We got among them and had a good time, being more hampered by the curiosity of the unattached fish than by the pugnacity of those under our immediate attention.  So we killed three, and by preconcerted signal warned the watchers on the lofty points ashore of our success.  As speedily as possible off came four boats from the shore stations, and hooked on to two of our fish, while we were busy with the third.  The wind being off shore, what there was of it, no time was to be lost, in view of the well-known untrustworthiness of the weather; so we started to cut-in at once, while the shore people worked like giants to tow the other two in.  Considering the weakness of their forces, they made marvellous progress; but seeing how terribly exhausting the toil was, one could not help wishing them one of the small London tugs, familiarly known as “jackals,” which would have snaked those monsters along at three or four knots an hour.

However, all went well; the usual gale did blow but not till we had got the last piece aboard and a good “slant” to run in, arriving at our previous moorings at midnight.  In the morning the skipper went down in his boat to visit the stations, and see how they had fared.  Old hand as he was, I think he was astonished to see what progress those fellows had made with the fish.  They did not reach the stations till after midnight, but already they had the whales half flenched, and, by the way they were working, it looked as if they would be through with their task as soon as we were with ours.  Their agreement with the skipper was to yield us half the oil they made, and, if agreeable to them, we would take their moiety at L40 per tun.  Consequently they had something to work for, even though there were twenty of them to share the spoil.  They were a merry party, eminently good tempered, and working as though one spirit animated them all.  If there was a leader of the band, he did his office with great subtilty, for all seemed equal, nor did any appear to need directing what to do.  Fired by their example, we all worked our hardest; but they beat us by half a day, mainly, I think, by dint of working nearly all the time with scarce any interval for sleep.  True, they were bound to take advantage of low water when their huge prize was high and dry—­to get at him easily all round.  Their method was of the simplest.  With gaff-hooks to haul back the pieces, and short-handled spades for cutting, they worked in pairs, taking off square slabs of blubber about a hundredweight each.  As soon as a piece was cut off, the pair tackled on to it, dragging it up to the pots, where the cooks hastily sliced it for boiling, interspersing their labours with attention to the simmering cauldrons.