It was Christmas Island, where the
indefatigable Captain Cook landed on December 24, 1777, for the
purpose of making accurate observations of an eclipse of the sun.
He it was who gave to this lonely atoll the name it has ever
since borne, with characteristic modesty giving his own great
name to a tiny patch of coral which almost blocks the entrance to
the central lagoon. Here we lay "off and on" for a couple of
days, while foraging parties went ashore, returning at intervals
with abundance of turtle and sea-fowls' eggs. But any detailed
account of their proceedings must be ruthlessly curtailed, owing
to the scanty limits of space remaining.
*
CHAPTER XIX
EDGING SOUTHWARD
The line whaling grounds embrace an exceedingly extensive area,
over the whole of which sperm whales may be found, generally of
medium size. No means of estimating the probable plenty or
scarcity of them in any given part of the grounds exist, so that
falling in with them is purely a matter of coincidence. To me it
seems a conclusive proof of the enormous numbers of sperm whales
frequenting certain large breadths of ocean, that they should be
so often fallen in with, remembering what a little spot is
represented by a day's cruise, and that the signs which denote
almost infallibly the vicinity of right whales are entirely
absent in the case of the cachalot.
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