"THERE SHE BLOWS!"
"The way of it was this. The lookout in the cross-trees—we always keep a man up aloft to look out for whales when we're on cruising ground—the man had called out, 'There she blows!' and everybody was on his feet in an instant.
"'Where away?' shouted the first mate.
"'Two points on the weather bow.'
"And before the words had done echoing he called out 'There she blows' again, and a moment after again. That meant that he had seen two more whales.
"We put two boats into the water, the first mate's and mine, and away we went. We pulled our best, and the boats fairly bounced through the waves. It was a race to see who could strike the first whale; we had a good half mile to go, and we went like race-horses.
"Each boat has six men in her—a boat-steerer, as he is called, and five at the oars. The boat-steerer handles the harpoon and lance and directs the whole movement; in fact, for the time, he is captain of the boat.
