470 WHALE-FISHERY. 



make towards the one carrying a flag, and surround 

 it at various distances, awaiting the appearance of 

 the wounded whale. 



On my first voyage to the whale-fishery, such an 

 accident, as above alluded to, occurred. A thou- 

 sand fathoms of line were already out, and the fast- 

 boat was forcibly pressed against the side of a piece 

 of ice. The harpooner, in his anxiety to retard the 

 flight of the whale, applied too many turns of the 

 line round the bollard, which, getting entangled, 

 drew the boat beneath the ice. Another boat, pro- 

 videntially, was at hand, into which the crew, in- 

 cluding myself, who happened to be present, had 

 just time to escape. The whale, with near two 

 miles length of line, was, in consequence of the 

 accident, lost, but the boat was recovered. On a 

 subsequent occasion, I underwent a similar misad- 

 venture, but with a happier result; we escaped with a 

 little wetting into an accompanying boat, and the 

 whale was afterwards captured, and the boat with 

 its lines recovered. 



When fish have been struck by myself, I have 

 on different occasions estimated their rate of descent. 

 For the first 300 fathoms, the average velocity was 

 usually after the rate of eight to ten miles per hour. 

 In one instance, the third line of 120 fathoms was 

 run out in 61 seconds: that is at the rate of 8* En- 

 glish miles, or 74 nautical miles per hour. By the 

 motions of the fast-boat, the simultaneous movements 

 of the whale are estimated. The auxiliary boats, 



