DEATH ON THE SEA The whale which we had taken, as I have related in the last chapter, was our largest fish of that season.

It produced ninety barrels of oil, and was worth about 500 pounds, so that we did not grieve much over the loss of our boat.
But our next loss was of a kind that could not be made up for by oil or money, for it was the loss of a human life.

In the whale-fishery men must, like soldiers, expect to risk their lives frequently, and they have too often, alas! to mourn over the loss of a shipmate or friend.
Up to this time our voyage had gone prosperously.

We had caught so many fish that nearly half our cargo was already completed, and if we should be as lucky the remainder of the voyage, we should be able to return home to Old England much sooner than we had expected.
Of course, during all this time we had met with some disappointments, for I am not describing everything that happened on that voyage.

It would require a much thicker volume than this to tell the half of our adventures.