After supper I went on deck again, and saw Peter standing at the starboard rail. I joined him, and we looked over at the whale lying there. The cutting-in had been suspended for the night. It was dark, and I could not see the carcass, but I saw in the water lambent streams of phosphorescence moving slowly and lazily to and fro; little streaks of bubbles which glowed for a brief second or two, and then were gone. Now and then there was a burst of the tiny glowing bubbles, as a fin moved powerfully. The streaks of uncanny, lambent light seemed to interlace, but they all ended at the carcass of the whale and outlined it, leaving it in black darkness. “See, Peter!” I said. “What a lot of sharks! How many there must be in the ocean!” This whale was smaller than would have been thought from his actions, and it had been possible to get the whole case on deck. It had been reposing behind Peter and me while we discussed the matter of sharks. It was emptied the next morning, after the blubber was all in and the carcass cut adrift. Bailing the case furnished sport for many of the crew. It was not necessary to use the case-bucket, but every kind of a receptacle was used, scoops and tin pails and old tin cans being in especial favor. When the case was half empty, a man got inside. He looked perfectly contented and happy, standing in the sloppy, slushy stuff up to his waist, ladling it out with a scoop, and he seemed to revel in the bath of oil and spermaceti. His getting in raised the level of the stuff, so that tin pails and tin cans once more came into easy use. I had never seen oil flowing so freely, slopping and spilling over everything. {155} When the trying-out was over, we found that we had made just over forty-seven barrels from that whale; pretty near the average, taking them as they come. The average is always called “five and forty.” {156} CHAPTER XVI Nothing of note happened for very nearly a month. We had the usual variations of weather, good and bad, but mostly good, and no gales. We had no luck, however. Few whales were raised, and those that we did see were shy and wild, and we got none of them. It was December before we got another.