`Why father, here we are at the landing-place!' exclaimed Jack.
`It has seemed quite easy to pull since you began to tell us such interesting things.'
`Very interesting, indeed; but did you notice that the wind had changed, Jack?' remarked Ernest as he shipped his oar.
The animated recital of our adventures, the sight of the lovely shells and corals, and the proposed work for the afternoon, inspired my wife and Franz with a great wish to accompany us.
To this I gladly consented, only stipulating that we should go provided with food, water and a compass. `For,' said I, `the sea has only just ceased from its raging, and being at the best of times of uncertain and capricious nature, we may chance to be detained on the island, or forced to land at a considerable distance from home.'
Dinner was quickly dispatched, and preparations set on foot. The more oil we could obtain the better, for a great deal was used in the large lantern which burnt day and night in the recesses of the cave; therefore all available casks and barrels were pressed into the service; many, of course, once full of pickled herrings, potted pigeons and other winter stores, were now empty, and we took a goodly fleet of these in tow.
Knives, hatchets, and the boys' climbing buskins, were put on board, and we set forth, the labour of the oar being greater than ever, now that our freight was so much increased.
The sea being calm, and the tide suiting better, we found it easy to land close to the whale; my first care was to place the boat, as well as the casks, in perfect security, after which we proceeded to a close inspection of our prize.
Its enormous size quite startled my wife and little boy; the length being from sixty to sixty-five feet, and the girth between thirty and forty, while the weight could not have been less than 50,000 lbs.
The color was a uniform velvety black, and the enormous head about one-third of the length of the entire hulk, the eyes quite small, not much larger than those of an ox, and the ears almost undiscernable.