Captain Hull, his eye on his prey, did not cease making his eternal refrain: "Be watchful, Howik, be watchful!" And they could be sure that the boatswain's vigilance would not be at fault for an instant.
Meanwhile, as the whale-boat did not fly nearly as fast as the whale, the line of the harpoon spun out with such rapidity that it was to be feared that it would take fire in rubbing against the edge of the whale-boat.

So Captain Hull took care to keep it damp, by filling with water the pail at the bottom of which the line was coiled.
All this time the jubarte did not seem inclined to stop her flight, nor willing to moderate it.

The second line was then lashed to the end of the first, and it was not long before it was played out with the same velocity.
At the end of five minutes it was necessary to join on the third line, which ran off under the water.
The jubarte did not stop.

The harpoon had evidently not penetrated into any vital part of the body.

They could even observe, by the increased obliquity of the line, that the animal, instead of returning to the surface, was sinking into lower depths.
"The devil!" cried Captain Hull, "but that rascal will use up our five lines!" "And lead us to a good distance from the 'Pilgrim,'" replied the boatswain.
"Nevertheless, she must return to the surface to breathe," replied Captain Hull.