midday
It was very comfortable , cutting-in a sperm whale in harbour , after the dire difficulty of performing the same operation in a seaway . And , although it may seem strange , this was the first occasion that voyage that I had had a really good opportunity of closely studying the whale 's anatomy . Consequently the work was exceedingly interesting , and , in spite of the labour involved , I was almost sorry when the job was done . Under the present favourable circumstances we were ready to cut the carcass adrift shortly after midday , the head , of course , having been taken off first . Just after we started to cut-in a boat appeared alongside with six Maories and half-breeds on board . Their leader came up and civilly asked the skipper whether he intended doing anything with the carcass . Upon being promptly answered in the negative , he said that he and his companions proposed hooking on to the great mass when we cut it adrift , towing it ashore , and getting out of it what oil we had been unable to extract , which at sea is always lost to the ship .