The whales were going, swimming slowly, probably because of the injuries to the cow, and to the reduced speed of the calf, owing to the loss of one fluke. The bull was at some distance, but he seemed to regulate his speed by that of the cow. We got back to the ship, one side of my face a mass of blood, and blood which had dripped into my shirt. I must have been a frightful-looking object. Such a hurt makes a great show, and always looks much worse than it is. I do not remember that I felt anything more than the inconvenience of it, and of having my head tied up for so long. Nobody thought it necessary to put anything on it—iodine or alcohol, or anything of the kind. I drew a bucket of sea-water, and washed most of the blood off, but that was all. We stood off at once after the whales. Fortunately, they did not swim directly to windward, and the ship was able {328} to make the course, and to keep up with them. They seemed to be making for some definite place, and at nightfall we were not far behind them. Even Mr. Baker appeared to think that the old man knew what he was about. We reduced sail for the night, although it could have been no better than a guess on Captain Nelson’s part how far he should reduce speed. With the first gleam of light—a little before six o’clock, or four bells, for we were not many degrees south of the equator—our best men were sent to the mastheads. Our best lookout was the Admiral, a Kanaka. There were no spouts to be seen. We had lost the whales. Sail was crowded on, and the Clearchus was soon making good speed under the steady trades, which had grown much stronger since the day before. We held on the course on which we had been sailing for nearly three hours. Then the Admiral’s quavering cry came down to us, for he was the first to see it. “Ah bl-o-o-ows!” It was a musical cry, but given with indifference. He had seen too many spouts to become excited over two and a half; for he had detected the little spout of the calf, close alongside its mother. There was no doubt that there was our quarry, although still miles away. We kept on after them, and continued to gain slowly, for another hour, the officers keeping an eye on the spouts, which we could now see from the deck, and occasionally glancing up at the Admiral. We had had breakfast, and I was doing the same thing as the officers, from my perch on the heel of the bowsprit. Suddenly I saw the Admiral straighten up. He looked far out ahead as if he could not believe his eyes. Then he gave an excited cry. “Bl-o-ws! Ah bl-o-ws!” It was not as musical as we were used to hear from the Admiral. “Blows! Big school! Hunnud whale! All over!” And he waved his arm to include a wide arc.