258 MARINE MAMMALS OF THE NORTH-WESTERN COAST. 
of the same ship ; and in some cases it has been found indispensably necessary to 
keep a willful and refractory officer's boat "on the cranes," in order that the other 
boats may engage in the chase harmoniously. This measure generally brings the 
guilty party to his senses, for a more summary punishment could not be adminis- 
tered to a game whaleman than to be kept on board as an idle spectator of the 
exciting pursuit and capture. 
Sperm whaling is chiefly prosecuted within the temperate latitudes, and often 
in the heated atmosphere of the torrid zone; but the Right and Polar Whales are 
hunted almost exclusively about the frozen oceans of the world, both north and 
south. In former years, however, these great animals^were found in vast numbers 
within the temperate zones ; but the work of the harpoon and lance, by the com- 
bined whaling -fleets of Europe and America, has long ago nearly annihilated those 
species inhabiting the middle water- belts of the northern and southern oceans, and 
at the present day the animals are driven to their remotest haunts in ice-bound 
seas. The principal field of pursuit for the whalebone whales, exclusive of the 
rorquals, is along the icy barrier of the Arctic Ocean. Here the ships cruise from 
the time the field -ice opens, until the October snows and gales drive them from 
that gloomy coast, which is strewn with wrecks and records of disaster. The 
positions of the officers of an Arctic whale -ship, as well as those of the crew, are 
no sinecure. "Standing mast-heads" in the biting cold, which is varied by storms 
of sleet and dismal fogs — constantly on the watch, not only for whales, but for 
the treacherous movements of the ice-fields or bergs — is a tedious duty, of inordi- 
nate exposure ; yet, of the whole company, the captain's work is the most arduous, 
for on him rests the greatest responsibility, and he must be on the alert both night 
and clay, being aloft on the lookout more hours than any of his officers. On 
leaving the frozen regions, the whaler wends his way southward through adverse 
gales ; if favored with leading winds, he seeks the most desirable port, where the 
needful supplies of fresh provisions can be obtained, and a few weeks of relaxation 
and amusement for the crew may be enjoyed on shore. By far the most noted 
resort for supplies in the northern hemisphere was Honolulu, Sandwich Islands ; }-ct 
nilo and Maui, of the same group, were frequently resorted to. Here, the genial 
climate and fruitful soil, which yielded abundantly the needful "recruits," and the 
open, easy life of the natives, caused it to become a favorite place for the whalers 
to congregate. The brief time of "giving liberty" and "recruiting ship" being over, 
a short winter cruise called the "line season" may be made about the equator, for 
Sperm Whales ; or the vessel may go to the coast of California, to engage in 
"bay -whaling," or "kelp -whaling." In either case, the ships usually touch again 
