There were a great many more than fifteen whales there, and more were arriving every minute. In self-defense, Mr. Baker had lanced two of the nearest, and he could have reached two or three more from the boat. The whales seemed to have lost their wits, but were none the less dangerous on that account, they were so tightly packed. The small school which we had attacked had been, apparently, but an offshoot of a much larger school, all cows and calves. Their spouts covered the sea for some distance. No doubt they seemed more numerous than they were; but we found our boat gradually getting enclosed, and we backed out, after lancing two without putting an iron into either. So did Mr. Tilton and Mr. Macy, leaving Mr. Baker closely surrounded by crazy whales; probably only gallied and not knowing what to do. There was nothing for Mr. Baker to do but to do nothing, and he did it. His men took in their oars, and there they sat waiting for something to turn up, their boat not so very unlike one of the bodies that surrounded it. Presently Mr. Baker’s patience was rewarded. The poor little calf which he had struck turned on its side, fin out, and the whales scattered very soon, the whole school gradually resuming its orderly progress. {299} Just before we backed out of the mess, the whales of the main school had come so close to our boat that I had only to look over the side to see the small calves swimming close alongside their mothers, almost concealed from view. One of the calves I saw must have been born a very little time before, for its flukes were scarcely unfolded. I have no means of knowing how long it takes for that process, but the calf could not have been more than a few days old. The mother seemed very anxious and solicitous for its safety. I saw her turn partly on her side, and put her side fin over it, holding it close against her, as you would take a small child under your arm. She had it so when we backed away, and lost sight of the pair. The school left us in such semblance of order that we could not have struck again without risking a repetition of Mr. Baker’s experience; and we had about as many whales as we could take care of at one time. Each boat had got one or two. They were all small, none over thirty barrels, and some much smaller.