Tin-] WHAM: FISIIKKV. 257 



then everybody must be ready to get into the long boat that he doth belong to." Scoresby says it 

 was customary with I lie Knglish lisherineii when a whale was sighted to call out "A lisli! A fish! 

 or a fish mine!" and when it was harpooned a small Hag or jack was displaced in the last. boat. 

 When the men on watch on the ship perceived this signal, they immediately shouted "A tall! A 

 tall!" and at the same time stamping on the deck to give the alarm to the sleeping erew below.* 



The present well-known cry of There she blows! "has long been employed by American 

 whalemen, the feminine being used as the epicene gender of whales. The direction of the whale 

 from the ship is then indicated by the men on duty. If the cetaee.au, instead of pursuing the even 

 tenor of its way, should hnppen to be indulging in some of its queer antics, these are also reported. 



LO\VF.KIM; I'UK \\TIALKS. The New liedford captains rarely lower for whales, especially in 

 the Arctic fishery, as they prefer to remain on board to look out for the ice, which momentarily 

 threatens their vessels, and to direct the movements of the boats by means of signals, previously 

 agreed upon, made usually with the light sails. The code of signals is entirely arbitrary, aud 

 varies, of course, on different ships, as it would not be policy for a master of one vessel to make 

 known his orders to the commander of another.! Lowering the gaff-topsail or .spanker on one vessel 

 may, therefore, mean that whales are astern," aud that the officers of the boats should proceed 

 in that direction to intercept them ; but the same signal displayed by another vessel may have an 



*At this alarm the erew jump from their beds, rush upon deck, with their clothes titd l>y a string in their hands, 

 aud crowd into their boats, with a t -mpcrature of /.LTD. The crew, under such occasions, an- shielded only by their 

 drawers, .stockings, and shirts, nr other habiliments in which they sleep. They generally emu rive to dress themselves, 

 in part at least, as the boats are lowered dowu: but sometimes they push off in the state in which they rise from their 

 beds, row away towards the fast boat, and have uo opportunity to clothe themselves for a length of time afterwards. 

 The alarm of a "Fall" has a singular etl'eci mi ilir IV, lings of a sleeping person, unaccustomed to the whale-fishing 

 business. It has often been mistaken as a cry of distress. A landsman in a Hull ship, seeing the crew, on au occasion 

 of a "fall," rush upon deck, with their clothes in their hands, when there was no appearance of danger, thought the 

 men were all mad; but with another individual the, eil'eet. was totally different. Alarmed with, the extraordinary 

 noise, and still more so, when ho reached the' deck, with the appearance of all the crew seated in the boats in their 

 shirts, lie imagined the ship was sinking. He therefore endea\ mvi] to get in to a boat himself, but. every one of them 

 being fully manned he was always repulsed. Afler several fruitless endeavors to gain a place among his comiades he 

 cried out, with feelings of evident alarm, "What shall I do* Will none of you take me in .' " Aiini-inin \til/iral 

 Hinlitrif. Uotlman. rot. Hi, p. lo'li. f'oiiipileil I'rtim Antir Ri'ifunis, ml. ii . 



tCoDE OF SIGNALS. It is the custom of t he captain of every first-class whale ship to employ a code of signals' 

 for the guidance of the' limits' crews when lowered fur whales. The signals vary on the different ships, or, in other 

 words, there are as many codes as there are ships. In many cases they are entirely arbitrary, as it is only intended 

 that they should be understood by the crews belonging tollm vessel that uses them; but whatever code maybe 

 agreed upon, the more simple and comprehensive it is the I" mnplii -a led signals are apt to mislead or 1)6- 



wilderthe oflieers. It is the prerogative of the master of the vessel to determine what signals shall be employed, aud 

 after the code has been perfected he explains its significance to the boat-headers. Sonic masters employ the ship's 

 sails, while others u<e balls or Hags, m- a combination of all may be utilized. There are published accounts of the 

 signals employed by the English as well as American whaling vessels, ('apt. (i. B. Burden, of New Bedford, who at. 

 present is engaged in whaling, has furnished I he- following system for ibis report: "A very common code consists of 

 the red, white, aud blue colors one flag each of these colors, and a fourth of the three combined. These four flags 

 represent the four boats, the starboard, port, waist, and bou boat*. These arc the same kind of flags used in the 

 boats, and when so used they are called waifs (duplicates). The four flags also represent the four important bearings 

 from the ship. Red for starboard quarter (corresponding to the positions of boats on the cranes); white for port 

 quarter: blue lor waist or beam ; anil red. while, and blue for bow. By using the flags separately aud by combining 

 them the boats can be duelled very easily ill any direction. Every vessel uses a flag called the whaling signal. It 

 is au attention signal. It may lie of any color, aud when sei at either fore or main mast head it indicates that the 

 whales are up. At mizzeii peak it calls the boats on board. If file whales are not seen by the boa's when the atten- 

 tion flag is set, their bearings are pointed out by the code thus: If on starboard beam the red and blue red tirst, or 

 blue under red. For pm -| beam white aud blue, and so on through a combination of colors and a series of positions of 

 flags. 



By the use of il.e flags or waifs in the boats they can be identified when fast, to a whale or need assistance, and 

 by their n . d a master can call an\ -part n m 1 i assist another, aud can also direct its movements to a 

 desired point. By the use of the four flags separately aud combined at different mast-heads an excellent code may 

 be established ; but often in calm we.n her, or when the bn.it , :;n -a long way from the ship, the signals or flags cannot 

 be distinguished. II I lien becomes necessarj to adopl other n of .igualiiig. The light sails answer this purpose 



SEC. v, VOL. ii 17 



