Our young master could not but be flattered at this, which came at a favourable moment to sustain the resolutions awakened by the competition with the rival schooner.  Although so obviously competitors, and that in a matter of trade, the interest which above all others is apt to make men narrow-minded and hostile to each other, though the axiom would throw this particular reproach on doctors, there were no visible signs that the two vessels did not maintain the most amicable relations.  As the day advanced the wind fell, and after many passages of nautical compliments, by means of signals and the trumpet, Roswell Gardiner fairly lowered a boat into the water, and went a “gamming,” as it is termed, on board the other schooner.

Each of these little vessels was well provided with boats, and those of the description in common use among whalers.  A whale-boat differs from the ordinary jolly-boat, launch, or yawl—­gigs, barges, dinguis, &c. &c., being exclusively for the service of vessels of war—­in the following particulars:  viz.—­It is sharp at both ends, in order that it may ’back off,’ as well as ‘pull on;’ it steers with an oar, instead of with a rudder, in order that the bows may be thrown round to avoid danger when not in motion; it is buoyant, and made to withstand the shock of waves at both ends; and it is light and shallow, though strong, that it may be pulled with facility.  When it is remembered that one of these little egg-shells—­little as vessels, though of good size as boats—­is often dragged through troubled waters at the rate of ten or twelve knots, and frequently at even a swifter movement, one can easily understand how much depends on its form, buoyancy and strength.  Among seamen, it is commonly thought that a whale-boat is the safest craft of the sort in which men can trust themselves in rough water.

Captain Daggett received his guest with marked civility, though in a quiet, eastern way.  The rum and water were produced, and a friendly glass was taken by one after the other.  The two masters drank to each other’s success, and many a conventional remark was made between them on the subject of sea-lions, sea-elephants, and the modes of capturing such animals.  Even Watson, semi-deserter as he was, was shaken cordially by the hand, and his questionable conduct overlooked.  The ocean has many of the aspects of eternity, and often disposes mariners to regard their fellow-creatures with an expansiveness of feeling suited to their common situations.  Its vastness reminds them of the time that has neither beginning nor end; its ceaseless movement, of the never-tiring impulses of human passions; and its accidents and dangers, of the Providence which protects all alike, and which alone prevents our being abandoned to the dominion of chance.

Roswell Gardiner was a kind-hearted man, moreover, and was inclined to judge his fellows leniently.  Thus it was that his “good evening” at parting, to Watson, was just as frank and sincere as that he bestowed on Captain Daggett himself.