第76章 EDGING SOUTHWARD(5)

Behold us, then, a half-drowned row of scarecrows perched, like some new species of dilapidated birds, upon the side of our late foe.The sun was not so furiously hot as usual, for masses of rain-laden NIMBI were filling the sky, so that we were comparatively free from the awful roasting we might have expected: nor was our position as precarious for a while as would be thought.True, we had only one harpoon, with its still fast line, to hold on by; but the side of the whale was somehow hollowed, so that, in spite of the incessant movement imparted to the carcass by the swell, we sat fairly safe, with our feet in the said hollow.We discussed the situation in all its bearings, unable to extract more than the faintest gleam of hope from any aspect of the case.The only reasonable chance we had was, that the skipper had almost certainly taken our bearings, and would, we were sure, be anxiously seeking us on the course thus indicated.Meanwhile, we were ravenously hungry and thirsty.

Samuela and Polly set to work with their sheath-knives, and soon excavated a space in the blubber to enable them to reach the meat.Then they cut off some good-sized junks, and divided it up.It was not half bad; and as we chewed on the tough black fibre, I could hardly help smiling as I thought how queer a Christmas dinner we were having.But eating soon heightened our thirst, and our real sufferings then began.We could eat very little once the want of drink made itself felt.Hardly two hours had elapsed, though, before one of the big-bellied clouds which bad been keeping the sun off us most considerately emptied out upon us a perfect torrent of rain.It filled the cavity in the whale's side in a twinkling; and though the water was greasy, stained with blood, and vilely flavoured, it was as welcome a drink as I have ever tasted.Thus fed, and with our thirst slaked, we were able to take a more hopeful view of things while the prospect of our being found seemed much more probable than it had done before the rain fell.

Still, we had to endure our pillory for a long while yet.The sharks and birds began to worry us, especially the former, who in their eagerness to get a portion of the blubber, fought, writhed and tore at the carcass with tireless energy.Once, one of the smaller ones actually came sliding up right into our hollow; but Samuela and Polly promptly dispatched him with a cut throat, sending him back to encourage the others.The present relieved us of most of their attentions for a short time at least, as they eagerly divided the remains of their late comrade among them.

To while away the time we spun yarns--without much point, I am afraid; and sung songs, albeit we did not feel much like singing --till after a while our poor attempts at gaiety fizzled out like a damp match, leaving us silent and depressed.The sun, which had been hidden for some time, now came out again, his slanting beams revealing to us ominously the flight of time and the near approach of night.Should darkness overtake us in our present position, we all felt that saving us would need the performance of a miracle; for in addition to the chances of the accumulated gases within the carcass bursting it asunder, the unceasing assault of the sharks made it highly doubtful whether they would not in a few hours more have devoured it piecemeal.Already they had scooped out some deep furrows in the solid blubber, making it easier to get hold and tear off more, and their numbers were increasing so fast that the surrounding sea was fairly alive with them.Lower and lower sank the sun, deeper and darker grew the gloom upon our faces, till suddenly Samuela leaped to his feet in our midst, and emitted a yell so ear-piercing as to nearly deafen us.He saw the ship! Before two minutes had passed we all saw her--God bless her!--coming down upon us like some angelic messenger.There were no fears among us that we should be overlooked.We knew full well how anxiously and keenly many pairs of eyes had been peering over the sea in search of us, and we felt perfectly sure they had sighted us long ago.On she came, gilded by the evening glow, till she seemed glorified, moving in a halo of celestial light, all her homeliness and clumsy build forgotten in what she then represented to us.

Never before or since has a ship looked like that, to me, nor can I ever forget the thankfulness, the delight, the reverence, with which I once more saw her approaching.Straight down upon us she bore, rounding to within a cable's length, and dropping a boat simultaneously with her windward sweep.They had no whale--well for us they had not.In five minutes we were on board, while our late resting-place was being hauled alongside with great glee.

The captain shook hands with me cordially, pooh-poohing the loss of the boat as an unavoidable incident of the trade, but expressing his heart-felt delight at getting us all back safe.

The whale we had killed was ample compensation for the loss of several boats, though such was the vigour with which the sharks were going for him, that it was deemed advisable to cut in at once, working all night.We who had been rescued, however, were summarily ordered below by the skipper, and forbidden, on pain of his severe displeasure, to reappear until the following morning.

This great privilege we gladly availed ourselves of, awaking at daylight quite well and fit, not a bit the worse for our queer experience of the previous day.

The whale proved a great acquisition, for although not nearly so large as many we had caught, he was so amazingly rich in blubber that he actually yielded twelve and a half tuns of oil, in spite of the heavy toll taken of him by the hungry multitudes of sharks.In addition to the oil, we were fortunate enough to secure a lump of ambergris, dislodged perhaps by the explosion of my bomb in the animal's bowels.It was nearly black, wax-like to the touch, and weighed seven pounds and a half.At the current price, it would be worth about L200, so that, taken altogether, the whale very nearly approached in value the largest one we had yet caught.I had almost omitted to state that incorporated with the substance of the ambergris were several of the horny cuttle-fish beaks, which, incapable of being digested, had become in some manner part of this peculiar product.