rom halfway up the lee fore-rigging--

"Luff! luff hard! down with your helm, or you'll be into it!"

"Into what?" shouted I, springing to my feet and running forward.

"I don't know, sir, what it is, but it is something floating. Here you
are, sir; it is just coming abreast of us now."

As the ship shot up into the wind, with all her canvas flapping and
rustling, I sprang upon the lee rail, and saw a mass of dirty
greyish-white substance, mottled and streaked like marble, floating
slowly past at a distance of some half a dozen yards from the ship's
side. Of course everybody else on deck must needs, in the excitement of
the moment, rush to the lee rail, to gaze upon the cause of the sudden
alarm; and, among them, the boatswain, an old whaler, who no sooner set
eyes on the object than he exclaimed--

"Why, sir, that's a lump of ambergrease, worth more'n a hundred pound,
I'll be bound. That's worth pickin' up, that is!"

I had never before seen a piece of ambergris, but had, of course, often
heard of it, and knew it to be valuable; I accordingly ordered the
mainyard to be laid aback, and sent the boatswain away with a crew in
the gig to pick up the piece of "flotsam." In about a quarter of an
hour they returned to the ship with their prize, which proved to be a
large lump--much larger than it had appeared to be when floating past--
of hard, fatty matter, of a light, dirty grey colour, veined and mottled
somewhat like marble, and giving off a peculiar sweet, earthy odour.
Its weight seemed to be, as nearly as we could estimate it, about one
hundred and fifty pounds; and the boatswain--who claimed to be an
authority--confidently asserted that I should have no difficulty in
getting a sovereign per pound for it at Hong Kong. Ambergris--I may as
well mention, for the information of those who do not know--is said to
be a secretion formed in the intestines of the sperm whale, as a result
of disease. It is greatly in demand in the East generally, for a
variety of purposes--medicinal, among others--but its chief use seems to
be in the manufacture of perfumes. It is not often found, and, the
supply being very limited, it commands a high price in the market.
Strangely enough, we fell in with and secured a second and still larger
piece a few days later; the total quantity amounting to no less than
three hundred and twenty-seven pounds, which I afterwards disposed of
without difficulty at twenty-five shillings per pound, r