CHAPTER XXVIII - TO THE BLUFF, AND HOME
And last--In high-toned company--Another picnic--Depart from
the Bluff--Hey for the Horn!--Among the icebergs--
"Scudding"--Favouring trades--A narrow escape from
collision--Home at last.


*


INTRODUCTION

Without attempting the ambitious task of presenting a
comprehensive sketch of the origin, rise, and fall of whale-
fishing as a whole, it seems necessary to give a brief outline
of that portion of the subject bearing upon the theme of the
present book before plunging into the first chapter.

This preliminary is the more needed for the reason alluded to in
the Preface--the want of knowledge of the subject that is
apparent everywhere. The Greenland whale fishery has been so
popularized that most people know something about it; the sperm
whale fishery still awaits its Scoresby and a like train of
imitators and borrowers.

Cachalots, or sperm whales, must have been captured on the
coasts of Europe in a desultory way from a very early date, by
the incidental allusions to the prime products spermaceti and
ambergris which are found in so many ancient writers,