"We mustn't show ourselves too soon, Howick," he said.
"Certainly not," replied Howick, "I am going to skirt the edge of the discoloured water, and I shall take good care to get well to leeward."
"All right," the captain answered, and turning to the crew said, "now, my lads, as quietly as you can."
Muffling5 the sound of their oars6 by placing straw in the rowlocks, and avoiding the least unnecessary noise, the men skilfully8 propelled the boat along the outline of the water tinged10 by the crustacea, so that while the starboard oars still dipped in the green and limpid11 sea, the larboard were in the deep-dyed waves, and seemed as though they were dripping with blood.
"Wine on this side, water on that," said one of the sailors jocosely12.
"But neither of them fit to drink," rejoined the captain sharply, "so just hold your tongue!"
Under Howick's guidance the boat now glided13 stealthily
[Illustration: The whale seemed utterly14 unconscious of the attack that was threatening it]
on to the greasy15 surface of the reddened waters, where she appeared to float as on a pool of oil. The whale seemed utterly unconscious of the attack that was threatening it, and allowed the boat to come nearer without exhibiting any sign of alarm.
The wide circuit which the captain had thought it advisable to take had the effect of considerably16 increasing the distance between his boat and the "Pilgrim," whilst the strange rapidity with which objects at sea become diminished in apparent magnitude, as if viewed through the wrong end of a telescope, made the ship look farther away than she actually was.
Another half-hour elapsed, and at the end of it the captain found himself so exactly to leeward that the huge body of the whale was precisely17 intermediate between his boat and the "Pilgrim." A closer approach must now be made; every precaution must be used; but the time had come to get sufficiently18 near for the harpoon19 to be discharged.
"Slowly, my men," said the captain, in a low voice; "slowly and softly!"
Howick muttered something that implied that the whale had ceased blowing so hard, and that it was aware of their approach; the captain, upon this, enjoined20 the most perfect silence, but urged his crew onwards, until, in five or six minutes, they were within a cable's length of the finback. Erect22 at the stern the boatswain stood, and manoeuvred to get the boat as close as possible to the whale's left flank, while he made it an object of special care to keep beyond the reach of its formidable tail, one stroke of which could involve them all in instantaneous disaster.
The manipulation of the boat thus left to the boatswain, the captain made ready for the arduous23 effort that was before him. At the extreme bow, harpoon in hand, with his legs somewhat astride so as to insure his equilibrium24, he stood prepared to plunge25 his weapon into the mass that rose above the surface of the sea. By his side, coiled in a pail, and with one end firmly attached to the harpoon, was the first of the five lines which if the whale should dive to a considerable depth, would have to be joined end to end, one after another .
"Are you ready, my lads?" said he, hardly above a whisper.
"Ay, ay, sir," replied Howick, speaking as gently as his master, and giving a firmer grip to the rudder-oar7 that he held in his hands.
"Then, alongside at once," was the captain's order, which was promptly26 obeyed, so that in a few minutes the boat was only about ten feet from the body of the whale. The animal did not move. Was it asleep? In that case there was hope that the very first stroke might be fatal. But it was hardly likely. Captain Hull felt only too sure that there was some different cause to be assigned for its remaining so still and stationary27; and the rapid glances of the boatswain showed that he entertained the same suspicion. But it was no time for speculation28; the moment for action had arrived, and no attempt was made on either hand to exchange ideas upon the subject.
Captain Hull seized his weapon tightly by the shaft29, and having poised30 it several times in the air, in order to make more sure of his aim, he gathered all his strength and hurled31 it against the side of the finback.
"Backwater!" he shouted.
The sailors pushed back with all their might, and the boat in an instant was beyond the range of the creature's tail.
And now the immoveableness of the animal was at once accounted for.
"See; there's a youngster!" exclaimed Howick.
And he was not mistaken. Startled by the blow of the harpoon the monster had heeled over on to its side, and the movement revealed a young whale which the mother had been disturbed in the act of suckling. It was a discovery which made Captain Hull aware that the capture of the whale would be attended with double difficulty; he knew; that she would defend "her little one" (if such a term can be applied32 to a creature that was at least twenty feet long) with the most determined33 fury; yet having made what he considered a successful commencement of the attack, he would not be daunted34, nor deterred35 from his endeavour to secure so fine a prize.
The whale did not, as sometimes happens, make a precipitate36 dash upon the boat, a proceeding37 which necessitates38 the instant cutting of the harpoon-line, and an immediate39 retreat, but it took the far more usual course of diving downwards40 almost perpendicularly41. It was followed by its calf42; very soon, however, after rising once again to the surface with a sudden bound, it began swimming along under water with great rapidity.
Before its first plunge Captain Hull and Howick had sufficient opportunity to observe that it was an unusually large balaenoptera, measuring at least eighty feet from head to tail, its colour being of a yellowish-brown, dappled with numerous spots of a darker shade.
The pursuit, or what may be more aptly termed "the towing," of the whale had now fairly commenced. The sailors had shipped their oars, and the whale-boat darted43 like an arrow along the surface of the waves. In spite of the oscillation, which was very violent, Howick succeeded in maintaining equilibrium, and did not need the repeated injunctions with which the agitated44 captain urged his boatswain to be upon his guard.
But fast as the boat flew along, she could not keep pace with the whale, and so rapidly did the line run out that except proper care had been taken to keep the bucket in which it was coiled filled with water, the friction45 against the edge of the boat would inevitably46 have caused it to take fire. The whale gave no indication of moderating its speed, so that the first line was soon exhausted47, and the second had to be attached to its end, only to be run out with like rapidity. In a few minutes more it was necessary to join on the third line; it was evident that the whale had not been hit in a vital part, and so far from rising to the surface, the oblique48 direction of the rope indicated that the creature was seeking yet greater depths.
"Confound it!" exclaimed the captain; "it seems as if the
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