SPERM FISHERY. 191 



board : an extent of ten feet of the corresponding bul- 

 wark being adapted for temporary removal, to facilitate 

 that object. To the head of the mainmast are attached 

 the powerful pulleys (" cutting-blocks and falls") which 

 communicate with the windlass, and which are employed 

 to raise the blubber, during the flinching of a whale. But 

 the most conspicuous and peculiar object on the deck, 

 is the edifice called the " try-works/' and used for 

 boiling the oil. This is a square building, ten feet in 

 length by five in height, extending across the deck, a 

 short distance behind the foremast, and constructed of 

 firmly cemented bricks, and strengthened with iron. 

 Its summit is flat, and excavated for chimneys, as well 

 as for the reception of two iron cauldrons, or ce try- 

 pots," beneath each of which there are corresponding 

 furnaces. The entire fabric is based upon a cistern of 

 water ; and an additional sheathing yet further protects 

 the deck from the effects of intense heat. Each boiler, 

 or 4C try-pot, is large enough to contain one hundred 

 and thirty-six gallons of oil, and communicates, by a 

 spout, with a large copper cooler, placed on the corre- 

 sponding side of the works. This building, which is 

 erected on the deck previous to the ship leaving her 

 port, is retained only until the cargo is complete, or 

 whaling relinquished, when the whole is broken up. 



As a provision for taking care of the oil she may ob- 

 tain, each vessel is furnished with an ample supply of 

 casks, which, for the convenience of stowage, are of va- 

 rious sizes, from barracas to those containing 345 

 gallons, and which are the largest in use. Some of 

 these are kept in a disjointed state, or in "packs," 

 ready to be put together as occasion demands ; while 

 others are filled with fresh water, and serve as ballast to 

 the ship, and are the source of an unlimited supply of 

 the pure beverage, so essential to the crew during their 



