86 NIMROD OF THE SEA; OR, 



A whip-block is placed directly over the opening ; a long, 

 narrow bucket is attached to the end of the fall; and a man 

 stands on the square-cut end, with a long, slender pole to 

 push the bucket into this well of flesh. 



On being withdrawn, the bucket is filled with transparent 

 spermaceti, mixed with the soft, silky integuments, and pos- 

 sessing the odor of the new-drawn milk of our home dairies. 

 With our hands blistered yesterday by the oar, and all on 

 fire to-day by the harsh friction of the handspike, it was lux- 

 urious to wade deep in the try-pots filled with this odorous 

 unguent, in order to squeeze and strain out the fibres, which, 

 if allowed to remain, would char with the heat, and darken 

 the oil. No king of earth, even Solomon in all his glory, 

 could command such a bath. I almost fell in love with the 

 touch of my own poor legs, as I stroked the precious oint- 

 ment from the skin. 



A case has been known to yield twenty- three barrels of 

 this purest of spermaceti equal to nearly three tons. As 

 it constitutes liess than one- sixth the mass, a case may be es- 

 timated at eighteen tons' weight. Add to this the weight 

 of the junk, the skull, and jaws, and an idea may be gather- 

 ed of the head of a sperm-whale. I would remark that in 

 modern ships the increased power of the patent windlass 

 enables the fortunate possessors to heave the case in- 

 board and bail it on deck by opening it longitudinally, thus 

 saving much precious oil. By our system of bailing, the 

 depth of the bucket was left in the bottom of the well. 

 However, the utmost power of the Chelsea could not have 

 brought this case on to the deck. When the case is bail- 

 ed, the hold is cut away, and, with a solemn plunge, the great 

 mass sinl^s into the sea, the white-marble surface changing 

 to a purest azure until it sinks from sight. 



Now the try-works are brought into play. The boat- 

 crew's watch of yesterday gives way to starboard and lar- 



