ten pounds of tobacco to twenty, or fifteen dollars,
whichever the winner chose to have. Most of us whites regarded this
as quite out of the question for us, whose untrained vision was as the
naked eye to a telescope when pitted against the eagle-like sight of the
Portuguese. Nevertheless, we all did our little best, and I know, for
one, that when I descended from my lofty perch, after a two hours'
vigil, my eyes often ached and burned for an hour afterwards from the
intensity of my gaze across the shining waste of waters.

Judge, then, of the surprise of everybody, when one forenoon watch,
three days after we had lost sight of Trinidada, a most extraordinary
sound was heard from the fore crow's-nest. I was, at the time, up at the
main, in company with Louis, the mate's harpooner, and we stared across
to see whatever was the matter, The watchman was unfortunate Abner
Cushing, whose trivial offence had been so severely punished a short
time before, and he was gesticulating and howling like a madman. Up from
below came the deep growl of the skipper, "Foremast head, there, what
d'ye say?" "B-b-b-blow, s-s-sir," stammered Abner; "a big whale right in
the way of the sun, sir." "See anythin', Louey?" roared the skipper to
my companion, just as we had both "raised" the spout almost in the glare
cast by the sun. "Yessir," answered Louis; "but I kaint make him eout
yet, sir." "All right; keep yer eye on him, and lemme know sharp;" and
away he went aft for his glasses.

The course was slightly altered, so that we headed direct for the whale,
and in less than a minute afterwards we saw distinctly the great black
column of a sperm whale's head rise well above the sea, scattering a
circuit of foam before it, and emitting a bushy, tufted burst of vapour
into the clear air. "There she white-waters! Ah bl-o-o-o-o-o-w, blow,
blow!" sang Louis; and then, in another tone, "Sperm whale, sir; big,
'lone fish, headin' 'beout east-by-nothe." "All right. 'Way down
from aloft," answered the skipper, who was already half-way up the
main-rigging; and like squirrels we slipped out of our hoops and down
the backstays, passing the skipper like a flash as he toiled upwards,
bellowing orders as he went. Short as our journey down had been, when we
arrived on deck we found all ready for a start. But as the whale was
at least seven miles away, and we had a fair wind for him, there was no
hurry to lower, so we all stood at attention by our respective boa