Chapter Two - D - Saturday 4th February 1956

A light SE breeze sprung up at about 03.00h and we set sail and proceeded on an almost Southerly course.

The weather formation seems to be changing somewhat and we are obviously getting into a "different part of the country", maritimely speaking.

The skipper, who seemed to scent whales in the vicinity, climbed the mast head at about 15.00h and, after about half an hour up there, sang out. "There she blows. Whale on the starboard bow". Soon a whole family of wales came into view, surfacing and blowing to beat the band. They passed ahead of us, headed by the bull, about 8 tor 10 of them. Quite an astonishing sight.

Later we saw a "fulmar" bird, which followed us some distance, and after night fall come the dolphins, frisking and gambolling under the cutwater, in their inimitable style. Truly we are now in new and more fertile "territory".

Juan has some curious theories, one of which being that man will eventually be displaced on earth by the rat. He says that scientists have discovered that of all the animals, including man, the rat has the largest brain in comparison to the size of its body and that it is an extremely intelligent animal. I suggested we started grafting ants with rats so as to be sure of something a little more industrious and less destructive to replace us eventually here on earth. He laughed and said "Why not graft Germans with pineapples to get something efficient and tasty at the same time?"