HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHALE FISHERY. 123 



tain's boat iu his mouth,* held it on end and shook it in pieces in a mo- 

 ment. Not satisfied with this he chewed up the boat-kegs and whatever 

 appurtenances to, or pieces of the boat came in his way. The mate now 

 offered to pick a crew and boat, and renew the fight, to which sugges- 

 tion the captain assented, and with the best and most experienced men 

 of the crew, Mr. Norton again essayed to capture the wrecker of boats. 

 As the mate's boat again approached, the whale again assumed the of- 

 fensive, and the order was given to " stern all " for their lives. For half 

 a mile or more the chase was continued, the crew striving, as only men in a 

 desperate situation can strive, to keep clear of the enraged whale, which 

 followed them so closely as several times to bring his jaws together 

 within 6 or 8 inches of the head of the boat. By watching his chance, 

 as the monster became exhausted and turned to spout, Mr. Norton suc- 

 ceeded in burying his lance in the whale's vitals, killing him almost in- 

 stantly. 



On cutting him in, two irons were found belonging to the ship Barclay, 

 and it was afterward ascertained that about three months before the 

 first mate of the Barclay had lost his life in an encounter with him. He 

 made ninety barrels of oil. Mr. (afterward captaiu) Norton mentioned 

 this as the first instance within his knowledge where a whale attacked 

 a boat before being struck. 



In 1850, Captain Cook, of the bark Parker Cook, of Provincetown, 

 lowered two boats for a bull sperm whale. The nearest boat met him 



* Iu attacking a boat the sperm wJiale will sometimes turn upon his back, resuming 

 his natural position to breathe. 



In 1859, Captain Pierce, of the Emerald of New Bedford, wrote home that hehad had an 

 encounter with a " digger" whale, and after nine hours of hard lighting, had killed 

 and sunk him. They had had three boats stoveu, lost five irons and seven bombs, and 

 broken several oars in the melee, and in trying to haul the whale up, both lines had 

 parted, and he had again gone down in forty fathoms of water. 



Captain Davis thus describes the whale-boat and its fittings. (See Nimrodofthe 

 Sea, p. 157) : " It is the fruit of a century's experience, and the sharpened sense and 

 ingenuity of an inventive people, urged by the peril of the chase and the value of the 

 prize. For lightness and form ; for carrying capacity as compared with its weight 

 and sea-going qualities ; for speed and facility of movement at the word of command ; 

 for the placing of the men at the best advantage in the exercise of their povrer ; by the 

 nicest adaptation of the varying length of the oar, to its position in the boat; and 

 lastly, for a simplicity of construction, which renders repairs practicable on board the 

 ship, the whale-boat is simply as perfect as the combined skill of the million men who 

 have risked life and limb in service could make it. This paragon of a boat is 28 feet 

 long, sharp, and clean cut as a dolphin, bow and stern swelling amidships to 6 feet, 

 with a bottom round and buoyant. The gunwale amidships, 22 inches above the keel, 

 rises with an accelerated curve to 37 inches at each end, and this rise of bow and stern, 

 with the clipper-like upper form, gives it a duck-like capacity to top the oncoming 

 waves, so that it will dryly ride where ordinary boats would fill. The gunwales and 

 keel, of the best timber, are her heaviest parts, and gives stiffness to the whole; tHe 

 timbers, sprung to shape, are a half-inch or three-quarters in depth, and the planking 

 is half-inch white cedar. Her thwarts are inch pine, supported by knees of greater 

 strength than the other timbers. The bow-oar thwart is pierced by a 3-inch hole 

 for the mast, and is double-kneed. Through the cuddy-board projects a silk-hat-shaped 



