indeed, no gentleman's yacht or
man-of-war is kept more spotlessly clean than was the CACHALOT.

A regular and severe routine of labour was kept up; and, what was most
galling to me, instead of a regular four hours' watch on and off, night
and day, all hands were kept on deck the whole day long, doing quite
unnecessary tasks, apparently with the object of preventing too much
leisure and consequent brooding over their unhappy lot. One result of
this continual drive and tear was that all these landsmen became rapidly
imbued with the virtues of cleanliness, which was extended to the den in
which we lived, or I verily believe sickness would have soon thinned us
out.

On the fourth day after leaving port we were all busy as usual except
the four men in the "crow's-nests," when a sudden cry of "Porps! porps!"
brought everything to a standstill. A large school of porpoises had just
joined us, in their usual clownish fashion, rolling and tumbling around
the bows as the old barky wallowed along, surrounded by a wide ellipse
of snowy foam. All work was instantly suspended, and active preparations
made for securing a few of these frolicsome fellows. A "block," or
pulley, was hung out at the bowsprit end, a whale-line passed through
it and "bent" (fastened) on to a harpoon. Another line with a running
"bowline," or slip-noose, was also passed out to the bowsprit end, being
held there by one man in readiness. Then one of the harpooners ran out
along the backropes, which keep the jib-boom down, taking his stand
beneath the bowsprit with the harpoon ready. Presently he raised his
iron and followed the track of a rising porpoise with its point until
the creature broke water. At the same instant the weapon left his grasp,
apparently without any force behind it; but we on deck, holding the
line, soon found that our excited hauling lifted a big vibrating body
clean out of the smother beneath. "'Vast hauling!" shouted the mate,
while as the porpoise hung dangling, the harpooner slipped the ready
bowline over his body, gently closing its grip round the "small" by the
broad tail. Then we hauled on the noose-line, slacking away the harpoon,
and in a minute had our prize on deck. He was dragged away at once and
the operation repeated. Again and again we hauled them in, until the
fore part of the deck was alive with the kicking, writhing sea-pigs, at
least twenty of them. I had seen an occasional porpoise caught at
sea before, but never more t