"Yes," replied Captain Hull, "but water that we cannot drink, and wine
that we cannot swallow. Come, boys, let us not speak any more, and
heave closer!"

The whale-boat, steered by the boatswain, glided noiselessly on the
surface of those half-greased waters, as if it were floating on a bed
of oil.

The jubarte did not budge, and did not seem to have yet perceived the
boat, which described a circle around it.

Captain Hull, in making the circuit, necessarily went farther than the
"Pilgrim," which gradually grew smaller in the distance. This rapidity
with which objects diminish at sea has always an odd effect. It seems
as if we look at them shortened through the large end of a telescope.
This optical illusion evidently takes place because there are no points
of comparison on these large spaces. It was thus with the "Pilgrim,"
which decreased to the eye and seemed already much more distant than
she really was.

Half an hour after leaving her, Captain Hull and his companions found
themselves exactly to the leeward of the whale, so that the latter
occupied an intermediate point between the ship and the boat.

So the moment had come to approach, while making as little noise as
possible. It was not impossible for them to get beside the animal and
harpoon it at good range, before its attention would be attracted.

"Row more slowly, boys," said Captain Hull, in a low voice.