rthward, continually crashing against one
another. They could be counted by hundreds; but the bay is very broad,
and the brig avoided them without difficulty. The sight of these
floating masses, which seemed to be racing together, was indeed
magnificent.

The doctor was wild with enthusiasm about it, when Simpson, the
harpooner, came up to him and asked him to notice the changing tints
of the sea, which varied from deep blue to olive green; long bands ran
from north to south with edges so sharply cut that the line of
division could be seen as far as the horizon. Sometimes a transparent
sheet would stretch out from an opaque one.

"Well, Dr. Clawbonny, what do you think of that?" said Simpson.

"I agree, my friend, with what Scoresby said about these differently
colored waters," answered the doctor, "namely, that the blue water
does not contain the millions of animalcules and medusae which the
green water contains; he made a great many experiments to test it, and
I am ready to agree with him."

"O, but there's something else it shows!"

"What is that?"

"Well, if the _Forward_ were only a whaler, I believe we should have
some sport."

"But," answered the doctor, "I don't see any whales."

"We shall very soon, though, I promise you. It's great luck for a
whaler to see those green patches in these latitudes."

"Why so?" asked the doctor, whose curiosity was aroused by these
remarks of a man who had had experience in what he was talking about.

"Because," answered Simpson, "it is in that green water that most of
the whales are caught."

"What is the reason, Simpson?"

"Because they get more food there."

"You are sure of that?"

"O, I have seen it a hundred times in Baffin's Bay! I don't see why
the same shouldn't be the case in Melville Bay."

"You must be right, Simpson."

"And see," Simpson continued as he leaned over the rail,--"see there,
Doctor."

"One would say it was the track of a ship."

"Well," said Simpson, "it's an oily substance that the whale leaves
behind it. Really, the whale itself can't be far off."

In fact, the atmosphere was filled with a strong fishy smell. The
doctor began to examine the surface of the sea, and the harpooner's
prediction was soon verified. Foker was heard shouting from aloft,--

"A whale to leeward!"

All turned their eyes in that direction; a low spout was seen rising
from the sea about a mile from the brig.

"There she spouts!" shouted Simpson, whose e