68 FISHEEIES OF ALASKA, 1908. 



act as a strainer and admit only small articles of food to the throat. 

 A minute species of shrimp, called by whalers "brit" and "bait," 

 forms a major part of their food, these little crustaceans, which are 

 found swimming close to the surface in good weather and sinking 

 deeper when big seas are running, swarming in such quantities as 

 to give the sea in their vicinity a decided pinkish tint. The hump- 

 back, however, has a fondness for herring and other small fish, and 

 will chase schools of these close to shore, often going miles up the 

 sounds and straits in southeast Alaska. In feeding upon the "bait" 

 the whale swims round in a huge circle several times among them, 

 causing them to huddle even closer together, then changing his 

 course he charges with wide-open jaws through the school he has 

 thus rounded up, and feasts. 



In many ways the operation of a shore whaling station, as this 

 style of plant is called, is quite different from deep-sea whaling as 

 practiced by the whaling fleets for several hundred years past. In 

 the latter, after the whalebone and blubber has been taken from a 

 captured whale the carcass is discarded, the vessels having no 

 facilities for handling any other part of it. At the whaling stations, 

 on the contrary, every portion of the animal is utilized in some way 

 or another. 



The station of the Tyee Company is favorably situated for whaling 

 in the waters of Chatham Straits, Frederick Sound, and Stephens 

 Passage, in which large schools of whales congregate at times, while 

 the open ocean is distant but a few hours' steaming. 



The company's steamer, Tyee, jr., has the lines of a yacht, is 97.9 

 feet in length, and 17.7 feet beam. In the extreme bow of the steamer 

 is one of the Svend-Foyn harpoon guns. This gun is heavily con- 

 structed throughout and has a bore of 3 inches. The harpoon is 

 a very heavy missile, weighing several hundred pounds. A bomb 

 containing roughly a pound of powder is screwed onto the harpoon, 

 and the latter is then rammed home in the same manner as a shot. 

 Coiled up on the iron plate under the gun muzzle is the "foregoer," 

 made of the best Italian steam tarred hemp, 4^ inches in circumfer- 

 ence, one end of which is attached to the harpoon about 18 inches 

 from the point. Attached to the other end of the "foregoer" is 

 one of the main whale lines from the winch, this line being of T^us- 

 sian steam-tarred hemp, about 400 fathoms in length, and of 5^ 

 inches circumference. 



Near the top of the masthead is located the lookout barrel, from 

 which point of vantage the lookout can cover considerably more area 

 than a man on the deck would be able to. As soon as a whale is 

 sighted the vessel is run as close to it as possible, and when within 

 range the gun is fired. A time fuse is attached to the bomb o:i the 

 harpoon, this being ignited by the discharge of the gun, and five 



