1 00 PROCEEDINGS IN 



reach the haunts of the whale, the crew must be 

 every moment on the alert, keeping watch day and 

 night. The boats, hanging over the ship's side, are 

 ready to be launched in an instant ; and when the 

 state of the sea admits, one of them is usually 

 manned and afloat. The officer in the crow's nest 

 surveys the waters to a great distance, and the 

 instant he perceives a whale he gives notice to the 

 watch on deck, some of whom start instantly with 

 the first boat, which is immediately followed by a 

 second. Each of the boats has a harpooner and 

 other subordinate officers ; and is provided with an 

 immense quantity of rope, carefully coiled and 

 stowed in different parts of the boat, the different 

 parts being spliced together, so as to form a con- 

 tinued line usually exceeding 4000 feet in length. 

 To the end is attached the harpoon. The boat is 



now rowed towards the whale with the greatest 

 possible speed, in the deepest silence, cautiously 

 avoiding giving alarm : sometimes a circuitous route 

 is adopted in order to approach it from behind. 

 Having reached within a few yards, the harpooner 

 darts his instrument into the giant, who in the 

 surprise and agony of the moment makes a convul- 

 sive effort to escape. This is the moment of danger, 

 for the boat is exposed to the most violent blows of 

 the whale's head or fins, and still more of its tail, 

 which sometimes sweeps the air with such tre- 



