122 ARCTIC ZOOLOGY. 



ously directs the motion of the boat. Each boat is also 

 provided with a tin trumpet to announce the station or 

 movement in case of being enveloped in fog ; and also with 

 a piece of bunting attached to a short pole by way of signal 

 flag. 



Thus equipped, the boats are suspended by a simple 

 machinery of ropes and blocks by the ship's sides, ready 

 to be lowered in an instant. To the mainmast is attached, 

 at a great elevation, usually about 100 feet above the deck, 

 a structure resembling a water cask, called a hurricane 

 house, in which the master or confidential officer is stationed 

 with a telescope on the look-out ; and to such as have not 

 witnessed the fatigues of that station, a recital of its 

 dangerous hardships would appear incredible. In the 

 sudden transitions from intense cold to the most annoying- 

 heat, Avhilst the head is involved in the blaze of an eternal 

 unclouded sun, that blisters the face and blinds the strongest 

 vision, that situation must be inflexibly maintained, and 

 such perseverance often costs the individual the loss of 

 health and life. 



If the ship's station be on what is considered good fishing 

 ground, which is commonly known from the water being of 

 a deep olive colour, a boat or two being kept continually 

 on the watch, the moment a whale is descried, the pursuit 

 commences without loss of a second of time ; and as the 

 ordinary speed of the whale boats is .six miles an hour, a 

 2 



