er--An
easy catch--Delights of the Solander--Port William--The
old CHANCE--"Paddy Gilroy"--Barbarians from the East
End--Barracouta-Fishing--Wind-bound--An enormous school of
cachalots--Misfortune--A bursting whale--Back on the Solander
again--Cutting-in at Port William--Studying anatomy--Badly battered
Yankees--Paddy in luck again.

CHAPTER XXVI--PADDY'S LATEST EXPLOIT We try Preservation Inlet--An
astounding feat of Paddy Gilroy's.

CHAPTER XXVII--PORT PEGASUS Port Pegasus--Among old
acquaintances--"Mutton birds"--Skilled auxiliaries--A gratifying
catch--Leave port again--Back to the Solander--A grim escape--Our last
whales--Into Port William again--Paddy's assistance--We part with our
Kanakas--Sam's plans of conquest.

CHAPTER XXVIII--TO THE BLUFF, AND HOME And last--In high-toned
company--Another picnic--Depart from the Bluff--Hey for the Horn!--Among
the icebergs--"Scudding"--Favouring trades--A narrow escape from
collision--Home at last.

INTRODUCTION

Without attempting the ambitious task of presenting a comprehensive
sketch of the origin, rise, and fall of whale-fishing as a whole, it
seems necessary to give a brief outline of that portion of the subject
bearing upon the theme of the present book before plunging into the
first chapter.

This preliminary is the more needed for the reason alluded to in
the Preface--the want of knowledge of the subject that is apparent
everywhere. The Greenland whale fishery has been so popularized that
most people know something about it; the sperm whale fishery still
awaits its Scoresby and a like train of imitators and borrowers.

Cachalots, or sperm whales, must have been captured on the coasts of
Europe in a desultory way from a very early date, by the incidental
allusions to the prime products spermaceti and ambergris which are found
in so many ancient writers, Shakespeare's reference--"The sovereign'st
thing on earth was parmaceti for an inward bruise"--will be familiar to
most people, as well as Milton's mention of the delicacies at Satan's
feast--"Grisamber steamed"--not to carry quotation any further.

But in the year 1690 the brave and hardy fishermen of the north-east
coasts of North America established that systematic pursuit of the
cachalot which has thriven so wonderfully ever since, although it must
be confessed that the last few years have witnessed a serious decline in
this great branch of trade.

For many years the American colonists comp