However, all went well; the usual gale did blow but not till we
had got the last piece aboard and a good "slant" to run in,
arriving at our previous moorings at midnight. In the morning
the skipper went down in his boat to visit the stations, and see
how they had fared. Old hand as he was, I think he was
astonished to see what progress those fellows had made with the
fish. They did not reach the stations till after midnight, but
already they had the whales half flenched, and, by the way they
were working, it looked as if they would be through with their
task as soon as we were with ours. Their agreement with the
skipper was to yield us half the oil they made, and, if agreeable
to them, we would take their moiety at L40 per tun. Consequently
they had something to work for, even though there were twenty of
them to share the spoil. They were a merry party, eminently good
tempered, and working as though one spirit animated them all. If
there was a leader of the band, he did his office with great
subtilty, for all seemed equal, nor did any appear to need
directing what to do. Fired by their example, we all worked our
hardest; but they beat us by half a day, mainly, I think, by dint
of working nearly all the time with scarce any interval for
sleep.
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