Harpoons, Lances, Guns, and Boats 243 



the proper instant to shoot; and the master of 

 the Eliza stood amidships, also with gun in hand. 

 It was only for an instant that we saw the whale 

 as we steamed past at a high rate of speed. But 

 the captains were alert. There were two loud 

 reports that almost deafened us, and that made 

 the boat tremble from stem to stern. The whale 

 gave a sweep of his flukes through the air as the 

 bombs exploded, and rolled over dead." 



Captain Cogan, who carried out this boat, 

 in his report regarding its work the first year, 

 said that it was "used to advantage towing boats 

 to windward and towing whales to ship in light 

 winds. Found her most useful in chasing wounded 

 whales that got loose. It is hard for a whale 

 to get away from her in open water, and she always 

 got fast second boat. We used the darting gun, 

 hand lance, and bomb lances. We got two whales 

 with her, and saved one wounded whale that we 

 would have lost if we did not have her. . . . 

 Used properly, one steam launch is a big advan- 

 tage to a ship." 



