GLOSSARY OF WORDS AND PHRASES. 



311 



head of the Ijoat toward any object by 

 means of the steering- oar. 

 Lay off; or lay the boat off. — Is to turn the 

 head of the boat from any object, by means 

 of the steering -oar. 

 Leaning blubber. — To cut the flesh, or lean 



meat, etc., from it. 

 Leaning -knife. — A large knife used in cutting 

 the flesh, or other tissue destitute of oil, 

 from the blubber, prei^aratory to trying it 

 out. 

 Lipper. — A piece of thin blubber cut into an 

 oblong square, and punctured, so as to 

 admit a man's fingers to hold it, when 

 used in wiping up the guriy from the 

 decks, etc. 

 Lipper off the decks. — Is to wipe the gurry 



off" with lijiiiers. 

 Lobtailing, or loptailing. — The action of a 

 whale when it raises its flukes high out of 

 water, and strikes them down with great 

 force upon the surface. 2d. A whale beat- 

 ing the surface of the water with its caudal 

 fin. 

 Loose irons. — Harpoons which are darted into 



a whale with no line attached. 

 Mate. — This word is used by whalers to signify 

 a partnership between two vessels in pur- 

 suing whales. 

 MiU.— To turn in an opposite direction, or 

 nearly so; as, "The whale was running to 

 windward, but 'milled,' and ran to lee- 

 ward." 

 Mincing -knife.— A thin, broad steel implement, 

 sharp on one edge, with a handle on each 

 end, which is used in cutting the blubber 

 into thin slices, preparatory to being boiled 

 or tried out. For illustration, see page 238. 

 Mux, or muxing. — To perform work in an 

 awkward or improper manner; as, "He 

 made a mux of it, and missed the whale," 

 i. e., by improper management a whale was 

 not struck, which otherwise might have been 

 secured. 

 Noddle -end. — The anterior and upper portion 



of a Sperm Whale's head. 

 Nib -end. — The anterior and ujjper portion of 



a whalebone whale's head. 

 Nisket. — The anus of a wliale. 

 Oil-hose.— A stout hose made of grained leather, 

 for the purpose of conducting the oil from 

 a vessel's deck into empty casks in the hold. 



Piece. — This word is frequently used for brief- 

 ness, instead of the word blanket -piece. 

 Pike. — A pointed iron or steel implement fixed 

 to the end of a pole, and used in jjitching 

 or handling the pieces of blubber, etc. For 

 illustration, see j^late xxv. 

 Raising whales —When first seeing a whale 

 from the mast-head, or other place, it is 

 termed "raising a whale." It is also used 

 to express the fact of seeing any object, as, 

 "We raised the land, sixty miles distant." 

 Recruits. — Fresh provisions and supplies for a 

 wliale-ship. 2d. Various articles put on 

 board the ship to purchase recruits with 

 (at remote islands or coasts), such as cloth- 

 ing, calicoes, tobacco, and a variety of other 

 domestic articles. 

 Ridge — The upper portion of a whale's "small." 

 Ripple. — The agitation of the surface of the 

 water by a whale when swimming near it, 

 but still not visible, as, "I can not see the 

 whale, but can see its ripple." 

 Rounding, or rounding out. — The attitude of 

 a wliale wlion curving its small in order to 

 descend below the surface of the water. 

 Rugged. — The state of the sea when agitated. 

 A rough sea, accompanied with blowin"- 

 weather, is termed by whalers "rugged 

 weather." 

 Sampson -post.— A heavy upright timber, firmly 

 secured in the deck (and extending about 

 two feet above it), to which the fluke -chain, 

 or fluke -rope, is made fast. 

 Scooping. — This term is applied to the action 



of whalebone whales when feedino- 

 Scrap -hopper.- A flaring wooden box which is 

 placed beside the try -works to receive the 

 scraps when skimmed from the try -pots. 

 It has holes in the bottom through which 

 the oil that drips from the scraps runs into 

 a tub called a " strainer -cooler." 

 Scraps. — The residue of the blubber after the 



oil is extracted bv boilin" 

 Scrimshawing, or to scrimshaw, or skim- 

 shander, as sometimes termed. — Is to ex- 

 ecute any piece of ingenious mechanical 

 work. It is applied particularly to polishing 

 and engraving upon whalebone or whale's 

 teeth, or manufacturing fancy articles from 

 the same materials. 

 Skimmer. — A broad scoop composed of copper, 

 iron, and wood. The utensil is about seven 



