1 88 THE AMERICAN WHALEMAN 



struck one and made her spout Blood. She went down and 

 their came a Snarl in the Toe-line and catched John Meyrick 

 and oversot the boat and we never saw him afterwards. We 

 saved the whale." ^ 



During the nineteenth century similar occurrences were fre- 

 quent. While cruising in the Japan Sea in July, 1846, Cap- 

 tain J. R. Corwin, commanding the whaleship Portland, of 

 Sag Harbor, was caught by a flying loop and dragged far under 

 water. By a great stroke of good fortune he was able to cut 

 the line in front of him during a momentary slackness which 

 came when the whale suddenly changed direction 5 and as a 

 result he rose to the surface in time to be rescued by the boat 

 from which he had disappeared with such magic swiftness. 

 Only a few years later another boat-header saved himself in 

 identical circumstances. In 1853, however, when a third man 

 was similarly snatched out of his boat, he was released only 

 after the combined tension and friction of the line had severed 

 one hand from the remainder of the body. 



But even without such calamities as a foul line or a stove 

 boat, the sheer vitality, speed, and strength of a harpooned 

 whale often led its pursuers into the most extraordinary dif- 

 ficulties and adventures. At times a victim sounded to such 

 depths that more than a mile of whaleline was taken out before 

 the ascent began. Then it was necessary that several boats 

 contribute to the lengthening line, for a single set of tubs 

 seldom contained more than three hundred fathoms. If, on 

 the other hand, the animal chose to run along the surface in- 

 stead of sounding, the six men were drawn along mile after 

 mile at a rate of speed which in such a small craft seemed truly 

 precarious. 



Pursuits and combats which continued for periods of eight to 

 twelve hours were well-known j and frequently the body of a 

 hunted whale was pierced by dozens of harpoon and lance 

 thrusts before it succumbed to the attack. On May 28, 18 17, 

 the whaler Royal Bounty began an amazing adventure in which 

 a huge leviathan dragged from one to six boats and from three 

 hundred to sixteen hundred fathoms of line through the water 



1 This log-book entry is reproduced conveniently in Macy, W. F., and Hussey, 

 R. B., "The Nantucket Scrap Basket," p. i8, 



