THE WHALE FISHERY. 223 



the ship's papers simply as boat-steerer* ; if shipped to take the place of a regular bo;it-steerer, 

 who ma,\ be disabled by accident, or whose office may become vacant by death, he is entered as 

 spare boat-steerer" or as preventer boat-steerer. ! 'f lie is known in the fishery as lioat-steerer, 

 and out of it as harpooner. lie should be. a man of unusual personal courage, and with firm aud 

 steady nerves. This class of whalemen has won a name and record which, for bravery and the 

 faithful performance of duty, is honored and respected throughout the fleet ; so much so, that the 

 expression ' coward harpooner " would seem at once contradictory and out of place. But the har- 

 pooners of the fleet have degenerated with the lishery. In the palmy days of whaling the flower of 

 ^New England's sons won the right to dart the harpoon by that spirit of fearlessness and gallantry f 

 which characterized the early American patriot ; but now almost, every harpooner that sails from 

 New liedl'ord is the representative of an inferior race. 



The boat-steerers are petty officers and rank next to tbe mates. Their duties are manifold; 

 they are required to stand their watches at the mast-head on the lookout for whales, to act as 

 oarsmen in approaching whales, to dart the harpoon, to go down upon the whale while : - cutting 

 in," to stand before the try- works when "boiling out", and during the intervals they are expected to 

 keep the boats and apparatus always ready for the capture. They take great pride in their boats 

 and equipments, more especially the harpoons. They are in the liu, of promotion, and if capable 

 aud efficient both as whalemen and seamen, the chances for commanding whaling vessels are in 

 their favor. Great care is exercised by the captains in ihe selection of their harpoouers. As a 

 rule they are picked men, who have made one or more voyages, who are skillful in managing boats, 

 aud courageous enough to face death without shrinking. If they become confused or frightened, 

 and miss their whales, they may be deposed until they have an opportunity to regain their former 

 prestige, provided the captain gives them the chance. This is what might be termed "hard luck," 

 but it is one of the cast-iron rules of the fishery. Some, captains may perhaps give their boat- 

 steel ers two or three "chances," as they are termed, but if they miss several chances in succes- 

 sion, other men are put in their places. The success of the voyage depends in a great measure 

 upon the boat-steerers, aud the captains cannot have a personal preference in their appointments. 



The office of harpooucr has always been one of prominence and importance, and the scarcity 

 of suitable men or the iucoinpeteucy of incumbents has often occasioned serious drawbacks. 

 Both the English and Dutch relied solely upon the Biscayans for their harpoouers when they first 

 embarked in the Greenland fishery. England soon found it to the interest of her fleet to pre- 

 scribe certain laws in regard to the selection of her harpooners. 



Sroresby says that at the inception of the Greenland fishery the English harpoouers com- 

 inandod the whaleboats, harpooned the whales, and killed them with the lances. Also that they 



* It is but natural to suppose from the terms " boat-header" and "boat-steerer" that the position of the former 

 was at the head of the boar, and that of the latter at (he stem simply attending to his unties of steering the boat, as 

 the- t ei in w on hi i i.pl\ . Such, however, is not I he 1 case \vlieii approaching a whale, and to avoid the confusion of these 

 terms I will more fully explain the duties of these t \\ o lurn in a subsequent account of the capture of the whale. 



(Although i In- term "preventer" is more general ly used in the Province! own licet, some of i he vessels hailing from 

 .Ni \\ liedl'ord record their extra harpooners as " preventer hoat-stcerers" ; but the crew invariably call them "spare boat- 

 steerers. " The ten; 'ami pie\cuter " an d Tor anything held in reserve. 'J'he lerm "boat-steerer" 

 owes its origin to the fact that the harpooner. after ^triking the whale, takes the steering oar and so directs t he move- 

 ment soft lie boat as to enable the officer to kill the whale. The term " sle \veiy ' a si ang expression, is also somei imes used. 



t In the pi iif i his industry t lie chock- pin," a slender wooden peg for holding the whale-line ill its 



proper place at the head of the boat when fast to a whale, was the bad^e of ihe hai | ncr, the emblem of his office, 



aud attested his filne.ss for tin- p<>Mt io.i he proudly maintained and his skill a ml courage ill striking whales. Mole 

 particularly, I am told, was ihis th- When the fortunate boat-steerers returned from successful 



usertedchi upper button-holey of their coats as insignia of rank, todisi inguish them 



from the common foremast hands or dei Hie> walked the streets of their native island, attracting the 



attention of the fair 'Tiickeicrs in their sea-girt home. 



