12 THE AMERICAN WHALEMAN 



sels had to be staunch craft of heavy construction and broad 

 on the beam in order to withstand the terrific strain of the 

 huge carcasses of many tons lashed alongside while the blubber 

 was being cut-in and hoisted on board. And maximum ca- 

 pacity, an essential consideration for ships which had to bring 

 home their own catches and carry supplies for a period of sev- 

 eral years, further demanded both strength and breadth. 



The builders of whaling craft consistently emphasized 

 strength and seaworthiness at the expense of speed and grace 

 of line J and consequently a whaler was readily distinguish- 

 able from her more attractive half-sisters in the merchant ma- 

 rine. "It is impossible," wrote one contemporary observer, 

 "to meet a whale-ship on the ocean without being struck by 

 her mere appearance. The vessel under short sail, with look- 

 outs at the masthead, eagerly scanning the wide expanse around 

 them, has a totally different air from those engaged in a reg- 

 ular voyage." 



But if speed and grace of line were missing in the larger 

 vessels they were possessed in superlative degree by the whale- 

 boats in which the game was pursued at close quarters. These 

 perfected rowboats were shallow, double-ended craft, twenty- 

 eight to thirty feet long, propelled by paddles, spritsail, or 

 five long and heavy oars, with a still longer steering-oar at 

 the stern. In spite of their loads of hundreds of fathoms 

 of whale-line, of whaling craft and gear, and of four oars- 

 men, harpooner, and boatheader, they were admirably fast and 

 seaworthy. Nor did they lose anything in the manner of their 

 handling. For the American whaling crews yielded to no 

 class of men known to history as skillful and daring boatmen. 

 Sheer necessity, in fact, compelled them to handle their small 

 craft with amazing skill. Whether towed on a "Nantucket 

 sleigh-ride" by a harpooned victim that ran along the surface 

 at such speed that the boat seemed to leap from one wave crest 

 to the next J or pulled up to a "gallied" whale to attempt the 

 final lance-thrusts; or maneuvred about an "ugly" animal 

 where a single sluggish response meant destruction by jaws or 

 flukes j or sent into the teeth of a gale of wind and a heavy 

 sea, — under such threats a whaleboat in action placed an im- 



