"294 WHALE riSHERY. 



was withdrawn, at the convenience of the crew. 

 While this is in progress, the men of other boats 

 having first lashed the tail to a boat, are employed 

 in lashing the fins together across the belly of the 

 whale. I have observed two or three curious cir- 

 cumstances connected with these operations, which 

 I siiall venture to mention. 



On one occasion, I was myself engaged in tlic 

 capture of a fish, upon which, when to appearance 

 dead, I leaped, cut holes in the fins, and was in the 

 act of " reeving a rope" through them, to lash them 

 together, when the fish sunk beneath my feet. As 

 soon as I observed that the water had risen above my 

 knees, I made a spring towards a boat, at the dis- 

 tance of three or four yards from me, and caught 

 hold of the gunwale. Scarcely was I helped on 

 board, before the iish began to move forward, turn- 

 ed from its back upon its belly, reared its tail aloft, 

 and began to shake it with such prodigious violence, 

 that it resounded through the air to the distance of 

 two or three miles. In the mean time, all the sail- 

 ors, very properly, kept aloof, and beheld its extra- 

 ordinary powers with the greatest astonishment. Af- 

 ter two or three minutes of this violent exercise, it 

 ceased, rolled upon its side, and died. 



In the year 1816, a fish was, to all appearance, 

 killed by the crew of the Esk. The fins were 

 partly lashed, and the tail on the point of being 

 .secured, and all the lines excepting one, were cut 



