FISHERIES OF THE UNITED STATES. [10] 



to the hoisting-strap by means of a lanyard to prevent them from being 

 lost overboard, as the recoil of the shoulder-guns, for example, is often 

 so great as to prostrate the gunners. 



The Darting-Gun. — The darting-gun is a harpoon and bomb-gun 

 combined, the former for fastening the whale to the boat, and the latter 

 for simultaneously killing or wounding it by discharging the explosive 

 lance, or darting -homh^ as it is termed. The darting-guns of the original 

 pattern were muzzle loading, but more recent inventions have developed 

 the breech-loaders which are known as the " screw-gun" and the " hinge 

 gun." The whalemen recognize the two kinds in use at present as the 

 " Pierce" and the " Cunningham," having borrowed these names from 

 those of the inventors and manufacturers. Captain Eben Pierce and 

 Mr. Patrick Cunningham, of New Bedford, Massachusetts. 



The darting-guns are very successfully employed in all kinds of whal- 

 ing, and are chiefly relied upon in the Arctic regions, where, before they 

 were introduced, many whales escaped by running under ice after being 

 fastened to; in which case, as it became necessary to cut the line to save 

 the crew, the whale, as well as the harpoon and line, were lost. 



One end of an ordinary pole, by which the apparatus is manipulated, 

 is inserted in the rear end or socket of the gun. A harpoon is made 

 especially for this apparatus, with a tapering blunt point which ships 

 into the lugs on the barrel. The gun being charged and the lance in- 

 serted it is thrust by hand ; the harpoon is buried in the whale, and the 

 gun is automatically discharged by a long wire rod, which is in -fact a 

 trigger, extending beyond the muzzle, and which by impact operates the 

 internal mechanism and projects the lance. The apparatus having been 

 darted the whale starts off with the harpoon and exploded lance, and 

 the gun may be hauled into the boat by a small rope and used in dis- 

 charging other lances. 



The Swivel-Gun. — The swivel gun is of English origin, and was in- 

 vented, according to Scoresby, in the year 1731, and used, it seems, by 

 some individuals with success. Being, however, difficult and somewhat 

 dangerous in its application, it was laid aside for many years. In 1771 

 or 1772 a new one was produced for the Society of Arts, which differed 

 so materially from the instrument before in use that it was received as 

 an original invention. This society took a great interest in promoting 

 its introduction, and with some difficulty and great expense effected it.* 



This kind of gun has been used by the English and Scotch whale- 

 men in the Greenland fishery and elsewhere. American whalemen 

 have also used the English gun, but principally in "devil fishing" and 

 "humpbacking," in the bays and lagoons of California, "humpbacking" 

 on the southern coast of Africa, "bowheading" in the Ochotsk sea, and 

 in other localities where the fishery is prosecuted on soundings. Capt. 

 John Heppingstone, of South Yarmouth, Massachusetts, tells me that 



*Arctic Regions, vol. ii. 



