tle' an apprentice whom Davy had stolen in
Sydney after he had served four years of his time to a boat-builder
named Green. This apprentice repaired the boat, which afterwards
proved to be the fastest out of forty-one boats that went out whaling
in Portland Bay every morning.

There were in 1837 eight parties of whalers in Portland Bay, and so
many whales were killed that the business from that year declined and
became unprofitable. Mills' party in the 'Thistle' schooner, of
which Davy was mate and navigator, or nurse to Mills, who was not a
trained seaman, had their station at Single Corner; Kelly's party was
stationed at the neck of land where the breakwater has been
constructed. Then there were Dutton's party, with the barque
'African'; Nicholson's, with the barque 'Cheviot', from Hobarton;
Chamberlain's, with the barque 'William the Fourth', of Hobarton; the
'Hope' barque, and a brig, both from Sydney. The Hentys also had a
whaling station at Double Corner, and by offering to supply their men
with fresh meat three times a week, obtained the pick of the whalers.
Their head men were Johnny Brennan, John Moles, and Jim Long,
natives of Sydney or Tasmania, and all three good whalers.

When the 'Thistle' arrived at Portland Bay every other party had got
nearly one hundred tuns of oil each, and Mills' party had none. He
started out next morning, choosing the boat which had picked up
McCann at Western Port, and killed one whale, which turned out six
tuns of oil. He did not get any more for three weeks, being very
unlucky. After getting the schooner ready for cutting in, Davy went
to steer the boat for Charles Mills, and always got in a mess among
the whales, being either capsized or stove in among so many boats.
At the end of three weeks Captain Mills got a whale off the second
river, halfway round towards Port Fairy. She was taken in tow with
the three boats, and after two days' towing, she was anchored within
half-a-mile of the schooner in Portland Bay, and the men went ashore.
During the night a gale of wind came on from the south-west, and the
whale, being a bit stale and high out of the water, drove ashore at
the Bluff, a little way past Henty's house.

In the morning Mills said he would go and see what he could get from
her on the beach, and ordered his brother, Charles Mills, and Coakley
to go out looking for whales. All the boats used to go out before
daylight, and dodge one another round the Bay for m