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1AN UNKNOWN SPECIES OF WHALE This unexpected fall so stunned me that I have no clear recollection of my sensations at the
2time. I was at first drawn down to a depth of about twenty feet. I am a good swimmer (though without pretending to rival
3Byron or Edgar Poe, who were masters of the art), and in that plunge I did not lose my presence of mind. Two vigorous
4strokes brought me to the surface of the water. My first care was to look for the frigate. Had the crew seen me
5disappear? Had the Abraham Lincoln veered round? Would the captain put out a boat? Might I hope to be saved? The
6darkness was intense. I caught a glimpse of a black mass disappearing in the east, its beacon lights dying out in the
7distance. It was the frigate! I was lost. "Help, help!" I shouted, swimming towards the Abraham Lincoln in desperation.
8My clothes encumbered me; they seemed glued to my body, and paralysed my movements. I was sinking! I was suffocating!
9"Help!" This was my last cry. My mouth filled with water; I struggled against being drawn down the abyss. Suddenly my
10clothes were seized by a strong hand, and I felt myself quickly drawn up to the surface of the sea; and I heard, yes, I
11heard these words pronounced in my ear-- "If master would be so good as to lean on my shoulder, master would swim with
12much greater ease." I seized with one hand my faithful Conseil's arm. "Is it you?" said I, "you?" "Myself," answered
13Conseil; "and waiting master's orders." "That shock threw you as well as me into the sea?" "No; but being in my master's
14service, I followed him." The worthy fellow thought that was but natural. "And the frigate?" I asked. "The frigate?"
15replied Conseil, turning on his back; "I think that master had better not count too much on her." "You think so?" "I say
16that, at the time I threw myself into the sea, I heard the men at the wheel say, 'The screw and the rudder are broken.'"
17"Broken?" "Yes, broken by the monster's teeth. It is the only injury the Abraham Lincoln has sustained. But it is a bad
18look out for us--she no longer answers her helm." "Then we are lost!" "Perhaps so," calmly answered Conseil. "However,
19we have still several hours before us, and one can do a good deal in some hours." Conseil's imperturbable coolness set
20me up again. I swam more vigorously; but, cramped by my clothes, which stuck to me like a leaden weight, I felt great
21difficulty in bearing up. Conseil saw this. "Will master let me make a slit?" said he; and, slipping an open knife under
22my clothes, he ripped them up from top to bottom very rapidly. Then he cleverly slipped them off me, while I swam for
23both of us. Then I did the same for Conseil, and we continued to swim near to each other. Nevertheless, our situation
24was no less terrible. Perhaps our disappearance had not been noticed; and if it had been, the frigate could not tack,
25being without its helm. Conseil argued on this supposition, and laid his plans accordingly. This phlegmatic boy was
26perfectly self-possessed. We then decided that, as our only chance of safety was being picked up by the Abraham
27Lincoln's boats, we ought to manage so as to wait for them as long as possible. I resolved then to husband our strength,
28so that both should not be exhausted at the same time; and this is how we managed: while one of us lay on our back,
29quite still, with arms crossed, and legs stretched out, the other would swim and push the other on in front. This towing
30business did not last more than ten minutes each; and relieving each other thus, we could swim on for some hours,
31perhaps till daybreak. Poor chance! but hope is so firmly rooted in the heart of man! Moreover, there were two of us.
32Indeed I declare (though it may seem improbable) if I sought to destroy all hope,--if I wished to despair, I could not.
33The collision of the frigate with the cetacean had occurred about eleven o'clock the evening before. I reckoned then we
34should have eight hours to swim before sunrise, an operation quite practicable if we relieved each other. The sea, very
35calm, was in our favour. Sometimes I tried to pierce the intense darkness that was only dispelled by the phosphorescence
36caused by our movements. I watched the luminous waves that broke over my hand, whose mirror-like surface was spotted
37with silvery rings. One might have said that we were in a bath of quicksilver. Near one o'clock in the morning, I was
38seized with dreadful fatigue. My limbs stiffened under the strain of violent cramp. Conseil was obliged to keep me up,
39and our preservation devolved on him alone. I heard the poor boy pant; his breathing became short and hurried. I found
40that he could not keep up much longer. "Leave me! leave me!" I said to him. "Leave my master? Never!" replied he. "I
41would drown first." Just then the moon appeared through the fringes of a thick cloud that the wind was driving to the
42east. The surface of the sea glittered with its rays. This kindly light reanimated us. My head got better again. I
43looked at all points of the horizon. I saw the frigate! She was five miles from us, and looked like a dark mass, hardly
44discernible. But no boats! I would have cried out. But what good would it have been at such a distance! My swollen lips
45could utter no sounds. Conseil could articulate some words, and I heard him repeat at intervals, "Help! help!" Our
46movements were suspended for an instant; we listened. It might be only a singing in the ear, but it seemed to me as if a
47cry answered the cry from Conseil. "Did you hear?" I murmured. "Yes! Yes!" And Conseil gave one more despairing call.
48This time there was no mistake! A human voice responded to ours! Was it the voice of another unfortunate creature,
49abandoned in the middle of the ocean, some other victim of the shock sustained by the vessel? Or rather was it a boat
50from the frigate, that was hailing us in the darkness? Conseil made a last effort, and, leaning on my shoulder, while I
51struck out in a despairing effort, he raised himself half out of the water, then fell back exhausted. "What did you
52see?" "I saw"--murmured he; "I saw--but do not talk--reserve all your strength!" What had he seen? Then, I know not why,
53the thought of the monster came into my head for the first time! But that voice! The time is past for Jonahs to take
54refuge in whales' bellies! However, Conseil was towing me again. He raised his head sometimes, looked before us, and
55uttered a cry of recognition, which was responded to by a voice that came nearer and nearer. I scarcely heard it. My
56strength was exhausted; my fingers stiffened; my hand afforded me support no longer; my mouth, convulsively opening,
57filled with salt water. Cold crept over me. I raised my head for the last time, then I sank. At this moment a hard body
58struck me. I clung to it: then I felt that I was being drawn up, that I was brought to the surface of the water, that my
59chest collapsed:--I fainted. It is certain that I soon came to, thanks to the vigorous rubbings that I received. I half
60opened my eyes. "Conseil!" I murmured. "Does master call me?" asked Conseil. Just then, by the waning light of the moon
61which was sinking down to the horizon, I saw a face which was not Conseil's and which I immediately recognised. "Ned!" I
62cried. "The same, sir, who is seeking his prize!" replied the Canadian. "Were you thrown into the sea by the shock to
63the frigate?" "Yes, Professor; but more fortunate than you, I was able to find a footing almost directly upon a floating
64island." "An island?" "Or, more correctly speaking, on our gigantic narwhal." "Explain yourself, Ned!" "Only I soon
65found out why my harpoon had not entered its skin and was blunted." "Why, Ned, why?" "Because, Professor, that beast is
66made of sheet iron."
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