not the craft to our
mind. But I had seen the captain, and liked him. He was an uncommonly tall,
robust, fine-looking man, in the prime of life. There was a deep crimson spot in
the middle of each sunburnt cheek, doubtless the effect of his sea-potations. He
was a Vineyarder, or native of the island of Martha's Vineyard (adjoining
Nantucket), and - I would have sworn it - a sailor, and no tyrant.
    Previous to this, we had rather avoided the Leviathan's men, when they came
ashore; but now, we purposely threw ourselves in their way, in order to learn
more of the vessel.
    We became acquainted with the third mate, a Prussian, and an old
merchant-seaman - a right jolly fellow, with a face like a ruby. We took him to
Po-Po's, and gave him a dinner of baked pig and bread- with pipes and tobacco
for dessert. The account he gave us of the ship agreed with my own surmises. A
cosier old craft never floated; and the captain was the finest man in the world.
There was plenty to eat, too; and, at sea, nothing to do but sit on the windlass
and sail. The only bad trait about the vessel was this: she had been launched
under some baleful star; and so was a luckless ship in the fishery. She dropped
her boats into the brine often enough, and they frequently got fast to the
whales; but lance and harpoon almost invariably drew when darted by the men of
the Leviathan. But what of that? We would have all the sport of chasing the
monsters, with none of the detestable work which follows their capture. So,
hurrah for the coast of Japan! Thither the ship was bound.
    A word now, about the hard stories we heard the first time we visited the
ship. They were nothing but idle fictions, got up by the sailors for the purpose
of frightening us away, so as to oblige the captain, who was in want of more
hands, to lie the longer in a pleasant harbour.
    The next time the Vineyarder came ashore, we flung ourselves in his path.
When informed of our desire to sail with him, he wanted to know our history;
and, above all, what countrymen we were. We said that we had left a whaler in
Tahiti, some time previous; and, since then, had been - in the most praiseworthy
manner - employed upon a plantation. As for our country, sailors belong to