I had no leisure to take
any notice of them now, though, for whatever was on my line was
coming up hand-over-fist.
With a bound it reached the surface--the identical cow so long
attendant upon the dead whale. Having been so long below for
such a small whale, she was quite exhausted, and before she had
recovered we had got alongside of her and lanced her, so
thoroughly that she died without a struggle. The ship was so
close that we had her alongside in a wonderfully short time, and
with scarcely any trouble.
When I reached the deck, the skipper called me, and said several
things that made me feel about six inches taller. He was, as may
be thought, exceedingly pleased, saying that only once in his
long career had he seen a similar case; for I forgot to mention
that the line was entangled around the cow's down-hanging jaw, as
if she had actually tried to bite in two the rope that held her
consort, and only succeeded in sharing his fate. I would not
like to say that whales do not try to thus sever a line, but,
their teeth being several inches apart, conical, and fitting into
sockets in the upper jaw instead of meeting the opposed surfaces
of other teeth, the accomplishment of such a feat must, I think,
be impossible.
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