They soon
relinquish this turbulence though, and when about three-fourths grown,
break up, and separately go about in quest of settlements,
that is, harems.
Another point of difference between the male and female schools
is still more characteristic of the sexes. Say you strike
a Forty-barrel-bull--poor devil! all his comrades quit him.
But strike a member of the harem school, and her companions swim
around her with every token of concern, sometimes lingering
so near her and so long, as themselves to fall a prey.
CHAPTER 89
Fast-Fish and Loose-Fish
The allusion to the waifs and waif-poles in the last chapter
but one, necessitates some account of the laws and regulations
of the whale fishery, of which the waif may be deemed the grand
symbol and badge.
It frequently happens that when several ships are cruising in company,
a whale may be struck by one vessel, then escape, and be finally killed
and captured by another vessel; and herein are indirectly comprised
many minor contingencies, all partaking of this one grand feature.
For example,--after a weary and perilous chase and capture of a whale,
the body may get loose from the ship by reason of a violent storm;
and drifting far away to leeward, be retaken by a second whaler, who,
in a calm, snugly tows it alongside, without risk of life or line.
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