“Of course, what I have just told I read out of a book, and, as you ask for another, I’ll give you this which I also read out of a book, but it’s true nevertheless. While near the Azores in 1832, the mate’s boat of the _Barclay_ of Nantucket struck a whale with both irons, and, when the mate went forward to use the lance, the whale turned and killed him and then escaped. A few days after, the _Hector_ of New Bedford fell in with the same whale, and several boats were lowered. The whale made for the mate’s boat. This officer, by a quick move, avoided the encounter, and the boat-steerer threw his harpoon successfully, but the whale turned and smashed the bow of the boat. He then demolished the captain’s boat. While the crew were picked up, the whale proceeded to bite up the pieces of the broken craft, and succeeded with a single exception. This was a keg. As the keg bobbed up and down on the waves, the whale tried to capture it with his teeth, but unsuccessfully, and he seemed very angry. After the men had reached the ship, the whale and the keg were still in evidence. The mate now picked a crew and lowered again. The whale then lost interest in the keg and made for the boat. Its occupants, terror-stricken, pulled for the ship. Several times they barely escaped from the whale’s jaws, and they were becoming exhausted when the whale, which had been fighting of course with his belly up, turned over to lift his head out of water and take in some fresh air. The boat was so near that the mate was able to drive his lance into the creature’s vitals, killing him almost instantly. The harpoons of the _Barclay_ were found in his body.” The men were very attentive and thoughtful. One of them said, “If a boat’s crew should lose the ship in these waters we’re goin’ to, it wouldn’t do to land, and I don’t know what would become of ’em.” Kreelman turned to me and said, “Fancy Chest, that reminds me of the bark _Janet_. I’ve heard the story, but you’ve read about it, I suppose. So go on and tell it.”