Several of the barques on the ground were built in Hobartown, from the Hobartown model; they had long heads on them, but their sterns, and run aft, were of a fashion of fifty years since, and, although so recently built, our old barkey would sail away from them as fast as they could come on. From this time, until the middle of May, we remained in the same locality, experiencing a succession of tremendous gales, from the north-east and south-west, attended by heavy squalls that made the old ship ring again. In the interval between their recurrence, we saw sperm whales two or three times; on one occasion getting to them just in time to see the barque Runimede’s boats lying by the side of a dead whale. On another, we lowered away and arrived at the scene of operation in season to see the Sapphire’s boats capture four. Our mate fastened to a whale some distance from any of her boats, but it proved to be one that was already wounded by them; so nothing was left for us but to cut our line. The irons that our boatsteerer hove into the whale were recovered when they cut him in. With these irons they fastened to, and saved, no less than four large whales--a fifth they struck, but he sounded and carried off all their line. The irons were of the variety known as the “toggel,” and are an American improvement: the captain of the Sapphire was so thoroughly impressed with their value that he repeatedly solicited our captain for more of them. Another improvement that the American whaleman possesses, is the iron rowlock, in which the oar works with little or no difficulty. Other nations use the primitive thole-pin, consisting of pins of hard wood inserted in holes bored in the boat’s gunwale--the least crabbing of the oar being destruction to them. These colonial gentlemen are fair whalemen, but do not possess the energetic, go-ahead spirit of their American cotemporaries. They work very carefully, and seldom expose their boats or themselves to much danger; for instance, they never sail on to whales, always taking the mast down when arriving in their vicinity. I remember hearing the captain of the ship Pacific remark that he had been whaling, man and boy, for thirty-five years, during which time he had never sailed on to a whale, and never had the boat stove in which he was. On the contrary, the Yankee whaleman, with or without sail, danger or no danger, is bound to strike the whale, if possible, and for this reason they are preferred, even in Hobartown, “because,” to use their own expression, “they will risk more to capture whales.” Several of the captains and officers of these ships were Americans; and great inducements are held out by Hobartown owners in the whaling trade, to induce Americans to embark in their employ.