THE PRESENT SURVIVAL OF OPEN BOAT WHALING 315 



rig of the 1890's, was not universal in the Azores at the end of the last century, for Richard (1936) 

 has a photograph taken off Fayal in 1888 which shows lug-sailed whaleboats. By that time the 

 American whaleboats had acquired centre-boards, and the lugsail and spritsail (common in these boats 

 in earlier decades) had become largely outmoded and replaced by the gaffsail and jib. Cleats (Az. 

 clitos), inboard of the gunwale and on the cuddy-board, are provided for managing the main sheet, 

 since a horse fixed across the cuddy-board would interfere with the free passage of the whaleline. The 

 boatheader is in charge of the main sheet, but may delegate this to the after-oarsman at times. The 

 bow-oarsman manages the jib sheet. When going on a whale under sail, the jib is always lowered 

 before the harponeer stands up to strike, so that he may have room for the dart. 



Conforming with late nineteenth-century American practice, the Azores whalemen employ sails 

 whenever there is sufficient wind. These permit not only the greatest speed in the conditions pre- 

 vailing, but also a quieter approach than is possible under oars. It is an everyday practice to go on a 

 whale with mainsail set until the moment the harpoon is darted. As the iron fastens in the whale the 

 stays and halliards are loosened, the mast is unstepped and lowered aft on its hinge, and the spread of 

 the mainsail is bundled under control until gaff, sail, mast and boom (Az. bume) can be quickly lashed 

 together with the main sheet, and all stowed so as to project from the boat over one quarter and leave 

 a clear run for the line, which, from the moment of fastening the whale, has been leaping after the 

 harpoon along the length of the cluttered boat. There is no need to emphasize the cool boatwork 

 necessary to conduct this operation, since once to foul the running line whilst struggling with mast or 

 sails can mean serious or even mortal injury. 



Whenever a boat is sailing after a sighted whale, the crew employ paddles to lend more speed to the 

 boat. The paddles, betraying their Red Indian origin by their shape and the way they are used, 

 number six, one for each oarsman. Each man paddles sitting on the gunwale, facing towards the bow. 



Steering when under sail is by rudder and tiller, but, as soon as the whale is fastened and the main- 

 sail is down, it is necessary to unship the rudder and change to the steering oar. The boatheader, already 

 occupied with the line at the loggerhead, must attend to the rudder quickly, so a lanyard is provided 

 whereby the rudder pintels are unshipped from their gudgeons at a single pull, and the rudder then 

 suspended outboard on the port quarter by belaying the lanyard to the cleat on the cuddy-board. 



Sailing after a whale in one of these boats, with a fresh wind on the quarter and with paddles plying 

 fast, I have estimated that the maximum speed attained has been about 8 or 9 knots. This is a neces- 

 sarily approximate and subjective estimate, but I find it agrees with Brown's maximum figure for an 

 American whaleboat under sail. I would agree also with his estimate of 4-6 knots as an average speed 

 when beating up and down in the general sailing of a day's hunting. A Sperm whale is rather slower 

 than the Blue and Fin whales, and my impressions are that when he is on a feeding ground like the 

 Azores he may loiter at the surface, ' having his spoutings out ' between soundings, at around 1-3 knots : 

 when on passage he makes about 4 knots : and when alarmed and running (but still a ' loose-fish ' not 

 yet fastened) he seldom does more than 8 knots, although this speed can be much exceeded by a 

 wounded whale (p. 331). It will be seen from these approximate figures that a whaleboat sailing and 

 paddling in favourable conditions can hope to overtake even a running Sperm whale if it persists in 

 the chase. In practice this can be achieved more quickly by a short tow from a motor-boat for part 

 of the running chase. 



Pulling. There are six pulling oars (Az. oars, ors) in an Azores whaleboat. It will be remembered that 

 the American boats had only five. The boat is single-banked and the oarsmen are staggered, that is, 

 there is only one man to a thwart and each man sits the whole width of the thwart from his rowlock 

 so as to balance the great length of his oar. When rowing, the harponeer always sits on the port side 

 but pulls a starboard oar, the bow-oarsman sits to starboard and pulls a port oar, and so on. Over 



