I think, however, that it must have been in the afternoon of the same day that Morton came to me, as I lay in the bottom of the boat, and aroused me, saying, in a hoarse and painful whisper, that there was a vessel in sight.-Page 73. gator. The cachelot rushed upon its foes alternately, and the one thus singled out invariably fled, until the other had an opportunity to come to its assistance; the sword-fish swimming around in a wide circle at the top of the water when pursued, and the other diving when chased in its turn. If the whale followed the sword-fish to the surface, it was sure to receive a stunning blow from its leaping enemy; if it pursued the latter below, the swordfish there attacked it fearlessly, and, as it appeared, successfully, forcing it quickly back to the top of the water. Presently the battle began to recede from us, the whale evidently making towards the school, which was at no great distance, and strange as the sight was, we watched it with but a languid interest, as soon as our safety appeared to be no longer involved. The whale must have been badly hurt, for the water which it threw up on coming to the surface and spouting, was tinged with blood. After this I saw no more of the sword-fish and his associate; they had probably abandoned the attack.* As nearly as I can recollect, we did not, either during the progress of the fight, or after it was over, exchange a single word on the subject, so dumb and apathetic had we become. After a while, the school of whales appeared to be moving This fish story has several rather astonishing features-at least to an inexperienced landsman. The sword-fish and thresher are said to seek and attack the right whale together; but my friend, Captain Tarbox, whom I have consulted on the subject, says he has never heard of their interfering with the cachelot, or sperm-whale, which would, he thinks, be very likely to make mince-meat of them both, should they be guilty of such temerity: the right whale uses no other weapon than his powerful tail; whereas the cachelot goes at an adversary with open jaws. Upon my inquiring whether threshers "of several tons' weight," and jumping "twenty feet into the air," were common, the captain seemed piqued at my implied scepticism as to marine monsters, and briefly made answer that there were more strange creatures in the sea than were dreamed of in my philosophy, and that "many an old sailor could give more real information on the subject than all the natural history books and bookish men in the world."-ED. |