whale was attacked. After sounding twice and carrying out,
apparently, three, if not four lines, we saw it suddenly come to the
surface and leap completely out of the water. This is called breaching.
It then began rolling round and round, endeavouring in its agony to get
rid of the weapon sticking in it. The boats for some time kept at a
distance. Then once more they approached, again to pull off as the
whale commenced lashing the water with its huge flukes.

"It's in its flurry," observed the doctor, who was looking through his
telescope, which he handed to me.

At last we saw the three boats approaching, towing the whale by the
nose. The wind having fallen, and having a whale alongside, we were
unable to near them to save them their long pull. On they came, towing
the monster at the rate of a mile and a half an hour. It was thus
upwards of that period of time before they got alongside.

The first man handed up was Miles Soper--or Robinson Crusoe, as we
called him--whose leg had been broken by the second whale attack. He
had willingly endured the suffering, lying at the bottom of the boat,
rather than give up the chase. No one else had been injured, though all
had run a great risk of being drowned; but a whaler's crew know that
such may be their fate at any moment. The doctor at once took the man
under his charge. No time was lost in hooking on the other whale, and
commencing the operation of "cutting-in." This I may briefly describe
as taking off the blubber with large spades, the handles of which are
twenty feet long. The whale is turned round and round by means of
tackles brought to the windlass, the blanket-piece, or blubber covering,
being thus gradually stripped off till it reaches the tail, which is
hove on board with the last piece. The blubber is lowered down the main
hatchway and cut up into small pieces, called "horse pieces." These are
afterwards piled up on deck to be minced into thin slices for boiling in
the pots. The operation of "cutting-in" is a very dangerous one when
there is any sea on to make the ship roll. The first and second mates
stand on stages lowered over the side, cutting the blubber from the
whale as the crew heave it round with the windlass. The four
boat-steerers are on the gang-ways attending to the guys and tackles,
the captain superintending the whole process, while the carpenter grinds
the spades.

All round the sea swarms with sharks attracted by the oil and bl