profits of the voyage. Formerly, these "lays" were so graduated, that
the chief advantage of the expedition was to the owners; but, of late
years, matters have altered, so that now it is not uncommon for the
captain to receive a twelfth, tenth, or even eighth of the entire
profit, and the other officers in proportion.

The attention of our travellers was now directed to numerous squares and
plateaus of great black objects buried in seaweed; these, they were
informed, were casks of oil, stored in this manner instead of in
warehouses, as less liable to leakage.

It was also asserted, as a fact, that the sperm whale, alarmed at the
untiring rigor of his assailants, has almost disappeared from the
navigable waters, retreating to the fastnesses of the Frozen Ocean,
where he is still pursued, although at the greatest peril, by the
dauntless New Bedford, Nantucket, and Vineyard whalemen, who, as the
narrator proudly stated, have, time and again, come out unscathed from
the perils under which Franklin and his crew succumbed. Many a man now
walks the streets of these seaports who has conversed with the Esquimaux
last in company with that ill-fated crew.

Full-fed with maritime and oleaginous lore, our travellers at last
embarked upon the "Eagle's Wing," bound down the Vineyard Sound. As the
steamer gained its offing, the view of New Bedford was very picturesque,
reminding one of Boston seated at the head of her beautiful bay. The
passage through the islands, though not long, is intricate, requiring
skilful pilotage; and as the boat passed through the channel called
Wood's Hole, certain feeble-minded sisters were positive that all on
board were bound to immediate destruction; and, in truth, the reefs,
between which the channel lies, approach too closely to leave much room