We were as usual, first boat; but, much to the mate’s annoyance, when we were a short half-mile from the whale, our main-sheet parted.  It became immediately necessary to roll the sail up, lest its flapping should alarm the watchful monster, and this delayed us sufficiently to allow the other boats to shoot ahead of us.  Thus the second mate got fast some seconds before we arrived on the scene, seeing which we furled sail, unshipped the mast, and went in on him with the oars only.  At first the proceedings were quite of the usual character, our chief wielding his lance in most brilliant fashion, while not being fast to the animal allowed us much greater freedom in our evolutions; but that fatal habit of the mate’s—­of allowing his boat to take care of herself so long as he was getting in some good home-thrusts —­once more asserted itself.  Although the whale was exceedingly vigorous, churning the sea into yeasty foam over an enormous area, there we wallowed close to him, right in the middle of the turmoil, actually courting disaster.

He had just settled down for a moment, when, glancing over the gunwale, I saw his tail, like a vast shadow, sweeping away from us towards the second mate, who was laying off the other side of him.  Before I had time to think, the mighty mass of gristle leapt into the sunshine, curved back from us like a huge bow.  Then with a roar it came at us, released from its tension of Heaven knows how many tons.  Full on the broadside it struck us, sending every soul but me flying out of the wreckage as if fired from catapults.  I did not go because my foot was jammed somehow in the well of the boat, but the wrench nearly pulled my thigh-bone out of its socket.  I had hardly released my foot, when, towering above me, came the colossal head of the great creature, as he ploughed through the bundle of debris that had just been a boat.  There was an appalling roar of water in my ears, and darkness that might be felt all around.  Yet, in the midst of it all, one thought predominated as clearly as if I had been turning it over in my mind in the quiet of my bunk aboard—­“What if he should swallow me?” Nor to this day can I understand how I escaped the portals of his gullet, which of course gaped wide as a church door.  But the agony of holding my breath soon overpowered every other feeling and thought, till just as something was going to snap inside my head I rose to the surface.  I was surrounded by a welter of bloody froth, which made it impossible for me to see; but oh, the air was sweet!

I struck out blindly, instinctively, although I could feel so strong an eddy that voluntary progress was out of the question.  My hand touched and clung to a rope, which immediately towed me in some direction—­I neither knew nor cared whither.  Soon the motion ceased, and, with a seaman’s instinct, I began to haul myself along by the rope I grasped, although no definite idea was in my mind as to where it was