t their last gasp, was picked up;
they happily recovered, and were able to narrate what had happened. The
rest of the poor fellows must have perished, as none of the other boats
were ever afterwards heard of. Now, it's my opinion that something of
the sort I have described has happened to the ship which had got hold of
this whale; though what has become of her crew is more than I can tell."

"I trust that our fate may not be that of the unfortunate crew of the
_Essex_," said Walter.

"I trust not, lad," answered the mate; "I shall be sorry I told you the
story, if it affects your spirits. We shall do very well if we can get
provisions,--and four people are more easily fed than forty,--so don't
think about it. Here comes Nub with a bundle of wood, and we will see
if we can light a fire and cook some blubber; but I wish we had some
more delicate food for your dear young sister."

Nub, who had brought the axe, having chopped off several pieces of skin
from the fattest part of the whale's back, made a pile of the wood and
placed the dry skin on the top of it. The mate then produced his flint
and steel, and striking a light, set fire with a match to the bottom of
the pile.

"While de fire blazes up, I cut some nice pieces of blubber," said Nub;
and setting to work, he soon produced several lumps, which he stuck at
the end of some other sticks brought for the purpose. The oil which
oozed up out of the whale's back made the flames rapidly blaze up. Each
of the party then held the blubber--which sputtered and hissed more
vehemently than the fattest of bacon in a cook's frying-pan--to the
fire. The odour was certainly not pleasant, but Nub sniffed it up,
exclaiming, as he bit off a piece, "Oh, dis bery fine; it soon make us
quite strong and fat, and we go a week without eating anyting else."

Walter did not feel quite satisfied on that point; however, he managed
to get down a few mouthfuls. Having roasted a piece as nicely as he
could, he hurried down with it to Alice.

"If you think I ought to eat it, I will," she said; "but it does not
smell nice."

"I am afraid we are not likely to get anything else at present, and it's
our duty to try and keep up our strength. It will, I hope, have that
effect, though it may taste disagreeable at first."

Alice, who was really ravenously hungry, overcame her repugnance to the
unattractive food, and ate it up; taking at the same time, to help it
down, a small piece of biscu