So sudden was the accident that only one man, who was watching him, saw what had happened; so that when the boat righted, which it immediately did, though half full of water, the whole crew, on looking round, inquired what had become of Carr.

It is impossible to imagine a death more awfully sudden and unexpected.

The invisible bullet could not have effected more instantaneous destruction.

The velocity of the whale at its first descent is from thirteen to fifteen feet per second.

Now, as this unfortunate man was adjusting the line at the water's very edge, where it must have been perfectly tight, owing to its obstruction in running out of the boat, the interval between the fastening of the line about him and his disappearance could not have exceeded the third part of a second of time, for in one second only he must have been dragged ten or twelve feet deep.