142 NIMMOD OF THE SEA; OR, 



apparently had an urgent call to windward, and hurried up 

 to keep his engagement, we following him warily. A curi- 

 ous incident occurred in the chase. In turning, the whale 

 ran across the line in such way as to bring it into his mouth; 

 he closed on it, and held on until he turned " fin out." 



Having him thus bridled, it was easy work to haul the 

 boat well forvyard on his life ; and thus, side by side, boat 

 and whale almost touching, we had a splendid brush to 

 windward, the captain busily prodding with the long lance 

 for the brute's life. At length a side roll, intended to bring 

 the massive jaw in play, laid bare the vital spgt; in went 

 the slender lance five feet deep, clean to the socket; and 

 "churning" the weapon backward and forward without 

 withdrawing it, the old man continued cutting desperately 

 the vitals of the agonized monster. In vain the writhing ! 

 The great flukes went into the air ; we were safely forward 

 of them ; and stab after stab fiercely followed, until the next 

 spout, which, with a wild yell, we saw was thick blood a 

 fountain, twelve inches diameter, of bright red blood, " thick 

 as tar," as the captain said. At one time the fellow's poor 

 sightless nose crossed the boat, and with a deep, horrible 

 gurgling, the sickened giant spouted across the boat, send- 

 ing ruby spray over the naked heads and arms of the crew. 

 Horrible ! It poured scalding hot down my open breast, 

 and, envenomed with rage, it seemed to blister and rasp the 

 skin away in its lava-like course. 



The manner of riding alongside a running whale is thus : 

 having hauled as well forward as the position of the har- 

 poon will admit, the boat-header reaches over the bows, 

 and, taking hold of the line forward of the chocks, brings 

 it around outside the boat, then giving it into the hands of 

 the bow-oarsman, who has faced forward on his thwart. 

 Now, as the man hauls on the line, the direction of strain is 

 oblique, well back on the bow, and the course of the boat 



