TIIH \YIIALM FISmWY. 271 



to raise sunk \vli;iles to tin- surface. AYhen a wounded whale is about to "turn up," flic hump- 

 back-iron, with a stout line attached, is thrown into the so-called "neck" properly speaking, the 

 whale has no neck, since there is no constriction at the junction of the head and body or into 

 ihe region about the spout holes, where the blubber 'is unusually tough. The whale remains at 

 the bottom for several days, and becoming somewhat buoyant by the gases generated by incipient 

 decomposition, it is very materially aided in making its reappearance upon the surface by the 

 men who haul upon the large lines attached to the harpoon. Weights are also used to drive the 

 large harpoon into the blubber of a sunk whale. For this purpose tlr.> pole of an ordinary cutting- 

 spade is "rigged' 1 to a humpback-iron. Two iron hoops nailed to the pole, one near the butt and 

 the other about 6 feet from the other extremity, act as guides in directing the instrument in its 

 descent. A piece of pig-iron, weighing about 30 pounds, to overcome the density of the water, is 

 lashed to the forward end of the pole with spun yarn. A line by which the whale is to be hauled 

 up is made i'ast to the harpoon. The whale-line, which was used in the capture, is rove through 

 the iron hoops on the second harpoon and hauled taut in a perpendicular position. The large 

 harpoon with weight attached is held as nearly as possible over the whale and dropped from the 

 boat. Accelerated by the iron weight, and guided by the whale-line and hoops, the barbed head 

 penetrates the blubber of the whale. This operation, however, may have to be repeated before 

 the iron enters. 



An apparatus for raising sunk whales to the surface of the water was patented by Thomas 

 AV. Roys, of New York, June 3, 1862, but I have no account of its use. This was termed by the 

 inventor a "whale-raiser," and consisted of a harpoon-like instrument about 10 feet long and 

 weighing about 200 pounds. It had two movable wings or toggles at the forward end, which 

 closed when entering the flesh and expanded when the line was drawn upon. This instrument 

 when released from its position in the whale-boat, was intended to fall by its own gravity, being 

 guided by the harpoon-line upon which it traveled, and bury its point into the whale. By means 

 of a cod-line attached to the " raiser," before its release from the boat, a hawser may be made fast 

 under water and attached to the ship's windlass which applies the power for floating the whale. I 

 have not heard of any occasions upon which this device has been applied. 



Captain Sea in in on* mentions another method of raising whales. He says: "We have known 

 many whales to be recovered when sunk in from 40 to 60 fathoms of water. The modus operandi 

 in hauling these decomposing subjects to the surface is : If the water is rough, the line is 

 taken into the bow-chocks of the boat, then uniting two crews in the after part of one boat 

 they either haul on the line by hand or with a tackle until the boat's bow is nearly submerged, or 

 the whale is lifted; or, if in a smooth bay, two boats are sometimes used, by laying a spar across 

 both, and taking the line between them over the spar, which serves as a sort of windlass purchase. 

 If the dead animal has been long down, in a considerable depth, care is taken to avoid its coming 

 up under the boat ; for as the carcass nears the surface its velocity is so much accelerated that in 

 some instances the animal rises with a bound which equals its sprightliest actions before life became 

 extinct." 



Towiss'G-iN. The labors of the men, however, do not end with the death of the whale. The 

 dead inert mass must be conveyed to the ship in order that the commercial products may be secured. 

 Let us now return to our capture as it lies partly on its side. 



Some whalemen tow the whales to the vessel " flukes first,'' while others tow it "head first"; 

 but the majority of them claim that the whale may be towed with greater facility in its natural 

 position, the action of the flukes driving it forward. If the ship is near by, the boat that first 



Mai'iui' Mauimalia and A m an Wlialr. l-'islirry, p. 46. 



