170 NIMROD OF THE SEA; OR, 



eye, and show the visual angle. It is seen that a considera- 

 ble space in front and a greater field behind is obscured. 

 A boat is represented as crossing the corner of the flukes in 

 act of going on to fasten. It is necessarily invisible to the 

 whale, and remains so, until the stern is thrown around to 

 bring the boat at a right angle with the whale (the position 

 in which the harpoon is darted), and the order to back im- 

 mediately given, so as to avoid the blow of the tail. The 

 whale may now see the stern of the boat, but it is too late. 

 The iron seldom fails to reach him, in spite of any movement 

 he can make, except the most mysterious one of settling 

 away, which will be described hereafter. In Fig. 1 the belly 

 of the whale is shown, and the narrow under jaw, as closed 

 into its close-fitting groove. The eye is just forward of the 

 fins, which are a little beneath the greatest swell of the side, 

 and almost on the belly. The two slits on either side of 

 the genital organ represent the -place of the dugs or teats, 

 by which it nourishes its young. The anus is placed back of 

 these. Fig. 2 also shows the back of the whale, and the 

 square form of the forehead ; the position of the spout-hole, 

 a little to the left of the centre ; the hump, and the smaller 

 hump, which undulate the upper edge-line of the small, the 

 position of the flukes, and a boat passing (a) within the vis- 

 ual ray. Fig. 3 shows the general outline of the whale as it 

 floats in the water ; the lower jaw is dropped as in feeding, 

 or in attacking a boat. The teeth and the sockets are exag- 

 gerated in size necessarily. The dotted lines show the lines 

 followed in dissection; a is the case; b the junk; d e the 

 line of severing the head, the spiral line, and the line of the 

 blanket-cuts. 9 



There have been lately published by Benjamin Russell, of 

 New Bedford, two illustrations representing both the sperm 

 and right whale-fishing, which gives an accurate idea of the 

 general features of the business, both in the boats and on 



