174 SOUTH SEA FISHERY. 



on an axis till nearly the whole blubber is strip t off. 

 To show how this process is conducted, and as ex- 

 hibiting a faithful outline, taken hy measurement, of 

 a young individual of this genus, we refer to the 

 accompanying cut copied from a sketch of Colnett's. 



The tackles are hooked at D ; a, a, a, are spiral stripes suc- 

 cessively removed ; when removed as far as E, the carcase 

 will no longer " cant" in the tackles, and it is therefore cut 

 through at th line E, E, and also at G, G, the tail being of no 

 value. The compartment A shews the part of the head which 

 contains the liquid oil. Being suspended by the tackles, the 

 front part is cut off at 6, 6, and the oil baled out with 

 buckets. When the whale is small, the head is divided at 

 the line c', c', previous to its being hoisted on deck ; the space 

 between a', a', and c', c', also contains much oil. B is the 

 blow-hole ; H, the ear. 



The head matter when congealed is put into casks 

 in its crude state, and refined at the conclusion 

 of the voyage. The blubher, however, is reduced 

 into oil immediately in " try-works," with which 

 every ship is provided for the purpose. The cop- 

 pers in the try-works are two in number, and are 

 placed near the fore hatchway ; they are surrounded 

 with a casing of brick-work, which forms a cistern, 

 the water in which is changed every two hours so as 

 to defend the deck from injury. The fuel is the 

 blubber fritters, which produce a fierce fire. A large 



