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I will take command of the boat, and as soon as you see us safely under the lee of the wreck you must fill and keep away, pass to leeward of the wreck, and heave-to as close to her as you can, when we will come round under your lee and get the people aboard one at a time by means of a `whip' from the lee mainyard-arm, trusting to luck for the chance to get the boat aboard again without smashing her to staves.
But Dyer had seen to this; for while the boat had been absent on her errand of mercy the pilot had ordered a block to be lashed to the starboard mainyard-arm, a whip rove through it, a boatswain's chair made fast to the end of the whip, and a hauling line bent on to the boatswain's chair; and when the boat ranged up under the Nonsuch's lee, there was the whole apparatus dangling in the air, ready to effect the transfer.
On we floated slowly, for the wind was very light, till at last our mainyard-arm was touching the gaff of the `Bucentaur, which ship bore the flag of Admiral Villeneuve; and though our guns were raking her and tearing her stern to pieces, we had ahead of us in the second line the `Neptune, which poured a heavy fire into our bows.
A string of signal-flags soared aloft to the Blanco's mainyard-arm, and half an hour later her screw began to revolve as she led the way out of the harbour, with the other ships following, in column of line ahead. It was five o'clock in the afternoon of October 1, 1879, and the cruise had begun which was to prove so eventful for at least two of the ships comprising the squadron.
Thus much being said, attend now, I pray you, to that marvellous and in this particular instance almost fatal operation whereby the Sperm Whale's great Heidelburgh Tun is tapped. Cistern and Buckets Nimble as a cat, Tashtego mounts aloft; and without altering his erect posture, runs straight out upon the overhanging mainyard-arm, to the part where it exactly projects over the hoisted Tun.
But as I stood scanning her through the lenses it gradually dawned upon me that her people seemed to be extraordinarily busy, for I could detect indications that quite a large number of men were actively moving about her decks; and presently, to my astonishment, I noticed that she had a tackle at her mainyard-arm; and while I was still wondering what this might be for, I saw a large case rise slowly above the level of her bulwark and then vanish again, apparently over her rail.
The deck was crowded with seamen, many of whom held lanterns, so that the whole ship was lighted. "It is time to begin," cried the Don. "Come, as you will not choose for yourselves, I must choose for you. Here, seize that lad and run him up to the mainyard-arm." He pointed at Adair.
The blubber of the body was peeled off in great strips, beginning at the neck and being cut spirally towards the tail. It was hoisted on board by the blocks, the captain and mates cutting, and the men at the windlass hoisting, and the carcass slowly turning round until we got an unbroken piece of blubber, reaching from the water to nearly as high as the mainyard-arm.
It was hoisted on board by the blocks, the captain and mates cutting, and the men at the windlass hoisting, and the carcass slowly turning round until we got an unbroken piece of blubber, reaching from the water to nearly as high as the mainyard-arm. This mass was nearly a foot thick, and it looked like fat pork.
On we floated slowly, for the wind was very light, till at last our mainyard-arm was touching the gaff of the `Bucentaur, which ship bore the flag of Admiral Villeneuve; and though our guns were raking her and tearing her stern to pieces, we had ahead of us in the second line the `Neptune, which poured a heavy fire into our bows.
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