Nearly on the meridian we saw a "school of cows and calves," and here, for the first time, I had an opportunity of seeing sperm whales "bring to" handsomely. The second mate struck first, and his whale, after running a short distance, stopped, and all the rest came up around him, and lay for some time, blowing, "heads and points," while we in the other two boats pulled on and fastened at our leisure, selecting the largest cows. After we were well fast, instead of immediately killing our whales, we lanced loose ones, and the sport was very exciting, as the whales were up and down in all directions among the boats, and some difficulty was met with from the fast whales crossing each other's course, and thus fouling the lines. Of course many of the loose whales which we killed were lost, as it was quite impossible to keep the run of them all, and a freshly-killed whale cannot be seen at any considerable distance, without a waif to indicate his whereabouts. And here for the first time I saw the use of a contrivance called a "waif-drug," for attaching the tell-tale flag to a whale while still alive. A short toggle of oak is fitted firmly in the centre of a square piece of plank, one end of the toggle is bored to step the waif-pole in, and the other is loaded with iron sufficiently to balance but not to sink it. This is attached by a few fathoms of line to a harpoon, which being darted into a whale after he has been mortally wounded with the lance, the plank drug rests flat on the surface, and the pole and waif are kept in an upright position. Eight whales were collected and secured as the reward of our exertions, though the whole eight yielded but little more oil than the one taken off Juan Fernandez. Not wishing to run too fast over the ground, we hauled on a wind while boiling these whales; and the next day after "cooling down," we ran to the westward and made an island, low but well wooded; the top-branches of the beautiful cocoanut-tree being the first object to break the horizon line. This, the mate informed me, was Byron's Island, the weathermost of Kingsmill's Group. Very soon the sails of numerous canoes were to be seen approaching, for a ship can be discovered almost as soon as she makes the land, all the islands of this group being low. The fleet of canoes was constantly receiving fresh accessions as we drew nearer the land, the number increasing till more than a hundred could be counted from the deck. They worked to windward rapidly, having immense triangular sails of matting. The first canoe that neared us came boldly alongside, throwing a line which was caught by eager hands on deck, for we were all on the tiptoe of curiosity to cultivate closer acquaintance with this singular people.