After remaining on this ground a sufficient length of time to assure ourselves of the improbability of picking up the wounded whale, we proceeded to the northward, hoping to be more successful off the capes Chatham and Leuwin. Our passage up was unmarked with incident, except the capture of a large shark, and the picking up of a dead grampus of the variety known as the bottle-nose. The shark’s capture is worthy of mention merely for the method we adopted to kill him. He was struck and hauled in, and beat over the head with a heavy handspike. The forge being up, and a good fire burning in it, a bar of iron was heated, and run directly through his heart, with but little apparent effect; for he still continued to lash his flukes, and set his jaws upon a piece of pine board, to which he held fast. His head was then cut off, and his skin removed; yet every member of his body still retained the power of motion. The grampus is a most beautiful fish--the handsomest in form of the many inhabitants of the deep that it has been my fortune to see. On account of their shyness, there is great difficulty in approaching these fish when alive, and consequently very few are taken: even in the whaling career, seldom does a seaman have an opportunity of examining one on deck. The one in our possession was about twenty-five feet long, and as much around the bilge. His skin was smooth, of a shining black color. His head gradually sloped, until it ended in a long pointed jaw, resembling that of the porpoise, but which, unlike that of most other fish in these waters, was not furnished with teeth. No mark, accounting for his death, was found upon the body: doubtless, he died from some disease peculiar to the species. The blubber was several inches thick, which on being tried out yielded three barrels of colorless, inodorous oil. We remained off Cape Leuwin but a short time. Seeing a large lone sperm whale, we lowered away for him, in company with the boats of the barque Pamelia; but we did not succeed in capturing him. We then, accompanied by said barque, again steered for our old ground to the southward.