Hardly had the flurry ceased, when we hauled up alongside
of our hard-won prize, in order to secure a line to him in a
better manner than at present for hauling him to the ship. This
was effected by cutting a hole through the tough, gristly
substance of the flukes with the short "boat-spade," carried for
the purpose. The end of the line, cut off from the faithful
harpoon that had held it so long, was then passed through this
hole and made fast. This done, it was "Smoke-oh!" The luxury of
that rest and refreshment was something to be grateful for,
coming, as it did, in such complete contrast to our recent
violent exertions.
The ship was some three or four miles off to leeward, so we
reckoned she would take at least an hour and a half to work up to
us. Meanwhile, our part of the performance being over, and well
over, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, lazily rocking on the
gentle swell by the side of a catch worth at least L800. During
the conflict I had not noticed what now claimed attention--
several great masses of white, semi-transparent-looking substance
floating about, of huge size and irregular shape. But one of
these curious lumps came floating by as we lay, tugged at by
several fish, and I immediately asked the mate if he could tell
me what it was and where it came from.
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