to steer the boat for Charles Mills, and always got in a mess among
the whales, being either capsized or stove in among so many boats.
At the end of three weeks Captain Mills got a whale off the second
river, halfway round towards Port Fairy. She was taken in tow with
the three boats, and after two days' towing, she was anchored within
half-a-mile of the schooner in Portland Bay, and the men went ashore.
During the night a gale of wind came on from the south-west, and the
whale, being a bit stale and high out of the water, drove ashore at
the Bluff, a little way past Henty's house.

In the morning Mills said he would go and see what he could get from
her on the beach, and ordered his brother, Charles Mills, and Coakley
to go out looking for whales. All the boats used to go out before
daylight, and dodge one another round the Bay for miles. It was cold
work sitting in the boats. The men stayed out until ten or eleven
o'clock, and went ashore that day on the Convincing Ground, which was
so-called because the whalers used to go down there to fight, and
convince one another who was the best man.

In the afternoon, about two o'clock, it was Davy's turn to go up a
tree to look for whales. In looking round the Bay towards the Bluff,
he saw a boat with a whiff on. He jumped down, and told Charles
Mills, who said: "Come on." there was a great rush of all the
boats, but Mills' boat kept well forward of the lot. When they
arrived off the Bluff they found Captain Mills had fastened to a
whale, two other loose whales being near. They pulled up alongside
him, and he pointed out a loose whale, to which they fastened.
Mansfield, of the Hobarton party, fastened to the third whale. Davy
came aft to the steer-oar, and Charles Mills went forward to kill his
whale. He had hardly got the lance in his hand when the whale threw