We had hardly three hundred yards to paddle and in a few moments were in the midst of the whales, the short, metallic puffs as they spouted sounding on every side. There were many young animals in the school, their brownish bodies showing in striking contrast to the snowy backs of the old ones, and we drifted quietly among them, waiting to pick our specimen. It was a sore temptation as whale after whale passed close beside us, and time and again I sighted along the rusty barrel of the gun at a swirling patch of water, only to drop the muzzle as a brown back appeared at the surface. The old whales seemed to know that danger lay in the silent gray object which had appeared so suddenly near them, and with the nicest accuracy gauged the shooting distance, keeping just within the safety zone. We floated along on the current, passing most of the school, and headed for a little group of white animals which were feeding a short distance away from the others. They did not seem to be disturbed as we neared them, and we hardly dared to breathe when a big white fellow slipped under only a hundred feet away, headed directly for us. Up he came with a rush and down again, so close that we could see the water run in little ripples off his snow-white back. My fingers trembled on the trigger of the gun but he was still coming toward us and in a few seconds the telltale patch of green water began to smooth out right ahead. I fired at the instant there was a glint of the snowy head over the long brown gun barrel. The shock of the heavy charge whirled me half around in the canoe and there was barely time to snatch the harpoon before we were at the spot where the porpoise was thrashing about on the surface of the water. At a side thrust from the iron the whale threw itself high into the air, falling back in a cloud of spray. A mad rush to one side and again the ghostly form shot from the water, the white body writhing as it fell back. The whale fought desperately to free itself, rushing from side to side and lashing the water into foam with its flukes. We had thrown the float overboard at the first leap and were waiting a short distance away for a second shot. The animal’s struggles finally became less violent and as it lay on the surface trying hard to keep upright I fired a second ball into its neck; with a last convulsive twist the beautiful creature slowly sank. We paddled for the buoy which was bobbing about near us and checked the carcass before it had gone far down, raising it to the surface by forcing the canoe ahead.