We stayed on the alert until daylight, getting ready for action. Whaling gear was set up along the railings. Our chief officer loaded the blunderbusses, which can launch harpoons as far as a mile, and long duck guns with exploding bullets that can mortally wound even
the most powerful animals. Ned Land was content to sharpen hisharpoon, a dreadful weapon in his hands

hear the fearsome thrashings of the animal's tail, and even its pantilngbreath. Seemingly, the moment this enormous narwhale came up tobreathe at the surface of the ocean, air was sucked into its lungs like 2，000-horsepower engine.

Ned Land still kept up the most tenacious skepticism; beyond his spells on watch, he pretended that he never even looked at the surface ofthe waves, at least while no whales were in sight. And yet the marvelous power of his vision could have performed yeoman service.But this stubborn Canadian spent eight hours out of every twelve reading or sleeping in his cabin.