All this was said seriously; and I have to say that I was not disturbed. I thought it a joke that the rich should regard as a luxury what we poor sailors discarded as worthless. And then I thought that, if the story had been told to me before I left my father’s roof, I should have been inclined to disbelieve it.
The cook continued:
“Now that we’ve got fresh stuff on board, let me tell you this. You know that the cabin gets the best, the steerage, where the under officers, boat-steerers and carpenter eat, next best, and the forecastle last. Nevertheless, you folks will get some of it, and I’ll do my best to make it taste right. Now let me tell you that in this warm weather the forecastle is no place to eat in, so I’ve asked Lakeum to let me serve the boys on deck, and he’s given his consent, and this will be done so long as the weather’s warm. After that back to the forecastle. You boys will sit on hatch and windlass, and I’ll serve the food in a new way. There’ll be two tubs, one of them called the meat kit, into which I’ll dump the boiled meat, and a second, without any name, into which I’ll dump the vegetables. Then every man will help himself. Coffee in the mornin’ and tea at night, I’ll serve in buckets. The fruit they let the boys have they can eat as they please, so long as it lasts.”
The adoption of this new method seemed to cheer the men up. One advantage was that we were disposed to converse more than we did in the gloomy forecastle, and pleasantries were indulged in. The good manners noticeable in the forecastle were not discarded on deck. Food may not have been partaken of according to the requirements of polite society, but each had due regard for the rights of others, and there was no sign of greediness.
I have said that I was not a great success at the masthead, and I repeat it. My vision may have been poor or I may not have had very good luck, but good fortune came in an unexpected way. A few days after leaving the island I stood in the hoop, looking out on a sea that was hardly moved by a ripple and on a sky that was clear of clouds. I think I have said that a whale will suddenly appear when for some time not a spout has been seen from the ship. The belief is that the whale must have sounded at a place a long way off and then made great speed under water. While I was scanning the horizon, suddenly my attention was attracted by a spout not more than two hundred yards away, and I shouted “B-l-o-w-s, b-l-o-w-s, b-l-o-w-s. There he breaches! There he white waters.” I saw just enough of the whale to convince me that he was a large one.
Silva’s boat was the first to take water, and that boat was the one which got him. When the whale was fast to the ship, Silva said, “I never see such a whale in my whalin’. He’s the biggest fellow I ever see; he’ll make a good deal over a hundred. When we struck him he didn’t seem to show no spunk. I never see a whale with such weak flukes. He didn’t make much more suds than a washwoman makes, and, when he sounded, it wa’n’t no more than a boy divin’. The line went out so slow that you’d think there was a child pullin’ at the other end, and we didn’t lose no more than eighty fathoms. And he ain’t no dry skin. His jaws is all perfect. He ain’t been fightin’ with no whale. There’s somethin’ the matter with the big fellow, but I don’t know as we’ll find out.”
I shouted “B-l-o-w-s, b-l-o-w-s, b-l-o-w-s. There he breaches!”
Turning to me, Silva said, “See here, young fellow, I guess you’ve got ahead of all the boys. Seems to me you’ll be sportin’ a gold watch when you get back to New Bedford.”
One may fancy how pleased and elated I was. The whale was the largest we had taken, and it was possible that we might take one larger, but not very probable. The blubber peeled off in splendid strips and appeared rich in oil. The general opinion was that the whale would yield at least a hundred barrels, and one man’s estimate was a hundred and twenty.