188 The Story of the New England Whalers 



"An officer of a boat never follows the wake 

 of a right whale, for the moment the boat strikes 

 the 'suds' it is maintained that the whale is 

 immediately made acquainted with the fact 

 through some unknown agency and will be gallied 

 without fail, and soon widen the distance between 

 itself and the crew." 



Frank Bullen (Cruise of the Cachelot), in de- 

 scribing the pursuit of the first whale (a sperm) 

 struck by the boat in which he pulled, says that 

 as they approached the whale the boat was sud- 

 denly stopped and allowed to drift. 



"Now what's the matter, I thought, when to 

 my amazement the chief, addressing me, said: 

 'Wonder why we've hauled up, don't ye ?' 'Yes, 

 sir, I do/ said I. 'Wall,' said he, 'the fish hev 

 sounded, and ef we run over 'em we've seen the 

 last ov 'em.'" 



Curiously interesting is the ability of whales 

 to sink swiftly at will. When the whalers ap- 

 proach a whale they drive their boat in forward 

 of the flukes until it lies "wood to blackskin," 

 in contact, or nearly so. As the boat is about 

 to strike the whale the harpooner throws his 



