296 WHALE-FISHERY. 



fonncd witli great expressions of joy. A large 

 whale, by means of six boats, can be towed at the 

 rate of nearly a mile pc7' hour. 



The fish having reached the ship, is taken to the 

 larboard side, arranged and secured for flensing. 

 For the performance of this operation, a variety of 

 knives and other instruments are requisite, most of 

 which are figured in Plates 18, 20, and 21. 



Towards the stern of the ship the head of the fish 

 is directed ; and the tail, which is first cut off, rests 

 abreast of the fore-chains. The smallest or poste- 

 rior part of the whale's body, where the tail is unit- 

 ed, is called the nimp, and the extremity or an- 

 terior part of the head, the Qiose^ or nose-end. The 

 rump then, supported by a tackle, is drawn forward 

 by means of a stout rope, called the rump-rope, and 

 the head is drawn in an opposite direction by means 

 of the " nose-tackle." Hence, the body of the fish is 

 forcibly extended. The right-side fin, being next 

 the ship, is lashed upward towards the gunwale, 

 A band of blubber, 2 or 3 feet in width, encircling 

 the fish's body, and lying between the fins and the 

 liead, being the fat of the neck, or what corresponds 

 in other animals with the neck, is called the kcnt ; 

 because, by means of it, the fish is turned over or 

 kcnted. Now, to the commencement of this imagi- 

 nary band of fat or kent, is fixed the lower extre- 

 mity of a combination of powerful blocks, called 

 the kcnt-pur chase. Its upper extremity is fixr 



