106 PROCEEDINGS IN 



towards the ship. At four p. M., thirty -six hours 

 after it was struck, the ship again joined the boats, 

 when, by a successful manoeuvre, they secured two 

 of the fast lines on board. The wind was blowing 

 a moderately brisk breeze, and the sails were 

 lowered ; but notwithstanding the resistance a ship 

 thus situated must necessarily have offered, she was 

 towed by the fish directly to windward, with a 

 velocity of two knots, during an hour and a half; 

 and then, though the whale must have been greatly 

 exhausted, it beat the waters with its fins and tail 

 in so tremendous a way, that the sea around was 

 in a continual foam, and the most hardy of the 

 sailors scarcely dared to approach it. At length, 

 about eight p. M., after forty hours of almost inces- 

 sant exertion, this formidable enemy was slain. 



After a whale has been caught and secured at the 

 sides of the ship, the next operation is that of flensing 

 or securing the blubber and whalebone. This dis- 

 agreeble process can, with the whole strength of the 

 crew, be effected in about four hours. Each seaman 

 receives a dram, and some of the more important 

 personages receive two. The huge carcass is some- 

 what extended by strong tackles placed at the snout 

 and tail : a band of blubber two or three feet in 

 width, encircling the fish's body at what is the neck 

 in other animals, is called the kent, because by 

 means of it the fish is turned over or kented. To 

 this band is fixed the lower 'extremity of a combi- 

 nation of powerful blocks, called the bent-purchase, 

 by means of which, the whole circumference of the 



