“I think you are goin’ to make a whaleman, Fancy Chest, and there are some things I can tell you about whales and whalin’ that you don’t know, although you’ve learned two things to-day from bein’ in the boat. One of the things you learned is that the boat-steerer don’t throw the iron with his arm raised but gives it a kind of thrust, and the other thing you’ve learned is that, after he’s thrown the iron, he and the mate change places.” “And why is that?” I asked. “I can’t see the sense to it.” “There ain’t no sense to it, but it’s been done since whalin’ begun. People do things because their fathers did ’em before ’em. Many a whale’s been lost because the boat-steerer, after a long chase, was all tired out from havin’ to pull an oar. The boat-steerer ought to sit up in the bow and do nothin’ until the whale’s reached so that he can be in good condition to strike. And after he’s struck he ought to stay in the bow and kill the whale, and the mate remain in the stern. There are many things you ought to know. After a sperm’s struck and goes down, he throws out a kind of oil called ‘glip.’ If the boat passes through this glip or crosses the line between it and the whale, he knows it and puts on more speed. Sometimes the sperm is cunning, for while soundin’ with his head in one direction, he will turn and swim just opposite. Now as to the right whale—never follow his wake, for the moment the boat runs into his suds he knows it and makes off in great haste.” Kreelman continued, “Now, Fancy Chest, them that has book larnin’ write about whales, but we old tars knows more than all of them fellows put together. Sperm whales talk to each other just as folks do.” “You don’t mean that, do you?” I broke in. “Talkin’ ain’t always with words. There’s another way of talkin’, especially among animals, and whales is animals. Whales can pass the news from one school to another, so can one whale to another. The moment a whale is struck, other whales in the neighborhood know it and either make off or, if the struck whale is a cow, draw near as if to give help. Can you explain it? I can’t. Men in the hoops often notice that when their own boats is attackin’ whales, a school several miles to wind’ard will appear to be frightened and disappear. Can you explain it? I can’t. Sometimes there’ll be a school of whales spread out over a long distance, and as if by signal they’ll all go under at the same time. Can you explain it? I can’t.