TRYING OUT. 7 



square, and by means of a pike or fork, are 

 pitched up on deck for mincing, and taken to 

 the " mincing horse/' a small table secured to 

 the rail of the ship, where a boy with a short- 

 handled hook, holds the piece to keep it from 

 sliding, while the mincer, with a two-handed 

 knife slashes it nearly through into thin slices, 

 which just hang together; the piece then be- 

 comes a " book," and is pitched into a large 

 tub ready for boiling. 



A fire is now kindled in the arches under 

 the pots, which are two or three in number, 

 firmly set in brick-work, and each capable of 

 Containing a hogshead of oil. A small quantity 

 of oil is first put in each, and, as soon as it be- 

 onios heated, fresh blubber is added, until 

 the pots are full, when a portion from each 

 is baled out with a large ladle into a copper 

 cooler, from whence it is received into c; 

 and stowed below. The operation of boiling 

 continues day and night until the whole is 

 finished, and sometimes, when whales are 

 jil'-ntiful, the fires are scarcely put out until 

 -iiip is lilh'd. 



F '2 



