252 THE OCEAN. 



On his reaching the surface, the other boats infix 

 their harpoons, while at the same instant the former 

 harpooner thrusts deeply his steel lance into the 

 body, and "Stern all!" again resounds. 



Now comes the most dangerous part of the busi- 

 ness; the Whale is in his "flurry," or last agony; 

 he dashes hither and thither, snaps convulsively with 

 his huge jaws, rolls over and over, coiling the line 

 around his body, or leaps completely out of the 

 water. The boats are often upset, sometimes broken 

 into fragments, and the men wounded or drowned. 

 Now the crimson blood is spouted from the blow- 

 hole, and falls in showers around; the poor animal 

 whirls rapidly round in unconsciousness, in a por- 

 tion of a circle, rolls over on its side, and is still in 

 death. 



The huge body is now towed to the ship ; a hole 

 is cut into the blubber near the head, into which 

 a strong hook is inserted ; a difficult and dangerous 

 operation. A strong tension is then applied to this 

 hook, and by it the blubber is hoisted up, as it is 

 gradually cut by the spades in a spiral strip, going 

 round and round the body. As this strip or band of 

 blubber is pulled off, the body of course revolves, until 

 the stripping reaches " the small," when it will turn 

 no more. The head, which at the commencement 

 of the process was cut off and secured astern, is 

 now hoisted into a perpendicular position, the front 

 of the muzzle opened, and the spermaceti dipped 

 out of the " case" by a bucket at the end of a pole. 

 The "junk" is then cut into oblong pieces, and the 

 remainder of the head, with the carcass, cut adrift. 



