We got none of those whales. We took every precaution to avoid scaring them, even to the prohibition of talking as we ran down under sail. There was plenty of sea to drown any noise that we might have made, but we were a silent company. In spite of all our care, however, we could not get nearer than a quarter of a mile. At about that distance the nearest rounded out flukes, and went under; and the others followed slowly and solemnly, without fuss, merely going under the surface and swimming. We rounded to, not knowing whether they had gone deep, or where they might come up again; but there they were, almost immediately, spouting lazily, half a mile away, {338} basking on the surface, and keeping exact run of the boats. We kept up that game of hide-and-seek all the afternoon. We could not get near them, whatever we did, although they did not run away. Toward sunset we pulled back to the ship, rather crestfallen, and left that pod of seventy-barrel whales to go to bed in peace or to indulge in dissipation, as they pleased. There were enough whales there to fill us up entirely and one or two over. Five or six such whales would have filled us up, and more. We finished our trying-out without seeing any more whales, but before the cleaning-up was more than begun, we raised a lone spout. We lowered three boats for him, but mine was not among them, and I watched the proceedings through my glass. They caught up with him about a mile from the ship. Perhaps it is more exact to say that he caught them there, for he attacked the first boat as soon as he got a sight of it, driving at it at once with his mouth open. It was Mr. Baker’s boat, and Starbuck had no chance to do anything, for the whale went a little under, a short distance from the boat, came up under it, belly up, and like lightning, and caught it fairly forward of amidships. He came up so hard that he carried it into the air, bow first, and the men all fell out. Then he gave it a little shake, as a terrier shakes a rat, but he did not close hard, although he sprung all the planks. The boat then slipped out of his jaws and into the water, where it lay for a few moments, leaking like a sieve. The whale nosed about among the debris, butting the boat from side to side, cutting with his flukes at every floating thing that touched them, mast, sail, oars, tubs, and water-kegs. Mr. Tilton came up while he was so engaged, and Azevedo put two irons into him; whereupon he turned upon Mr. Tilton’s boat, and before they could do anything toward making their escape, he served it as he had served Mr. Baker’s, but stove it completely.