WHALE FISHERY OF NEW ENGLAND 39 



(Figure 1), shown on the preceding page; another had two barbs 

 (Figure 2); and the third was the "toggle iron" (Figure 3), which has 

 already been described. The edges were sharpened like a razor and 

 were protected by a wooden cover when not in use. They were so 

 sharp that Melville in "Moby Dick" describes his whaling hero, Quee- 

 queg, as shaving with one. The lance (Figure 4) which was used after 

 the harpoon had been driven in "to the hitches," or its entire length, 

 resembled a flat spoon, and was very sharp on the edges and on the 

 point. The long line was attached to the harpoon, and shorter lines, 

 called "monkey ropes," were made fast to the lances. 



It has been shown by the records of one James Durbee, a veteran 

 harpoon maker of New Bedford, that between the years 1828 and 1868 

 he made and sold 58,517 harpoons, and he was only one of eight or 

 ten manufacturers of whaling implements in that one port. 



An interesting and authentic anecdote of a lost harpoon describes 

 how a Captain Paddock in 1802 struck a whale, which escaped with his 

 iron, and in 1815, thirteen years later, the same captain killed the same 

 whale and recovered his lost weapon. 



A whaler is supplied with from four to seven whaleboats, three of 

 which are usually on the port side, one on the starboard side near the 

 stern, and the rest are on deck; it was the improved early canoe, sharp 

 at both ends so as to make a dash at the whale and then be able to 

 retreat just as easily. The floor was very flat so as to enable the boat 

 to be turned quickly in order to dodge a sudden movement of the whale. 

 The boat was about twenty-eight feet long, was equipped with one long 

 steering oar and five rowing oars, and a sail which was occasionally 

 used; also paddles were sometimes resorted to in order to avoid noise. 

 In the bow of the boat two seven-foot harpoons were placed ready 

 for use. A warp was securely fastened to them, and to this warp 

 was secured, after the boat was lowered, a line of two or three hun- 

 dred fathoms of the best manila two-thirds of an inch in diameter, 

 and with a tensile strength of about three tons. It ran from the 

 harpoons through a chock or groove in the bow to a coil in a de- 

 pressed box near by, and then lengthwise along the boat to the stout 

 loggerhead or post in the stern, around which it made a turn or 

 two, and then went forward to the line tub near the tub oarsman. Its 

 twelve or eighteen hundred feet of line were coiled in this tub, with 

 every possible precaution to prevent fouling in the outrun. When 

 the rope was coiled and the tub was covered, it was said to resemble 

 a Christmas cake ready to present to the whales. The loggerhead was 

 for snubbing and managing the line as it ran out. A spare line was 

 carried in another tub. A boat was also supplied with extra harpoons, 

 lances, spades, hatchet with which to cut the line if necessary, lanterns, 

 box of food, keg of water, and compass, weighing, all complete, about 

 twelve hundred pounds. 



