t
on board, sprang aloft to loose sails, the boats were called alongside,
and by the time they were hoisted up we were gliding rapidly through the
water. Though several of the canoes, hoisting their sails, got near us,
a few shot, which carried away the masts of two or three, made them give
up the pursuit, and in a few hours we had run the island out of sight.

We cruised in the neighbourhood of the group for two weeks or more in
search of the "Eagle," but at last despairing of falling in with her
continued on for the Japan whaling ground. Here being very successful,
we got a full ship, and, to the joy of all on board, steered homewards
by way of the Indian seas, calling, however, at several interesting
places to obtain fresh provisions and water.

The white cliffs of old England were seen at length, and home was
reached. Captain Bland, having made a successful voyage, declared that
he would never more tempt the ocean or expose his wife and daughter to
dangers such as those from which they had been so mercifully preserved.
The "Eagle" had not arrived, and nothing was heard of her for several
years, when a report reached me that she had sought shelter in one of
the harbours of the group, when part of the crew being on shore were set
upon and massacred, while those on board were overpowered and killed.
The ship then having been plundered was sunk with her cargo of oil, and
was thus found by another whaler the following year through information
given by one of the natives.

Thus ended the voyages of the two whalers, of which I have given of
necessity but a hurried sketch. I left the whaling service, and sooner
than I might have expected, obtained the command of a fine trader to
China and the Eastern seas, having the happiness of being accompanied by
my dear Mary, who had become my wife. My excellent friend Medley was
equally successful, and both of us having retired from the sea, have
settled near each other, and often spin to attentive young listeners the
preceding yarn, and many others descriptive of our nautical career,
though our boys and girls unanimously give the preference to the voyages
of the Two Whalers.

THE END.

End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Two Whalers, by W.H.G. Kingston

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