204 The Story of the New England Whalers 



better than the weapons used by the aborigines, 

 chiefly because made of better materials; the 

 form was not materially better. The civilized 

 weapons were, in fact, evolved from those used 

 by the aborigines. 



The white men also used the aboriginal drag 

 on certain occasions. When the whale sounded 

 so deep that it was necessary to let go of the line, 

 a drag (called "drug," usually) was attached 

 to the end of it to impede, as far as possible, 

 the progress of the whale. Indeed, at times 

 "drugs" have been fastened to the line at inter- 

 vals as it was running out. These drags were 

 made of heavy plank. 



Even in the use of the bow and arrow some of 

 the white whalers have followed the aborigines. 

 A letter from Captain Neils Juel, a whaler of 

 Bergen, Norway, to Professor Spencer F. Baird 

 (September 22, 1884), speaks of "the manner 

 in which the fishermen" of Norway "kill the 

 whale by means of arrows and cross-bow." 

 "When a whale enters a bay," he says, "the 

 passage is barred with a strong net and the whale 

 is shot. They let him go for two or three days 



