DEMEANOR OF A BOAT'S CREW. 57 



]3lajing his ilabby tongue, lashing the water with his 

 gigantic flukes, and bellowing like a whole bev}^ of 

 mad bulls, from the intense pain he suffered in dying. 

 The other boats, on coming up, fastened, and soon 

 the bloody discharge from his spout holes became 

 thicker, until it had obtained the consistency of tar, 

 when the suffering brute, moderating its bellowing 

 to gasps and sobs, slowly described a circle, throwing 

 its head toward the sun, and after a brief but terrific 

 struggle, rolled fin out, without life or motion. We 

 then cut a hole through the flukes and towed him in 

 triumph to the ship. 



I will now, before going farther, describe the de- 

 meanor of a boat's crew when fast to a whale. In 

 the first place the officer goes close enough to the 

 whale to give the boatsteerer a good opportunity to 

 strike him. As soon as the irons leave his hand the 

 head of the boat is thrown from the whale, to avoid 

 the sweep of his tremendous tail, which he invariably 

 exercises the moment he is struck. The officer and 

 boatsteerer now exchange positions, the boatsteerer 

 assuming the management of the boat, whilst the 

 officer takes his position in the bows, and, by the 

 assistance of the bow oarsman, clears away a lance, 

 preparatory to striking the fatal blow. The whale, 

 on being struck, either sounds, or rushes with great 

 rapidity over the surface of the water. In either case 

 the line runs out with marvellous rapidity, and water 

 is continual^ poured upon it to prevent the wood from 

 igniting by friction. Shortly afterwards, if the whale 

 has moderated his speed, the line is manned by all the 

 crew of the boat, with the exception of the boatsteerer 

 and after-oarsman, who are busily occupied coiling 



