300 FOLLOW THE WHALE 



plicable gyrations in a manner that cannot possibly be described. 

 The only thing they almost never did was sink, though they often 

 technically foundered (which means simply going below the sur- 

 face) and several of them turned turtle. In both cases, however, they 

 almost always bobbed up again, and right side up to boot! I spent 

 a season on one of the later models in my youth, and fortunately I 

 must have been born with a most firmly attached stomach or what- 

 ever other wobbly organs cause seasickness in so many people be- 

 cause, even in what appeared to be perfectly calm weather, that little 

 vessel danced about perpetually. In a storm she once stood abso- 

 lutely upright on her transom and then, having mounted the wave 

 that caused this odd performance, she proceeded to head straight 

 down its other side like a sperm whale sounding, altogether without 

 regard for the admittedly somewhat confused area where air met 

 water. 



The sails on these vessels were soon abandoned, except for the 

 little after steadier, and the ships gradually increased in size to a 

 length of about a hundred feet, with proportionately greater beam, 

 but still shallow draft, and their speed was stepped up to twelve 

 knots. The modern chaser today can make fifteen knots and thus 

 keep up with a blue whale unless the creature is in a very great 

 hurry. The crew has increased to a dozen. 



The invention of the whale chaser led to the extinction of the old 

 whaling industry, the creation of an entirely new enterprise, and 

 the disappearance from this field of virtually all people except the 

 Norwegians. The business began in 1875 when the first chasers were 

 laid down, and it got under way in earnest in 1880 when four of 

 them were launched. They were of only thirty-two tons capacity 

 and were manned by a captain, three engineers, a steward, and three 

 seamen, but they did nine knots. The results of their first season were 

 so encouraging that they brought an immediate investment response. 

 Nevertheless, the enterprise took another decade to build up to its 

 full potential. 



This first phase of the Modern Period of whaling, which we call 

 Norwegian I, may be divided into four distinct subphases of exactly 

 ten years each, conveniently dated 1880 to 1890, 1890 to 1900, 1900 

 to 1 9 10, and 19 10 to 1920. The first was a period of slow build-up 

 and some expansion, starting from the coast of Norway and reaching 



