They went away
gaily along the land, not attempting to get seaward, we straining
every nerve to get alongside of them. Whether they were
tantalizing us or not, I cannot say, but certainly it looked like
it. In spite of their well-known speed, we were several times so
close in their wake that the harpooners loosed the tacks of the
jibs to get a clear shot; but as they did so the nimble monsters
shot ahead a length or two, leaving us just out of reach. It was
a fine chase while it lasted, though annoying; yet one could
hardly help feeling amused at the way they wallowed along--just
like a school of exaggerated porpoises. At last, after nearly
two hours of the fun, they seemed to have had enough of it, and
with one accord headed seaward at a greatly accelerated pace, as
who should say, "Well, s' long, boys; company's very pleasant and
all that, but we've got important business over at Fiji, and
can't stay fooling around here any longer." In a quarter of an
hour they were out of sight, leaving us disgusted and outclassed
pursuers sneaking back again to shelter, feeling very small. Not
that we could have had much hope of success under the
circumstances, knowing the peculiar habits of the humpback and
the almost impossibility of competing with him in the open sea;
but they had lured us on to forget all these things in the ardour
of the chase, and then exposed our folly.
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