AT SEA: ON THE WHALING GROUNDS 169 



operation, known as the "blanket-piece," many feet long and 

 twelve to eighteen inches in width, was lowered through a 

 hatchway into the blubber-room, where it was immediately cut 

 up into smaller "horse-pieces," about six by twelve to eighteen 

 inches in size. This process of hoisting "blanket-pieces," to be 

 forthwith converted into "horse-pieces" and stored in the 

 blubber-room, was continued until all the available blubber had 

 been stripped from the carcass. 



Meanwhile the head was being completely severed from the 

 remainder of the body and divided into three portions — the 

 lower jaw, the "junk," and the "case." The jaw, with its 

 heavy, white bone and huge, glistening teeth, had no com- 

 mercial value J but both bone and teeth formed the raw material 

 for the numerous objects which resulted from the long hours 

 of "scrimshawing," and therefore an adequate supply was al- 

 ways kept on board. The junk and the case, on the other 

 hand, constituted the most valuable parts of the whole animal. 

 From the junk came spermaceti, a spongy, oily, fatty, inodor- 

 ous substance used particularly in the manufacture of fine 

 candles and of various ointments and unguents j and from the 

 case came the finest grade of sperm oil in such a pure, liquid 

 state that the large reservoir containing it had only to be bailed 

 out. When all the oil and spermaceti readily procurable had 

 been obtained, the mangled remains of the case and junk, 

 which had been half hoisted on deck, were simply pushed over- 

 board j and then the mutilated body, minus the head and the 

 thick covering of blubber, was cut adrift to become a magnifi- 

 cent prize for countless sharks and sea-birds. 



An illuminating account of these cutting-in operations was 

 set down by a contemporary writer who had often participated 

 in such orgies of blood and oil. 



When the whale has been towed alongside by the boats, ft is firmly 

 secured by a large rope attached to the "small" by a running noose. 

 The fluke rope is then made fast on the forecastle, and the flukes are 

 hauled up to the bow, or as near as they will reach, leaving the head 

 pointed aft . . . To prevent concussion, the whale is always on 

 the weather side. The progress of the vessel, which is usually under 

 easy sail during the time of cutting in, keeps the whale from drifting 

 out at right angles from the side; though, in most cases, the head is 

 kept in its appropriate position by a small rope made fast aft. 



