harangue, he started into an erect
attitude, and placed himself on the highest part of the _Catamaran's_
deck,--his eyes no longer bent upon the whale, but, with greedy glances,
sweeping the sea around it.

The object of this renewed reconnoissance may be understood from the
words to which he had given utterance,--the hope expressed at the
termination of his speech. The whale must have been killed, as he had
said. He was looking for the _whaler_.

For full ten minutes he continued his optical search over the sea,--
until not a fathom of the surface had escaped his scrutiny.

At first his glances had expressed almost a confident hope; and,
observing them, the others became excited to a high degree of joy.

Gradually, however, the old shadow returned over the sailor's
countenance, and was instantly transferred to the faces of his
companions.

The sea,--as far as his eye could command a view of it,--showed neither
sail, nor any other object. Its shining surface was absolutely without
a speck.

With a disappointed air, the captain of the _Catamaran_ descended from
his post of observation; and once more turned his attention to the dead
_cachalot_ from which they were now separated by less than a hundred
fathoms,--a distance that was constantly decreasing, as the raft, under
sail, continued to drift nearer.

The body of the whale did not appear anything like as large as when
first seen. The mist was no longer producing its magnifying effect upon
the vision of our adventurers; but although the carcass of the
_cachalot_ could no more have been mistaken for an island, still was it
an object of enormous dimensions; and might easily have passed for a
great black rock standing several fathoms above the surface of the sea.
It was over twenty yards in length; and, seen sideways from the raft, of
course appeared much longer.

In five minutes after, they were close up to the dead whale; and, the
sail being lowered, the raft was brought to. Ben threw a rope around
one of the pectoral fins; and, after making it fast, the _Catamaran_ lay
moored alongside the _cachalot_, like some diminutive tender attached to
a huge ship of war! There were several reasons why Ben Brace should
mount up to the summit of that mountain of whalebone and blubber; and,
as soon as the raft had been safely secured, he essayed the ascent.

It was not such a trifling feat,--this climbing upon the carcass of the
dead whale. Nor was it to be done wit