Here, on our low raft, we seem almost on a level with them, and more than once their tails have struck the spars with terrible violence.

The sailors manage to keep them at a distance by means of handspikes, but I shall not be surprised if they persist in following us, instinctively intelligent that we are destined to become their prey.

For myself, I confess that they give me a feeling of uneasiness; they seem to me like monsters of ill-omen..