1 62 THE AMERICAN WHALEMAN 



planting of the harpoon was to seize the first opportunity to 

 haul up to their game again in order to ply the lance. Ac- 

 cordingly when the whale tired after running along the sur- 

 face, or rose for a fresh supply of air after sounding, the line 

 was hauled in, sometimes rapidly, sometimes with tantalizing 

 slowness, until the boat was again within a few feet of the goal. 

 This was the signal for the mate to plunge his lance several 

 feet into the huge body, preferably piercing the lungs or punc- 

 turing some of the larger blood reservoirs known as the "life." 

 With the lance sunk in a vulnerable spot, the officer gave it a 

 continuous up and down motion, known as "churning." This 

 soon tinged the spout with blood, which gradually became 

 thicker and heavier as the wound was aggravated by fresh 

 thrusts of the razor-edged weapon. Sometimes it was pos- 

 sible to keep the boat continuously within striking distance until 

 a mortal v/ound had been inflicted. At other times it was nec- 

 essary to keep the small craft off for long intervals spent in 

 awaiting a favorable chance to dash in and deliver a few pre- 

 carious thrusts. But sooner or later, if the pursuit was success- 

 ful, the spout showed quantities of heavy, dark blood — the 

 sure sign that the prize was about to be taken. 



The final scene of the chase was enacted when the mortally 

 wounded animal "went into its flurry." This consisted of 

 swimming furiously in a narrowing circle, spouting great quan- 

 tities of blood, and often vomiting the contents of its stomach, 

 made up largely of fragments of its chief food, the ocean 

 squid. At last, after describing many concentric circles in this 

 manner, the tortured cachalot made a final lurch, threshed the 

 sea violently for a few moments, and then rolled over on its 

 side and back with the dorsal fin out of water. This was the 

 end; for "finning out" was accepted by the whalemen as the 

 final sign of death. Tradition had it, too, that the conclusion 

 of this death-scene always came when the whale's head was 

 turned toward the sun. 



Only an actual eye-witness, however, could describe ade- 

 quately the colorful details of the chase and capture of a 

 large sperm whale. In many respects it was a royal sport, in- 

 volving kaleidoscopic thrills and breath-taking excitement. 



