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 boats, waiting for the signal. I
found, to my surprise, that, although I was conscious of a much
more rapid heart-beat than usual, I was not half so scared as I
expected to be--that the excitement was rather pleasant than
otherwise. There were a few traces of funk about some of the
others still; but as for Abner, he was fairly transformed; I
hardly knew the man. He was one of Goliath's boat's crew, and
the big darkey was quite proud of him. His eyes sparkled, and he
chuckled and smiled constantly, as one who is conscious of having
done a grand stroke of business, not only for himself, but for
all hands. "Lower away boats!" came pealing down from the
skipper's lofty perch, succeeded instantly by the rattle of the
patent blocks as the falls flew through them, while the four
beautiful craft took the water with an almost simultaneous
splash. The ship-keepers had trimmed the yards to the wind and
hauled up the courses, so that simply putting the helm down
deadened our way, and allowed the boats to run clear without
danger of fouling one another.
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