* * * * *




CHAPTER VII.

PREPARATIONS.


It will be understood that the sight of this prodigious mammifer was
necessary to produce such excitement on board the "Pilgrim."

The whale, which floated in the middle of the red waters, appeared
enormous. To capture it, and thus complete the cargo, that was very
tempting. Could fishermen let such an occasion escape them?

However, Mrs. Weldon believed she ought to ask Captain Hull if it was
not dangerous for his men and for him to attack a whale under those
circumstances.

"No, Mrs. Weldon," replied Captain Hull. "More than once it has been my
lot to hunt the whale with a single boat, and I have always finished by
taking possession of it. I repeat it, there is no danger for us, nor,
consequently, for yourself."

Mrs. Weldon, reassured, did not persist.

Captain Hull at once made his preparations for capturing the jubarte.
He knew by experience that the pursuit of that baloenopter was not free