Huge ridges formed about his neck and rolled backward till they were lost beneath the waters. A certain uneasiness now marked his movements.
He rolled from side to side, opening and shutting his jaws with a snap that sounded like the bang of two great oaken doors.
The dainty quarter quintal of ipecacuanha was manifestly beginning to distress him.
His rocking and rolling motion increased in violence.
At one moment his huge body turned upon its side, bent itself until head and tail met; at another it arched itself in the air until its black back spanned the waters like a bow.
I now felt that it was time to act.
“Stand by the starboard launch!” I called out to my men. “Avast that blubbering! All ready?”
“Ay! ay!” came back from the gang.
“Lower away, then!”
I was not a whit too quick with my orders.