Beasts Royal: Twelve Tales of Adventure. Patrick O’Brian

but now they went even farther afield, never resting in the same place for more than a week. Skogula had fed in the Indian Ocean in one month and off Zanzibar in the next.

      But before a great time had passed, Skogula began to notice that the new leader was not nearly so pleasant as his father had been; he was bad tempered and loved to bully the younger whales, who all came to avoid him as much as they could.

      Once, as Skogula was pursuing an octopus near St. Helena, the leader snapped it up in front of his nose. This was an insult, but Skogula thought that it would be unwise to attack the aggressor, as he would not have a chance and would only be hurt and driven from the school, so he turned aside to look for another meal.

      This occurred again on the next day and the next, until at last Skogula grew quite used to it. A long time passed, during which time the whales had gone a great distance. But as they did not travel in any kind of formation as they did under Skogula’s father, some of the smaller cows and calves were eaten by sharks.