第117章 PORT PEGASUS(2)

However, all went well; the usual gale did blow but not till we had got the last piece aboard and a good "slant" to run in, arriving at our previous moorings at midnight.In the morning the skipper went down in his boat to visit the stations, and see how they had fared.Old hand as he was, I think he was astonished to see what progress those fellows had made with the fish.They did not reach the stations till after midnight, but already they had the whales half flenched, and, by the way they were working, it looked as if they would be through with their task as soon as we were with ours.Their agreement with the skipper was to yield us half the oil they made, and, if agreeable to them, we would take their moiety at L40 per tun.Consequently they had something to work for, even though there were twenty of them to share the spoil.They were a merry party, eminently good tempered, and working as though one spirit animated them all.If there was a leader of the band, he did his office with great subtilty, for all seemed equal, nor did any appear to need directing what to do.Fired by their example, we all worked our hardest; but they beat us by half a day, mainly, I think, by dint of working nearly all the time with scarce any interval for sleep.True, they were bound to take advantage of low water when their huge prize was high and dry--to get at him easily all round.Their method was of the simplest.With gaff-hooks to haul back the pieces, and short-handled spades for cutting, they worked in pairs, taking off square slabs of blubber about a hundredweight each.As soon as a piece was cut off, the pair tackled on to it, dragging it up to the pots, where the cooks hastily sliced it for boiling, interspersing their labours with attention to the simmering cauldrons.

Their efforts realized twenty-four tuns of clear oil and spermaceti, of which, according to bargain, we took twelve, the captain buying the other twelve for L480, as previously arranged.

This latter portion, however, was his private venture, and not on ship's account, as he proposed selling it at the Bluff, when we should call there on our way home.So that we were still two whales short of our quantity.What a little space it did seem to fill up! Our patience was sorely tested, when, during a whole week following our last haul, we were unable to put to sea.In vain we tried all the old amusements of fishing, rambling, bathing, etc.; they had lost their "bite;" we wanted to get home.

At last the longed-for shift of wind came and set us free.We had hardly got well clear of the heads before we saw a school of cachalots away on the horizon, some twelve miles off the land to the southward.We made all possible sail in chase, but found, to our dismay, that they were "making a passage," going at such a rate that unless the wind freshened we could hardly hope to come up with them.Fortunately, we had all day before us, having quitted our moorings soon after daylight; and unless some unforeseen occurrence prevented us from keeping up our rate of speed, the chances were that some time before dark they would ease up and allow us to approach them.They were heading to the westward, perhaps somewhat to the northward withal, to all appearance making for the Solander.Hour after hour crawled by, while we still seemed to preserve our relative distance, until we had skirted the southern shore of the island and entered the area, of our old fishing ground.Two vessels were cruising thereon, well to the northward, and we thought with glee of the excitement that would seize them did they but gain an inkling of our chase.

To our great delight, what we had hoped, but hardly dared expect, came to pass.The school, as if with one impulse, hauled up on their course four points, which made them head direct for the western verge of the Solander ground, and--what was more important to us--made our coming up with them a matter of a short time.We made the customary signals with the upper sails to our friends to the northward, who recognized them immediately, and bore down towards us.Not only had the school shifted their course, but they had slackened speed; so that by four o'clock we were able to lower for them at less than a mile distance.

It was an ideal whaling day--smooth water, a brisk breeze, a brilliant sun, and plenty of whales.I was, as became my position, in the rear when we went into action, and hardly hoped for an opportunity of doing much but dance attendance upon my seniors.But fortune favoured me.Before I had any idea whether the chief was fast or not, all other considerations were driven clean out of my head by the unexpected apparition of a colossal head, not a ship's length away, coming straight for us, throwing up a swell in front of him like an ironclad.There was barely time to sheer to one side, when the giant surged past us in a roar of foaming sea, the flying flakes of which went right over us.Samuela was "all there," though, and as the great beast passed he plunged a harpoon into him with such force and vigour that the very socket entered the blubber it needed all the strength I could muster, even with such an aid as the nineteen-feet steer-oar, to swing the boat right round in his wake, and prevent her being capsized by his headlong rush.