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