THE AMBER WHALE.
253
We stayed to the last off Java, and then we ran to the west,
To get our recruits at Mauritius, and give the crew a rest.
Five days we ran in the trade winds, and the boys were beginning to talk
Of their time ashore, and whether they 'd have a donkey-ride or a walk,
And whether they'd spend their money in wine, bananas, or pearls.
Or drive to the sugar plantations to dance with the Creole girls.
But they soon got something to talk about. Five days we ran west-sou'-west,
But the sixth day's log-book entry was a change from all the rest;
For that was the day the mast-head men made every face turn pale.
With the cry that we all had dreamt about,—'He Blows! the Amber Whale!'
