CETACEANS. 199 



line is passed over the logger-head at the stern, and 

 thence forward, over the oars, to be fastened to the 

 harpoons in the bow; about fifteen fathoms, termed 

 " box-line," being kept coiled in the head, or box, of 

 the boat, to accompany the harpoon when it is first 

 darted. At the spot where the box-line commences, 

 a mark, commonly a piece of red cloth, is attached, 

 to enable the whaler to judge at what distance the 

 boat may be from the harpoon, and consequently from 

 the whale, when the sea is turbid with blood. 



The line is connected with two harpoons. To the 

 one first employed it is fastened in a firm and perma- 

 nent manner; while to the second, which may be 

 optionally used, it is connected by a provisional knot, 

 which leaves it free from the harpoon, unless the 

 weapon is darted, and the tye completed by the strain 

 then brought upon it ; hence, great danger is incurred 

 by darting the second harpoon before the first, as 

 the other must inevitably follow, and is always taken 

 out in a rapid and irregular manner, at the risk of 

 seriously injuring the crew. When the line is taken 

 out rapidly, the friction will sometimes produce a deep 

 and charred groove on the logger-head ; but ignition is 

 generally guarded against by pouring water into the 

 line-tubs. 



Whale-lines manufactured from cotton, Manilla hemp, 

 and New Zealand flax, have been experimented upon 

 in this fishery ; but, with the exception of those pre- 

 pared from Manilla hemp, none have been found 

 eligible as substitutes for the line in common use. 



The harpoon used by South-Seamen, is three feet in 

 length, of the ordinary arrow form, and made of the 

 finest wrought iron. It is fixed by its socket to a rough 

 and heavy pole, (usually a branch of oak or iron- 



