out of the water, when the mate called for the jib down-haul,
with which he made a running bowline, which was clapped over his
tail and drawn tight; and in this inglorious manner he was hauled
in on the deck.

The porpoise is a fish five or six feet in length, weighing from
one hundred and fifty to three hundred pounds. The name is
derived from the Italian word PORCO-PERCE, or hog-fish; and
indeed this animal resembles a hog in many respects. It has a
long head, terminated by a projection of its jaws, which are well
filled with sharp teeth, white as polished ivory. The body is
covered with a coat of fat, or blubber, from one to three inches
in thickness, which yields abundance of excellent oil; and the
flesh beneath is not very unlike that of a hog, but more oily,
coarser, and of a darker color. The flesh, excepting the
harslet, is not much prized, though some sailors are fond of it,
and rejoice at the capture of a porpoise, which gives them an
agreeable change of diet.

A few days after this event, being to the southward of Bermuda, I
climbed to the fore-top-gallant yard, and casting my eyes around,
saw on the verge of the horizon a white speck, which made a
singular appearance, contrasting, as it did, with the dark hue of
the ocean and the clear azure of a cloudless sky, I called to a
sailor who was at work in the cross-trees, and pointed it out to
him. As soon as he saw it he exclaimed, "Sail, ho!"

The captain was on the quarter-deck, and responded to the
announcement by the inquiry of "Where away?"