepared to fight. Our mission being to

fight whales, we were averse to running any risks, except in the lawful

and necessary exercise of our calling.

It would at first sight appear strange that, in view of the enormous

traffic of steamships through the Malacca Straits, so easily "gallied"

a creature as the cachalot should care to frequent its waters; indeed,

I should certainly think that a great reduction in the numbers of whales

found there must have taken place. But it must also be remembered, that

in modern steam navigation certain well-defined courses are laid down,

which vessels follow from point to point with hardly any deviation

therefrom, and that consequently little disturbance of the sea by their

panting propellers takes place, except upon these marine pathways; as,

for instance, in the Red Sea, where the examination of thousands of

log-books proved conclusively that, except upon straight lines drawn

from point to point between Suez to Perim, the sea is practically unused

to-day.

The few Arab dhows and loitering surveying ships hardly count in this

connection, of course. At any rate, we had not entered the straits, but

were cruising between Car Nicobar and Junkseylon, when we "met up" with

a full-grown cachalot, as ugly a customer as one could wish. From nine

a.m. till dusk the battle raged--for I have often noticed that unless

you kill your whale pretty soon, he gets so wary, as well as fierce,

that you stand a gaudy chance of being worn down yourselves before you

settle accounts with your adversary. This affair certainly looked at one

time as if such would be the case with us; but along about five p.m.,

to our great joy, we got him killed. The ejected food was in masses of

enormous size, larger than any we had yet seen on the voyage, some of

them being estimated to be of the size of our hatch-house, viz. 8 feet x

6 feet x 6 feet. The whale having been secured alongside, all hands were

sent below, as they were worn out with the day's work. The third mate

being ill, I had been invested with the questionable honour of standing

his watch, on account of my sea experience and growing favour with the

chief. Very bitterly did I resent the privilege at the time, I remember,

being so tired and sleepy that I knew not how to keep awake. I did

not imagine that anything would happen to make me prize that night's

experience for the rest of my life, or I should have taken matters with

a far better grace.

At about eleven p.m. I was leaning over the lee rail, grazing steadily

at the bright surface of the sea, where the intense radiance of the

tropical moon made a broad path like a pavement of burnished silver.

Eyes that saw not, mind only confusedly conscious of my surroundings,

were mine; but suddenly I started to my feet with an exclamation, and

stared with all my might at the strangest sight I ever saw. There was

a violent commotion in the sea right where the moon's rays were

concentrated, so great that, remembering our position, I was at first

inclined to alarm all hands; for I had often heard of volcanic islands

suddenly lifting their heads from the depths below, or disappearing in

a moment, and, with Sumatra's chain of active volcanoes so near, I felt

doubtful indeed of what was now happening. Getting the night-glasses

out of the cabin scuttle, where they were always hung in readiness,

I focussed them on the troubled spot, perfectly satisfied by a short

examination that neither volcano nor earthquake had anything to do with

what was going on; yet so vast were the forces engaged that I might well

have been excused for my first supposition. A very large sperm whale was

locked in deadly conflict with a cuttle-fish or squid, almost as large

as himself, whose interminable tentacles seemed to enlace the whole

of his great body. The head of the whale especially seemed a perfect

net-work of writhing arms--naturally I suppose, for it appeared as

if the whale had the tail part of the mollusc in his jaws, and, in a

business-like, methodical way, was sawing through it. By the side of the

black columnar head of the whale appeared the head of the great squid,

as awful an object as one could well imagine even in a fevered dream.

Judging as carefully as possible, I estimated it to be at least as large

as one of our pipes, which contained three hundred and fifty gallons;

but it may have been, and probably was, a good deal larger. The eyes

were very remarkable from their size and blackness, which, contrasted

with the livid whiteness of the head, made their appearance all the more

striking. They were, at least, a foot in diameter, and, seen under such

conditions, looked decidedly eerie and hobgoblin-like. All around the

combatants were numerous sharks, like jackals round a lion, ready to

share the feast, and apparently assisting in the destruction of the huge

cephalopod. So the titanic struggle went on, in perfect silence as

far as we were concerned, because, even had there been any noise, our

distance from the scene of conflict would not have permitted us to hear

it.

Thinking that such a sight ought not to be missed by the captain, I

overcame my dread of him sufficiently to call him, and tell him of what

was taking place. He met my remarks with such a furious burst of anger

at my daring to disturb him for such a cause, that I fled precipitately

on deck again, having the remainder of the vision to myself, for none

of the others cared sufficiently for such things to lose five minutes'

sleep in witnessing them. The conflict ceased, the sea resumed its

placid calm, and nothing remained to tell of the fight but a strong

odour of fish, as of a bank of seaweed left by the tide in the blazing

sun. Eight bells struck, and I went below to a troubled sleep, wherein

all the awful monsters that an over-excited brain could conjure up

pursued me through the gloomy caves of ocean, or mocked my pigmy efforts

to escape.

The occasions upon which these gigantic cuttle-fish appear at the sea

surface must, I think, be very rare. From their construction, they

appear fitted only to grope among the rocks at the bottom of the ocean.

Their mode of progression is backward, by the forcible ejection of a

jet of water from an orifice in the neck, beside the rectum or cloaca.

Consequently their normal position is head-downward, and with tentacles

spread out like the ribs of an umbrella--eight of them at least; the

two long ones, like the antennae of an insect, rove unceasingly around,

seeking prey.

The imagination can hardly picture a more terrible object than one

of these huge monsters brooding in the ocean depths, the gloom of his

surroundings increased by the inky fluid (sepia) which he secretes in

copious quantities, every cup-shaped disc, of the hundreds with which

the restless tentacles are furnished, ready at the slightest touch to

grip whatever is near, not only by suction, but by the great claws

set all round within its circle. And in the centre of this net-work of

living traps is the chasm-like mouth, with its enormous parrot-beak,

ready to rend piecemeal whatever is held by the tentaculae. The very

thought of it makes one's flesh crawl. Well did Michelet term them "the

insatiable nightmares of the sea."

Yet, but for them, how would such great creatures as the sperm whale be

fed? Unable, from their bulk, to capture small fish except by accident,

and, by the absence of a sieve of baleen, precluded from subsisting upon

the tiny crustacea, which support the MYSTICETAE, the cachalots seem

to be confined for their diet to cuttle-fish, and, from their point of

view, the bigger the latter are the better. How big they may become in

the depths of the sea, no man knoweth; but it is unlikely that even the

vast specimens seen are full-sized, since they have only come to the

surface under abnormal conditions, like the one I have attempted to

describe, who had evidently been dragged up by his relentless foe.

Creatures like these, who inhabit deep waters, and do not need to come

to the surface by the exigencies of their existence, necessarily present

many obstacles to accurate investigation of their structure and habits;

but, from the few specimens that have been obtained of late years,

fairly comprehensive details have been compiled, and may be studied in

various French and German works, of which the Natural History Museum at

South Kensington possesses copies. These, through the courtesy of the

authorities in charge, are easily accessible to students who wish to

prosecute the study of this wonderful branch of the great mollusca

family.

When we commenced to cut in our whale next morning, the sea was fairly

alive with fish of innumerable kinds, while a vast host of sea-birds, as

usual, waited impatiently for the breaking-up of the huge carcass, which

they knew would afford them no end of a feast. An untoward accident,

which happened soon after the work was started, gave the waiting myriads

immense satisfaction, although the unfortunate second mate, whose slip

of the spade was responsible, came in for a hurricane of vituperation

from the enraged skipper. It was in detaching the case from the

head--always a work of difficulty, and requiring great precision of aim.

Just as Mr. Cruce made a powerful thrust with his keen tool, the vessel

rolled, and the blow, missing the score in which he was cutting, fell

upon the case instead, piercing its side. For a few minutes the result

was unnoticed amidst the wash of the ragged edges of the cut, but

presently a long streak of white, wax-like pieces floating astern, and

a tremendous commotion among the birds, told the story. The liquid

spermaceti was leaking rapidly from the case, turning solid as it got

into the cool water. Nothing could be done to stop the waste, which,

as it was a large whale, was not less than twenty barrels, or about two

tuns of pure spermaceti. An accident of this kind never failed to make

our skipper almost unbearable in his temper for some days afterwards;

and, to do him justice, he did not discriminate very carefully as to who

felt his resentment besides its immediate cause.

Therefore we had all a rough time of it while his angry fit lasted,

which was a whole week, or until all was shipshape again. Meanwhile we

were edging gradually through the Malacca Straits and around the big

island of Borneo, never going very near the land on account of the great

and numerous dangers attendant upon coasting in those localities to any

but those continually engaged in such a business.

Indeed, all navigation in those seas to sailing vessels is dangerous,

and requires the greatest care. Often we were obliged at a minute's

notice to let go the anchor, although out of sight of land, some rapid

current being found carrying us swiftly towards a shoal or race,

where we might come to grief. Yet there was no fuss or hurry, the same

leisurely old system was continued, and worked as well as ever. But it

was not apparent why we were threading the tortuous and difficult waters

of the Indian Archipelago. No whales of any kind were seen for at least

a month, although, from our leisurely mode of sailing, it was evident

that they were looked for.

An occasional native craft came alongside, desirous of bartering fish,

which we did not want, being able to catch all we needed as readily

almost as they were. Fruit and vegetables we could not get at such

distances from land, for the small canoes that lie in wait for passing

ships do not of course venture far from home.

CHAPTER XIII. OFF TO THE JAPAN GROUNDS

Very tedious and trying was our passage northward, although every effort

was made by the skipper to expedite it. Nothing of advantage to our

cargo was seen for a long time, which, although apparently what was

to be expected, did not improve Captain Slocum's temper. But, to the

surprise of all, when we had arrived off the beautiful island of Hong

Kong, to which we approached closely, we "raised" a grand sperm whale.

Many fishing-junks were in sight, busily plying their trade, and at any

other time we should have been much interested in the quaint and cunning

devices by which the patient, wily Chinaman succeeds so admirably as

a fisherman. Our own fishing, for the time being, absorbed all our

attention--the more, perhaps, that we had for so long been unable to do

anything in that line. After the usual preliminaries, we were successful

in getting fast to the great creature, who immediately showed fight. So

skilful and wary did he prove that Captain Slocum, growing impatient at

our manoeuvring with no result, himself took the field, arriving on

the scene with the air of one who comes to see and conquer without more

delay. He brought with him a weapon which I have not hitherto mentioned,

because none of the harpooners could be induced to use it, and

consequently it had not been much in evidence. Theoretically, it was as

ideal tool for such work, its chief drawback being its cumbrousness. It

was known as "Pierce's darting gun," being a combination of bomb-gun and

harpoon, capable of being darted at the whale like a plain harpoon. Its

construction was simple; indeed, the patent was a very old one. A tube

of brass, thickening towards the butt, at which was a square chamber

firmly welded to a socket for receiving the pole, formed the gun itself.

Within the chamber aforesaid a nipple protruded from the base of the

tube, and in line with it. The trigger was simply a flat bit of steel,

like a piece of clock spring, which was held down by the hooked end of a

steel rod long enough to stick out beyond the muzzle of the gun three or

four inches, and held in position by two flanges at the butt and muzzle

of the barrel. On the opposite side of the tube were two more flanges,

close together, into the holes of which was inserted the end of a

specially made harpoon, having an eye twisted in its shank through which

the whale line was spliced. The whole machine was fitted to a neat pole,

and strongly secured to it by means of a "gun warp," or short piece of

thin line, by which it could be hauled back into the boat after being

darted at a whale. To prepare this weapon for use, the barrel was

loaded with a charge of powder and a bomb similar to those used in the

shoulder-guns, the point of which just protruded from the muzzle. An

ordinary percussion cap was placed upon the nipple, and the trigger

cocked by placing the trigger-rod in position. The harpoon, with the

line attached, was firmly set into the socketed flanges prepared for it,

and the whole arrangement was then ready to be darted at the whale in

the usual way.

Supposing the aim to be good and the force sufficient, the harpoon

would penetrate the blubber until the end of the trigger-rod was driven

backwards by striking the blubber, releasing the trigger and firing the

gun. Thus the whale would be harpooned and bomb-lanced at the same time,

and, supposing everything to work satisfactorily, very little more could

be needed to finish him. But the weapon was so cumbersome and awkward,

and the harpooners stood in such awe of it, that in the majority of

cases the whale was either missed altogether or the harpoon got such

slight hold that the gun did not go off, the result being generally

disastrous.

In the present case, however, the "Pierce" gun was in the hands of a man

by no means nervous, and above criticism or blame in case of failure. So

when he sailed in to the attack, and delivered his "swashing blow," the

report of the gun was immediately heard, proving conclusively that a

successful stroke had been made.

It had an instantaneous and astonishing effect. The sorely wounded

monster, with one tremendous expiration, rolled over and over swift as

thought towards his aggressor, literally burying the boat beneath his

vast bulk. Now, one would have thought surely, upon seeing this, that

none of that boat's crew would ever have been seen again. Nevertheless,

strange as it may appear, out of that seething lather of foam, all six

heads emerged again in an instant, but on the OTHER side of the great

creature. How any of them escaped instant violent death was, and from

the nature of the case must, ever remain, an unravelled mystery, for

the boat was crumbled into innumerable fragments, and the three hundred

fathoms of line, in a perfect maze of entanglement, appeared to be

wrapped about the writhing trunk of the whale. Happily, there were two

boats disengaged, so that they were able very promptly to rescue the

sufferers from their perilous position in the boiling vortex of foam by

which they were surrounded. Meanwhile, the remaining boat had an easy

task. The shot delivered by the captain had taken deadly effect, the

bomb having entered the creature's side low down, directly abaft the

pectoral fin. It must have exploded within the cavity of the bowels,

from its position, causing such extensive injuries as to make even that

vast animal's death but a matter of a few moments. Therefore, we did not

run any unnecessary risks, but hauled off to a safe distance and quietly

watched the death-throes. They were so brief, that in less than ten

minutes from the time of the accident we were busy securing the line

through the flukes of our prize.

The vessel was an unusually long time working up to us, so slow, in

fact, that Mr Count remarked, critically, "Shouldn't wonder if th' ole

man ain't hurt; they're taking things so all-fired easy." By the time

she had reached us, we had a good few visitors around us from the

fishing fleet, who caused us no little anxiety, The Chinese have no

prejudices; they would just as soon steal a whale as a herring, if the

conveyance could be effected without, more trouble or risk to their own

yellow skins. If it involved the killing of a few foreign devils--well,

so much to the good. The ship, however, arrived before the fishermen had

decided upon any active steps, and we got our catch alongside without

any delay. The truth of Mr. Count's forecast was verified to the hilt,

for we found that the captain was so badly bruised about the body that

he was unable to move, while one of the hands, a Portuguese, was injured

internally, and seemed very bad indeed. Had any one told us that morning

that we should be sorry to see Captain Slocum with sore bones, we should

have scoffed at the notion, and some of us would probably have said that

we should like to have the opportunity of making him smart. But under

the present circumstances, with some hundreds of perfectly ruthless

wretches hovering around us, looking with longing eyes at the treasure

we had alongside, we could not help remembering the courage and resource

so often shown by the skipper, and wished with all our hearts that we

could have the benefit of them now. As soon as dinner was over, we all

"turned to" with a will to get the whale cut in. None of us required

to be told that to lay all night with that whale alongside would be

extremely unhealthy for us, great doubt existing as to whether any of

us would see morning dawn again. There was, too, just a possibility

that when the carcass, stripped of its blubber, was cut adrift, those

ravenous crowds would fasten upon it, and let us go in peace.

All hands, therefore, worked like Trojans. There was no need to drive

us, nor was a single harsh word spoken. Nothing was heard but the almost

incessant clatter of the windlass pawls, abrupt monosyllabic orders, and

the occasional melancholy wail of a gannet overhead. No word had been

spoken on the subject among us, yet somehow we all realized that we were

working for a large stake no less than our lives. What! says somebody,

within a few miles of Hong Kong? Oh yes; and even within Hong Kong

harbour itself, if opportunity offers. Let any man go down the wharf at

Hong Kong after sunset, and hail a sampan from the hundreds there that

are waiting to be hired. Hardly will the summons have left his lips

before a white policeman will be at his side, note-book in hand,

inquiring his name and ship, and taking a note of the sampan's number,

with the time of his leaving the wharf. Nothing perfunctory about the

job either. Let but these precautions be omitted, and the chances that

the passenger (if he have aught of value about him) will ever arrive at

his destination are almost nil.

So good was the progress made that by five p.m. we were busy at the

head, while the last few turns of the windlass were being taken to

complete the skinning of the body. With a long pent-up shout that last

piece was severed and swung inboard, as the huge mass of reeking flesh

floated slowly astern. As it drifted away we saw the patient watchers

who had been waiting converging upon it from all quarters, and our hopes

rose high. But there was no slackening of our efforts to get in the

head. By the time it was dark we managed to get the junk on board, and

by the most extraordinary efforts lifted the whole remainder of the

head high enough to make sail and stand off to sea. The wind was off the

land, the water smooth, and no swell on, so we took no damage from that

tremendous weight surging by our side, though, had the worst come to the

worst, we could have cut it adrift.

When morning dawned we hove-to, the land being only dimly visible

astern, and finished taking on board our "head matter" without further

incident. The danger past, we were all well pleased that the captain was

below, for the work proceeded quite pleasantly under the genial rule of

the mate. Since leaving port we had not felt so comfortable, the work,

with all its disagreeables, seeming as nothing now that we could do it

without fear and trembling. Alas for poor Jemmy!--as we always persisted

in calling him from inability to pronounce his proper name--his case

was evidently hopeless. His fellows did their poor best to comfort his

fast-fleeting hours, one after another murmuring to him the prayers of

the Church, which, although they did not understand them, they evidently

believed most firmly to have some marvellous power to open the gates

of paradise and cleanse the sinner. Notwithstanding the grim fact

that their worship was almost pure superstition, it was far more in

accordance with the fitness of things for a dying man's surroundings

than such scenes as I have witnessed in the forecastles of merchant

ships when poor sailors lay a-dying. I remember well once, when I was

second officer of a large passenger ship, going in the forecastle as

she lay at anchor at St. Helena, to see a sick man. Half the crew were

drunk, and the beastly kennel in which they lived was in a thick fog of

tobacco-smoke and the stale stench of rum. Ribald songs, quarrelling,

and blasphemy made a veritable pandemonium of the place. I passed

quietly through it to the sick man's bunk, and found him--dead! He had

passed away in the midst of that, but the horror of it did not seem to

impress his bemused shipmates much.

Here, at any rate, there was quiet and decorum, while all that could

be done for the poor sufferer (not much, from ignorance of how he was

injured) was done. He was released from his pain in the afternoon of the

second day after the accident, the end coming suddenly and peacefully.

The same evening, at sunset, the body, neatly sewn up in canvas, with a

big lump of sandstone secured to the feet, was brought on deck, laid

on a hatch at the gangway, and covered with the blue, star-spangled

American Jack. Then all hands were mustered in the waist, the ship's

bell was tolled, and the ensign run up halfway.

The captain was still too ill to be moved, so the mate stepped forward

with a rusty old Common Prayer-book in his hands, whereon my vagrant

fancy immediately fastened in frantic endeavour to imagine how it came

to be there. The silence of death was over all. True, the man was but

a unit of no special note among us, but death had conferred upon him a

brevet rank, in virtue of which be dominated every thought. It seemed

strange to me that we who faced death so often and variously, until

natural fear had become deadened by custom, should, now that one of

our number lay a rapidly-corrupting husk before us, be so tremendously

impressed by the simple, inevitable fact. I suppose it was because

none of us were able to realize the immanence of Death until we saw

his handiwork. Mr. Count opened the book, fumbling nervously among the

unfamiliar leaves. Then he suddenly looked up, his weather-scarred face

glowing a dull brick-red, and said, in a low voice, "This thing's too

many fer me; kin any of ye do it? Ef not, I guess we'll hev ter take it

as read." There was no response for a moment; then I stepped forward,

reaching out my hand for the book. Its contents were familiar enough to

me, for in happy pre-arab days I had been a chorister in the old Lock

Chapel, Harrow Road, and had borne my part in the service so often that

I think even now I could repeat the greater part of it MEMORITER. Mr.

Count gave it me without a word, and, trembling like a leaf, I turned

to the "Burial Service," and began the majestic sentences, "I am the

Resurrection and the Life, saith the Lord." I did not know my own voice

as the wonderful words sounded clearly in the still air; but if ever a

small body of soul-hardened men FELT the power of God, it was then. At

the words, "We therefore commit his body to the deep," I paused, and,

the mate making a sign, two of the harpooners tilted the hatch, from

which the remains slid off into the unknown depths with a dull splash.

Several of the dead man's compatriots covered their faces, and murmured

prayers for the repose of his soul, while the tears trickled through

their horny fingers. But matters soon resumed their normal course; the

tension over, back came the strings of life into position again, to play

the same old tunes and discords once more.

The captured whale made an addition to our cargo of one hundred and ten

barrels--a very fair haul indeed. The harpooners were disposed to regard

this capture as auspicious upon opening the North Pacific, where, in

spite of the time we had spent, and the fair luck we had experienced in

the Indian Ocean, we expected to make the chief portion of our cargo.

Our next cruising-ground is known to whalemen as the "Coast of Japan"

ground, and has certainly proved in the past the most prolific fishery

of sperm whales in the whole world. I am inclined now to believe

that there are more and larger cachalots to be found in the Southern

Hemisphere, between the parallels of 33deg. and 50deg. South; but there

the drawback of heavy weather and mountainous seas severely handicaps

the fishermen.

It is somewhat of a misnomer to call the Coast of Japan ground by that

name, since to be successful you should not sight Japan at all, but keep

out of range of the cold current that sweeps right across the Pacific,

skirting the Philippines, along the coasts of the Japanese islands

as far as the Kuriles, and then returns to the eastward again to the

southward of the Aleutian Archipelago. The greatest number of whales are

always found in the vicinity of the Bonin and Volcano groups of islands,

which lie in the eddy formed by the northward bend of the mighty current

before mentioned. This wonderful ground was first cruised by a London

whale-ship, the SYREN, in 1819, when the English branch of the sperm

whale-fishery was in its prime, and London skippers were proud of the

fact that one of their number, in the EMILIA, had thirty-one years

before first ventured around Cape Horn in pursuit of the cachalot.

After the advent of the SYREN, the Bonins became the favourite

fishing-ground for both Americans and British, and for many years the

catch of oil taken from these teeming waters averaged four thousand

tuns annually. That the value of the fishery was maintained at so high a

level for over a quarter of a century was doubtless due to the fact that

there was a long, self-imposed close season, during which the whales

were quite unmolested. Nothing in the migratory habits of this whale, so

far as has ever been observed, would have prevented a profitable fishing

all the year round; but custom, stronger even than profit, ordained that

whale-ships should never stay too long upon one fishing-ground, but move

on farther until the usual round had been made, unless the vessel were

filled in the mean time.

Of course, there are whales whose habits lead them at certain seasons,

for breeding purposes, to frequent various groups of islands, but the

cachalot seems to be quite impartial in his preferences; if he "uses"

around certain waters, he is just as likely to be found there in July as

January.

The Bonins, too, form an ideal calling-place, from the whaling captain's

point of view. Peel Island, the principal one of the cluster, has

a perfect harbour in Port Lloyd, where a vessel can not only lie

in comfort, sheltered from almost every wind that blows, but where

provisions, wood, and water are plentiful. There is no inducement, or

indeed room, for desertion, and the place is healthy. It is colonized

by Japs from the kingdom so easily reached to the westward, and the busy

little people, after their manner, make a short stay very agreeable.

Once clear of the southern end of Formosa we had quite a rapid run to

the Bonins, carrying a press of sail day and night, as the skipper was

anxious to arrive there on account of his recent injuries. He was still

very lame, and he feared that some damage might have been done to him

of which he was ignorant. Besides, it was easy to see that he did not

altogether like anybody else being in charge of his ship, no matter how

good they were. Such was the expedition we made that we arrived at

Port Lloyd twelve days after clearing up our last whale. Very beautiful

indeed the islands, appeared, with their bold, steep sides clad in

richest green, or, where no vegetation appeared, worn into a thousand

fantastic shapes by the sea, or the mountain torrents carving away the

lava of which they were all composed. For the whole of the islands were

volcanic, and Port Lloyd itself is nothing more than the crater of a

vast volcano, which in some tremendous convulsion of nature has sunk

from its former high estate low enough to become a haven for ships.

I have said that it was a perfect harbour, but there is no doubt that

getting in or out requires plenty of nerve as well as seamanship. There

was so little room, and the eddying flows of wind under the high

land were so baffling, that at various times during our passage in it

appeared as if nothing could prevent us from getting stuck upon some of

the adjacent hungry-looking coral reefs. Nothing of the kind happened,

however, and we came comfortably to an anchor near three other

whale-ships which were already there. They were the DIEGO RAMIREZ, of

Nantucket; the CORONEL, of Providence, Rhode Island; and the GRAMPUS,

of New Bedford. These were the first whale-ships we had yet seen, and

it may be imagined how anxious we felt to meet men with whom we could

compare notes and exchange yarns. It might be, too, that we should get

some news of that world which, as far as we were concerned, might as

well have been at the other extremity of the solar system for the last

year, so completely isolated had we been.

The sails were hardly fast before a boat from each of the ships was

alongside with their respective skippers on board. The extra exertion

necessary to pilot the ship in had knocked the old man up, in his

present weak state, and he had gone below for a short rest; so the three

visitors dived down into the stuffy cabin, all anxious to interview

the latest comer. Considerate always, Mr. Count allowed us to have the

remainder of the day to ourselves, so we set about entertaining our

company. It was no joke twelve of them coming upon us all at once, and

babel ensued for a short time. They knew the system too well to expect

refreshments, so we had not to apologize for having nothing to set

before them. They had not come, however, for meat and drink, but for

talk. And talk we did, sometimes altogether, sometimes rationally; but I

doubt whether any of us had ever enjoyed talking so much before.

CHAPTER XIV. LIBERTY DAY--AND AFTER

There is generally current among seamen a notion that all masters of

ships are bound by law to give their crews twenty-four hours' liberty

and a portion of their wages to spend every three months, if they are in

port. I have never heard any authority quoted for this, and do not know

what foundation there is for such a belief, although the practice is

usually adhered to in English ships. But American whale-ships apparently

know no law, except the will of their commanders, whose convenience is

always the first consideration. Thus, we had now been afloat for well

over a year, during which time, except for our foraging excursions at

the Cocos and Aldabra, we had certainly known no liberty for a whole

day.

Our present port being one where it was impossible to desert without

the certainty of prompt recapture, with subsequent suffering altogether

disproportionate to the offence, we were told that one watch at a time

would be allowed their liberty for a day. So we of the port watch made

our simple preparations, received twenty-five cents each, and were

turned adrift on the beach to enjoy ourselves. We had our liberty, but

we didn't know what to do with it. There was a native town and a couple

of low groggeries kept by Chinamen, where some of my shipmates promptly

invested a portion of their wealth in some horrible liquor, the smell of

which was enough to make an ordinary individual sick. There was no place

apparently where one could get a meal, so that the prospect of our stay

ashore lasting a day did not seem very great. I was fortunate enough,

however, to foregather with a Scotchman who was a beach-comber,

and consequently "knew the ropes." I dare say he was an unmitigated

blackguard whenever he got the chance, but he was certainly on his best

behaviour with me. He took me into the country a bit to see the sights,

which were such as most of the Pacific islands afford. Wonderful indeed

were the fantastic rocks, twisted into innumerable grotesque shapes,

and, along the shores, hollowed out into caverns of all sizes, some

large enough to shelter an army. He was quite familiar with the natives,

understanding enough of their queer lingo to get along. By his friendly

aid we got some food--yams, and fish cooked in native fashion, i.e. in

heated holes in the ground, for which the friendly Kanakas would take no

payment, although they looked murderous enough to be cannibals. It does

not do to go by looks always.

Well, after a long ramble, the Scotchman and I laid our weary bodies

down in the shade of a big rock, and had a grand sleep, waking up again

a little before sunset. We hastened down to the beach off the town,

where all my watchmates were sitting in a row, like lost sheep, waiting

to be taken on board again. They had had enough of liberty; indeed, such

liberty as that was hardly worth having. It seems hardly credible, but

we were actually glad to get on board again, it was so miserable ashore,

The natives were most unsociable at the port, and we could not make

ourselves understood, so there was not much fun to be had. Even those

who were inclined to drink had too little for a spree, which I was

not sorry for, since doubtless a very unpleasant reception would have

awaited them had they come on board drunk.

Next day the starboard watch went on liberty, while we who had received

our share were told off to spend the day wooding and watering. In this

most pleasant of occupations (when the weather is fine) I passed a much

more satisfactory time than when wandering about with no objective, an

empty pocket, and a hungry belly. No foremast hand has ever enjoyed his

opportunities of making the acquaintance of his various visiting places

more than I have; but the circumstances attendant upon one's leave must

be a little favourable, or I would much rather stay aboard and fish.

Our task was over for the day, a goodly store of wood and casks of water

having been shipped. We were sitting down to supper, when, in answer to

a hail from the beach, we were ordered to fetch the liberty men. When

we got to them, there was a pretty how-d'ye-do. All of them were more or

less drunk, some exceedingly quarrelsome. Now, Mistah Jones was steering

our boat, looking as little like a man to take sauce from a drunken

sailor as you could imagine. Most of the transformed crowd ya-hooing

on the beach had felt the weight of his shoulder-of-mutton fist, yet so

utterly had prudence forsaken them that, before we came near them, they

were abusing him through all the varied gamut of filthy language they

possessed. My democratic sentiments are deeply seated, but I do believe

in authority, and respect for it being rigidly enforced, so this

uncalled-for scene upset me, making me feel anxious that the gibbering

fools might get a lesson. They got one.

Goliath stood like a tower, his eyes alone betraying the fierce anger

boiling within. When we touched the beach, his voice was mild end gentle

as a child's, his movements calm and deliberate. As soon as we had

beached the boat he stepped ashore, and in two strides was in the middle

of the snarling group. Further parley ceased at once. Snatching the

loudest of them by the breast of his shirt with his right hand, another

one by the collar with his left, he flung himself backwards towards the

boat, knocking the interveners right and left. But a protruding fragment

of rock caught his heel, bringing him with his captives to the ground

in a writhing mass. The rest, maddened beyond restraint of fear,

flung themselves upon the prostrate man, the glimmer of more than one

knife-blade appearing. Two of us from the boat--one with the tiller, the

other brandishing a paddle--rushed to the rescue; but before we arrived

the giant had heaved off his assailants, and, with no other weapons than

his bare hands, was doing terrific execution among them. Not knowing,

I suppose, whether we were friendly to him or not, he shouted to us to

keep away, nor dare to interfere. There was no need. Disregarding such

trifles as a few superficial cuts--not feeling them perhaps--he so

unmercifully mauled that crowd that they howled again for mercy. The

battle was brief and bloody. Before hostilities had lasted five minutes,

six of the aggressors were stretched insensible; the rest, comprising

as many more, were pleading for mercy, completely sober. Such prowess on

the part of one man against twelve seems hardly credible; but it must be

remembered that Goliath fought, with all the moral force of the ship's

officers behind him, against a disorganized crowd without backbone, who

would never have dared to face him but for the temporary mania induced

by the stuff they had drunk. It was a conflict between a lion and a

troop of jackals, whereof the issue was never in doubt as long as lethal

weapons were wanting.

Standing erect among the cowering creatures, the great negro looked

every inch a mediaeval hero. In a stern voice he bade his subjugated

enemies to get into the boat, assisting those to do so who were too

badly hurt to rise. Then we shoved off for the ship--a sorrowful gang

indeed.

As I bent to my oar, I felt very sorry for what had happened. Here

were half the crew guilty of an act of violence upon an officer, which,

according to the severe code under which we lived, merited punishment as

painful as could be inflicted, and lasting for the rest of the voyage.

Whatever form that punishment might take, those of us who were innocent

would be almost equal sufferers with the others, because discrimination

in the treatment between watch and watch is always difficult, and in our

case it was certain that it would not be attempted. Except as regarded

physical violence, we might all expect to share alike. Undoubtedly

things looked very unpleasant. My gloomy cogitations were abruptly

terminated by the order to "unrow"--we were alongside. Somehow or other

all hands managed to scramble on board, and assist in hoisting the boat

up.

As soon as she was secured we slunk away forward, but we had hardly got

below before a tremendous summons from Goliath brought us all aft again

at the double quick. Most of the fracas had been witnessed from the

ship, so that but a minute or two was needed to explain how or why it

begun. Directly that explanation had been supplied by Mistah Jones, the

order was issued for the culprits to appear.

I have before noticed how little love was lost between the skipper and

his officers, Goliath having even once gone so far as to give me a

very emphatic opinion of his about the "old man" of a most unflattering

nature. And had such a state of things existed on board an English ship,

the crew would simply have taken charge, for they would have seen the

junior officers flouted, snubbed, and jeered at; and, of course, what

they saw the captain do, they would not be slow to improve on. Many a

promising young officer's career has been blighted in this way by the

feminine spite of a foolish man unable to see that if the captain shows

no respect to his officers, neither will the crew, nor obedience either.

But in an American ship, so long as an officer remains an officer, he

must be treated as such by every man, under pain of prompt punishment.

Yankee skippers have far too much NOUS to allow their hands to grow

saucy in consequence of division among the after-guard. So now a sort

of court-martial was held upon the unfortunates who had dared to attack

Goliath, at which that sable hero might have been the apple of Captain

Slocum's eye, so solicitous was he of Mistah Jones' honour and the

reparation to be made.

This sort of thing was right in his line. Naturally cruel, he seemed to

thoroughly enjoy himself in the prospect of making human beings twist

and writhe in pain. Nor would he be baulked of a jot of his pleasure.

Goliath approached him, and muttered a few words, meant, I felt sure, to

appease him by letting him know how much they had suffered at his strong

hands; but he turned upon the negro with a savage curse, bidding him be

silent. Then every one of the culprits was stripped, and secured to the

lash-rail by the wrists; scourges were made of cotton fish-line, knotted

at intervals, and secured to a stout handle; the harpooners were told

off as executioners, and the flogging began. Perhaps it was necessary

for the maintenance of discipline--certainly it was trivial compared

with the practice, till recently, in our own army and navy; but I am

glad to say that, compelled to witness it, I felt quite sick--physically

sick--trembling so in every limb that my legs would not support me. It

was not fear, for I had nothing to fear had I been ever such a coward.

Whatever it was, I am not sorry either to have felt it or to own it,

even while I fully admit that for some forms of wickedness nothing but

the lash seems adequate punishment.

Some of the victims fainted, not being in the best condition at the

outset for undergoing so severe a trial; but all were treated alike,

buckets of salt water being flung over them. This drastic reviver,

while adding to their pain, brought them all into a state of sufficient

activity to get forward when they were released. Smarting and degraded,

all their temporary bravado effectually banished, they were indeed

pitiable objects, their deplorable state all the harder to bear from its

contrast to our recent pleasure when we entertained the visiting crews.

Having completed our quantum of wood, water, and fresh provisions for

the officers, we got under way again for the fishing grounds. I did

not see how we could hope for a successful season, knowing the utterly

despondent state of the crew, which even affected the officers, who, not

so callous or cruel as the skipper, seemed to be getting rather tired

of the constant drive and kick, now the normal condition of affairs.

But the skipper's vigilance was great. Whether he noted any sign of

slackness or indifference on the part of his coadjutors or not, of

course I cannot say, but he certainly seemed to put more vigour into his

attentions than had been his wont, and so kept everybody up to the mark.

Hitherto we had always had our fishing to ourselves; we were now to

see something of the ways of other men employed in the same manner. For

though the general idea or plan of campaign against the whales is the

same in all American whalers, every ship has some individual peculiarity

of tactics, which, needless to say, are always far superior to those of

any other ship. When we commenced our cruise on this new ground,

there were seven whalers in sight, all quite as keen on the chase as

ourselves, so that I anticipated considerable sport of the liveliest

kind should we "raise" whales with such a fleet close at hand.

But for a whole week we saw nothing but a grampus or so, a few loitering

finbacks, and an occasional lean humpback bull certainly not worth

chasing. On the seventh afternoon, however, I was in the main

crow's-nest with the chief, when I noticed a ship to windward of us

alter her course, keeping away three or four points on an angle that

would presently bring her across our bows a good way ahead. I was

getting pretty well versed in the tricks of the trade now, so I kept

mum, but strained my eyes in the direction for which the other ship was

steering. The chief was looking astern at some finbacks, the look-out

men forward were both staring to leeward, thus for a minute or so I

had a small arc of the horizon to myself. The time was short, but it

sufficed, and for the first time that voyage I had the privilege of

"raising" a sperm whale. My voice quivered with excitement as I uttered

the war-whoop, "Ah blo-o-o-o-w!" Round spun the mate on his heel,

while the hands clustered like bees roused from their hive. "Where

away--where?" gasped the mate. And I pointed to a spot about half a

point on the lee bow, at the same time calling his attention to the

fact that the stranger to windward was keeping away. In answer to the

skipper's hurried queries from below, Mr. Count gave him the general

outline of affairs, to which he replied by crowding every stitch of

canvas on the vessel that was available.

The spout I had seen was a good ten miles off, and, for the present,

seemed to belong to a "lone" whale, as it was the only one visible.

There was a good breeze blowing, as much, in fact, as we could carry all

sail to, the old barky making a tremendous commotion as she blundered

along under the unusual press of canvas. In the excitement of the race

all our woes were forgotten; we only thought of the possibility of the

ship getting there first. We drew gradually nearer to the stranger, who,

like us, was carrying all the sail he had got, but, being able to go a

point or two free, was outsailing us.

It was anybody's race as yet, though, when we heard the skipper's hail,

"'Way down from aloft!" as he came up to take our place, The whale had

sounded, apparently heading to leeward, so that the weather-gage held by

our rival was not much advantage to him now. We ran on for another two

miles, then shortened sail, and stood by to lower away the moment he

should re-appear, Meanwhile another ship was working up from to leeward,

having evidently noted our movements, or else, like the albatross,

"smelt whale," no great distance to windward of him. Waiting for that

whale to rise was one of the most exciting experiences we had gone

through as yet, with two other ships so near. Everybody's nerves seemed

strung up to concert pitch, and it was quite a relief when from half

a dozen throats at once burst the cry, "There she white-waters! Ah

blo-o-o-o-w!" Not a mile away, dead to leeward of us, quietly beating

the water with the flat of his flukes, as if there was no such thing in

the watery world as a whale-ship. Splash! almost simultaneously went the

four boats. Out we shot from the ship, all on our mettle; for was not

the skipper's eye upon us from his lofty eyrie, as well as the crew of

the other ship, now not more than a mile away! We seemed a terrible time

getting the sails up, but the officers dared not risk our willingness to

pull while they could be independent of us.

By the time we were fairly off, the other ship's boats were coming like

the wind, so that eight boats were now converging upon the unconscious

monster. We fairly flew over the short, choppy sea, getting drenched

with the flying spray, but looking out far more keenly at the other

boats than at the whale. Up we came to him, Mr. Count's boat to the

left, the other mate's boat to the right. Almost at the same moment the

irons flew from the hands of the rival harpooners; but while ours was

buried to the hitches in the whale's side, the other man's just ploughed

up the skin on the animal's back, as it passed over him and pierced our

boat close behind the harpooner's leg. Not seeing what had happened to

his iron, or knowing that we were fast, the other harpooner promptly

hurled his second iron, which struck solidly. It was a very pretty

tangle, but our position was rather bad. The whale between us was

tearing the bowels of the deep up in his rage and fear; we were

struggling frantically to get our sail down; and at any moment that

wretched iron through our upper strake might tear a plank out of us.

Our chief, foaming at the mouth with rage and excitement, was screeching

inarticulate blasphemy at the other mate, who, not knowing what was the

matter, was yelling back all his copious vocabulary of abuse. I felt

very glad the whale was between us, or there would surely have been

murder done. At last, out drops the iron, leaving a jagged hole you

could put your arm through. Wasn't Mr. Count mad? I really thought he

would split with rage, for it was impossible for us to go on with that

hole in our bilge. The second mate came alongside and took our line as

the whale was just commencing to sound, thus setting us free. We made at

once for the other ship's "fast" boat, and the compliments that had

gone before were just casual conversation to what filled the air with

dislocated language now. Presently both the champions cooled down a bit

from want of breath, and we got our case stated. It was received with

a yell of derision from the other side as a splendid effort of lying on

our part; because the first ship fast claims the whale, and such a prize

as this one we were quarrelling about was not to be tamely yielded.

However, as reason asserted her sway over Mr. Count, he quieted down,

knowing full well that the state of the line belonging to his rival

would reveal the truth when the whale rose again. Therefore we returned

to the ship, leaving our three boats busy waiting the whale's pleasure

to rise again. When the skipper heard what had happened, he had his own

boat manned, proceeding himself to the battle-field in expectation of

complications presently. By the time he arrived upon the scene there

were two more boats lying by, which had come up from the third ship,

mentioned as working up from to leeward. "Pretty fine ground this's got

ter be!" growled the old man. "Caint strike whale 'thout bein' crowded

eout uv yer own propputty by a gang bunco steerers like this. Shall hev

ter quit it, en keep a pawnshop."

And still the whale kept going steadily down, down, down. Already he was

on the second boat's lines, and taking them out faster than ever. Had

we been alone, this persistence on his part, though annoying, would

not have mattered much; but, with so many others in company, the

possibilities of complication, should we need to slip our end, were

numerous. The ship kept near, and Mr. Count, seeing how matters were

going, had hastily patched his boat, returning at once with another tub

of line. He was but just in time to bend on, when to our great delight

we saw the end slip from our rival's boat. This in no wise terminated

his lien on the whale, supposing he could prove that he struck first,

but it got him out of the way for the time.

Meanwhile we were running line faster than ever. There was an enormous

length attached to the animal now--some twelve thousand feet--the

weight of which was very great, to say nothing of the many "drogues" or

"stopwaters" attached to it at intervals. Judge, then, of my surprise

when a shout of "Blo-o-o-w!" called my attention to the whale

himself just breaking water about half a mile away. It was an awkward

predicament; for if we let go our end, the others would be on the whale

immediately; if we held on, we should certainly be dragged below in a

twinkling; and our disengaged boats could do nothing, for they had no

line. But the difficulty soon settled itself. Out ran our end, leaving

us bare of line as pleasure skiffs. The newcomer, who had been prowling

near, keeping a close watch upon us, saw our boat jump up when released

from the weight. Off he flew like an arrow to the labouring leviathan,

now a "free fish," except for such claims as the two first-comers had

upon it, which claims are legally assessed, where no dispute arises. In

its disabled condition, dragging so enormous a weight of line, it was

but a few minutes before the fresh boat was fast, while we looked on

helplessly, boiling with impotent rage. All that we could now hope

for was the salvage of some of our line, a mile and a half of which,

inextricably mixed up with about the same length of our rival's, was

towing astern of the fast-expiring cachalot.

So great had been the strain upon that hardly-used animal that he did

not go into his usual "flurry," but calmly expired without the faintest

struggle. In the mean time two of our boats had been sent on board again

to work the ship, while the skipper proceeded to try his luck in the

recovery of his gear. On arriving at the dead whale, however, we found

that he had rolled over and over beneath the water so many times that

the line was fairly frapped round him, and the present possessors were

in no mood to allow us the privilege of unrolling it.

During the conversation we had drawn very near the carcass, so near, in

fact, that one hand was holding the boat alongside the whale's "small"

by a bight of the line. I suppose the skipper's eagle eye must have

caught sight of the trailing part of the line streaming beneath, for

suddenly he plunged overboard, reappearing almost immediately with the

line in his hand. He scrambled into the boat with it, cutting it from

the whale at once, and starting his boat's crew hauling in.

Then there was a hubbub again. The captain of the NARRAGANSETT, our

first rival, protested vigorously against our monopoly of the line; but

in grim silence our skipper kept on, taking no notice of him, while we

steadily hauled. Unless he of the NARRAGANSETT choose to fight for

what he considered his rights, there was no help for him. And there was

something in our old man's appearance eminently calculated to discourage

aggression of any kind.

At last, disgusted apparently with the hopeless turn affairs had taken,

the NARRAGANSETT's boats drew off, and returned on board their ship.

Two of our boats had by this time accumulated a mountainous coil of line

each, with which we returned to our own vessel, leaving the skipper to

visit the present holder of the whale, the skipper of the JOHN HAMPDEN.

What arrangements they made, or how they settled the NARRAGANSETT's

claim between them, I never knew, but I dare say there was a costly

law-suit about it in New Bedford years after.

This was not very encouraging for a start, nor did the next week see us

do any better. Several times we saw other ships with whales alongside,

but we got no show at all. Now, I had hoped a great deal from our cruise

on these grounds, because I had heard whispers of a visit to the icy Sea

of Okhotsk, and the prospect was to me a horrible one. I never did take

any stock in Arctic work. But if we made a good season on the Japan

grounds, we should not go north, but gradually work down the Pacific

again, on the other side, cruising as we went.

Day after day went by without any fresh capture or even sight of fish,

until I began to believe that the stories I had heard of the wonderful

fecundity of the Coast of Japan waters were fables without foundation,

in fact. Had I known what sort of fishing our next bout would be, I

should not have been so eager to sight whales again. If this be not a

platitude of the worst kind, I don't know the meaning of the word; but,

after all, platitudes have their uses, especially when you want to state

a fact baldly.

CHAPTER XV. WHICH COMES UNCOMFORTABLY NEAR BEING THE LAST

All unversed as I am in the finer shades of literary craftsmanship,

there is great uncertainty in my mind whether it is good or bad "art" to

anticipate your next chapter by foreshadowing its contents; but whether

good or bad art, the remembrance of my miseries on the eventful occasion

I wish to describe was so strong upon me as I wrote the last few lines

of the previous chapter that I just had to let those few words leak out.

Through all the vicissitudes of this strange voyage I had hitherto felt

pretty safe, and as the last thing a man anticipates (if his digestion

is all right) is the possibility of coming to grief himself while fully

prepared to see everybody else go under, so I had got to think that

whoever got killed I was not to be--a very pleasing sentiment, and one

that carries a man far, enabling him to face dangers with a light heart

which otherwise would make a nerveless animal of him.

In this optimistic mood, then, I gaily flung myself into my place in the

mate's boat one morning, as we were departing in chase of a magnificent

cachalot that had been raised just after breakfast. There were no other

vessels in sight--much to our satisfaction--the wind was light, with a

cloudless sky, and the whale was dead to leeward of us. We sped along

at a good rate towards our prospective victim, who was, in his leisurely

enjoyment of life, calmly lolling on the surface, occasionally lifting

his enormous tail out of water and letting it fall flat upon the surface

with a boom audible for miles.

We were as usual, first boat; but, much to the mate's annoyance, when we

were a short half-mile from the whale, our main-sheet parted. It became

immediately necessary to roll the sail up, lest its flapping should

alarm the watchful monster, and this delayed us sufficiently to allow

the other boats to shoot ahead of us. Thus the second mate got fast some

seconds before we arrived on the scene, seeing which we furled sail,

unshipped the mast, and went in on him with the oars only. At first the

proceedings were quite of the usual character, our chief wielding his

lance in most brilliant fashion, while not being fast to the animal

allowed us much greater freedom in our evolutions; but that fatal habit

of the mate's--of allowing his boat to take care of herself so long as

he was getting in some good home-thrusts--once more asserted itself.

Although the whale was exceedingly vigorous, churning the sea into

yeasty foam over an enormous area, there we wallowed close to him, right

in the middle of the turmoil, actually courting disaster.

He had just settled down for a moment, when, glancing over the gunwale,

I saw his tail, like a vast shadow, sweeping away from us towards the

second mate, who was laying off the other side of him. Before I had time

to think, the mighty mass of gristle leapt into the sunshine, curved

back from us like a huge bow. Then with a roar it came at us, released

from its tension of Heaven knows how many tons. Full on the broadside

it struck us, sending every soul but me flying out of the wreckage as if

fired from catapults. I did not go because my foot was jammed somehow in

the well of the boat, but the wrench nearly pulled my thigh-bone out of

its socket. I had hardly released my foot, when, towering above me,

came the colossal head of the great creature, as he ploughed through the

bundle of debris that had just been a boat. There was an appalling roar

of water in my ears, and darkness that might be felt all around. Yet,

in the midst of it all, one thought predominated as clearly as if I had

been turning it over in my mind in the quiet of my bunk aboard--"What

if he should swallow me?" Nor to this day can I understand how I escaped

the portals of his gullet, which of course gaped wide as a church door.

But the agony of holding my breath soon overpowered every other feeling

and thought, till just as something was going to snap inside my head I

rose to the surface. I was surrounded by a welter of bloody froth, which

made it impossible for me to see; but oh, the air was sweet!

I struck out blindly, instinctively, although I could feel so strong an

eddy that voluntary progress was out of the question. My hand touched

and clung to a rope, which immediately towed me in some direction--I

neither knew nor cared whither. Soon the motion ceased, and, with a

seaman's instinct, I began to haul myself along by the rope I grasped,

although no definite idea was in my mind as to where it was attached.

Presently I came butt up against something solid, the feel of which

gathered all my scattered wits into a compact knub of dread. It was the

whale! "Any port in a storm," I murmured, beginning to haul away again

on my friendly line. By dint of hard work I pulled myself right up the

sloping, slippery bank of blubber, until I reached the iron, which,

as luck would have it, was planted in that side of the carcass now

uppermost. Carcass I said--well, certainly I had no idea of there being

any life remaining within the vast mass beneath me, yet I had

hardly time to take a couple of turns round myself with the rope (or

whale-line, as I had proved it to be), when I felt the great animal

quiver all over, and begin to forge ahead. I was now composed enough to

remember that help could not be far away, and that my rescue, providing

that I could keep above water, was but a question of a few minutes. But

I was hardly prepared for the whale's next move. Being very near his

end, the boat, or boats, had drawn off a bit, I supposed, for I could

see nothing of them. Then I remembered the flurry. Almost at the same

moment it began; and there was I, who with fearful admiration had so

often watched the titanic convulsions of a dying cachalot, actually

involved in them. The turns were off my body, but I was able to twist a

couple of turns round my arms, which, in case of his sounding, I could

readily let go.

Then all was lost in roar and rush, as of the heart of some mighty

cataract, during which I was sometimes above, sometimes beneath, the

water, but always clinging with every ounce of energy still left, to the

line. Now, one thought was uppermost--"What if he should breach?" I had

seen them do so when in flurry, leaping full twenty feet in the air.

Then I prayed.

Quickly as all the preceding changes had passed came perfect peace.

There I lay, still alive, but so weak that, although I could feel the

turns slipping off my arms, and knew that I should slide off the slope

of the whale's side into the sea if they did, I could make no effort

to secure myself. Everything then passed away from me, just as if I had

gone to sleep.

I do not at all understand how I kept my position, nor how long, but

I awoke to the blessed sound of voices, and saw the second mate's

boat alongside, Very gently and tenderly they lifted me into the boat,

although I could hardly help screaming with agony when they touched me,

so bruised and broken up did I feel. My arms must have been nearly torn

from their sockets, for the strands of the whale-line had cut deep

into their flesh with the strain upon it, while my thigh was swollen

enormously from the blow I received at the onset. Mr. Cruce was the most

surprised man I think I ever saw. For full ten minutes he stared at me

with wide-open eyes. When at last he spoke, it was with difficulty, as

if wanting words to express his astonishment. At last he blurted out,

"Whar you bin all de time, ennyhaow? 'Cawse ef you bin hangin' on to dat

ar wale ev'sence you boat smash, w'y de debbil you hain't all ter bits,

hey?" I smiled feebly, but was too weak to talk, and presently went off

again into a dead faint.

When I recovered, I was snug in my bunk aboard, but aching in every

joint, and as sore as if I had been pounded with a club until I was

bruised all over. During the day Mr. Count was kind enough to pay me a

visit. With his usual luck, he had escaped without the slightest injury;

neither was any other member of the boat's crew the worse for the

ducking but myself. He told me that the whale was one of the largest

he had ever seen, and as fat as butter. The boat was an entire loss, so

completely smashed to pieces that nothing of her or her gear had been

recovered. After spending about a quarter of an hour with me, he left me

considerably cheered up, promising to look after me in the way of food,

and also to send me some books. He told me that I need not worry

myself about my inability to be at work, because the old man was not

unfavourably disposed towards me, which piece of news gave me a great

deal of comfort.

When my poor, weary shipmates came below from their heavy toil of

cutting in, they were almost inclined to be envious of my comfort--small

blame to them--though I would gladly have taken my place among them

again, could I have got rid of my hurts. But I was condemned to lie

there for nearly three weeks before I was able to get about once more.

In my sleep I would undergo the horrible anticipation of sliding down

that awful, cavernous mouth over again, often waking with a shriek and

drenched with sweat.

While I lay there, three whales were caught, all small cows, and I was

informed that the skipper was getting quite disgusted with the luck. At

last I managed to get on deck, quite a different-looking man to when I

went below, and feeling about ten years older. I found the same sullen

quiet reigning that I had noticed several times before when we were

unfortunate. I fancied that the skipper looked more morose and savage

than ever, though of me, to my great relief, he took not the slightest

notice.

The third day after my return to duty we sighted whales again. We

lowered three boats as promptly as usual; but when within about half a

mile of the "pod" some slight noise in one of the boats gallied them,

and away they went in the wind's eye, it blowing a stiffish breeze at

the time, It was from the first evidently a hopeless task to chase them,

but we persevered until recalled to the ship, dead beat with fatigue.

I was not sorry, for my recent adventure seemed to have made quite a

coward of me, so much so that an unpleasant gnawing at the pit of my

stomach as we neared them almost made me sick. I earnestly hoped that

so inconvenient a feeling would speedily leave me, or I should be but a

poor creature in a boat.

In passing, I would like to refer to the wonderful way in which these

whales realize at a great distance, if the slightest sound be made, the

presence of danger. I do not use the word "hear" because so abnormally

small are their organs of hearing, the external opening being quite

difficult to find, that I do not believe they can hear at all well. But

I firmly believe they possess another sense by means of which they are

able to detect any unusual vibration of the waves of either air or sea

at a far greater distance than it would be possible for them to hear,

Whatever this power may be which they possess, all whalemen are well

acquainted with their exercise of it, and always take most elaborate

precautions to render their approach to a whale noiseless.

Our extraordinary want of success at last so annoyed the skipper that

he determined to quit the ground and go north. The near approach of

the open season in those regions probably hastened his decision, but I

learned from Goliath that he had always been known as a most fortunate

man among the "bowheads," as the great MYSTICETAE of that part of

the Arctic seas are called by the Americans. Not that there is any

difference, as far as I have been able to ascertain, between them

and the "right" whale of the Greenland seas, but from some caprice of

nomenclature for which there is no accounting.

So in leisurely fashion we worked north, keeping, of course, a bright

look-out all the way for straggling cachalots, but not seeing any. From

scraps of information that in some mysterious fashion leaked out, we

learned that we were bound to the Okhotsk Sea, it being no part of

the skipper's intentions to go prowling around Behrings Sea, where he

believed the whales to be few and far between.

It may be imagined that we of the crew were not at all pleased with

this intelligence, our life being, we considered, sufficiently miserable

without the addition of extreme cold, for we did not realize that in the

Arctic regions during summer the cold is by no means unbearable, and our

imagination pictured a horrible waste of perpetual ice and snow, in the

midst of which we should be compelled to freeze while dodging whales

through the crevices of the floes. But whether our pictures of the

prospects that awaited us were caricatures or no made not the slightest

difference. "Growl you may, but go you must" is an old sea-jingle of the

truest ring; but, while our going was inevitable, growling was a luxury

none of us dare indulge in.

We had by no means a bad passage to the Kuriles, which form a natural

barrier enclosing the immense area of the Okhotsk Sea from the

vast stretch of the Pacific. Around this great chain of islands the

navigation is exceedingly difficult, and dangerous as well, from the

ever-varying currents as from the frequent fogs and sudden storms. But

these impediments to swift and safe navigation are made light of by

the whalemen, who, as I feel never weary of remarking, are the finest

navigators in the world where speed is not the first consideration.

The most peculiar features of these inhospitable shores to a seaman are

the vast fields of seaweed surrounding them all, which certainly helps

to keep the sea down during gales, but renders navigation most difficult

on account of its concealment of hidden dangers. These islands are aptly

named, the word "Kurile" being Kamschatkan for smoke; and whether it be

regarded as given in consequence of the numerous volcanoes which pour

their fumes into the air, or the all-prevailing fog fostered by the Kuro

Siwo, or Japanese counterpart of the Gulf stream, the designation is

equally appropriate.

We entered the Okhotsk Sea by the Nadeshda Channel, so-named after

Admiral Krusenstern's ship, which was the first civilized vessel that

passed through its turbulent waters. It separates the islands Rashau and

Mantaua by about twenty miles, yet so conflicting and violent are the

currents which eddy and swirl in all parts of it, that without a

steady, strong, fair wind it is most dangerous to a sailing vessel.

Thenceforward the navigation was free from difficulty, or at least none

that we could recognize as such, so we gave all our attention to the

business which brought us there.

Scarcely any change was needed in our equipment, except the substitution

of longer harpoons for those we had been using, and the putting away

of the bomb-guns. These changes were made because the blubber of the

bowhead is so thick that ordinary harpoons will not penetrate beyond it

to the muscle, which, unless they do, renders them liable to draw, upon

a heavy strain. As for the bombs, Yankees hold the mysticetae in such

supreme contempt that none of them would dream of wasting so expensive

a weapon as a bomb upon them. I was given to understand by my constant

crony, Mistah Jones, that there was no more trouble in killing a bowhead

than in slaughtering a sheep; and that while it was quite true that

accidents DID occur, they were entirely due to the carelessness or

clumsiness of the whalemen, and not in any way traceable to a desire on

the victim's part to do any one harm.

The sea was little encumbered with ice, it being now late in June, so

that our progress was not at all impeded by the few soft, brashy floes

that we encountered, none of them hard enough to do a ship's hull any

damage. In most places the sea was sufficiently shallow to permit of our

anchoring. For this purpose we used a large kedge, with stout hawser for

cable, never furling all the sails in case of a strong breeze suddenly

springing up, which would cause us to drag. This anchoring was very

comfortable. Besides allowing us to get much more rest than when on

other cruising-grounds, we were able to catch enormous quantities

of fish, mostly salmon, of which there were no less than fourteen

varieties. So plentiful were these splendid fish that we got quite

critical in our appreciation of them, very soon finding that one kind,

known as the "nerker," was far better flavoured than any of the others.

But as the daintiest food palls the quickest, it was not long before we

got tired of salmon, and wished most heartily for beef.

Much fun has been made of the discontent of sailors. With food which is

considered a luxury ashore, and wonder expressed that if, as we assert,

the ordinary dietary of the seaman be so bad, he should be so ready to

rebel when fed with delicacies. But in justice to the sailor, it ought

to be remembered that the daintiest food may be rendered disgusting by

bad cookery, such as is the rule on board merchant ships. "God sends

meat, but the devil sends cooks" is a proverb which originated on board

ship, and no one who has ever served any time in a ship's forecastle

would deny that it is abundantly justified. Besides which, even good

food well cooked of one kind only, served many times in succession,

becomes very trying, only the plainest foods, such as bread, rice,

potatoes, etc., retaining their command of the appetite continually.

I remember once, when upon the Coromandel coast in a big Greenock ship,

we found fowls very cheap. At Bimliapatam the captain bought two or

three hundred, which, as we had no coops, were turned loose on deck. We

had also at the same time prowling about the decks three goats, twenty

pigs, and two big dogs.

Consequently the state of the ship was filthy, nor could all our efforts

keep her clean. This farmyard condition of things was permitted to

continue for about a week, when the officers got so tired of it, and

the captain so annoyed at the frequent loss of fowls by their flying

overboard, that the edict went forth to feed the foremast hands on

poultry till further orders. Great was our delight at the news. Fowl for

dinner represented to our imagination almost the apex of high living,

only indulged in by such pampered children of fortune as the officers of

ships or well-to-do people ashore.

When dinner-time arrived, we boys made haste to the galley with watering

mouths, joyfully anticipating that rare delight of the sailor--a good

"feed." The cook uncovered his coppers, plunged his tormentors therein,

and produced such a succession of ugly corpses of fowls as I had never

seen before. To each man a whole one was allotted, and we bore the

steaming hecatomb into the forecastle. The boisterous merriment became

hushed at our approach, and faces grew lengthy when the unwholesome

aspect of the "treat" was revealed. Each man secured his bird, and

commenced operations. But oh, the disappointment, and the bad words!

What little flesh there was upon the framework of those unhappy fowls

was like leather itself, and utterly flavourless. It could not well

have been otherwise. The feathers had been simply scalded off, the heads

chopped off, and bodies split open to facilitate drawing (I am sure I

wonder the cook took the trouble to do that much), and thus prepared

they were cast into a cauldron of boiling salt water. There, with the

water fiercely bubbling, they were kept for an hour and a half, then

pitchforked out into the mess kid and set before us. We simply could not

eat them; no one but a Noumean Kanaka could, for his teeth are equal to

husking a cocoa-nut, or chopping off a piece of sugar-cane as thick as

your wrist.

After much heated discussion, it was unanimously resolved to protest at

once against the substitution of such a fraud as this poultry for our

legitimate rations of "salt horse." so, bearing the DISJECTA MEMBRA of

our meal, the whole crowd marched aft, and requested an interview with

the skipper. He came out of the cabin at once, saying, "Well, boys,

what's the matter?" The spokesman, a bald-headed Yankee, who had been

bo'sun's mate of an American man-of-war, stepped forward and said,

offering his kid, "Jest have a look at that sir." The skipper looked,

saying, inquiringly, "Well?" "D'yew think, sir," said Nat, "THET'S

proper grub for men?" "Proper grub! Why, you old sinner, you don't mean

to say you're goin' to growl about havin' chicken for dinner?" "Well,

sir, it depends muchly upon the chicken. All I know is, that I've et

some dam queer tack in my time, but sence I ben fishin' I never had no

such bundles of sticks parcelled with leather served out to me. I HEV et

boot--leastways gnawed it; when I was cast away in a open boat for three

weeks--but it wa'n't bad boot, as boots go. Now, if yew say that these

things is boots, en thet it's necessary we should eat'em, or starve,

w'y, we'll think about it. But if yew call'em chickens,'n say you're

doin' us a kindness by stoppin' our'lowance of meat wile we're wrastlin'

with 'em, then we say we don't feel obliged to yew, 'n 'll thank yew

kindly to keep such lugsuries for yerself, 'n give us wot we signed

for." A murmur of assent confirmed this burst of eloquence, which we all

considered a very fine effort indeed. A moment's silence ensued; then

the skipper burst out, "I've often heard of such things, but hang me if

I ever believed 'em till now! You ungrateful beggars! I'll see you get

your whack, and no more, from this out. When you get any little extras

aboard this ship agen, you'll be thankful for 'em; now I tell you." "All

right, sir," said Nat; "so long as we don't hev to chaw any more of yer

biled Bimly crows, I dessay we shall worry along as usual." And, as the

Parliamentary reports say, the proceedings then terminated.

Now, suppose the skipper had told the story to some of his shore

friends, how very funny the sailors' conduct would have been made to

appear.

On another occasion long after, when I was mate of a barque loading

mahogany in Tonala, Mexico, the skipper thought he would practise

economy by buying a turtle instead of beef. A large turtle was obtained

for twenty-five cents, and handed over to the cook to be dealt with,

particular instructions being given him as to the apportionment of the

meat.

At eight bells there was a gathering of the men in front of the poop,

and a summons for the captain. When he appeared, the usual stereotyped

invitation to "have a look at THAT, if you please, sir," was uttered.

The skipper was, I think, prepared for a protest, for he began to

bluster immediately. "Look here!" he bawled, "I ain't goin' to 'ave any

of your dam nonsense. You WANT somethin' to growl about, you do." "Well,

Cap'n George," said one of the men, "you shorely don't think we k'n eat

shells, do yer?" Just then I caught sight of the kid's contents, and

could hardly restrain my indignation. For in a dirty heap, the sight

of which might have pleased an Esquimaux, but was certainly enough

to disgust any civilized man, lay the calipee, or under-shell of the

turtle, hacked into irregular blocks. It had been simply boiled, and

flung into the kid, an unclean, disgusting heap of shell, with pieces

of dirty flesh attached in ragged lumps. But the skipper, red-faced and

angry, answered, "W'y, yer so-and-so ijits, that's wot the Lord Mayor of

London gives about a guinea a hounce for w'en 'e feeds lords n' dooks.

Only the haristocracy at 'ome get a charnce to stick their teeth in

such grub as that. An' 'ere are you lot a-growlin' at 'avin' it for a

change!" "That's all right, cap'n," said the man; "bein' brort up ter

such lugsuries, of corse you kin appreshyate it. So if yer keep it fer

yer own eatin', an' giv us wot we signed for, we shall be werry much

obliged." "Now, I ain't a-goin' to 'ave none o' YOUR cheek, so you'd

better git forrard. You can betcher life you won't get no more fresh

messes this voy'ge." So, with grumbling and ill-will on both sides, the

conference came to an end. But I thought, and still think, that the

mess set before those men, who had been working hard since six a.m., was

unfit for the food of a good dog.

Out of my own experience I might give many other instances of the kind,

but I hope these will suffice to show that Jack's growling is often

justified, when both sides of the story are heard.

CHAPTER XVI. "BOWHEAD" FISHING

Day and night being now only distinguishable by the aid of the clock,

a constant look-out aloft was kept all through the twenty-four hours,

watch and watch, but whales were apparently very scarce. We did a good

deal of "pelagic" sealing; that is, catching seals swimming. But the

total number obtained was not great, for these creatures are only

gregarious when at their rocky haunts during the breeding season, or

among the ice just before that season begins. Our sealing, therefore,

was only a way of passing the time in the absence of nobler game, to be

abandoned at once with whales in sight.

It was on the ninth or tenth morning after our arrival on the grounds

that a bowhead was raised, And two boats sent after him. It was my

first sight of the great MYSTICETUS, and I must confess to being much

impressed by his gigantic bulk. From the difference in shape, he looked

much larger than the largest sperm whale we had yet seen, although we

had come across some of the very biggest specimens of cachalot.

The contrast between the two animals is most marked, so much so, in

fact, that one would hardly credit them with belonging to the same

order. Popular ideas of the whale are almost invariably taken from the

MYSTICETUS, so that the average individual generally defines a whale

as a big fish which spouts water out of the top of his head, and cannot

swallow a herring. Indeed, so lately as last year a popular M.P.,

writing to one of the religious papers, allowed himself to say that

"science will not hear of a whale with a gullet capable of admitting

anything larger than a man's fist"--a piece of crass ignorance, which is

also perpetrated in the appendix to a very widely-distributed edition of

the Authorized Version of the Bible. This opinion, strangely enough, is

almost universally held, although I trust that the admirable models now

being shown in our splendid Natural History Museum at South Kensington

will do much to remove it. Not so many people, perhaps, believe that a

whale is a fish, instead of a mammal, but few indeed are the individuals

who do not still think that a cetacean possesses a sort of natural

fountain on the top of its head, whence, for some recondite reason, it

ejects at regular intervals streams of water into the air.

But a whale can no more force water through its spiracle or blow-hole

than you or I through our nostrils. It inhales, when at the surface,

atmospheric air, and exhales breath like ours, which, coming warm into a

cooler medium, becomes visible, as does our breath on a frosty morning.

Now, the MYSTICETUS carries his nostrils on the summit of his head, or

crown, the orifice being closed by a beautifully arranged valve when the

animal is beneath the water. Consequently, upon coming to the surface

to breathe, he sends up a jet of visible breath into the air some ten

or twelve feet. The cachalot, on the other hand, has the orifice at the

point of his square snout, the internal channel running in a slightly

diagonal direction downwards, and back through the skull to the lungs.

So when he spouts, the breath is projected forward diagonally, and, from

some peculiarity which I do not pretend to explain, expends itself in a

short, bushy tuft of vapour, very distinct from the tall vertical spout

of the bowhead or right whale.

There was little or no wind when we sighted the individual I am now

speaking of, so we did not attempt to set sail, but pulled straight

for him "head and head." Strange as it may appear, the MYSTICETUS'

best point of view is right behind, or "in his wake," as we say; it is

therefore part of the code to approach him from right ahead, in which

direction he cannot see at all. Some time before we reached him he

became aware of our presence, showing by his uneasy actions that he had

his doubts about his personal security. But before he had made up his

mind what to do we were upon him, with our harpoons buried in his back.

The difference in his behaviour to what we had so long been accustomed

to was amazing. He did certainly give a lumbering splash or two with his

immense flukes, but no one could possibly have been endangered by them.

The water was so shallow that when he sounded it was but for a very few

minutes; there was no escape for him that way. As soon as he returned

to the surface he set off at his best gait, but that was so slow that

we easily hauled up close alongside of him, holding the boats in that

position without the slightest attempt to guard ourselves from reprisals

on his part, while the officers searched his vitals with the lances as

if they were probing a haystack.

Really, the whole affair was so tame that it was impossible to get up

any fighting enthusiasm over it; the poor, unwieldy creature died meekly

and quietly as an overgrown seal. In less than an hour from the time of

leaving the ship we were ready to bring our prize alongside.

Upon coming up to the whale, sail was shortened, and as soon as the

fluke-chain was passed we anchored. It was, I heard, our skipper's boast

that he could "skin a bowhead in forty minutes;" and although we were

certainly longer than that, the celerity with which what seemed a

gigantic task was accomplished was marvellous. Of course, it was all

plain-sailing, very unlike the complicated and herculean task inevitable

at the commencement of cutting-in a sperm whale.

Except for the head work, removing the blubber was effected in precisely

the same way as in the case of the cachalot. There was a marked

difference between the quantity of lard enveloping this whale and those

we had hitherto dealt with. It was nearly double the thickness, besides

being much richer in oil, which fairly dripped from it as we hoisted

in the blanket-pieces. The upper jaw was removed for its long plates of

whalebone or baleen--that valuable substance which alone makes it worth

while nowadays to go after the MYSTICETUS, the price obtained for the

oil being so low as to make it not worth while to fit out ships to go in

search of it alone. "Trying-out" the blubber, with its accompaniments,

is carried on precisely as with the sperm whale. The resultant oil, when

recent, is of a clear white, unlike the golden-tinted fluid obtained

from the cachalot. As it grows stale it developes a nauseous smell,

which sperm does not, although the odour of the oil is otto of roses

compared with the horrible mass of putridity landed from the tanks of a

Greenland whaler at the termination of a cruise. For in those vessels,

the fishing-time at their disposal being so brief, they do not wait to

boil down the blubber, but, chopping it into small pieces, pass it below

as it is into tanks, to be rendered down by the oil-mills ashore on the

ship's return.

This first bowhead yielded us eighteen tuns of oil and a ton of baleen,

which made the catch about equal in value to that of a seven-tun

cachalot. But the amount of labour and care necessary in order to

thoroughly dry and cleanse the baleen was enormous; in fact, for months

after we began the bowhead fishery there was almost always something

being done with the wretched stuff--drying, scraping, etc.--which, as it

was kept below, also necessitated hoisting it up on deck and getting it

down again.

After this beginning, it was again a considerable time before we sighted

any more; but when we did, there were quite a number of them--enough

to employ all the boats with one each. I was out of the fun this time,

being almost incapable of moving by reason of several boils on my

legs--the result, I suppose, of a long abstinence from fresh vegetables,

or anything to supply their place.

As it happened, however, I lost no excitement by remaining on board;

for while all the boats were away a large bowhead rose near the ship,

evidently being harassed in some way by enemies, which I could not at

first see. He seemed quite unconscious of his proximity to the ship,

though, and at last came so near that the whole performance was as

visible as if it had been got up for my benefit. Three "killers" were

attacking him at once, like wolves worrying a bull, except that his

motions were far less lively than those of any bull would have been.

The "killer," or ORCA GLADIATOR, is a true whale, but, like the

cachalot, has teeth. He differs from that great cetacean, though, in a

most important particular; i.e. by having a complete set in both upper

and lower jaws, like any other carnivore. For a carnivore indeed is he,

the very wolf of the ocean, and enjoying, by reason of his extraordinary

agility as well as comparative worthlessness commercially, complete

immunity from attack by man. By some authorities he is thought to be

identical with the grampus, but whalers all consider the animals quite

distinct. Not having had very long acquaintance with them both, I cannot

speak emphatically upon this difference of opinion; so far as personal

observation goes, I agree with the whalers in believing that there is

much variation both of habits and shape between them.

But to return to the fight. The first inkling I got of what was really

going on was the leaping of a killer high into the air by the side of

the whale, and descending upon the victim's broad, smooth back with a

resounding crash. I saw that the killer was provided with a pair of

huge fins--one on his back, the other on his belly--which at first sight

looked as if they were also weapons of offence. A little observation

convinced me that they were fins only. Again and again the aggressor

leaped into the air, falling each time on the whale's back, as if to

beat him into submission.

The sea around foamed and boiled like a cauldron, so that it was only

occasional glimpses I was able to catch of the two killers, until

presently the worried whale lifted his head clear out of the surrounding

smother, revealing the two furies hanging--one on either side--to his

lips, as if endeavouring to drag his mouth open--which I afterwards saw

was their principal object, as whenever during the tumult I caught sight

of them, they were still in the same position. At last the tremendous

and incessant blows, dealt by the most active member of the trio, seemed

actually to have exhausted the immense vitality of the great bowhead,

for he lay supine upon the surface. Then the three joined their forces,

and succeeded in dragging open his cavernous mouth, into which they

freely entered, devouring his tongue. This, then, had been their sole

object, for as soon as they had finished their barbarous feast they

departed, leaving him helpless and dying to fall an easy prey to our

returning boats.

Thus, although the four whales captured by the boats had been but small,

the day's take, augmented by so great a find, was a large one, and it

was a long time before we got clear of the work it entailed.

From that time forward we saw no whales for six weeks, and, from the

reports we received from two whalers we "gammed," it appeared that we

might consider ourselves most fortunate in our catch, since they, who

had been longer on the ground than ourselves, had only one whale apiece.

In consequence of this information, Captain Slocum decided to go south

again, and resume the sperm whaling in the North Pacific, near the

line--at least so the rumour ran; but as we never heard anything

definitely, we could not feel at all certain of our next destination.

Ever since the fracas at the Bonins between Goliath and his watch,

the relations between Captain Slocum and the big negro had been

very strained. Even before the outbreak, as I have remarked upon one

occasion, it was noticeable that little love was lost between them. Why

this was so, without anything definite to guide one's reasoning, was

difficult to understand, for a better seaman or a smarter whaleman than

Mistah Jones did not live--of that every one was quite sure. Still,

there was no gainsaying the fact that, churlish and morose as our

skipper's normal temper always was, he was never so much so as in

his behaviour towards his able fourth mate, who, being a man of fine,

sensitive temper, chafed under his unmerited treatment so much as to

lose flesh, becoming daily more silent, nervous, and depressed. Still,

there had never been an open rupture, nor did it appear as if there

would be, so great was the power Captain Slocum possessed over the will

of everybody on board.

One night, however, as we were nearing the Kuriles again, on our way

south, leaving the Sea of Okhotsk, I was sitting on the fore side of the

try-works alone, meditating upon what I would do when once I got

clear of this miserable business. Futile and foolish, no doubt, my

speculations were, but only in this way could I forget for a while my

surroundings, since the inestimable comfort of reading was denied me.

I had been sitting thus absorbed in thought for nearly an hour, when

Goliath came and seated himself by my side. We had always been great

friends, although, owing to the strict discipline maintained on board,

it was not often we got a chance for a "wee bit crack," as the Scotch

say. Besides, I was not in his watch, and even now he should rightly

have been below. He sat for a minute or two silent; then, as if

compelled to speak, he began in low, fierce whispers to tell me of his

miserable state of mind. At last, after recapitulating many slights

and insults he had received silently from the captain, of which I had

previously known nothing, he became strangely calm. In tones quite

unlike his usual voice, he said that he was not an American-born negro,

but a pure African, who had been enslaved in his infancy, with his

mother, somewhere in the "Hinterland" of Guinea. While still a child,

his mother escaped with him into Liberia, a where he had remained till

her death, She was, according to him, an Obeah woman of great power,

venerated exceedingly by her own people for her prophetic abilities.

Before her death, she had told him that he would die suddenly,

violently, in a struggle with a white man in a far-off country, but that

the white man would die too by his hand. She had also told him that he

would be a great traveller and hunter upon the sea. As he went on, his

speech became almost unintelligible, being mingled with fragments of a

language I had never heard before; moreover, he spoke as a man who is

only half awake. A strange terror got hold of me, for I began to think

he was going mad, and perhaps about to run a-mok, as the Malays do when

driven frantic by the infliction of real or fancied wrongs.

But he gradually returned to his old self, to my great relief, and I

ventured somewhat timidly to remind him of the esteem in which he was

held by all hands; even the skipper, I ventured to say, respected him,

although, from some detestable form of ill-humour, he had chosen to

be so sneering and insulting towards him. He shook his head sadly, and

said, "My dear boy, youse de only man aboard dis ship--wite man, dat

is--dat don't hate an' despise me becawse ob my colour, wich I cain't

he'p; an' de God you beliebe in bless you fer dat. As fer me, w'at I

done tole you's true,'n befo' bery little w'ile you see it COME true.

'N w'en DAT happens w'at's gwine ter happen, I'se real glad to tink it

gwine ter be better fer you--gwine ter be better fer eberybody 'bord de

CACH'LOT; but I doan keer nuffin 'bout anybody else. So long." He held

out his great black hand, and shook mine heartily, while a big tear

rolled down his face and fell on the deck. And with that he left me a

prey to a very whirlpool of conflicting thoughts and fears.

The night was a long and weary one--longer and drearier perhaps because

of the absence of the darkness, which always made it harder to sleep.

An incessant day soon becomes, to those accustomed to the relief of the

night, a burden grievous to be borne; and although use can reconcile

us to most things, and does make even the persistent light bearable,

in times of mental distress or great physical weariness one feels

irresistibly moved to cry earnestly, "Come, gentle night."

When I came on deck at eight bells, it was a stark calm. The watch,

under Mistah Jones' direction, were busy scrubbing decks with the usual

thoroughness, while the captain, bare-footed, with trouser-legs and

shirt-sleeves rolled up, his hands on his hips and a portentous frown on

his brow, was closely looking on. As it was my spell at the crow's-nest,

I made at once for the main-rigging, and had got halfway to the top,

when some unusual sounds below arrested me.

All hands were gathered in the waist, a not unusual thing at the

changing of the watch. In the midst of them, as I looked down, two men

came together in a fierce struggle. They were Goliath and the skipper.

Captain Slocum's right hand went naturally to his hip pocket, where he

always carried a revolver; but before he could draw it, the long, black

arms of his adversary wrapped around him, making him helpless as a babe.

Then, with a rush that sent every one flying out of his way, Goliath

hurled himself at the bulwarks, which were low, the top of the rail

about thirty-three inches from the deck. The two bodies struck the rail

with a heavy thud, instantly toppling overboard. That broke the spell

that bound everybody, so that there was an instantaneous rush to the

side. Only a hardly noticeable ripple remained on the surface of the

placid sea.

But, from my lofty perch, the whole of the ghastly struggle had been

visible to the least detail. The two men had struck the water locked in

closest embrace, which relaxed not even when far below the surface. When

the sea is perfectly smooth, objects are visible from aloft at several

feet depth, though apparently diminished in size. The last thing I saw

was Captain Slocum's white face, with its starting black eyes looking

their last upon the huge, indefinite hull of the ship whose occupants he

had ruled so long and rigidly.

The whole tragedy occupied such a brief moment of time that it was

almost impossible to realize that it was actual. Reason, however, soon

regained her position among the officers, who ordered the closest watch

to be kept from aloft, in case of the rising of either or both of the

men. A couple of boats were swung, ready to drop on the instant. But,

as if to crown the tragedy with completeness, a heavy squall, which

had risen unnoticed, suddenly burst upon the ship with great fury, the

lashing hail and rain utterly obscuring vision even for a few yards.

So unexpected was the onset of this squall that, for the only time that

voyage, we lost some canvas through not being able to get it in quick

enough. The topgallant halyards were let go; but while the sails were

being clewed up, the fierce wind following the rain caught them from

their confining gear, rending them into a thousand shreds. For an hour

the squall raged--a tempest in brief--then swept away to the south-east

on its furious journey, leaving peace again. Needless perhaps to say,

that after such a squall it was hopeless to look for our missing ones.

The sudden storm had certainly driven us several miles away front the

spot where they disappeared, and, although we carefully made what haste

was possible back along the line we were supposed to have come, not

a vestige of hope was in any one's mind that we should ever see them

again.

Nor did we. Whether that madness, which I had feared was coming upon

Goliath during our previous night's conversation, suddenly overpowered

him and impelled him to commit the horrible deed, what more had

passed between him and the skipper to even faintly justify so awful a

retaliation--these things were now matters of purest speculation. As if

they had never been, the two men were blotted out--gone before God in

full-blown heat of murder and revengeful fury.

On the same evening Mr. Count mustered all hands on the quarter-deck,

and addressed us thus: "Men, Captain Slocum is dead, and, as a

consequence, I command the ship. Behave yourself like men, not presuming

upon kindness or imagining that I am a weak, vacillating old man with

whom you can do as you like, and you will find in me a skipper who will

do his duty by you as far as lies in his power, nor expect more from you

than you ought to render. If, however, you DO try any tricks, remember

that I am an old hand, equal to most of the games that men get up to.

I do want--if you will help me--to make this a comfortable as well as a

successful ship. I hope with all my heart we shall succeed."

In answer to this manly and affecting little speech, which confirmed

my previous estimate of Captain Count's character, were he but free to

follow the bent of his natural, kindly inclinations, and which I have

endeavoured to translate out of his usual dialect, a hearty cheer

was raised by all hands, the first ebullition of general good feeling

manifested throughout the voyage. Hearts rose joyfully at the prospect

of comfort to be gained by thoughtfulness on the part of the commander;

nor from that time forward did any sign of weariness of the ship or

voyage show itself among us, either on deck or below.

The news soon spread among us that, in consequence of the various losses

of boats and gear, the captain deemed it necessary to make for Honolulu,

where fresh supplies could readily be obtained. We had heard many

glowing accounts from visitors, when "gamming," of the delights of this

well-known port of call for whalers, and under our new commander we had

little doubt that we should be allowed considerable liberty during our

stay. So we were quite impatient to get along fretting considerably at

the persistent fogs which prevented our making much progress while in

the vicinity of the Kuriles. But we saw no more bowheads, for which none

of us forward were at all sorry. We had got very tired of the stink

of their blubber, and the never-ending worry connected with the

preservation of the baleen; besides, we had not yet accumulated any

fund of enthusiasm about getting a full ship, except as a reason for

shortening the voyage, and we quite understood that what black oil we

had got would be landed at Hawaii, so that our visit to the Okhotsk Sea,

with its resultant store of oil, had not really brought our return home

any nearer, as we at first hoped it would.

A great surprise was in store for me. I knew that Captain Count was

favourably inclined towards me, for he had himself told me so, but

nothing was further from my thoughts than promotion. However, one Sunday

afternoon, when we were all peacefully enjoying the unusual rest (we

had no Sundays in Captain Slocum's time), the captain sent for me. He

informed me that, after mature consideration, he had chosen me to fill

the vacancy made by the death of Mistah Jones. Mr. Cruce was now mate;

the waspish little third had become second; Louis Silva, the captain's

favourite harpooner was third; and I was to be fourth. Not feeling at

all sure of how the other harpooners would take my stepping over their

heads, I respectfully demurred to the compliment offered me, stating

my reasons. But the captain said he had fully made up his mind,

after consultation with the other officers, and that I need have no

apprehension on the score of the harpooners' jealousy; that they

had been spoken to on the subject, and they were all agreed that the

captain's choice was the best, especially as none of them knew anything

of navigation, or could write their own names.

In consequence of there being none of the crew fit to take a harpooner's

place, I was now really harpooner of the captain's boat, which he

would continue to work, when necessary, until we were able to ship a

harpooner, which he hoped to do at Hawaii.

The news of my promotion was received in grim silence by the Portuguese

forward, but the white men all seemed pleased. This was highly

gratifying to me, for I had tried my best to be helpful to all, as far

as my limited abilities would let me; nor do I think I had an enemy

in the ship. Behold me, then, a full-blown "mister," with a definite

substantial increase in my prospects of pay of nearly one-third,

in addition to many other advantages, which, under the new captain,

promised exceedingly well.

More than half the voyage lay behind us, looking like the fast-settling

bank of storm-clouds hovering above the tempest-tossed sea so lately

passed, while ahead the bright horizon was full of promise of fine

weather for the remainder of the journey.

CHAPTER XVII. VISIT TO HONOLULU

Right glad were we all when, after much fumbling and box-hauling about,

we once more felt the long, familiar roll of the Pacific swell, and saw

the dim fastnesses of the smoky islands fading into the lowering gloom

astern. Most deep-water sailors are familiar, by report if not by actual

contact, with the beauties of the Pacific islands, and I had often

longed to visit them to see for myself whether the half that had been

told me was true. Of course, to a great number of seafaring men, the

loveliness of those regions counts for nothing, their desirability

being founded upon the frequent opportunities of unlimited indulgence in

debauchery. To such men, a "missionary" island is a howling wilderness,

and the missionaries themselves the subjects of the vilest abuse as well

as the most boundless lying.

No one who has travelled with his eyes open would assert that all

missionaries were wise, prudent, or even godly men; while it is a great

deal to be regretted that so much is made of hardships which in a

large proportion of cases do not exist, the men who are supposed to be

enduring them being immensely better off and more comfortable than they

would ever have been at home. Undoubtedly the pioneers of missionary

enterprise had, almost without exception, to face dangers and miseries

past telling, but that is the portion of pioneers in general. In these

days, however, the missionary's lot in Polynesia is not often a hard

one, and in many cases it is infinitely to be preferred to a life among

the very poor of our great cities.

But when all has been said that can be said against the missionaries,

the solid bastion of fact remains that, in consequence of their labours,

the whole vile character of the populations of the Pacific has been

changed, and where wickedness runs riot to-day, it is due largely to the

hindrances placed in the way of the noble efforts of the missionaries

by the unmitigated scoundrels who vilify them. The task of spreading

Christianity would not, after all, be so difficult were it not for the

efforts of those apostles of the devil to keep the islands as they would

like them to be--places where lust runs riot day and night, murder may

be done with impunity, slavery flourishes, and all evil may be indulged

in free from law, order, or restraint.

It speaks volumes for the inherent might of the Gospel that, in spite of

the object-lessons continually provided for the natives by white men of

the negation of all good, that it has stricken its roots so deeply into

the soil of the Pacific islands. Just as the best proof of the reality

of the Gospel here in England is that it survives the incessant assaults

upon it from within by its professors, by those who are paid, and highly

paid, to propagate it, by the side of whose deadly doings the efforts

of so-called infidels are but as the battery of a summer breeze; so

in Polynesia, were not the principles of Christianity vital with an

immortal and divine life, missionary efforts might long ago have ceased

in utter despair at the fruitlessness of the field.

We were enjoying a most uneventful passage, free from any serious

changes either of wind or weather which quiet time was utilised to

the utmost in making many much-needed additions to the running-gear,

repairing rigging, etc. Any work involving the use of new material had

been put off from time to time during the previous part of the voyage

till the ship aloft was really in a dangerous condition. This was

due entirely to the peculiar parsimony of our late skipper, who could

scarcely bring himself to broach a coil of rope, except for whaling

purposes. The same false economy had prevailed with regard to paint

and varnish, so that the vessel, while spotlessly clean, presented a

worn-out weather-beaten appearance. Now, while the condition of life on

board was totally different to what it had been, as regards comfort and

peace, discipline and order were maintained at the same high level as

always, though by a different method--in fact, I believe that a great

deal more work was actually done, certainly much more that was useful

and productive; for Captain Count hated, as much as any foremast hand

among us, the constant, remorseless grind of iron-work polishing,

paint-work scrubbing, and holystoning, all of which, though necessary

in a certain degree, when kept up continually for the sole purpose

of making work--a sort of elaborated tread-mill, in fact--becomes the

refinement of cruelty to underfed, unpaid, and hopeless men.

So, while the CACHALOT could have fearlessly challenged comparison with

any ship afloat for cleanliness and neatness of appearance, the hands no

longer felt that they were continually being "worked up" or "hazed" for

the sole, diabolical satisfaction of keeping them "at it." Of course,

the incidence of the work was divided, since so many of the crew

were quite unable to do any sailorizing, as we term work in sails and

rigging. Upon them, then, fell all the common labour, which can be done

by any unskilled man or woman afloat or ashore.

Of this work a sailor's duties are largely made up, but when good people

ashore wonder "whatever sailors do with their time," it would be useful

for them to remember that a ship is a huge and complicated machine,

needing constant repairs, which can only be efficiently performed by

skilled workmen. An "A.B." or able seaman's duties are legally supposed

to be defined by the three expressions, "hand, reef, and steer." If

he can do those three things, which mean furling or making fast sails,

reefing them, and steering the ship, his wages cannot be reduced for

incompetency. Yet these things are the A B C of seamanship only. A

good SEAMAN is able to make all the various knots, splices, and other

arrangements in hempen or wire rope, without which a ship cannot be

rigged; he can make a sail, send up or down yards and masts, and do

many other things, the sum total of which need several years of steady

application to learn, although a good seaman is ever learning.

Such seamen are fast becoming extinct. They are almost totally

unnecessary in steamships, except when the engines break down in a gale

of wind, and the crowd of navvies forming the crew stand looking at one

another when called upon to set sail or do any other job aloft. THEN the

want of seamen is rather severely felt. But even in sailing ships--the

great, overgrown tanks of two thousand tons and upwards--mechanical

genius has utilized iron to such an extent in their rigging that

sailor-work has become very largely a matter of blacksmithing. I make no

complaint of this, not believing that the "old was better;" but, since

the strongest fabric of man's invention comes to grief sometimes in

conflict with the irresistible sea, some provision should be made

for having a sufficiency of seamen who could exercise their skill in

refitting a dismasted ship, or temporarily replacing broken blacksmith

work by old-fashioned rope and wood.

But, as the sailing ship is doomed inevitably to disappear before steam,

perhaps it does not matter much. The economic march of the world's

progress will never be stayed by sentimental considerations, nor will

all the romance and poetry in the world save the seaman from extinction,

if his place can be more profitably filled by the engineer. From all

appearances, it soon will be, for even now marine superintendents of

big lines are sometimes engineers, and in their hands lie the duty of

engaging the officers. It would really seem as if the ship of the near

future would be governed by the chief engineer, under whose direction a

pilot or sailing-master would do the necessary navigation, without power

to interfere in any matter of the ship's economy. Changes as great have

taken place in other professions; seafaring cannot hope to be the sole

exception.

So, edging comfortably along, we gradually neared the Sandwich Islands

without having seen a single spout worth watching since the tragedy.

At last the lofty summits of the island mountains hove in sight,

and presently we came to an anchor in that paradise of whalers,

missionaries, and amateur statesmen--Honolulu. As it is as well known

to most reading people as our own ports--better perhaps--I shall not

attempt to describe it, or pit myself against the able writers who have

made it so familiar. Yet to me it was a new world. All things were

so strange, so delightful, especially the lovable, lazy, fascinating

Kanakas, who could be so limply happy over a dish of poi, or a green

cocoa-nut, or even a lounge in the sun, that it seemed an outrage to

expect them to work. In their sports they could be energetic enough. I

do not know of any more delightful sight than to watch them bathing

in the tremendous surf, simply intoxicated with the joy of living,

as unconscious of danger as if swinging in a hammock while riding

triumphantly upon the foaming summit of an incoming breaker twenty feet

high, or plunging with a cataract over the dizzy edge of its cliff,

swallowed up in the hissing vortex below, only to reappear with a scream

of riotous laughter in the quiet eddy beyond.

As far as I could judge, they were the happiest of people, literally

taking no thought for the morrow, and content with the barest

necessaries of life, so long as they were free and the sun shone

brightly. We had many opportunities of cultivating their acquaintance,

for the captain allowed us much liberty, quite one-half of the crew and

officers being ashore most of the time. Of course, the majority spent

all their spare time in the purlieus of the town, which, like all such

places anywhere, were foul and filthy enough; but that was their own

faults. I have often wondered much to see men, who on board ship were

the pink of cleanliness and neatness, fastidious to a fault in all they

did, come ashore and huddle in the most horrible of kennels, among the

very dregs and greaves of the 'long-shore district. It certainly wants a

great deal of explanation; but I suppose the most potent reason is, that

sailors, as a class, never learn to enjoy themselves rationally. They

are also morbidly suspicions of being taken in hand by anybody who

would show them anything worth seeing, preferring to be led by the human

sharks that infest all seaports into ways of strange nastiness, and so

expensive withal that one night of such wallowing often costs them more

than a month's sane recreation and good food would. All honour to the

devoted men and women who labour in our seaports for the moral and

material benefit of the sailor, passing their lives amidst sights and

sounds shocking and sickening to the last degree, reviled, unthanked,

unpaid. Few are the missionaries abroad whose lot is so hard as theirs.

We spent ten happy days in Honolulu, marred only by one or two drunken

rows among the chaps forward, which, however, resulted in their getting

a severe dressing down in the forecastle, where good order was now kept.

There had been no need for interference on the part of the officers,

which I was glad to see, remembering what would have happened under such

circumstances not long ago. Being short-handed, the captain engaged a

number of friendly islanders for a limited period, on the understanding

that they were to be discharged at their native place, Vau Vau. There

were ten of them, fine stalwart fellows, able bodied and willing as

possible. They were cleanly in their habits, and devout members of the

Wesleyan body, so that their behaviour was quite a reproach to some of

our half-civilized crew. Berths were found for them in the forecastle,

and they took their places among us quite naturally, being fairly well

used to a whale-ship.

CHAPTER XVIII. ON THE "LINE" GROUNDS

We weighed at last, one morning, with a beautiful breeze, and, bidding

a long farewell to the lovely isles and their amiable inhabitants, stood

at sea, bound for the "line" or equatorial grounds on our legitimate

business of sperm whaling. It was now a long while since we had been in

contact with a cachalot, the last one having been killed by us on the

Coast of Japan some six months before. But we all looked forward to the

coming campaign with considerable joy, for we were now a happy family,

interested in the work, and, best of all, even if the time was still

distant, we were, in a sense, homeward bound. At any rate, we all chose

so to think, from the circumstance that we were now working to the

southward, towards Cape Horn, the rounding of which dreaded point would

mark the final stage of our globe-encircling voyage.

We had, during our stay at Honolulu, obtained a couple of grand boats in

addition to our stock, and were now in a position to man and lower five

at once, if occasion should arise, still leaving sufficient crew on

board to work the vessel. The captain had also engaged an elderly seaman

of his acquaintance--out of pure philanthropy, as we all thought,

since he was in a state of semi-starvation ashore--to act as a kind of

sailing-master, so as to relieve the captain of ship duty at whaling

time, allowing him still to head his boat. This was not altogether

welcome news to me, for, much as I liked the old man and admired his

pluck, I could not help dreading his utter recklessness when on a

whale, which had so often led to a smash-up that might have been easily

avoided. Moreover, I reasoned that if he had been foolhardy before, he

was likely to be much more so now, having no superior to look black

or use language when a disaster occurred. For now I was his harpooner,

bound to take as many risks as he chose to incur, and anxious also

to earn a reputation among the more seasoned whalemen for smartness

sufficient to justify my promotion.

The Kanakas shipped at Honolulu were distributed among the boats, two

to each, being already trained whalemen, and a fine lot of fellows they

were. My two--Samuela and Polly--were not very big men, but sturdy,

nimble as cats, as much at home in the water as on deck, and simply

bubbling over with fun and good-humour. From my earliest sea-going,

I have always had a strong liking for natives of tropical countries,

finding them affectionate and amenable to kindness. Why, I think, white

men do not get on with darkies well, as a rule, is, that they seldom

make an appeal to the MAN, in them. It is very degrading to find one's

self looked down upon as a sort of animal without reason or feelings;

and if you degrade a man, you deprive him of any incentive to make

himself useful, except the brute one you may feel bound to apply

yourself. My experience has been limited to Africans (of sorts),

Kanakas, natives of Hindostan, Malagasy, and Chinese; but with all these

I have found a little COMARADERIE answer excellently. True, they are

lazy; but what inducement have they to work? The complicated needs

of our civilized existence compel US to work, or be run over by the

unresting machine; but I take leave to doubt whether any of us with a

primitive environment would not be as lazy as any Kanaka that ever dozed

under a banana tree through daylight hours. Why, then, make an exalted

virtue of the necessity which drives us, and objurgate the poor black

man because he prefers present ease to a doubtful prospective retirement

on a competency? Australian blackfellows and Malays are said to be

impervious to kind treatment by a great number of witnesses, the former

appearing incapable of gratitude, and the latter unable to resist the

frequent temptation to kill somebody. Not knowing anything personally of

either of these races, I can say nothing for or against them.

All the coloured individuals that I have had to do with have amply

repaid any little kindness shown them with fidelity and affection, but

especially has this been the case with Kanakas, The soft and melodious

language spoken by them is easy to acquire, and is so pleasant to speak

that it is well worth learning, to say nothing of the convenience to

yourself, although the Kanaka speedily picks up the mutilated jargon

which does duty for English on board ship.

What I specially longed for now was a harpooner, or even two, so that

I might have my boat to myself, the captain taking his own boat with

a settled harpooner. Samuela, the biggest of my two Kanakas, very

earnestly informed me that he was no end of a "number one" whale

slaughterer; but I judged it best to see how things went before asking

to have him promoted. My chance, and his, came very promptly; so nicely

arranged, too, that I could not have wished for anything better. The

skipper had got a fine, healthy boil on one knee-cap, and another on

his wrist, so that he was, as you may say, HORS DE COMBAT. While he was

impatiently waiting to get about once more, sperm whales were raised.

Although nearly frantic with annoyance, he was compelled to leave the

direction of things to Mr. Cruce, who was quite puffed up with the

importance of his opportunity.

Such a nice little school of cow-whales, a lovely breeze, clear sky,

warm weather--I felt as gay as a lark at the prospect. As we were

reaching to windward, with all boats ready for lowering, the skipper

called me aft and said, "Naow, Mr. Bullen, I cain't lower, because of

this condemned leg'n arm of mine; but how'r yew goin' ter manage 'thout

a harpooneer?" I suggested that if he would allow me to try Samuela, who

was suffering for a chance to distinguish himself, we would "come out on

top." "All right," he said; "but let the other boats get fast first,

'n doan be in too much of a hurry to tie yerself up till ya see what's

doin'. If everythin's goin' bizness-fashion', 'n yew git a chance, sail

right in; yew got ter begin some time. But ef thet Kanaka looks

skeered goin' on, take the iron frum him ter onct." I promised, and the

interview ended.

When I told Samuela, of his chance, he was beside himself with joy. As

to his being scared, the idea was manifestly absurd. He was as pleased

with the prospect as it was possible for a man to be, and hardly able

to contain himself for impatience to be off. I almost envied him his

exuberant delight, for a sense of responsibility began to weigh upon me

with somewhat depressing effect.

We gained a good weather-gage, rounded to, and lowered four boats.

Getting away in good style, we had barely got the sails up, when

something gallied the school. We saw or heard nothing to account for it,

but undoubtedly the "fish" were off at top speed dead to windward, so

that our sails were of no use. We had them in with as little delay as

possible, and lay to our oars for all we were worth, being fresh and

strong, as well as anxious to get amongst them. But I fancy all our

efforts would have availed us little had it not been for the experience

of Mr. Cruce, whose eager eye detected the fact that the fish were

running on a great curve, and shaped our course to cut them off along a

chord of the arc.

Two and a half hours of energetic work was required of us before we got

on terms with the fleeing monsters; but at last, to our great joy,

they broke water from sounding right among us. It was a considerable

surprise, but we were all ready, and before they had spouted twice,

three boats were fast, only myself keeping out, in accordance with my

instructions. Samuela was almost distraught with rage and grief at the

condition of things. I quite pitied him, although I was anything but

pleased myself. However, when I ranged up alongside the mate's fish, to

render what assistance was needed, he shouted to me, "We's all right;

go'n git fas', if yew kin." That was enough, and away we flew after a

retreating spout to leeward. Before we got there, though, there was an

upheaval in the water just ahead, and up came a back like a keelless

ship bottom up. Out came the head belonging to it, and a spout like

an explosion burst forth, denoting the presence of an enormous

bull-cachalot. Close by his side was a cow of about one-third his size,

the favoured sultana of his harem, I suppose. Prudence whispered,

"Go for the cow;" ambition hissed, "All or none--the bull, the bull."

Fortunately emergencies of this kind leave one but a second or two to

decide, as a rule; in this case, as it happened, I was spared even

that mental conflict, for as we ran up between the two vast creatures,

Samuela, never even looking at the cow, hurled his harpoon, with all

the energy that he had been bursting with so long, at the mighty bull.

I watched its flight--saw it enter the black mass and disappear to the

shaft, and almost immediately came the second iron, within a foot of the

first, burying itself in the same solid fashion.

"Starn--starn all!" I shouted; and we backed slowly away, considerably

hampered by the persistent attentions of the cow, who hung round

us closely. The temptation to lance her was certainly great, but I

remembered the fate that had overtaken the skipper on the first occasion

we struck whales, and did not meddle with her ladyship. Our prey was not

apparently disposed to kick up much fuss at first, so, anxious to settle

matters, I changed ends with Samuela, and pulled in on the whale. A

good, steady lance-thrust--the first I had ever delivered--was obtained,

sending a thrill of triumph through my whole body. The recipient,

thoroughly roused by this, started off at a great lick, accompanied,

somewhat to my surprise, by the cow. Thenceforward for another hour,

in spite of all our efforts, we could not get within striking distance,

mainly because of the close attention of the cow, which stuck to her

lord like a calf to its mother. I was getting so impatient of this

hindrance, that it was all I could do to restrain myself from lancing

the cow, though I felt convinced that, if I did, I should spoil a good

job. Suddenly I caught sight of the ship right ahead. We were still

flying along, so that in a short time we were comparatively close to

her. My heart beat high and I burned to distinguish myself under the

friendly and appreciative eye of the skipper.

None of the other boats were in sight, from our level at least, so that

I had a reasonable hope of being able to finish my game, with all the

glory thereunto attaching, unshared by any other of my fellow-officers.

As we ran quite closely past the ship, calling on the crew to haul up

for all they were worth, we managed actually to squeeze past the cow,

and I got in a really deadly blow. The point of the lance entered just

between the fin and the eye, but higher up, missing the broad plate of

the shoulder-blade, and sinking its whole four feet over the hitches

right down into the animal's vitals. Then, for the first time, he threw

up his flukes, thrashing them from side to side almost round to his

head, and raising such a turmoil that we were half full of water in

a moment. But Samuela was so quick at the steer-oar, so lithe and

forceful, and withal appeared so to anticipate every move of mine, that

there seemed hardly any danger.

After a few moments of this tremendous exertion, our victim settled

down, leaving the water deeply stained with his gushing blood. With him

disappeared his constant companion, the faithful cow, who had never left

his side a minute since we first got fast. Down, down they went, until

my line began to look very low, and I was compelled to make signals to

the ship for more. We had hardly elevated the oars, when down dropped

the last boat with four men in her, arriving by my side in a few minutes

with two fresh tubs of tow-line. We took them on board, and the boat

returned again. By the time the slack came we had about four hundred and

fifty fathoms out--a goodly heap to pile up loose in our stern-sheets. I

felt sure, however, that we should have but little more trouble with our

fish; in fact, I was half afraid that he would die before getting to

the surface, in which case he might sink and be lost. We hauled steadily

away, the line not coming in very easily, until I judged there was only

about another hundred fathoms out. Our amazement may be imagined, when

suddenly we were compelled to sleek away again, the sudden weight on the

line suggesting that the fish was again sounding. If ever a young hand

was perplexed, it was I. Never before had I heard of such unseemly

behaviour, nor was my anxiety lessened when I saw, a short distance

away, the huge body of my prize at the surface spouting blood. At the

same time, I was paying out line at a good rate, as if I had a fast fish

on which was sounding briskly.

The skipper had been watching me very closely from his seat on the

taffrail, and had kept the ship within easy distance. Now, suspecting

something out of the common, he sent the boat again to my assistance,

in charge of the cooper. When that worthy arrived, he said, "Th' ol' man

reckens yew've got snarled erp'ith thet ar' loose keow, 'n y'r irons hev

draw'd from th' other. I'm gwine ter wait on him,'n get him 'longside

'soon's he's out'er his flurry. Ole man sez yew'd best wait on what's

fast t' yer an' nev' mine th' other." Away he went, reaching my prize

just as the last feeble spout exhaled, leaving the dregs of that great

flood of life trickling lazily down from the widely expanded spiracle.

To drive a harpoon into the carcass, and run the line on board, was the

simplest of jobs, for, as the captain had foreseen, my irons were drawn

clean. I had no leisure to take any notice of them now, though, for

whatever was on my line was coming up hand-over-fist.

With a bound it reached the surface--the identical cow so long attendant

upon the dead whale. Having been so long below for such a small whale,

she was quite exhausted, and before she had recovered we had got

alongside of her and lanced her, so thoroughly that she died without

a struggle. The ship was so close that we had her alongside in a

wonderfully short time, and with scarcely any trouble.

When I reached the deck, the skipper called me, and said several things

that made me feel about six inches taller. He was, as may be thought,

exceedingly pleased, saying that only once in his long career had he

seen a similar case; for I forgot to mention that the line was entangled

around the cow's down-hanging jaw, as if she had actually tried to bite

in two the rope that held her consort, and only succeeded in sharing

his fate. I would not like to say that whales do not try to thus sever a

line, but, their teeth being several inches apart, conical, and fitting

into sockets in the upper jaw instead of meeting the opposed surfaces

of other teeth, the accomplishment of such a feat must, I think, be

impossible.

The ship being now as good as anchored by the vast mass of flesh hanging

to her, there was a tremendous task awaiting us to get the other fish

alongside. Of course they were all to windward; they nearly always are,

unless the ship is persistently "turned to windward" while the fishing

is going on. Whalers believe that they always work up into the wind

while fast, and, when dead, it is certain that they drift at a pretty

good rate right in the "wind's eye." This is accounted for by the play

of the body, which naturally lies head to wind; and the wash of the

flukes, which, acting somewhat like the "sculling" of an oar at the

stern of a boat, propel the carcass in the direction it is pointing,

Consequently we had a cruel amount of towing to do before we got the

three cows alongside. Many a time we blessed ourselves that they were no

bigger, for of all the clumsy things to tow with boats, a sperm whale

is about the worst. Owing to the great square mass of the head, they can

hardly be towed head-on at all, the practice being to cut off the tips

of the flukes, and tow them tail first. But even then it is slavery. To

dip your oar about three times in the same hole from whence you withdrew

it, to tug at it with all your might, apparently making as much progress

as though you were fast to a dock-wall, and to continue this fun for

four or five hours at a stretch, is to wonder indeed whether you have

not mistaken your vocation.

However, "it's dogged as does it," so by dint of sheer sticking to the

oar, we eventually succeeded in getting all our prizes alongside before

eight bells that evening, securing them around us by hawsers to the

cows, but giving the big bull the post of honour alongside on the best

fluke-chain.

We were a busy company for a fortnight thence, until the last of the oil

was run below--two hundred and fifty barrels, or twenty-five tuns,

of the valuable fluid having rewarded our exertions. During these

operations we had drifted night and day, apparently without anybody

taking the slightest account of the direction we were taking; when,

therefore, on the day after clearing up the last traces of our fishing,

the cry of "Land ho!" came ringing down from the crow's-nest, no one was

surprised, although the part of the Pacific in which we were cruising

has but few patches of TERRA FIRMA scattered about over its immense area

when compared with the crowded archipelagoes lying farther south and

east.

We could not see the reported land from the deck for two hours after

it was first seen from aloft, although the odd spectacle of a scattered

group of cocoa-nut trees apparently growing out of the sea was for some

time presented to us before the island itself came into view. It

was Christmas Island, where the indefatigable Captain Cook landed on

December 24, 1777, for the purpose of making accurate observations of an

eclipse of the sun. He it was who gave to this lonely atoll the name it

has ever since borne, with characteristic modesty giving his own great

name to a tiny patch of coral which almost blocks the entrance to the

central lagoon. Here we lay "off and on" for a couple of days, while

foraging parties went ashore, returning at intervals with abundance

of turtle and sea-fowls' eggs. But any detailed account of their

proceedings must be ruthlessly curtailed, owing to the scanty limits of

space remaining.

CHAPTER XIX. EDGING SOUTHWARD

The line whaling grounds embrace an exceedingly extensive area, over the

whole of which sperm whales may be found, generally of medium size. No

means of estimating the probable plenty or scarcity of them in any given

part of the grounds exist, so that falling in with them is purely a

matter of coincidence. To me it seems a conclusive proof of the enormous

numbers of sperm whales frequenting certain large breadths of ocean,

that they should be so often fallen in with, remembering what a little

spot is represented by a day's cruise, and that the signs which denote

almost infallibly the vicinity of right whales are entirely absent in

the case of the cachalot. In the narrow waters of the Greenland seas,

with quite a small number of vessels seeking, it is hardly possible for

a whale of any size to escape being seen; but in the open ocean a goodly

fleet may cruise over a space of a hundred thousand square miles without

meeting any of the whales that may yet be there in large numbers. So

that when one hears talk of the extinction of the cachalot, it is well

to bear in mind that such a thing would take a long series of years to

effect, even were the whaling business waxing instead of waning, While,

however, South Sea whaling is conducted on such old-world methods

as still obtain; while steam, with all the power it gives of rapidly

dealing with a catch, is not made use of, the art and mystery of the

whale-fisher must continually decrease. No such valuable lubricant has

ever been found as sperm oil; but the cost of its production, added to

the precarious nature of the supply, so handicaps it in the competition

with substitutes that it has been practically eliminated from the

English markets, except in such greatly adulterated forms as to render

it a lie to speak of the mixture as sperm oil at all.

Except to a few whose minds to them are kingdoms, and others who

can hardly be said to have any minds at all, the long monotony of

unsuccessful seeking for whales is very wearying. The ceaseless motion

of the vessel rocking at the centre of a circular space of blue, with a

perfectly symmetrical dome of azure enclosing her above, unflecked by

a single cloud, becomes at last almost unbearable from its changeless

sameness of environment. Were it not for the trivial round and common

task of everyday ship duty, some of the crew must become idiotic, or, in

sheer rage at the want of interest in their lives, commit mutiny.

Such a weary time was ours for full four weeks after sighting Christmas

Island. The fine haul we had obtained just previous to that day seemed

to have exhausted our luck for the time being, for never a spout did we

see. And it was with no ordinary delight that we hailed the advent of

an immense school of black-fish, the first we had run across for a long

time. Determined to have a big catch, if possible, we lowered all five

boats, as it was a beautifully calm day, and the ship might almost

safely have been left to look after herself. After what we had recently

been accustomed to, the game seemed trifling to get up much excitement

over; but still, for a good day's sport, commend me to a few lively

black-fish.

In less than ten minutes we were in the thick of the crowd, with

harpoons flying right and left. Such a scene of wild confusion and

uproarious merriment ensued as I never saw before in my life. The

skipper, true to his traditions, got fast to four, all running different

ways at once, and making the calm sea boil again with their frantic

gyrations. Each of the other boats got hold of three; but, the mate

getting too near me, our fish got so inextricably tangled up that it was

hopeless to try and distinguish between each other's prizes. However,

when we got the lances to work among them, the hubbub calmed down

greatly, and the big bodies one by one ceased their gambols, floating

supine.

So far, all had been gay; but the unlucky second mate must needs go and

do a thing that spoiled a day's fun entirely. The line runs through a

deep groove in the boat's stem, over a brass roller so fitted that

when the line is running out it remains fixed, but when hauling in it

revolves freely, assisting the work a great deal. The second mate had

three fish fast, like the rest of us--the first one on the end of the

main line, the other two on "short warps," or pieces of whale-line some

eight or ten fathoms long fastened to harpoons, with the other ends

running on the main line by means of bowlines round it. By some mistake

or other he had allowed the two lines to be hauled together through the

groove in his boat's stem, and before the error was noticed two fish

spurted off in opposite directions, ripping the boat in two halves

lengthways, like a Dutchman splitting a salt herring.

Away went the fish with the whole of the line, nobody being able to get

at it to cut; and, but for the presence of mind shown by the crew

in striking out and away from the tangle, a most ghastly misfortune,

involving the loss of several lives, must have occurred. As it was, the

loss was considerable, almost outweighing the gain on the day's fishing,

besides the inconvenience of having a boat useless on a whaling grounds.

The accident was the fruit of gross carelessness, and should never have

occurred; but then, strange to say, disasters to whale-boats are nearly

always due to want of care, the percentage of unavoidable casualties

being very small as compared with those like the one just related. When

the highly dangerous nature of the work is remembered, this statement

may seem somewhat overdrawn; but it has been so frequently corroborated

by others, whose experience far outweighs my own, that I do not hesitate

to make it with the fullest confidence in its truth.

Happily no lives were lost on this occasion, for it would have indeed

been grievous to have seen our shipmates sacrificed to the MANES of a

mere black-fish, after successfully encountering so many mighty whales.

The episode gave us a great deal of unnecessary work getting the two

halves of the boat saved, in addition to securing our fish, so that by

the time we got the twelve remaining carcasses hove on deck we were all

quite fagged out. But under the new regime we were sure of a good rest,

so that did not trouble us; it rather made the lounge on deck in the

balmy evening air and the well-filled pipe of peace doubly sweet.

Our next day's work completed the skinning of the haul we had made, the

last of the carcasses going overboard with a thunderous splash at

four in the afternoon. The assemblage of sharks round the ship on

this occasion was incredible for its number and the great size of the

creatures. Certainly no mariners see so many or such huge sharks as

whalemen; but, in spite of all our previous experience, this day touched

high-water mark. Many of these fish were of a size undreamed of by the

ordinary seafarer, some of them full thirty feet in length, more like

whales than sharks. Most of them were striped diagonally with bands

of yellow, contrasting curiously with the dingy grey of their normal

colour. From this marking is derived their popular name--"tiger sharks,"

not, as might be supposed, from their ferocity. That attribute cannot

properly be applied to the SQUALUS at all, which is one of the

most timid fish afloat, and whose ill name, as far as regards

blood-thirstiness, is quite undeserved. Rapacious the shark certainly

is; but what sea-fish is not? He is not at all particular as to his

diet; but what sea-fish is? With such a great bulk of body, such

enormous vitality and vigour to support, he must needs be ever eating;

and since he is not constructed on swift enough lines to enable him

to prey upon living fish, like most of his neighbours, he is perforce

compelled to play the humble but useful part of a sea-scavenger.

He eats man, as he eats anything else eatable because in the water man

is easily caught, and not from natural depravity or an acquired taste

begetting a decided preference for human flesh. All natives of shores

infested by sharks despise him and his alleged man-eating propensities,

knowing that a very feeble splashing will suffice to frighten him away

even if ever so hungry. Demerara River literally swarms with sharks, yet

I have often seen a negro, clad only in a beaming smile, slip into its

muddy waters, and, after a few sharp blows with his open hand upon the

surface, calmly swim down to the bottom, clear a ship's anchor, or

do whatever job was required, coming up again as leisurely as if in a

swimming-bath. A similar disregard of the dangerous attributes awarded

by popular consent to the shark may be witnessed everywhere among the

people who know him best. The cruelties perpetrated upon sharks by

seamen generally are the result of ignorance and superstition combined,

the most infernal forces known to humanity. What would be said at home

of such an act, if it could be witnessed among us, as the disembowelling

of a tiger, say, and then letting him run in that horrible condition

somewhere remote from the possibility of retaliating upon his torturers?

Yet that is hardly comparable with a similar atrocity performed upon

a shark, because he will live hours to the tiger's minutes in such a

condition.

I once caught a shark nine feet long, which we hauled on board and

killed by cutting off its head and tail. It died very speedily--for a

shark--all muscular motion ceasing in less than fifteen minutes. It was

my intention to prepare that useless and unornamental article so dear to

sailors--a walking-stick made of a shark's backbone. But when I came to

cut out the vertebra, I noticed a large scar, extending from one side to

the other, right across the centre of the back. Beneath it the backbone

was thickened to treble its normal size, and perfectly rigid; in fact,

it had become a mass of solid bone. At some time or other this shark had

been harpooned so severely that, in wrenching himself free, he must

have nearly torn his body in two halves, severing the spinal column

completely. Yet such a wound as that had been healed by natural process,

the bone knit together again with many times the strength it had

before--minus, of course, its flexibility--and I can testify from the

experience of securing him that he could not possibly have been more

vigorous than he was.

A favourite practice used to be--I trust it is so no longer--to catch a

shark, and, after driving a sharpened stake down through his upper jaw

and out underneath the lower one, so that its upper portion pointed

diagonally forward, to let him go again. The consequence of this cruelty

would be that the fish was unable to open his mouth, or go in any

direction without immediately coming to the surface. How long he might

linger in such torture, one can only guess; but unless his fellows,

finding him thus helpless, came along and kindly devoured him, no doubt

he would exist in extreme agony for a very long time.

Two more small cows were all that rewarded our search during the next

fortnight, and we began to feel serious doubts as to the success of our

season upon the line grounds, after all. Still, on the whole, our voyage

up to the present had not been what might fairly be called unsuccessful,

for we were not yet two years away from New Bedford, while we had

considerably more than two thousand barrels of oil on board--more, in

fact, than two-thirds of a full cargo. But if a whale were caught every

other day for six months, and then a month elapsed without any being

seen, grumbling would be loud and frequent, all the previous success

being forgotten in the present stagnation. Perhaps it is not so

different in other professions nearer home?

Christmas Day drew near, beloved of Englishmen all the world over,

though thought little of by Americans. The two previous ones spent on

board the CACHALOT have been passed over without mention, absolutely no

notice being taken of the season by any one on board, to all appearance.

In English ships some attempt is always made to give the day somewhat

of a festive character, and to maintain the national tradition of

good-cheer and goodwill in whatever part of the world you may happen to

be. For some reason or other, perhaps because of the great increase in

comfort; we had all experienced lately, I felt the approach of the great

Christian anniversary very strongly; although, had I been in London, I

should probably have spent it in lonely gloom, having no relatives or

friends whom I might visit. But what of that? Christmas is Christmas;

and, if we have no home, we think of the place where our home should be;

and whether, as cynics sneer, Dickens invented the English Christmas or

not, its observance has taken deep root among us. May its shadow never

be less!

On Christmas morning I mounted to the crow's-nest at daybreak, and stood

looking with never-failing awe at the daily marvel of the sunrise.

Often and often have I felt choking for words to express the tumult of

thoughts aroused by this sublime spectacle. Hanging there in cloudland,

the tiny microcosm at one's feet forgotten, the grandeur of the

celestial outlook is overwhelming. Many and many a time I have bowed

my head and wept in pure reverence at the majesty manifested around

me while the glory of the dawn increased and brightened, till with one

exultant bound the sun appeared.

For some time I stood gazing straight ahead of me with eyes that

saw not, filled with wonder and admiration. I must have been looking

directly at the same spot for quite a quarter of an hour, when suddenly,

as if I had but just opened my eyes, I saw the well-known bushy spout of

a sperm whale. I raised the usual yell, which rang through the stillness

discordantly, startling all hands out of their lethargy like bees out

of a hive. After the usual preliminaries, we were all afloat with

sails set, gliding slowly over the sleeping sea towards the unconscious

objects of our attention. The captain did not lower this time, as there

only appeared to be three fish, none of them seeming large. Though at

any distance it is extremely difficult to assess the size of whales, the

spout being very misleading. Sometimes a full-sized whale will show a

small spout, while a twenty-barrel cow will exhale a volume of vapour

extensive enough for two or three at once.

Now although, according to etiquette, I kept my position in the rear

of my superior officers, I had fully determined in my own mind, being

puffed up with previous success, to play second fiddle to no one, if

I could help it, this time. Samuela was decidedly of the same opinion;

indeed, I believe he would have been delighted to tackle a whole school

single-handed, while my crew were all willing and eager for the fight.

We had a long, tedious journey before we came up with them, the wind

being so light that even with the occasional assistance of the paddles

our progress was wretchedly slow. When at last we did get into their

water, and the mate's harpooner stood up to dart, his foot slipped,

and down he came with a clatter enough to scare a cachalot twenty

miles away. It gallied our friends effectually, sending them flying in

different directions at the top of their speed. But being some distance

astern of the other boats, one of the fish, in his headlong retreat,

rose for a final blow some six or seven fathoms away, passing us in

the opposite direction. His appearance was only momentary, yet in that

moment Samuela hurled his harpoon into the air, where it described a

beautiful parabola, coming down upon the disappearing monster's back

just as the sea was closing over it. Oh, it was a splendid dart,

worthy of the finest harpooner that ever lived! There was no time for

congratulations, however, for we spun round as on a pivot, and away we

went in the wake of that fellow at a great rate. I cast one look astern

to see whether the others had struck, but could see nothing of them; we

seemed to have sprung out of their ken in an instant.

The speed of our friend was marvellous, but I comforted myself with the

knowledge that these animals usually run in circles--sometimes, it

is true, of enormous diameter, but seldom getting far away from their

starting-point. But as the time went on, and we seemed to fly over the

waves at undiminished speed, I began to think this whale might be the

exception necessary to prove the rule, so I got out the compass and

watched his course. Due east, not a degree to north or south of it,

straight as a bee to its hive. The ship was now far out of sight astern,

but I knew that keen eyes had been watching our movements from the

masthead, and that every effort possible would be made to keep the run

of us. The speed of our whale was not only great, but unflagging. He was

more like a machine than an animal capable of tiring; and though we did

our level best, at the faintest symptom of slackening, to get up closer

and lance him, it was for some time impossible. After, at a rough

estimate, running in a direct easterly course for over two hours, he

suddenly sounded, without having given us the ghost of a chance to "land

him one where he lived." Judging from his previous exertions, though,

it was hardly possible he would be able to stay down long, or get

very deep, as the strain upon these vast creatures at any depth is

astonishingly exhausting. After a longer stay below than usual, when

they have gone extra deep, they often arrive at the surface manifestly

"done up" for a time. Then, if the whaleman be active and daring, a

few well-directed strokes may be got in which will promptly settle the

business out of hand.

Now, when my whale sounded he was to all appearance as frightened a

beast as one could wish--one who had run himself out endeavouring to

get away from his enemies, and as a last resource had dived into the

quietness below in the vain hope to get away. So I regarded him, making

up my mind to wait on him with diligence upon his arrival, and not allow

him to get breath before I had settled him. But when he did return,

there was a mighty difference in him. He seemed as if he had been

getting some tips on the subject from some school below where whales are

trained to hunt men; for his first move was to come straight for me

with a furious rush, carrying the war into the enemy's country with

a vengeance. It must be remembered that I was but young, and a

comparatively new hand at this sort of thing; so when I confess that I

felt more than a little scared at this sudden change in the tactics of

my opponent, I hope I shall be excused. Remembering, however, that all

our lives depended on keeping cool, I told myself that even if I was

frightened I must not go all to pieces, but compel myself to think and

act calmly, since I was responsible for others. If the animal had

not been in so blind a fury, I am afraid my task would have been much

harder; but he was mad, and his savage rushes were, though disquieting,

unsystematic and clumsy. It was essential, however, that he should not

be allowed to persist too long in his evil courses; for a whale learns

with amazing rapidity, developing such cunning in an hour or two that

all a man's smartness may be unable to cope with his newly acquired

experience. Happily, Samuela was perfectly unmoved. Like a machine, he

obeyed every gesture, every look even, swinging the boat "off" or "on"

the whale with such sweeping strokes of his mighty oar that she revolved

as if on a pivot, and encouraging the other chaps with his cheerful

cries and odd grimaces, so that the danger was hardly felt. During a

momentary lull in the storm, I took the opportunity to load my bomb-gun,

much as I disliked handling the thing, keeping my eye all the time

on the water around where I expected to see mine enemy popping up

murderously at any minute. Just as I had expected, when he rose, it was

very close, and on his back, with his jaw in the first biting position,

looking ugly as a vision of death. Finding us a little out of reach,

he rolled right over towards us, presenting as he did so the great

rotundity of his belly. We were not twenty feet away, and I snatched up

the gun, levelled it, and fired the bomb point-blank into his bowels.

Then all was blank. I do not even remember the next moment. A rush of

roaring waters, a fighting with fearful, desperate energy for air and

life, all in a hurried, flurried phantasmagoria about which there was

nothing clear except the primitive desire for life, life, life! Nor do

I know how long this struggle lasted, except that, in the nature of

things, it could not have been very long.

When I returned to a consciousness of external things, I was for some

time perfectly still, looking at the sky, totally unable to realize what

had happened or where I was. Presently the smiling, pleasant face of

Samuela bent over me. Meeting my gratified look of recognition, he set up

a perfect yell of delight. "So glad, so glad you blonga life! No go Davy

Jonesy dis time, hay?" I put my hand out to help myself to a sitting

posture, and touched blubber. That startled me so that I sprung up as if

shot. Then I took in the situation at a glance. There were all my poor

fellows with me, stranded upon the top of our late antagonist, but

no sign of the boat to be seen. Bewildered at the state of affairs, I

looked appealingly from one to the other for an explanation. I got it

from Abner, who said, laconically, "When yew fired thet ole gun, I guess

it mus' have bin loaded fer bear, fer ye jest tumbled clar head over

heels backwards outen the boat. Et that very same moment I suspicion the

bomb busted in his belly, fer he went clean rampageous loony. He rolled

right over an' over to'rds us, n' befo' we c'd rightly see wat wuz

comin', we cu'dnt see anythin' 'tall; we wuz all grabbin' at nothin',

some'rs underneath the whale. When I come to the top, I lit eout fer the

fust thing I c'd see to lay holt of, which wuz old squarhead himself,

deader 'n pork. I guess thet ar bomb o' yourn kinder upset his

commissary department. Anyway, I climed up onto him, 'n bime-by the rest

ov us histed themselves alongside ov me. Sam Weller here; he cum last,

towin' you 'long with him. I don'no whar he foun' ye, but ye was very

near a goner, 'n's full o' pickle as ye c'd hold." I turned a grateful

eye upon my dusky harpooner, who had saved my life, but was now

apparently blissfully unconscious of having done anything meritorious.

Behold us, then, a half-drowned row of scarecrows perched, like some new

species of dilapidated birds, upon the side of our late foe. The sun

was not so furiously hot as usual, for masses of rain-laden NIMBI were

filling the sky, so that we were comparatively free from the awful

roasting we might have expected: nor was our position as precarious for

a while as would be thought. True, we had only one harpoon, with its

still fast line, to hold on by; but the side of the whale was somehow

hollowed, so that, in spite of the incessant movement imparted to the

carcass by the swell, we sat fairly safe, with our feet in the said

hollow. We discussed the situation in all its bearings, unable to

extract more than the faintest gleam of hope from any aspect of the

case. The only reasonable chance we had was, that the skipper had almost

certainly taken our bearings, and would, we were sure, be anxiously

seeking us on the course thus indicated. Meanwhile, we were ravenously

hungry and thirsty. Samuela and Polly set to work with their

sheath-knives, and soon excavated a space in the blubber to enable them

to reach the meat. Then they cut off some good-sized junks, and divided

it up. It was not half bad; and as we chewed on the tough black fibre,

I could hardly help smiling as I thought how queer a Christmas dinner

we were having. But eating soon heightened our thirst, and our real

sufferings then began. We could eat very little once the want of drink

made itself felt. Hardly two hours had elapsed, though, before one

of the big-bellied clouds which bad been keeping the sun off us most

considerately emptied out upon us a perfect torrent of rain. It filled

the cavity in the whale's side in a twinkling; and though the water was

greasy, stained with blood, and vilely flavoured, it was as welcome a

drink as I have ever tasted. Thus fed, and with our thirst slaked, we

were able to take a more hopeful view of things while the prospect of

our being found seemed much more probable than it had done before the

rain fell.

Still, we had to endure our pillory for a long while yet. The sharks and

birds began to worry us, especially the former, who in their eagerness

to get a portion of the blubber, fought, writhed and tore at the carcass

with tireless energy. Once, one of the smaller ones actually came

sliding up right into our hollow; but Samuela and Polly promptly

dispatched him with a cut throat, sending him back to encourage the

others. The present relieved us of most of their attentions for a short

time at least, as they eagerly divided the remains of their late comrade

among them.

To while away the time we spun yarns--without much point, I am afraid;

and sung songs, albeit we did not feel much like singing--till after a

while our poor attempts at gaiety fizzled out like a damp match, leaving

us silent and depressed. The sun, which had been hidden for some time,

now came out again, his slanting beams revealing to us ominously the

flight of time and the near approach of night. Should darkness overtake

us in our present position, we all felt that saving us would need

the performance of a miracle; for in addition to the chances of the

accumulated gases within the carcass bursting it asunder, the unceasing

assault of the sharks made it highly doubtful whether they would not in

a few hours more have devoured it piecemeal. Already they had scooped

out some deep furrows in the solid blubber, making it easier to get hold

and tear off more, and their numbers were increasing so fast that the

surrounding sea was fairly alive with them. Lower and lower sank the

sun, deeper and darker grew the gloom upon our faces, till suddenly

Samuela leaped to his feet in our midst, and emitted a yell so

ear-piercing as to nearly deafen us. He saw the ship! Before two minutes

had passed we all saw her--God bless her!--coming down upon us like

some angelic messenger. There were no fears among us that we should be

overlooked. We knew full well how anxiously and keenly many pairs

of eyes had been peering over the sea in search of us, and we felt

perfectly sure they had sighted us long ago. On she came, gilded by the

evening glow, till she seemed glorified, moving in a halo of celestial

light, all her homeliness and clumsy build forgotten in what she then

represented to us.

Never before or since has a ship looked like that, to me, nor can I ever

forget the thankfulness, the delight, the reverence, with which I once

more saw her approaching. Straight down upon us she bore, rounding to

within a cable's length, and dropping a boat simultaneously with her

windward sweep. They had no whale--well for us they had not. In five

minutes we were on board, while our late resting-place was being hauled

alongside with great glee.

The captain shook hands with me cordially, pooh-poohing the loss of

the boat as an unavoidable incident of the trade, but expressing his

heart-felt delight at getting us all back safe. The whale we had killed

was ample compensation for the loss of several boats, though such was

the vigour with which the sharks were going for him, that it was deemed

advisable to cut in at once, working all night. We who had been rescued,

however, were summarily ordered below by the skipper, and forbidden, on

pain of his severe displeasure, to reappear until the following morning.

This great privilege we gladly availed ourselves of, awaking at daylight

quite well and fit, not a bit the worse for our queer experience of the

previous day.

The whale proved a great acquisition, for although not nearly so large

as many we had caught, he was so amazingly rich in blubber that he

actually yielded twelve and a half tuns of oil, in spite of the heavy

toll taken of him by the hungry multitudes of sharks. In addition to the

oil, we were fortunate enough to secure a lump of ambergris, dislodged

perhaps by the explosion of my bomb in the animal's bowels. It was

nearly black, wax-like to the touch, and weighed seven pounds and a

half. At the current price, it would be worth about L200, so that, taken

altogether, the whale very nearly approached in value the largest one we

had yet caught. I had almost omitted to state that incorporated with the

substance of the ambergris were several of the horny cuttle-fish beaks,

which, incapable of being digested, had become in some manner part of

this peculiar product.

CHAPTER XX. "HUMPBACKING" AT VAU VAU

Another three weeks' cruising brought us to the end of the season on the

line, which had certainly not answered all our expectations, although

we had perceptibly increased the old barky's draught during our stay.

Whether from love of change or belief in the possibilities of a good

haul, I can hardly say, but Captain Count decided to make the best of

his way south, to the middle group of the "Friendly" Archipelago,

known as Vau Vau, the other portions being called Hapai and Tongataboo

respectively, for a season's "humpbacking." From all I could gather, we

were likely to have a good time there, so I looked forward to the visit

with a great deal of pleasurable anticipation.

We were bound to make a call at Vau Vau, in any case, to discharge our

Kanakas shipped at Honolulu, although I fervently hoped to be able to

keep my brave harpooner Samuela. So when I heard of our destination,

I sounded him cautiously as to his wishes in the matter, finding that,

while he was both pleased with and proud of his position on board,

he was longing greatly for his own orange grove and the embraces of a

certain tender "fafine" that he averred was there awaiting him. With

such excellent reasons for his leaving us, I could but forbear to

persuade him, sympathizing with him too deeply to wish him away from

such joys as he described to me.

So we bade farewell to the line grounds, and commenced another stretch

to the south, another milestone, as it were, on the long road home.

Prosaic and uneventful to the last degree was our passage, the only

incident worth recording being our "gamming" of the PASSAMAQUODDY,

of Martha's Vineyard, South Sea whaler; eighteen months out, with one

thousand barrels of sperm oil on board. We felt quite veterans alongside

of her crew, and our yarns laid over theirs to such an extent that they

were quite disgusted at their lack of experience. Some of them had known

our late skipper, but none of them had a good word for him, the old

maxim, "Speak nothing but good of the dead," being most flagrantly set

at nought. One of her crew was a Whitechapelian, who had been roving

about the world for a good many years.

Amongst other experiences, he had, after "jumping the bounty" two

or three times, found himself a sergeant in the Federal Army before

Gettysburg. During that most bloody battle, he informed me that a "Reb"

drew a bead on him at about a dozen yards' distance, and fired, He said

he felt just as if somebody had punched him in the chest, and knocked

him flat on his back on top of a sharp stone--no pain at all, nor any

further recollection of what had happened, until he found himself at the

base, in hospital. When the surgeons came to examine him for the bullet,

they found that it had struck the broad brass plate of his cross-belt

fairly in the middle, penetrating it and shattering his breast bone. But

after torturing him vilely with the probe, they were about to give up

the search in despair, when he told them he felt a pain in his back.

Examining the spot indicated by him, they found a bullet just beneath

the skin, which a touch with the knife allowed to tumble out. Further

examination revealed the strange fact that the bullet, after striking

his breast-bone, had glanced aside and travelled round his body just

beneath the skin, without doing him any further harm. In proof of his

story, he showed me the two scars and the perforated buckle-plate.

At another time, being in charge of a picket of Germans, he and his

command were captured by a party of Confederates, who haled him before

their colonel, a southern gentleman of the old school. In the course of

his interrogation by the southern officer, he was asked where he hailed

from. He replied, "London, England." "Then," said the colonel, "how is

it you find yourself fighting for these accursed Yankees?" The cockney

faltered out some feeble excuse or another, which his captor cut short

by saying, "I've a great respect for the English, and consequently I'll

let you go this time. But if ever I catch you again, you're gone up.

As for those d-----d Dutchmen, they'll be strung up inside of five

minutes." And they were.

So with yarn, song, and dance, the evening passed pleasantly away;

while the two old hookers jogged amicably along side by side, like two

market-horses whose drivers are having a friendly crack. Along about

midnight we exchanged crews again, and parted with many expressions of

good-will--we to the southward, she to the eastward, for some particular

preserve believed in by her commander.

In process of time we made the land of Vau Vau, a picturesque, densely

wooded, and in many places precipitous, group of islands, the approach

being singularly free from dangers in the shape of partly hidden reefs.

Long and intricate were the passages we threaded, until we finally came

to anchor in a lovely little bay perfectly sheltered from all winds. We

moored, within a mile of a dazzling white beach, in twelve fathoms. A

few native houses embowered in orange and cocoa-nut trees showed here

and there, while the two horns of the bay were steep-to, and covered

with verdure almost down to the water's edge. The anchor was hardly down

before a perfect fleet of canoes flocked around us, all carrying the

familiar balancing outrigger, without which those narrow dugouts cannot

possibly keep upright. Their occupants swarmed on board, laughing and

playing like so many children, and with all sorts of winning gestures

and tones besought our friendship. "You my flem?" was the one question

which all asked; but what its import might be we could not guess for

some time. By-and-by it appeared that when once you had agreed to accept

a native for your "flem," or friend, he from henceforward felt in duty

bound to attend to all your wants which it lay within his power to

supply. This important preliminary settled, fruit and provisions of

various kinds appeared as if by magic. Huge baskets of luscious oranges,

massive bunches of gold and green bananas, clusters of green cocoa-nuts,

conch-shells full of chillies, fowls loudly protesting against their

hard fate, gourds full of eggs, and a few vociferous swine--all came

tumbling on board in richest profusion, and, strangest thing of all,

not a copper was asked in return. I might have as truly said nothing

was asked, since money must have been useless here. Many women came

alongside, but none climbed on board. Surprised at this, I asked Samuela

the reason, as soon as I could disengage him for a few moments from the

caresses of his friends. He informed me that the ladies' reluctance to

favour us with their society was owing to their being in native dress,

which it is punishable to appear in among white men, the punishment

consisting of a rather heavy fine. Even the men and boys, I noticed,

before they ventured to climb on board, stayed a while to put on

trousers, or what did duty for those useful articles of dress. At any

rate, they were all clothed, not merely enwrapped with a fold or two of

"tapa," the native bark-cloth, but made awkward and ugly by dilapidated

shirts and pants.

She was a busy ship for the rest of that day. The anchor down, sails

furled and decks swept, the rest of the time was our own, and high jinks

were the result. The islanders were amiability personified, merry as

children, nor did I see or hear one quarrelsome individual among them.

While we were greedily devouring the delicious fruit, which was piled on

deck in mountainous quantities, they encouraged us, telling us that the

trees ashore were breaking down under their loads, and what a pity it

was that there were so few to eat such bountiful supplies.

We were, it appeared, the first whale-ship that had anchored there that

year, and, in that particular bay where we lay, no vessel had moored for

over two years. An occasional schooner from Sydney called at the "town"

about ten miles away, where the viceroy's house was, and at the present

time of speaking one of Godeffroi's Hamburg ships was at anchor there,

taking in an accumulation of copra from her agent's store. But the

natives all spoke of her with a shrug--"No like Tashman. Tashman no

good." Why, I could not ascertain.

Our Kanakas had promised to remain with us till our departure for

the south, so, hard as it seemed to them, they were not allowed to go

ashore, in case they might not come back, and leave us short-handed.

But as their relatives and friends could visit them whenever they felt

inclined, the restriction did not hurt them much. The next day, being

Sunday, all hands were allowed liberty to go ashore by turns (except the

Kanakas), with strict injunctions to molest no one, but to behave as if

in a big town guarded by policemen. As no money could be spent, none was

given, and, best of all, it was impossible to procure any intoxicating

liquor.

Our party got ashore about 9.30, but not a soul was visible either on

the beach or in the sun-lit paths which led through the forest inland.

Here and there a house, with doors wide open, stood in its little

cleared space, silent and deserted. It was like a country without

inhabitants. Presently, however, a burst of melody arrested us, and

borne upon the scented breeze came oh, so sweetly!--the well-remembered

notes of "Hollingside." Hurriedly getting behind a tree, I let myself

go, and had a perfectly lovely, soul-refreshing cry. Reads funny,

doesn't it? Sign of weakness perhaps. But when childish memories come

back upon one torrent-like in the swell of a hymn or the scent of the

hawthorn, it seems to me that the flood-gates open without you having

anything to do with it. When I was a little chap in the Lock Chapel

choir, before the evil days came, that tune was my favourite; and when

I heard it suddenly come welling up out of the depths of the forest,

my heart just stood still for a moment, and then the tears came. Queer

idea, perhaps, to some people; but I do not know when I enjoyed myself

so much as I did just then, except when a boy of sixteen home from a

voyage, and strolling along the Knightsbridge Road, I "happened" into

the Albert Hall. I did not in the least know what was coming; the

notices on the bills did not mean anything to me; but I paid my

shilling, and went up into the gallery. I had hardly edged myself into

a corner by the refreshment-stall, when a great breaker of sound

caught me, hurled me out of time, thought, and sense in one intolerable

ecstasy--"For unto us a Child is born; unto us a Son is given"--again

and again--billows and billows of glory. I gasped for breath, shook like

one in an ague fit; the tears ran down in a continuous stream; while

people stared amazed at me, thinking, I suppose, that I was another

drunken sailor. Well, I was drunk, helplessly intoxicated, but not

with drink, with something Divine, untellable, which, coming upon me

unprepared, simply swept me away with it into a heaven of delight, to

which only tears could testify.

But I am in the bush, whimpering over the tones of "Hollingside." As

soon as I had pulled myself together a bit, we went on again in the

direction of the sound, Presently we came to a large clearing, in the

middle of which stood a neat wooden, pandanus-thatched church. There

were no doors or windows to it, just a roof supported upon posts, but a

wide verandah ran all round, upon the edge of which we seated ourselves;

for the place was full--full to suffocation, every soul within miles,

I should think, being there. No white man was present, but the service,

which was a sort of prayer-meeting, went with a swing and go that

was wonderful to see. There was no perfunctory worship here; no one

languidly enduring it because it was "the right sort of thing to show up

at, you know;" but all were in earnest, terribly in earnest. When they

sang, it behoved us to get away to a little distance, for the vigour of

the voices, unless mellowed by distance, made the music decidedly harsh.

Every one was dressed in European clothing--the women in neat calico

gowns; but the men, nearly all of them, in woollen shirts, pilot-coats,

and trousers to match, and sea-boots! Whew! it nearly stifled me to look

at them. The temperature was about ninety degrees in the shade, with

hardly a breath of air stirring, yet those poor people, from some

mistaken notion of propriety, were sweating in torrents under that

Arctic rig. However they could worship, I do not know! At last the

meeting broke up. The men rushed out, tore off their coats, trousers,

and shirts, and flung themselves panting upon the grass, mother-naked,

except for a chaplet of cocoanut leaves, formed by threading them on a

vine-tendril, and hanging round the waist.

Squatting by the side of my "flem," whom I had recognized, I asked

him why ever he outraged all reason by putting on such clothes in

this boiling weather. He looked at me pityingly for a moment before he

replied, "You go chapella Belitani? No put bes' close on top?" "Yes,"

I said; "but in hot weather put on thin clothes; cold weather, put on

thick ones." "S'pose no got more?" he said, meaning, I presumed, more

than the one suit. "Well," I said, "more better stop 'way than look

like big fool, boil all away, same like duff in pot. You savvy duff?" He

smiled a wide comprehensive smile, but looked very solemn again,

saying directly, "You no go chapella; you no mishnally. No mishnally

[missionary=godly]; very bad. Me no close; no go chapella; vely bad.

Evelly tangata, evelly fafine, got close all same papalang [every man

and woman has clothes like a white man]; go chapella all day Sunday."

That this was no figure of speech I proved fully that day, for I declare

that the recess between any of the services never lasted more than an

hour. Meanwhile the worshippers did not return to their homes, for in

many cases they had journeyed twenty or thirty miles, but lay about

in the verdure, refreshing themselves with fruit, principally the

delightful green cocoa-nuts, which furnish meat and drink both--cool and

refreshing in the extreme, as well as nourishing.

We were all heartily welcome to whatever was going, but there was

a general air of restraint, a fear of breaking the Sabbath, which

prevented us from trespassing too much upon the hospitality of these

devout children of the sun. So we contented ourselves with strolling

through the beautiful glades and woods, lying down, whenever we felt

weary, under the shade of some spreading orange tree loaded with golden

fruit, and eating our fill, or rather eating until the smarting of our

lips warned us to desist. Here was a land where, apparently, all people

were honest, for we saw a great many houses whose owners were absent,

not one of which was closed, although many had a goodly store of such

things as a native might be supposed to covet. At last, not being able

to rid ourselves of the feeling that we were doing something wrong, the

solemn silence and Sundayfied air of the whole region seeming to forbid

any levity even in the most innocent manner, we returned on board again,

wonderfully impressed with what we had seen, but wondering what would

have happened if some of the ruffianly crowds composing the crews of

many ships had been let loose upon this fair island.

In the evening we lowered a stage over the bows to the water's edge, and

had a swimming-match, the water being perfectly delightful, after the

great heat of the day, in its delicious freshness; and so to bunk, well

pleased indeed with our first Sunday in Vau Vau.

I have no doubt whatever that some of the gentry who swear at large

about the evils of missionaries would have been loud in their disgust at

the entire absence of drink and debauchery, and the prevalence of what

they would doubtless characterize as adjective hypocrisy on the part of

the natives; but no decent man could help rejoicing at the peace, the

security, and friendliness manifested on every hand, nor help awarding

unstinted praise to whoever had been the means of bringing about so

desirable a state of things. I felt that their Sabbatarianism was

carried to excess; that they would have been better, not worse, for a

little less church, and a little more innocent fun; but ten thousand

times better thus than such scenes of lust let loose and abandoned

animalism as we witnessed at Honolulu. What pleased me mightily was

the absence of the white man with his air of superiority and sleek

overlordship. All the worship, all the management of affairs, was

entirely in the hands of the natives themselves, and excellently well

did they manage everything.

I shall never forget once going ashore in a somewhat similar place, but

very far distant, one Sunday morning, to visit the mission station. It

was a Church mission, and a very handsome building the church was. By

the side of it stood the parsonage, a beautiful bungalow, nestling in a

perfect paradise of tropical flowers. The somewhat intricate service was

conducted, and the sermon preached, entirely by natives--very creditably

too. After service I strolled into the parsonage to see the reverend

gentleman in charge, whom I found supporting his burden in a long chair,

with a tall glass of brandy and soda within easy reach, a fine cigar

between his lips, and a late volume of Ouida's in his hand. All very

pleasant and harmless, no doubt, but hardly reconcilable with the ideal

held up in missionary magazines. Yet I have no doubt whatever that this

gentleman would have been heartily commended by the very men who can

hardly find words harsh enough to express their opinion of missionaries

of the stamp of Paton, Williams, Moffat, and Mackenzie.

Well, it is highly probable--nay, almost certain, that I shall be

accused of drawing an idyllic picture of native life from first

impressions, which, if I had only had sufficient subsequent experience

among the people, I should have entirely altered. All I can say is, that

although I did not live among them ashore, we had a number of them on

board; we lay in the island harbour five months, during which I was

ashore nearly every day, and from habit I observed them very closely;

yet I cannot conscientiously alter one syllable of what I have written

concerning them. Bad men and women there were, of course, to be

found--as where not?--but the badness, in whatever form, was not allowed

to flaunt itself, and was so sternly discountenanced by public (entirely

native) opinion, that it required a good deal of interested seeking to

find.

But after all this chatter about my amiable friends, I find myself

in danger of forgetting the purpose of our visit. We lost no time in

preparation, since whaling of whatever sort is conducted in these ships

on precisely similar lines, but on Monday morning, at daybreak, after a

hurried breakfast, lowered all boats and commenced the campaign. We were

provided with boxes--one for each boat--containing a light luncheon, but

no ordered meal, because it was not considered advisable to in any way

hamper the boat's freedom to chase. Still, in consideration of its being

promptly dumped overboard on attacking a whale, a goodly quantity of

fruit was permitted in the boats.

In the calm beauty of the pearly dawn, with a gentle hush over all

nature, the lofty, tree-clad hills reflected with startling fidelity in

the glassy, many-coloured waters, the only sound audible the occasional

cra-a-ake of the advance-guard of a flight of fruit-bats (PECA) homeward

from their nocturnal depredations, we shipped our oars and started,

pulling to a certain position whence we could see over an immense area.

Immediately upon rounding the horn of our sheltered bay, the fresh

breeze of the south-east trades met us right on end with a vigour that

made a ten-mile steady pull against it somewhat of a breather. Arriving

at the station indicated by the chief, we set sail, and, separating as

far as possible without losing sight of each other, settled down for

the day's steady cruise. Anything more delightful than that excursion

to those who love seashore scenery combined with boat-sailing would be

difficult to name. Every variety of landscape, every shape of strait,

bay, or estuary, reefs awash, reefs over which we could sail, ablaze

with loveliness inexpressible; a steady, gentle, caressing breeze, and

overhead one unvarying canopy of deepest blue. Sometimes, when skirting

the base of some tremendous cliffs, great caution was necessary, for at

one moment there would obtain a calm, death-like in its stillness; the

next, down through a canyon cleaving the mountain to the water's edge

would come rushing with a shrill howl, a blast fierce enough to almost

lift us out of the water. Away we would scud with flying sheets dead

before it, in a smother of spray, but would hardly get full way on her

before it was gone, leaving us in the same hush as before, only a dark

patch on the water far to leeward marking its swift rush. These little

diversions gave us no uneasiness, for it was an unknown thing to make a

sheet fast in one of our boats, so that a puff of wind never caught us

unprepared.

On that first day we seemed to explore such a variety of stretches

of water that one would hardly have expected there could be any more

discoveries to make in that direction. Nevertheless, each day's cruise

subsequently revealed to us some new nook or other, some quiet haven or

pretty passage between islands that, until closely approached, looked

like one. When, at sunset, we returned to the ship, not having seen

anything like a spout, I felt like one who had been in a dream, the

day's cruise having surpassed all my previous experience. Yet it was but

the precursor of many such. Oftentimes I think of those halcyon days,

with a sigh of regret that they can never more be renewed to me; but I

rejoice to think that nothing can rob me of the memory of them.

Much to the discomfort of the skipper, it was four days before a

solitary spout was seen, and then it was so nearly dark that before the

fish could be reached it was impossible to distinguish her whereabouts.

A careful bearing was taken of the spot, in the hope that she might be

lingering in the vicinity next morning, and we hastened on board.

Before it was fairly light we lowered, and paddled as swiftly as

possible to the bay where we had last seen the spout overnight. When

near the spot we rested on our paddles a while, all hands looking out

with intense eagerness for the first sign of the whale's appearance.

There was a strange feeling among us of unlawfulness and stealth, as

of ambushed pirates waiting to attack some unwary merchantman, or

highwaymen waylaying a fat alderman on a country road. We spoke

in whispers, for the morning was so still that a voice raised but

ordinarily would have reverberated among the rocks which almost overhung

us, multiplied indefinitely. A turtle rose ghost-like to the surface

at my side, lifting his queer head, and, surveying us with stony gaze,

vanished as silently as he came.

What a sigh! One looked at the other inquiringly, but the repetition of

that long expiration satisfied us all that it was the placid breathing

of the whale we sought somewhere close at hand, The light grew rapidly

better, and we strained our eyes in every direction to discover the

whereabouts of our friend, but, for some minutes without result. There

was a ripple just audible, and away glided the mate's boat right for the

near shore. Following him with our eyes, we almost immediately beheld a

pale, shadowy column of white, shimmering against the dark mass of the

cliff not a quarter of a mile away. Dipping our paddles with the utmost

care, we made after the chief, almost holding our breath. His harpooner

rose, darted once, twice, then gave a yell of triumph that ran

re-echoing all around in a thousand eerie vibrations, startling the

drowsy PECA in myriads from where they hung in inverted clusters on the

trees above. But, for all the notice taken by the whale, she might never

have been touched. Close nestled to her side was a youngling of not

more, certainly, than five days old, which sent up its baby-spout

every now and then about two feet into the air. One long, wing-like fin

embraced its small body, holding it close to the massive breast of

the tender mother, whose only care seemed to be to protect her young,

utterly regardless of her own pain and danger. If sentiment were ever

permitted to interfere with such operations as ours, it might well have

done so now; for while the calf continually sought to escape from the

enfolding fin, making all sorts of puny struggles in the attempt, the

mother scarcely moved from her position, although streaming with blood

from a score of wounds. Once, indeed, as a deep-searching thrust

entered her very vitals, she raised her massy flukes high in air with

an apparently involuntary movement of agony; but even in that dire

throe she remembered the possible danger to her young one, and laid the

tremendous weapon as softly down upon the water as if it were a feather

fan.

So in the most perfect quiet, with scarcely a writhe, nor any sign of

flurry, she died, holding the calf to her side until her last

vital spark had fled, and left it to a swift despatch with a single

lance-thrust. No slaughter of a lamb ever looked more like murder. Nor,

when the vast bulk and strength of the animal was considered, could a

mightier example have been given of the force and quality of maternal

love.

The whole business was completed in half an hour from the first sight

of her, and by the mate's hand alone, none of the other boats needing

to use their gear. As soon as she was dead, a hole was bored through the

lips, into which a tow-line was secured, the two long fins were lashed

close into the sides of the animal by an encircling line, the tips of

the flukes were cut off, and away we started for the ship. We had an

eight-mile tow in the blazing sun, which we accomplished in a little

over eight, hours, arriving at the vessel just before two p.m. News of

our coming had preceded us, and the whole native population appeared to

be afloat to make us welcome. The air rang again with their shouts of

rejoicing, for our catch represented to them a gorgeous feast, such as

they had not indulged in for many a day. The flesh of the humpbacked

whale is not at all bad, being but little inferior to that of the

porpoise; so that, as these people do not despise even the coarse rank

flesh of the cachalot, their enthusiasm was natural. Their offers of

help were rather embarrassing to us, as we could find little room for

any of them in the boats, and the canoes only got in our way. Unable to

assist us, they vented their superfluous energies on the whale in the

most astounding aquatic antics imaginable--diving under it; climbing

on to it; pushing and rolling each other headlong over its broad back;

shrieking all the while with the frantic, uncontrollable laughter of

happy children freed from all restraint. Men, women, and children all

mixed in this wild, watery spree; and as to any of them getting drowned,

the idea was utterly absurd.

When we got it alongside, and prepared to cut in, all the chaps were

able to have a rest, there were so many eager volunteers to man the

windlass, not only willing but, under the able direction of their

compatriots belonging to our crew, quite equal to the work of heaving

in blubber. All their habitual indolence was cast aside. Toiling like

Trojans, they made the old windlass rattle again as they spun the brakes

up and down, every blanket-piece being hailed with a fresh volley of

eldritch shrieks, enough to alarm a deaf and dumb asylum.

With such ample aid, it was, as may be supposed a brief task to skin our

prize, although the strange arrangement of the belly blubber caused

us to lift some disappointing lengths. This whale has the blubber

underneath the body lying in longitudinal corrugations, which, when

hauled off the carcass at right angles to their direction, stretch

out flat to four or five times their normal area. Thus, when the

cutting-blocks had reached their highest limit, and the piece was

severed from the body, the folds flew together again leaving dangling

aloft but a miserable square of some four or five feet, instead of

a fine "blanket" of blubber twenty by five. Along the edges of these

RUGAE, as also upon the rim of the lower jaw, abundance of limpets and

barnacles had attached themselves, some of the former large as a horse's

hoof, and causing prodigious annoyance to the toiling carpenter, whose

duty it was to keep the spades ground. It was no unusual thing for a

spade to be handed in with two or three gaps in its edge half an inch

deep, where they had accidentally come across one of those big pieces

of flinty shell, undistinguishable from the grey substance of the belly

blubber.

But, in spite of these drawbacks, in less than ninety minutes the last

cut was reached, the vertebra severed, and away went the great mass of

meat, in tow of countless canoes, to an adjacent point, where, in eager

anticipation, fires were already blazing for the coming cookery. An

enormous number of natives had gathered from far and near, late arrivals

continually dropping in from all points of the compass with breathless

haste. No danger of going short need have troubled them, for, large as

were their numbers, the supply was evidently fully equal to all demands.

All night long the feast proceeded, and, even when morning dawned, busy

figures were still discernible coming and going between the reduced

carcass and the fires, as if determined to make an end of it before

their operations ceased.

CHAPTER XXI. PROGRESS OF THE "HUMPBACK" SEASON

It will probably be inferred from the foregoing paragraph that we were

little troubled with visits from the natives next day; but it would be

doing them an injustice if I omitted to state that our various "flems"

put in an appearance as usual with their daily offerings of fruit,

vegetables, etc. They all presented a somewhat jaded and haggard look,

as of men who had dined not wisely but too well, nor did the odour of

stale whale-meat that clung to them add to their attractions. Repentance

for excesses or gluttony did not seem to trouble them, for they

evidently considered it would have been a sin not to take with both

hands the gifts the gods had so bountifully provided. Still, they did

not stay long, feeling, no doubt, sore need of a prolonged rest after

their late arduous exertions; so, after affectionate farewells, they

left us again to our greasy task of trying-out.

The cow proved exceedingly fat, making us, though by no means a large

specimen, fully fifty barrels of oil. The whalebone (baleen) was so

short as to be not worth the trouble of curing, so, with the exception

of such pieces as were useful to the "scrimshoners" for ornamenting

their nicknacks, it was not preserved. On the evening of the third

day the work was so far finished that we were able to go ashore for

clothes-washing, which necessary process was accompanied with a good

deal of fun and hilarity. In the morning cruising was resumed again.

For a couple of days we met with no success, although we had a very

aggravating chase after some smart bulls we fell in with, to our mutual

astonishment, just as we rounded a point of the outermost island. They

were lazily sunning themselves close under the lee of the cliffs, which

at that point were steep-to, having a depth of about twenty fathoms

close alongside. A fresh breeze was blowing, so we came round the point

at a great pace, being almost among them before they had time to escape.

They went away gaily along the land, not attempting to get seaward,

we straining every nerve to get alongside of them. Whether they were

tantalizing us or not, I cannot say, but certainly it looked like it. In

spite of their well-known speed, we were several times so close in their

wake that the harpooners loosed the tacks of the jibs to get a clear

shot; but as they did so the nimble monsters shot ahead a length or

two, leaving us just out of reach. It was a fine chase while it lasted,

though annoying; yet one could hardly help feeling amused at the way

they wallowed along--just like a school of exaggerated porpoises. At

last, after nearly two hours of the fun, they seemed to have had enough

of it, and with one accord headed seaward at a greatly accelerated pace,

as who should say, "Well, s' long, boys; company's very pleasant and

all that, but we've got important business over at Fiji, and can't stay

fooling around here any longer." In a quarter of an hour they were out

of sight, leaving us disgusted and outclassed pursuers sneaking back

again to shelter, feeling very small. Not that we could have had much

hope of success under the circumstances, knowing the peculiar habits of

the humpback and the almost impossibility of competing with him in the

open sea; but they had lured us on to forget all these things in the

ardour of the chase, and then exposed our folly.

Then ensued a week or two of uneventful cruising, broken only by

the capture of a couple of cows--one just after the fruitless chase

mentioned above, and one several days later. These events, though

interesting enough to us, were marked by no such deviation from the

ordinary course as to make them worthy of special attention; nor do I

think that the cold-blooded killing of a cow-whale, who dies patiently

endeavouring to protect her young, is a subject that lends itself to

eulogium.

However, just when the delightful days were beginning to pall upon us,

a real adventure befell us, which, had we been attending strictly to

business, we should not have encountered. For a week previous we had

been cruising constantly without ever seeing a spout, except those

belonging to whales out at sea, whither we knew it was folly to

follow them. We tried all sorts of games to while away the time, which

certainly did hang heavy, the most popular of which was for the whole

crew of the boat to strip, and, getting overboard, be towed along at the

ends of short warps, while I sailed her. It was quite mythological--a

sort of rude reproduction of Neptune and his attendant Tritons. At last,

one afternoon as we were listlessly lolling (half asleep, except the

look-out man) across the thwarts, we suddenly came upon a gorge between

two cliffs that we must have passed before several times unnoticed. At

a certain angle it opened, disclosing a wide sheet of water, extending a

long distance ahead. I put the helm up, and we ran through the passage,

finding it about a boat's length in width and several fathoms deep,

though overhead the cliffs nearly came together in places. Within, the

scene was very beautiful, but not more so than many similar ones we had

previously witnessed. Still, as the place was new to us, our languor was

temporarily dispelled, and we paddled along, taking in every feature of

the shores with keen eyes that let nothing escape. After we had gone

on in this placid manner for maybe an hour, we suddenly came to a

stupendous cliff--that is, for those parts--rising almost sheer from the

water for about a thousand feet. Of itself it would not have arrested

our attention, but at its base was a semicircular opening, like the

mouth of a small tunnel. This looked alluring, so I headed the boat for

it, passing through a deep channel between two reefs which led straight

to the opening. There was ample room for us to enter, as we had lowered

the mast; but just as we were passing through, a heave of the unnoticed

swell lifted us unpleasantly near the crown of this natural arch.

Beneath us, at a great depth, the bottom could be dimly discerned, the

water being of the richest blue conceivable, which the sun, striking

down through, resolved into some most marvellous colour-schemes in the

path of its rays. A delicious sense of coolness, after the fierce heat

outside, saluted us as we entered a vast hall, whose roof rose to a

minimum height of forty feet, but in places could not be seen at all.

A sort of diffused light, weak, but sufficient to reveal the general

contour of the place, existed, let in, I supposed, through some unseen

crevices in the roof or walls. At first, of course, to our eyes fresh

from the fierce glare outside, the place seemed wrapped in impenetrable

gloom, and we dared not stir lest we should run into some hidden

danger. Before many minutes, however, the gloom lightened as our pupils

enlarged, so that, although the light was faint, we could find our way

about with ease. We spoke in low tones, for the echoes were so numerous

and resonant that even a whisper gave back from those massy walls in a

series of recurring hisses, as if a colony of snakes had been disturbed.

We paddled on into the interior of this vast cave, finding everywhere

the walls rising sheer from the silent, dark waters, not a ledge or a

crevice where one might gain foothold. Indeed, in some places there was

a considerable overhang from above, as if a great dome whose top was

invisible sprang from some level below the water. We pushed ahead until

the tiny semicircle of light through which we had entered was only

faintly visible; and then, finding there was nothing to be seen except

what we were already witnessing, unless we cared to go on into the thick

darkness, which extended apparently into the bowels of the mountain, we

turned and started to go back. Do what we would, we could not venture to

break the solemn hush that surrounded us as if we were shut within the

dome of some vast cathedral in the twilight, So we paddled noiselessly

along for the exit, till suddenly an awful, inexplicable roar set all

our hearts thumping fit to break our bosoms. Really, the sensation was

most painful, especially as we had not the faintest idea whence the

noise came or what had produced it. Again it filled that immense cave

with its thunderous reverberations; but this time all the sting

was taken out of it, as we caught sight of its author. A goodly

bull-humpback had found his way in after us, and the sound of his spout,

exaggerated a thousand times in the confinement of that mighty cavern,

had frightened us all so that we nearly lost our breath. So far, so

good; but, unlike the old nigger, though we were "doin' blame well," we

did not "let blame well alone." The next spout that intruder gave,

he was right alongside of us. This was too much for the semi-savage

instincts of my gallant harpooner, and before I had time to shout a

caution he had plunged his weapon deep into old Blowhard's broad back.

I should like to describe what followed, but, in the first place, I

hardly know; and, in the next, even had I been cool and collected, my

recollections would sound like the ravings of a fevered dream. For of

all the hideous uproars conceivable, that was, I should think, about the

worst. The big mammal seemed to have gone frantic with the pain of his

wound, the surprise of the attack, and the hampering confinement in

which he found himself. His tremendous struggles caused such a commotion

that our position could only be compared to that of men shooting Niagara

in a cylinder at night. How we kept afloat, I do not know. Some one

had the gumption to cut the line, so that by the radiation of the

disturbance we presently found ourselves close to the wall, and trying

to hold the boat in to it with our finger-tips. Would he never be quiet?

we thought, as the thrashing, banging, and splashing still went on with

unfailing vigour. At last, in, I suppose, one supreme effort to escape,

he leaped clear of the water like a salmon. There was a perceptible

hush, during which we shrank together like unfledged chickens on a

frosty night; then, in a never-to-be-forgotten crash that ought to

have brought down the massy roof, that mountainous carcass fell. The

consequent violent upheaval of the water should have smashed the boat

against the rocky walls, but that final catastrophe was mercifully

spared us. I suppose the rebound was sufficient to keep us a safe

distance off.

A perfect silence succeeded, during which we sat speechless, awaiting

a resumption of the clamour. At last Abner broke the heavy silence by

saying, "I doan' see the do'way any mo' at all, sir." He was right. The

tide had risen, and that half-moon of light had disappeared, so that we

were now prisoners for many hours, it not being at all probable that we

should be able to find our way out during the night ebb. Well, we

were not exactly children, to be afraid of the dark, although there is

considerable difference between the velvety darkness of a dungeon and

the clear, fresh night of the open air. Still, as long as that beggar of

a whale would only keep quiet or leave the premises, we should be fairly

comfortable. We waited and waited until an hour had passed, and then

came to the conclusion that our friend was either dead or gone out, as

he gave no sign of his presence.

That being settled, we anchored the boat, and lit pipes, preparatory to

passing as comfortable a night as might be under the circumstances, the

only thing troubling me being the anxiety of the skipper on our behalf.

Presently the blackness beneath was lit up by a wide band of phosphoric

light, shed in the wake of no ordinary-sized fish, probably an immense

shark. Another and another followed in rapid succession, until the

depths beneath were all ablaze with brilliant foot-wide ribands of green

glare, dazzling to the eye and bewildering to the brain. Occasionally,

a gentle splash or ripple alongside, or a smart tap on the bottom of

the boat, warned us how thick the concourse was that had gathered below.

Until that weariness which no terror is proof against set in, sleep was

impossible, nor could we keep our anxious gaze from that glowing inferno

beneath, where one would have thought all the population of Tartarus

were holding high revel. Mercifully, at last we sank into a fitful

slumber, though fully aware of the great danger of our position. One

upward rush of any of those ravening monsters, happening to strike the

frail shell of our boat, and a few fleeting seconds would have sufficed

for our obliteration as if we had never been.

But the terrible night passed away, and once more we saw the tender,

irridescent light stream into that abode of dread. As the day

strengthened, we were able to see what was going on below, and a grim

vision it presented. The water was literally alive with sharks of

enormous size, tearing with never ceasing energy at the huge carcass of

the whale lying on the bottom, who had met his fate in a singular but

not unheard-of way. At that last titanic effort of his he had rushed

downward with such terrific force that, striking his head on the bottom,

he had broken his neck. I felt very grieved that we had lost the chance

of securing him; but it was perfectly certain that before we could get

help to raise him, all that would be left of his skeleton would be quite

valueless to us. So with such patience as we could command we waited

near the entrance until the receding ebb made it possible for us to

emerge once more into the blessed light of day. I was horrified at the

haggard, careworn appearance of my crew, who had all, excepting the two

Kanakas, aged perceptibly during that night of torment. But we lost

no time in getting back to the ship, where I fully expected a severe

wigging for the scrape my luckless curiosity had led me into. The

captain, however, was very kind, expressing his pleasure at seeing us

all safe back again, although he warned me solemnly against similar

investigations in future. A hearty meal and a good rest did wonders in

removing the severe effects of our adventure, so that by next morning we

were all fit and ready for the days work again.

It certainly seemed as if I was in for a regular series of troubles.

After cruising till nearly two p.m., we fell in with the mate's boat,

and were sailing quietly along side by side, when we suddenly rounded a

point and ran almost on top of a bull-humpback that was basking in the

beautiful sunshine. The mate's harpooner, a wonderfully smart fellow,

was not so startled as to lose his chance, getting an iron well home

before the animal realized what had befallen him. We had a lovely fight,

lasting over an hour, in which all the marvellous agility with which

this whale is gifted was exerted to the full in order to make his

escape. But with the bottom not twenty fathoms away, we were sure of

him. With all his supple smartness, he had none of the dogged savagery

of the cachalot about him, nor did we feel any occasion to beware of

his rushes, rather courting them, so as to finish the game as quickly as

possible.

He was no sooner dead than we hurried to secure him, and had actually

succeeded in passing the tow-line through his lips, when, in the

trifling interval that passed while we were taking the line aft to begin

towing, he started to sink. Of course it was, "let go all!" If you

can only get the slightest way on a whale of this kind, you are almost

certain to be able to keep him afloat, but once he begins to sink you

cannot stop him. Down he went, till full twenty fathoms beneath us he

lay comfortably on the reef, while we looked ruefully at one another.

We had no gear with us fit to raise him, and we were ten miles from the

ship; evening was at hand, so our prospects of doing anything that night

were faint.

However, the mate decided to start off for home at once, leaving us

there, but promising to send back a boat as speedily as possible with

provisions and gear for the morning. There was a stiff breeze blowing,

and he was soon out of sight; but we were very uncomfortable. The boat,

of course, rode like a duck, but we were fully exposed to the open sea;

and the mighty swell of the Pacific, rolling in over those comparatively

shallow grounds, sometimes looked dangerously like breaking. Still, it

was better than the cave, and there was a good prospect of supper. Long

before we expected her, back came the boat, bringing bountiful provision

of yams, cold pork and fruit--a regular banquet to men who were fasting

since daylight. A square meal, a comforting pipe, and the night's vigil,

which had looked so formidable, no longer troubled us, although, to tell

the truth, we were heartily glad when the dawn began to tint the east

with pale emerald and gold. We set to work at once, getting the huge

carcass to the surface without as much labour as I had anticipated. Of

course all hands came to the rescue.

But, alas for the fruit of our labours! Those hungry monsters had

collected in thousands, and, to judge from what we were able to see of

the body, they had reduced its value alarmingly. However, we commenced

towing, and were getting along fairly well, when a long spur of reef to

leeward of us, over which the sea was breaking frightfully, seemed to be

stretching farther out to intercept us before we could get into smooth

water. The fact soon faced us that we were in the remorseless grip of a

current that set right over that reef, and against its steady stream all

our efforts were the merest triviality. Still, we hung on, struggling

desperately to keep what we had earned, until so close to the roaring,

foaming line of broken water, that one wave breaking farther out than

the rest very nearly swamped us all. One blow of an axe, one twirl of

the steer-oars, and with all the force we could muster we were pulling

away from the very jaws of death, leaving our whale to the hungry

crowds, who would make short work of him. Downcast indeed, at our bad

luck, we returned on board, disappointing the skipper very much with our

report. Like the true gentleman he was, though, recognizing that we had

done our best, he did not add to the trouble by cursing us all for a set

of useless trash, as his predecessor would have done; on the contrary, a

few minutes after the receipt of the bad news his face was as bright as

ever, his laugh as hearty as if there was no such thing as a misfortune

in the world.

And now I must come to what has been on my mind so long--a tragedy that,

in spite of all that had gone before, and of what came after, is the

most indelible of all the memories which cling round me of that eventful

time. Abner Cushing, the Vermonter had declared at different times that

he should never see his native Green Mountain again. Since the change

in our commander, however, he had been another man--always silent and

reserved, but brighter, happier, and with a manner so improved as to

make it hard to recognize him for the same awkward, ungainly slab of a

fellow that had bungled everything he put his hand to. Taking stock of

him quietly during our day-long leisurely cruises in the boat, I often

wondered whether his mind still kept its gloomy forebodings, and brooded

over his tragical life-history. I never dared to speak to him on the

subject, for fear of arousing what I hoped was growing too faint for

remembrance. But at times I saw him in the moonlit evenings sitting on

the rail alone, steadfastly gazing down into the star-besprent waters

beneath him, as if coveting their unruffled peace.

Two-thirds of our stay in the islands had passed away, when, for a

wonder, the captain took it into his head to go up to the chief village

one morning. So he retained me on board, while the other three boats

left for the day's cruise as usual. One of the mate's crew was sick, and

to replace him he took Abner out of my boat. Away they went; and shortly

after breakfast-time I lowered, received the captain on board, and

we started for the capital. Upon our arrival there we interviewed the

chief, a stout, pleasant-looking man of about fifty, who was evidently

held in great respect by the natives, and had a chat with the white

Wesleyan missionary in charge of the station. About two p.m., after

the captain's business was over, we were returning under sail, when we

suddenly caught sight of two of our boats heading in towards one of the

islands. We helped her with the paddles to get up to them, seeing as we

neared them the two long fins of a whale close ahead of one of them.

As we gazed breathlessly at the exciting scene, we saw the boat rush in

between the two flippers, the harpooner at the same time darting an iron

straight down. There was a whirl in the waters, and quick as thought

the vast flukes of the whale rose in the air, recurving with a sidelong

sweep as of some gigantic scythe. The blow shore off the bow of the

attacking boat as if it had been an egg-shell.

At the same moment the mate stooped, picked up the tow-line from its

turn round the logger-head, and threw it forward from him. He must have

unconsciously given a twist to his hand, for the line fell in a kink

round Abner's neck just as the whale went down with a rush. Struggling,

clutching at the fatal noose, the hapless man went flying out through

the incoming sea, and in one second was lost to sight for ever. Too

late, the harpooner cut the line which attached the wreck to the

retreating animal, leaving the boat free, but gunwale under. We

instantly hauled alongside of the wreck and transferred her crew, all

dazed and horror-stricken at the awful death of their late comrade.

I saw the tears trickle down the rugged, mahogany-coloured face of the

captain, and honoured him for it, but there was little time to waste in

vain regrets. It was necessary to save the boat, if possible, as we were

getting short of boat-repairing material; certainly we should not have

been able to build a new one. So, drawing the two sound boats together,

one on either side of the wreck, we placed the heavy steering oars

across them from side to side. We then lifted the battered fore part

upon the first oar, and with a big effort actually succeeded in lifting

the whole of the boat out of water upon this primitive pontoon. Then,

taking the jib, we "frapped" it round the opening where the bows had

been, lashing it securely in that position. Several hands were told off

to jump into her stern on the word, and all being ready we launched her

again. The weight of the chaps in her stern-sheets cocked her bows

right out of water, and in that position we towed her back to the ship,

arriving safely before dusk.

That evening we held a burial service, at which hundreds of natives

attended with a solemnity of demeanour and expressions of sorrow that

would not have been out of place at the most elaborate funeral in

England or America. It was a memorable scene. The big cressets were

lighted, shedding their wild glare over the dark sea, and outlining

the spars against the moonless sky with startling effect. When we

had finished the beautiful service, the natives, as if swayed by an

irresistible impulse, broke into the splendid tune St. Ann's; and

I afterwards learned that the words they sang were Dr. Watts'

unsurpassable rendering of Moses' pean of praise, "O God, our help in

ages past." No elaborate ceremonial in towering cathedral could begin to

compare with the massive simplicity of poor Abner's funeral honours, the

stately hills for many miles reiterating the sweet sounds, and carrying

them to the furthest confines of the group.

Next day was Sunday, and, in pursuance of a promise given some time

before, I went ashore to my "flem's" to dinner, he being confined to the

house with a hurt leg. It was not by any means a festive gathering, for

he was more than commonly taciturn; his daughter Irene, a buxom lassie

of fourteen, who waited on us, appeared to be dumb; and his wife was "in

the straw." These trifling drawbacks, however, in nowise detracted from

the hospitality offered. The dining-room was a large apartment furnished

with leaves, the uprights of cocoa-nut tree, the walls and roof of

pandanus leaf. Beneath the heaps of leaves, fresh and sweet-scented, was

the earth. The inner apartment, or chamber of state, had a flooring of

highly-polished planks, and contained, I presume, the household gods;

but as it was in possession of my host's secluded spouse, I did not

enter.

A couch upon a pile of leaves was hastily arranged, upon which I was

bidden to seat myself, while a freshly cut cocoa-nut of enormous size

was handed to me, the soft top sliced off so that I might drink its

deliciously cool contents. These nuts must grow elsewhere, but I have

never before or since seen any so large. When green--that is, before

the meat has hardened into indigestible matter--they contain from three

pints to two quarts of liquid, at once nourishing, refreshing, and

palatable. The natives appeared to drink nothing else, and I never saw a

drop of fresh water ashore during our stay.

Taking a huge knife from some hiding-place, Irene handed it to her

father, who at once commenced to dig in the ground by his side, while

I looked on wondering and amused. Presently he fished up a bundle of

leaves bound with a vine-tendril, which he laid carefully aside. More

digging brought to light a fine yam about three pounds in weight, which,

after carefully wiping the knife on some leaves, he proceeded to peel.

It was immediately evident that the yam was perfectly cooked, for it

steamed as he removed the skin, revealing the inside as white as milk.

Some large, round leaves were laid in front of me, and the yam placed

upon them. Then mine host turned his attention to the bundle first

unearthed, which concealed a chicken, so perfectly done that, although

the bones drew out of the meat as if it had been jelly, it was full of

juice and flavour; and except for a slight foreign twang, referrible,

doubtless, to the leaves in which it had been enwrapped, I do not think

it could have been possible to cook anything in a better way, or one

more calculated to retain all the natural juices of the meat. The fowl

was laid beside the yam, another nut broached; then, handing me the big

knife, my "flem" bade me welcome, informing me that I saw my dinner.

As nothing would induce him to join me, the idea being contrary to

his notions of respect due to a guest, I was fain to fall to, and an

excellent meal I made. For dessert, a basketful of such oranges freshly

plucked as cannot be tasted under any other conditions, and crimson

bananas, which upon being peeled, looked like curved truncheons of

golden jelly, after tasting which I refused to touch anything else.

A corn-cob cigarette closed the banquet, After expressing my thanks,

I noticed that the pain of his leg was giving my friend considerable

uneasiness, which he was stolidly enduring upon my account rather than

appear discourteously anxious to get rid of me. So, with the excuse

that I must needs be going, having another appointment, I left the good

fellow and strolled around to the chapel, where I sat enjoying the sight

of those simple-minded Kanakas at their devotions till it was time to

return on board. Before closing this chapter, I would like, for the

benefit of such of my readers who have not heard yet of Kanaka cookery,

to say that it is simplicity itself. A hole is scooped in the earth, in

which a fire is made (of wood), and kept burning until a fair-sized

heap of glowing charcoal remains. Pebbles are then thrown in until the

charcoal is covered. Whatever is to be cooked is enveloped in leaves,

placed upon the pebbles, and more leaves heaped upon it. The earth is

then thrown back into the cavity, and well stamped down. A long time is,

of course, needed for the viands to get cooked through; but so subtle is

the mode that overdoing anything is almost an impossibility. A couple of

days may pass from the time of "putting down" the joint, yet when it

is dug up it will be smoking hot, retaining all its juices, tender as

jelly, but, withal, as full of flavour as it is possible for cooked meat

to be. No matter how large the joint is, or how tough the meat, this

gentle suasion will render it succulent and tasty; and no form of

civilized cookery can in the least compare with it.

CHAPTER XXII. FAREWELL TO VAU VAU

Taking it all round, our visit to the Friendly Islands had not been

particularly fortunate up till the time of which I spoke at the

conclusion of the last chapter. Two-thirds of the period during which

the season was supposed to last had expired, but our catch had not

amounted to more than two hundred and fifty barrels of oil. Whales had

been undoubtedly scarce, for our ill-success on tackling bulls was

not at all in consequence of our clumsiness, these agile animals being

always a handful, but due to the lack of cows, which drove us to take

whatever we could get, which, as has been noted, was sometimes a severe

drubbing. Energy and watchfulness had been manifested in a marked degree

by everybody, and when the news circulated that our stay was drawing to

a close, there was, if anything, an increase of zeal in the hope that we

might yet make a favourable season.

But none of these valuable qualities exhibited by us could make up for

the lack of "fish" which was lamentably evident. It was not easy to

understand why, because these islands were noted as a breeding-place for

the humpbacked whale. Yet for years they had not been fished, so that a

plausible explanation of the paucity of their numbers as a consequence

of much harassing could not be reasonably offered. Still, after

centuries of whale-fishing, little is known of the real habits of

whales, Where there is abundance of "feed," in the case of MYSTICETA it

may be reasonably inferred that whales may be found in proportionately

greater numbers. With regard to the wider-spread classes of the

great marine mammalia, beyond the fact, ascertained from continued

observation, that certain parts of the ocean are more favoured by them

than others, there is absolutely no data to go upon as to why at times

they seem to desert their usual haunts and scatter themselves far and

wide.

The case of the cachalot is still more difficult. All the BALAENAE seem

to be compelled, by laws which we can only guess at, to frequent the

vicinity of land possessing shallows at their breeding times, so that

they may with more or less certainty be looked for in such places at

the seasons which have been accurately fixed. They may be driven to seek

other haunts, as was undoubtedly the case at Vau Vau in a great measure,

by some causes unknown, but to land they must come at those times. The

sperm whale, however, needs no shelter at such periods, or, at any rate,

does not avail herself of any. They may often be seen in the vicinity of

land where the water is deep close to, but seldom with calves. Schools

of cows with recently born young gambolling about them are met with

at immense distances from land, showing no disposition to seek shelter

either. For my part, I firmly believe that the cachalot is so terrible a

foe, that the great sharks who hover round a gravid cow of the BALAENAE,

driving her in terror to some shallow spot where she may hope to protect

her young, never dare to approach a sperm cow on kidnapping errands, or

any other if they can help it, until their unerring guides inform them

that life is extinct. When a sperm whale is in health, nothing that

inhabits the sea has any chance with him; neither does he scruple to

carry the war into the enemy's country, since all is fish that comes

to his net, and a shark fifteen feet in length has been found in the

stomach of a cachalot.

The only exception he seems to make is in the case of man. Instances

have several--nay, many times occurred where men have been slain by the

jaws of a cachalot crushing the boat in which they were; but their death

was of course incidental to the destruction of the boat. Never, as far

as I have been able to ascertain, has a cachalot attacked a man swimming

or clinging to a piece of wreckage, although such opportunities occur

innumerably. I have in another place told the story of how I once saw a

combat between a bull-cachalot and so powerful a combination of enemies

that even one knowing the fighting qualities of the sperm whale would

have hesitated to back him to win, but the yarn will bear repetition.

Two "killers" and a sword-fish, all of the largest size. Description of

these warriors is superfluous, since they are so well known to museums

and natural histories; but unless one has witnessed the charge of

a XIPHIAS, he cannot realize what a fearful foe it is. Still, as a

practice, these creatures leave the cachalot respectfully alone, knowing

instinctively that he is not their game. Upon this memorable occasion,

however I guess the two ORCAS were starving, and they had organized

a sort of forlorn hope with the XIPHIAS as an auxiliary who might be

relied upon to ensure success if it could be done. Anyhow, the syndicate

led off with their main force first; for while the two killers hung on

the cachalot's flanks, diverting his attention, the sword-fish, a giant

some sixteen feet long, launched himself at the most vulnerable part of

the whale, for all the world like a Whitehead torpedo. The wary eye

of the whale saw the long, dark mass coming, and, like a practised

pugilist, coolly swerved, taking for the nonce no notice of those

worrying wolves astern. The shock came; but instead of the sword

penetrating three, or maybe four feet just where the neck (if a whale

has any neck) encloses the huge heart, it met the mighty, impenetrable

mass of the head, solid as a block of thirty tons of india-rubber.

So the blow glanced, revealing a white streak running diagonally across

the eye, while the great XIPHIAS rolled helplessly over the top of that

black bastion. With a motion so rapid that the eye could scarcely follow

it, the whale turned, settling withal, and, catching the momentarily

motionless aggressor in the lethal sweep of those awful shears, crunched

him in two halves, which writhing sections he swallowed SERIATIM. And

the allied forces aft--what of them? Well, they had been rash--they

fully realized that fact, and would have fled, but one certainly found

that he had lingered on the scene too long. The thoroughly-roused

leviathan, with a reversal of his huge bulk that made the sea boil like

a pot, brandished his tail aloft and brought it down upon the doomed

"killer," making him at once the "killed." He was crushed like a shrimp

under one's heel.

The survivor fled--never faster--for an avalanche of living, furious

flesh was behind him, and coming with enormous leaps half out of the sea

every time. Thus they disappeared, but I have no doubts as to the issue.

Of one thing I am certain--that, if any of the trio survived, they never

afterwards attempted to rush a cachalot.

Strange to say, the sperm whale does not appear to be a fond mother. At

the advent of danger she often deserts her offspring and in such cases

it is hardly conceivable that she ever finds it again. It is true that

she is not gifted with such long "arms" as the BALAENAE wherewith to

cuddle her young one to her capacious bosom while making tracks from

her enemies; nor is she much "on the fight," not being so liberally

furnished with jaw as the fierce and much larger bull--for this is

the only species of whale in which there exists a great disproportion

between the sexes in point of size. Such difference as may obtain

between the MYSTICETA is slightly in favour of the female. I never heard

of a cow-cachalot yielding more than fifty barrels of oil; but I have

both heard of, and seen, bulls carrying one hundred and fifty. One

individual taken by us down south was seventy feet long, and furnished

us with more than the latter amount; but I shall come to him by-and-by.

Just one more point before leaving this (to me) fascinating subject for

the present.

To any one studying the peculiar configuration of a cachalot's mouth, it

would appear a difficult problem how the calf could suck. Certainly it

puzzled me more than a little. But, when on the "line" grounds we got

among a number of cows one calm day, I saw a little fellow about fifteen

feet long, apparently only a few days old, in the very act. The mother

lay on one side, with the breast nearly at the waters edge; while the

calf, lying parallel to its parent, with its head in the same direction,

held the teat sideways in the angle of its jaw, with its snout

protruding from the surface. Although we caught several cow-humpbacks

with newly born calves, I never had an opportunity of seeing THEM suck.

Gradually our pleasant days at Vau Vau drew to a close. So quiet and

idyllic had the life been, so full of simple joys, that most of us, if

not all, felt a pang at the thought of our imminent departure from

the beautiful place. Profitable, in a pecuniary sense, the season had

certainly failed to be, but that was the merest trifle compared with

the real happiness and peace enjoyed during our stay. Even the terrible

tragedy which had taken one of our fellows from us could not spoil the

actual enjoyment of our visit, sad and touching as the event undoubtedly

was. There was always, too, a sufficiently arduous routine of necessary

duties to perform, preventing us from degenerating into mere lotus

eaters in that delicious afternoon-land. Nor even to me, friendless

nomad as I was, did the thought ever occur, "I will return no more."

But these lovely days spent in softly gliding over the calm, azure

depths, bathed in golden sunlight, gazing dreamily down at the

indescribable beauties of the living reefs, feasting daintily on

abundance of never-cloying fruit, amid scenes of delight hardly to be

imagined by the cramped mind of the town dweller; islands, air, and sea

all shimmering in an enchanted haze, and silence scarcely broken by

the tender ripple of the gently-parted waters before the boat's steady

keel--though these joys have all been lost to me, and I in "populous

city pent" endure the fading years, I would not barter the memory of

them for more than I can say, so sweet it is to me. And, then, our

relations with the natives had been so perfectly amicable, so free from

anything to regret. Perhaps this simple statement will raise a cynical

smile upon the lips of those who know Tahati, the New Hebrides, and

kindred spots with all their savage, bestial orgies of alternate

unbridled lust and unnamable cruelty. Let it be so. For my part, I

rejoice that I have no tale of weeks of drunkenness, of brutal rape,

treacherous murder, and almost unthinkable torture to tell.

For of such is the paradise of the beach-comber, and the hell of the

clean man. Not that I have been able to escape it altogether. When I say

that I once shipped, unwittingly, as sailing-master of a little white

schooner in Noumea, bound to Apia, finding when too late that she was a

"blackbirder"--"labour vessel," the wise it call--nothing more will be

needed to convince the initiated that I have moved in the "nine circles"

of Polynesia.

Some time before the day fixed for our departure, we were busy storing

the gifts so liberally showered upon us by our eager friends. Hundreds

of bunches of bananas, many thousands of oranges, yams, taro, chillies,

fowls, and pigs were accumulated, until the ship looked like a huge

market-boat. But we could not persuade any of the natives to ship with

us to replace those whoso contract was now expiring. Samuela and Polly

were, after much difficulty, prevailed upon by me to go with us to

New Zealand, much to my gratification; but still we were woefully

short-handed, At last, seeing that there was no help for it, the skipper

decided to run over to Futuna, or Horn Island, where he felt certain of

obtaining recruits without any trouble. He did so most unwillingly, as

may well be believed, for the newcomers would need much training, while

our present Kanaka auxiliaries were the smartest men in the ship.

The slop-chest was largely drawn upon, to the credit of the crew,

who wished in some tangible way to show their appreciation of the

unremitting kindness shown them by their dusky friends. Not a whisper

had been uttered by any native as to desire of remuneration for what

he had given. If they expected a return, they certainly exercised great

control over themselves in keeping their wishes quiet. But when they

received the clothing, all utterly unsuited to their requirements as it

was, their beaming faces eloquently proclaimed the reality of their joy.

Heavy woollen shirts, thick cloth trousers and jackets, knitted socks;

but acceptable beyond all was a pilot-suit--warm enough for the Channel

in winter. Happy above all power of expression was he who secured

it. With an eared cloth cap and a pair of half boots, to complete

his preposterous rig, no Bond Street exquisite could feel more calmly

conscious of being a well-dressed man than he. From henceforth he would

be the observed of all observers at chapel on Sunday, exciting

worldly desires and aspirations among his cooler but coveting

fellow-worshippers.

The ladies fared very badly, until the skipper, with a twinkling eye,

announced that he had "dug up" some rolls of "cloth" (calico), which

he was prepared to supply us with at reasonable rates. Being of rather

pretty pattern, it went off like hot pies, and as the "fathoms" of

gaudy, flimsy material were distributed to the delighted fafines, their

shrill cries of gratitude were almost deafening.

Inexorable time brought round the morning of our departure. Willing

hands lifted our anchor, and hoisted the sails, so that we had nothing

to do but look on. A scarcely perceptible breeze, stealing softly over

the tree-tops, filled our upper canvas, sparing us the labour of towing

her out of the little bay where we had lain so long, and gradually

wafted us away from its lovely shores, amid the fast-flowing tears of

the great crowd. With multitudinous cries of "Ofa, al-ofa, papalang"

ringing in our ears ("Good-bye; good-bye, white man"), we rounded the

point, and, with increasing pace, bore away through the outlying islands

for the open sea. There was a strong trade blowing, making the old

barky caper like a dancing-master, which long unfamiliar motion almost

disagreed with some of us, after our long quiet. Under its hastening

influence we made such good time that before dinner Vau Vau had faded

into nothingness, mingling like the clouds with the soft haze on the

horizon, from henceforth only a memory.

We were not a very cheerful crowd that night, most of us being busy with

his own reflections. I must confess that I felt far greater sorrow at

leaving Vau Vau than ever I did at leaving England; because by the time

I was able to secure a berth, I have usually drunk pretty deep of the

bitter cup of the "outward bounder," than whom there is no more forlorn,

miserable creature on earth. No one but the much abused boarding-master

will have anything to do with him, and that worthy is generally careful

to let him know that he is but a hanger-on, a dependant on sufferance

for a meal, and that his presence on shore is an outrage. As for the

sailors' homes, I have hardly patience to speak of them. I know the

sailor is usually a big baby that wants protecting against himself, and

that once within the four walls of the institution he is safe; but right

there commendation must end. Why are good folks ashore systematically

misled into the belief that the sailor is an object of charity, and that

it is necessary to subscribe continually and liberally to provide him

with food and shelter when ashore? Most of the contributors would be

surprised to know that the cost of board and lodging at the "home" is

precisely the same as it is outside, and much higher than a landsman of

the same grade can live for in better style. With the exception of the

sleeping accommodation, most men prefer the boarding-house, where, if

they preserve the same commercial status which is a SINE QUA NON at the

"home," they are treated like gentlemen; but in what follows lies

the essential difference, and the reason for this outburst of mine,

smothered in silence for years. An "outward bounder"--that is, a man

whose money is exhausted and who is living upon the credit; of his

prospective advance of pay--is unknown at the "home." No matter what the

condition of things is in the shipping world; though the man may have

fought with energy to get his discharge accepted among the crowd at

the "chain-locker;" though he be footsore and weary with "looking for a

ship," when his money is done, out into the street he must go, if haply

he may find a speculative boarding-master to receive him. This act,

although most unlikely in appearance, is often performed; and though the

boarding-master, of course, expects to recoup himself out of the man's

advance note, it is none the less as merciful as the action of the

"home" authorities is merciless. Of course a man may go to the "straw

house," or, as it is grandiloquently termed, the "destitute seaman's

asylum," where for a season he will be fed on the refuse from the

"home," and sheltered from the weather. But the ungrateful rascals do

not like the "straw house," and use very bad language about it.

The galling thing about the whole affair is that the "sailors' home"

figures in certain official publications as a charity, which must be

partially supported by outside contributions. It may be a charitable

institution, but it certainly is not so to the sailor, who pays fully

for everything he receives. The charity is bestowed upon a far different

class of people to merchant Jack. Let it be granted that a man is sober

and provident, always getting a ship before his money is all gone, he

will probably be well content at the home, although very few seamen like

to be reminded ashore of their sea routine, as the manner of the home

is. If the institution does not pay a handsome dividend, with its

clothing shops and refreshment bars, as well as the boarding-house

lousiness on such a large scale, only one inference can be fairly

drawn--there must be something radically wrong with the management.

After this burst of temper, perhaps I had better get back to the subject

in hand. It was, I suppose, in the usual contrary nature of things that,

while we were all in this nearly helpless condition, one evening just

before sunset, along comes a sperm whale. Now, the commonest prudence

would have suggested letting him severely alone, since we were not only

short-handed, but several of our crew were completely crippled by large

boils; but it would have been an unprecedented thing to do while there

was any room left in the hold. Consequently we mustered the halt and the

lame, and manned two boats--all we could do--leaving the almost useless

cripples to handle the ship. Not to displace the rightful harpooner, I

took an oar in one of them, headed by the captain.

At first my hopes were high that we should not succeed in reaching the

victim before dark, but I was grievously disappointed in this. Just as

the whale was curving himself to sound, we got fairly close, and the

harpooner made a "pitch-pole" dart; that is, he hurled his weapon into

the air, where it described a fine curve, and fell point downward on

the animal's back just as he was disappearing. He stopped his descent

immediately, and turned savagely to see what had struck him so

unexpectedly. At that moment the sun went down.

After the first few minutes' "kick-up," he settled down for a steady

run, but not before the mate got good and fast to him likewise. Away we

went at a rare rate into the gathering gloom of the fast-coming night.

Now, had it been about the time of full moon or thereabouts, we should

doubtless have been able, by the flood of molten light she sends down in

those latitudes, to give a good account of our enemy; but alas for us,

it was not. The sky overhead was a deep blue-black, with steely sparkles

of starlight scattered all over it, only serving to accentuate the

darkness. After a short time our whale became totally invisible, except

for the phosphoric glare of the water all around him as he steadily

ploughed his way along. There was a good breeze blowing, which soon

caused us all to be drenched with the spray, rendering the general

effect of things cold as well as cheerless. Needless to say, we strove

with all our might to get alongside of him, so that an end might be put

to so unpleasant a state of affairs; but in our crippled condition it

was not at all easy to do so.

We persevered, however, and at last managed to get near enough for the

skipper to hurl a lance into the brightness of which the whale formed

the centre. It must have touched him, for he gave a bound forward and

disappeared. We suddenly came to a standstill, but in a moment were

whirled round as if on a pivot, and away we went in the opposite

direction. He had turned a complete somersault in the water beneath us,

giving us a "grue" as we reflected what would have happened had he then

chosen to come bounding to the surface. This manoeuvre seemed to please

him mightily, for he ran at top speed several minutes, and then repeated

it. This time he was nearly successful in doing us some real harm, for

it was now so dark that we could hardly see the other boat's form as

she towed along parallel to us about three or four lengths away. The two

boats swung round in a wide circle, rushing back at each other out of

the surrounding darkness as if bent on mutual destruction. Only by the

smartest manipulation was a collision avoided, which, as each boat's

bows bristled with lances and harpoons, would have been a serious matter

for some of us. However, the whale did not have it all his own way, for

the skipper, having charged his bomb-gun, patiently laid for him, and

fired. It was rather a long shot, but it reached him, as we afterwards

ascertained, making an ugly wound in the small near his tail.

Its effect upon him was startling and immediate. He rushed off at so

furious a rate dead to windward that for a great while we had all our

work cut out to keep her free by baling. The sea had risen a little, and

as we leapt from one wave to another the spray flew over us in an almost

continuous cloud. Clearly our situation was a parlous one. We could not

get near him; we were becoming dangerously enfeebled, and he appeared to

be gaining strength instead of losing it. Besides all this, none of us

could have the least idea of how the ship now bore from us, our only

comfort being that, by observation of the Cross, we were not making a

direct course, but travelling on the circumference of an immense

circle. Whatever damage we had done to him so far was evidently quite

superficial, for, accustomed as we were to tremendous displays of vigour

on the part of these creatures, this specimen fairly surprised us.

The time could only be guessed at; but, judging from our feelings, it

might have been two or three nights long. Still, to all things an end,

so in the midst of our dogged endurance of all this misery we felt

the pace give, and took heart of grace immediately. Calling up all our

reserves, we hauled up on to him, regardless of pain or weariness.

The skipper and mate lost no opportunities of lancing, once they

were alongside, but worked like heroes, until a final plunging of

the fast-dying leviathan warned us to retreat. Up he went out of the

glittering foam into the upper darkness, while we held our breath at the

unique sight of a whale breaching at night. But when he fell again the

effect was marvellous. Green columns of water arose on either side

of the descending mass as if from the bowels of the deep, while

their ghostly glare lit up the encircling gloom with a strange, weird

radiance, which reflected in our anxious faces, made us look like an

expedition from the FLYING DUTCHMAN. A short spell of gradually quieting

struggle succeeded as the great beast succumbed, until all was still

again, except the strange, low surge made by the waves as they broke

over the bank of flesh passively obstructing their free sweep.

While the final touch was being given to our task--i.e. the hole-boring

through the tail-fin--all hands lay around in various picturesque

attitudes, enjoying a refreshing smoke, care forgetting. While thus

pleasantly employed, sudden death, like a bolt from the blue, leapt into

our midst in a terrible form. The skipper was labouring hard at his task

of cutting the hole for the tow-line, when without warning the great fin

swung back as if suddenly released from tremendous tension. Happily for

us, the force of the blow was broken by its direction, as it struck the

water before reaching the boat's side, but the upper lobe hurled the

boat-spade from the captain's hands back into our midst, where it struck

the tub oarsman, splitting his head in two halves. The horror of the

tragedy, the enveloping darkness, the inexplicable revivifying of the

monster, which we could not have doubted to be dead, all combined to

stupefy and paralyze us for the time. Not a sound was heard in our boat,

though the yells of inquiry from our companion craft arose in increasing

volume. It was but a brief accession of energy, only lasting two or

three minutes, when the whale collapsed finally. Having recovered from

our surprise, we took no further chances with so dangerous an opponent,

but bored him as full of holes as a colander.

Mournful and miserable were the remaining hours of our vigil. We sat

around poor Miguel's corpse with unutterable feelings, recalling all

the tragical events of the voyage, until we reached the nadir of

despondency. With the rosy light of morning came more cheerful feelings,

heightened by the close proximity of the ship, from which it is probable

we had never been more than ten miles distant during the whole night.

She had sighted us with the first light, and made all sail down to us,

all hands much relieved at our safety. We were so sorely exhausted that

we could hardly climb on board; and how we hoisted the boats I hardly

know. The whale was secured by the efforts of the cripples we had left

on board, while we wayfarers, after a good meal, were allowed four

hours' sound, sweet sleep.

When we returned to our duties, the first thing that awaited us was

the burial of the poor body. Very reverently were the last sad offices

performed, the flag hoisted half-mast, the bell solemnly tolled. Then we

gathered at the gangway while the eternal words of hope and consolation

were falteringly read, and with a sudden plunge the long, straight

parcel slid off the hatch into the vast tomb ever ready for the dead

sailor.

Our dead out of sight, work claimed all our attention and energy, wiping

with its benificent influence all gloomy musings over the inevitable,

and replacing them with the pressing needs of life. The whale was not

a large one, but peculiar to look at. Like the specimen that fought so

fiercely with us in the Indian Ocean, its jaw was twisted round in a

sort of hook, the part that curved being so thickly covered with

long barnacles as to give the monster a most eerie look. One of the

Portuguese expressed his decided opinion that we had caught Davy Jones

himself, and that, in consequence, we should have no more accidents.

It was impossible not to sympathize with the conceit, for of all the

queer-looking monstrosities ever seen, this latest acquisition of ours

would have taken high honours. Such malformations of the lower mandible

of the cachalot have often been met with, and variously explained; but

the most plausible opinion seems to be that they have been acquired when

the animal is very young and its bones not yet indurated, since it

is impossible to believe that an adult could suffer such an accident

without the broken jaw drooping instead of being turned on one side.

The yield of oil was distressingly scanty, the whale being what is

technically known as a "dry skin." The blubber was so hard and tough

that we could hardly cut it up for boiling, and altogether it was one of

the most disappointing affairs we had yet dealt with. This poorness of

blubber was, to my mind, undoubtedly due to the difficulty the animal

must have had in obtaining food with his disabling defect of jaw.

Whatever it was, we were heartily glad to see the last of the beast,

fervently hoping we should never meet with another like him.

During the progress of these melancholy operations we had drifted a

considerable distance out of our course, no attention being paid, as

usual, to the direction of our drift until the greasy work was

done. Once the mess was cleared away, we hauled up again for our

objective--Futuna--which, as it was but a few hours' sail distant, we

hoped to make the next day.

CHAPTER XXIII. AT FUTUNA, RECRUITING

Sure enough, in accordance with our expectations, break of day revealed

the twin masses of Futuna ahead, some ten or fifteen miles away. With

the fine, steady breeze blowing, by breakfast-time we were off the

entrance to a pretty bight, where sail was shortened and the ship

hove-to. Captain Count did not intend to anchor, for reasons of his

own, he being assured that there was no need to do so. Nor was there.

Although the distance from the beach was considerable, we could see

numbers of canoes putting off, and soon they began to arrive. Now, some

of the South Sea Islands are famous for the elegance and seaworthiness

of their canoes; nearly all of them have a distinctly definite style