If
--which I earnestly deprecate--the description hitherto given of
sperm whale-fishing and its adjuncts be found not so interesting
as could be wished, I cry you mercy. I have been induced to give
more space to it because it has been systematically avoided in
the works upon whale-fishing before mentioned, which, as I have
said, were not intended for popular reading. True, neither may
my humble tome become popular either; but, if it does not, no one
will be so disappointed as the author.
We had made but little progress during the week of oil
manufacture, very little attention being paid to the sails while
that work was about; but, as the south-east trades blew steadily,
we did not remain stationary altogether. So that the following
week saw us on the south side of the tropic of Capricorn, the
south-east trade done, and the dirty weather and variable
squalls, which nearly always precede the "westerlies," making our
lives a burden to us. Here, however, we were better off than in
an ordinary merchantman, where doldrums are enough to drive you
mad. The one object being to get along, it is incessant "pully-
hauly," setting and taking in sail, in order, on the one hand, to
lose no time, and, on the other, to lose no sails.
Pages:
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139