attention was held by a great (1/5) Slephus bottom whale swimming leisurely past us near the surface of the water without feeding the vessel. When the monster finally surfaced, his flukes were seen to be sixteen eighteen feet across. Screaming above gulls circled about the whale and settled eagerly to the water each time it approached the surface, evidently get- ting food in the shoals made by the animals rising back. As we slowly advanced by use of our engine the great fog bank gradually dissipated and by half after twelve it disappeared altogether and the features of the hills could be dimly discerned. The sun was below the horizon at midnight but the twilight was strong.