Page:Life with the Esquimaux - 1864 - Volume 1.djvu/39

18 About a week after our departure, the cry was raised, "There she blows! there she blows!" and, hurrying on deck, I for the first time saw at a distance the blowing of whales. What this "blowing" was like may be described by asking if the reader has ever seen the smoke produced by the firing of an old-fashioned flint lock? If so, then he may understand the appearance of the blow of a whale—a flash in the pan, and all is over. I watched with eager interest this school of "fin-backs," numbering some twenty-five or thirty whales—a rare sight to see so many together. But they are not generally attacked, as they are difficult to capture, and yield but little oil.

A day or two after this, a cry of "Porpoises!" brought all hands on deck; and here a circumstance occurred, which, though trivial in itself, well serves to illustrate the unartificial character of one of the ship's company, the William Sterry previously mentioned. It is related in my journal as follows:—

"Directly the porpoises were seen, Sterry, who has a genial heart and strong arm, took his position by the martingale, or, as a Dane would call it, 'Dolphin Striker,' which is under the bowsprit. Harpoon in hand, there stood Sterry, prepared for a whale or aught else, ready for his blow. Now Sterry was Sterry—Sterry the cooper—Sterry the ship's carpenter—Sterry the ship's blacksmith—Sterry the millwright—Sterry the genius—the immortal Sterry, who could eat more pork and beans, and drink more whiskey out of a two-quart pantry pitcher, without distinguishing its smell and taste from that of pure cold water, than any other gentleman hailing from his native place of Groton. There indeed was Sterry, seemingly hanging between the heavens and the sea, his feet dangling on a tow line, and his hands grasping the martingale back-rope. While I stood watching him, his eyes appeared to roll in fire as they pierced the blue deep, especially so when he struck his head against the 'bobstay-chains' in turning to look for the contrast between the porpoises beneath him and the jibboom above. And here I may add that Sterry was a great philosopher on 'contrasts,' pros and cons; positives and negatives