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The harpooner threw his weapon with such strength, that it buried itself nearly to the stock in the blubber, and his crew, prepared for the event, backed water with their oars so simultaneously, as to put themselves out of danger; but one of the other boats was less fortunate. In the convulsive agony of the wound, the whale, which was a full-grown one, turning half round in a second before it dived, with a blow of its tail tossed the boat which was nearest, and the crew with their oars and tackle were set floating. The third boat instantly proceeded to their assistance, and thus the first, or "fast boat," as it is termed, was left without that support so necessary on the occasion. The steersman hoisted the signalflag, and the rowers raised one oar after another to indicate their want of more line; the whale had instantly dived, and the harpooner, though he had cast a coil or two of line round the bollard, to retard by its friction the motion of the animal, was apprehensive that all the line in the boat would be run out before a new line could be brought up; and unless he cast it off, to the great risk of losing the whale, he would also incur the danger of being dragged beneath the ice-field, towards which the animal was speeding with a velocity that, allowing the line to run out, dragged the boat through the water, which it ploughed into a furrow, rising on the gunwales on each side nearly high enough to fill it.

The moment the signal of the fast boat was seen from the deck of the Endeavour, the watch raised the cry of " a fall! a fall!" and the crews of the remaining boats, who were taking their rest, rushed on deck with their clothes in their hands, and scrambling in, were lowered down, thus unprepared to encounter the severity of a frost which sank the thermometer to seven degrees. The rowers were content to keep up their animal heat by their vigorous exertions to get up with the fast boat, exertions stimulated by the increasing urgency of the signals from it for help; but as there were three miles to row, and a good deal of bay ice which had formed in the flight retarded their progress, they were unsuccessful. The

harpooner in the first boat, seeing that his companions could not come up in time, and finding himself within a few yards of the field, which he had allowed the boat to approach thus closely in his anxiety not to lose the fish, was compelled to yield to circumstances; and having for the same reason cast additional coils of line round the bollard, which precluded the possibility of getting them off again in time, he seized the axe, and cut the rope on the gunwale just in time; for even then the impetus carried the boat against the ice with a shock that threw every one from their seats, and stove in the bows on the starboard side.

The crew scrambled out on to the ice, and, having secured their lances and other tools, succeeded in mooring the boat to the edge of the field, with her head raised high enough to prevent her from sinking, and then waited till the other boats could come to their relief. With that perfect indifference to danger which characterises persons accustomed to it, they employed themselves in killing with their lances a few seals which were reposing on the surface, and whose retreat to the water they intercepted.

THE DANGERS OF THE WHALE FISHERY.-PART II.

The boats which had hastened to their help, as soon as they saw what had happened—namely, that the whale had for a time got off, and that the boat was damaged, though the men were safe-thought it more advisable to leave them in their present situation for a short time, to proceed to aid in the capture of another whale, which had been struck by one of their companions in the remaining one of the two boats that first left the vessel. From the length of time that this boat had been engaged, and from the signals she had repeated for more line, it so happened that all four of the boats which were not disabled had hastened to the scene. Three had succeeded in harpooning the whale before the last came up ; and such had been the efforts of the fish to escape, and so

long had it resisted the effects of the wounds inflicted on it, that all three boats had their lines nearly run out, and one had a double set expended.

When the new aid came up, the whale had just risen for the last time, and, exhausted by its efforts, allowed the boats to draw upon their lines and come up close to it. They then attacked it with their lances, and despatched it in less than ten minutes.

The prize was instantly secured, by passing a rope through two holes cut in the tail with the knife made for that purpose, and the rope was then made fast to the bow of a boat. The lines were then cut loose and drawn in, with the exception of one, which could not be seen. This it would have been necessary to sweep for; but as that would have occupied two boats, and it was desirable that they should proceed to assist in completing the capture of the first whale, the line was abandoned for the time. Having, therefore, assisted in lashing the fins together across the belly of the fish (which always floats, when dead, with that part uppermost), the three boats left one to guard the prize till they could return to help to tow it towards the ship, and hastened to the field of ice on which their companions had taken refuge.

These persons no sooner saw that they were left to themselves, than they set about tracing, if possible, the course which their whale had taken. For this purpose they traversed the field in various directions to search for holes, to which they knew the whale must come up to breathe, if it did not emerge again from under the ice into the open water. But the ice was too thick and too uniform to admit of the animal breaking it by elevating its head for the purpose of obtaining air, and no fractures or apertures had yet been produced by other causes; they consequently knew that it must ere this have returned to the open water. When the party re-assembled for the purpose of proceeding back to the spot they had quitted, they became aware that, during their active exertions, a change of wind had taken place, accompanied with a thick

haze, which not only prevented their discerning such marks as might enable them to proceed in the right direction, but must inevitably drive the ship far from the ice-field, and probably prevent any boats from being able to come to relieve them.

Unprovided with any compass to guide them, and, indeed, not being very certain of their original bearing, their only resource was to remain together till the weather should clear, or till their vessel could regain her station, and send boats to the field to take them off. Their prospects were, at best, but miserable. They might have to remain without food, and unsheltered from the piercing wind, which increased in violence, for a day or two, and possibly might ultimately perish, if the field should drive too far before their situation could be ascertained. The increasing swell of the ocean, which they knew must be occasioned by the gale, would probably break up the ice on which they were stationed, in which case they might be crushed by the concussion of the masses as they were forced over each other, or precipitated into the fissures.

Every one saw and felt these dangers, but was too much accustomed to peril to think of talking about them. They simply contented themselves with keeping in constant motion to prevent the fatal effects of the intense cold. Each, therefore, ran in turns to as great a distance as prudence would allow, and then returned, hoping, by running in various directions, that they might catch some sound, or perceive some mark, which might accelerate their deliverance.

As soon as the gale arose, the boats which had left the captured fish to go to the ice-field, in the hope of securing the one first struck, and of bringing off their companions, perceiving that it would probably increase, and that, in any event, at their distance from the ice, they could not hope to reach it with a strong wind against them, pulled for the ship, which was just in sight on the horizon, and which they also knew must be carried far from her present position in a few hours; and in order to regain their prize, and to effect their principal

object, it was absolutely necessary that they should procure a compass to enable them to steer in the thick weather which had come on. Fortunately, however, the wind dropped, and the haze cleared sooner than was expected, and the crews of all the boats—including those on the ice-succeeded in getting safely on board.

THE SKYLARK.

HOGG, THE ETTRICK SHEPHERD.

Bird of the wilderness,

Blithesome and cumberless,

Light be thy matin o'er moorland and lea!
Emblem of happiness!

Bless'd is thy dwelling-place!

O, to abide in the desert with thee !

Wild is thy lay and loud,

Far in the downy cloud !
Love gives it energy, love gave it birth!
Where, on thy dewy wing,

Where art thou journeying?

Thy lay is in heaven, thy love is on earth.

O'er fell and fountain sheen,

O'er moor and mountain green,

O'er the red streamer that heralds the day,
Over the cloudlet dim,

Over the rainbow's rim,

Musical cherub, hie, hie thee away!

Then, when the gloaming comes,

Low in the heather blooms

Sweet will thy welcome and bed of love be!
Emblem of happiness!

Bless'd is thy dwelling-place!

O, to abide in the desert with thee !

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