FISHERIES OF THE UNITED STATES. [20] 



ROPES USED BY WHALEMEN. 



It is not intended that the ropes exhibited in this series should include 

 the cordage employed in the rigging of a vessel, but simply those which 

 are used in " working about a whale," dead or alive, such as the whale- 

 line and lance- warps used during the capture ; the fluke-rope, cutting- 

 falls, and guys, used while stripping oft" and hoisting in the blubber ; 

 and bone-yarn, for tying up buudles of baleen. 



Whale-lines are manufactured from the best grades of Manila, loose 

 laid, pliable, capable of bearing immense strains, and free from tar. 

 The raw material is sprinkled with right- whale oil, during the process of 

 dressing, to prevent the lines from rotting when exposed to salt water. 



WHALEMAN'S HOOKS. 



Hooks employed in the whale-fishery may be used for handling lines, 

 chains, and blubber. 



The line-hook may be used from the vessel for catching stray lines or 

 any object afloat, but chiefly when the boat comes alongside the vessel 

 with a dead whale, for hauling on board one end of the tow-rope, in 

 order that the whale may be " fluked." 



The large boat-hook is used from the stage, when " cutting-in," for 

 detaching pieces of whale-line fastened to the harpoons which have 

 been thrown into the whale during the capture, &c. 



The common boat-hook is used in the whale-boat, as is any other hook 

 of this character. 



The large ring boat-hook belongs to the '^ cutting-gear " of the ves- 

 sel, and is used from the stage, when cutting-in, for pressing upon the 

 hack of the blubber-hook and directing the point into the hole made in 

 the blubber; for adjusting the fin-chain, and for hauling large pieces of 

 blubber about deck. 



The blubber-hook proper is the large hook, weighing from seventy- 

 five to one hundred and fifty pounds, attached to the blubber-tackle 

 and used in hoistiug in the blubber. 



The fin-chain hook and the small blubber-hook, or lip-hook, will be 

 fully discussed in the subsequent individual references. 



BLUBBER-TOGGLES. 



The " throat-chain toggle," formerly used for taking in the throat, is 

 essentially a toggle^ notwithstanding the hermaphroditic sense in which 

 the term is used. It consists of an iron toggle about eighteen inches or 

 two feet long, aud with a diameter of about three inches, with an iron 

 strap welded around its center, forming a rigid eye, into which the " tail" 

 or chain is made fast, and a stiff eye at one end which is used for binding 

 or thrax) -lashing the apparatus when toggled in the blubber. The free 

 end of the chain has the regulation triangular link. 



