Sketches Afloat with the Whalers 257 



shot up into the wind, rubbing sides as she did so 

 with what, to my troubled sight, seemed an enor- 

 mous mass of black india rubber floating." 



The whale up tail and sounded. The men 

 made haste to take down the mast with its sails 

 and stow the bundle aft by sticking the heel of 

 the mast under the afterthwart and allowing two- 

 thirds of the bundle to project beyond the stern 

 of the boat. The mate went forward and the 

 harpooner came aft and took up the steering oar, 

 thus becoming the boat steerer and earning the 

 name by which he was known on the ship. 



As the line ran out, the boat steerer threw turns 

 around the post standing in the stern until the 

 strain made the bow of the boat plunge down 

 to the water's edge while the stern rose high. It 

 was in this manner that whales were usually 

 struck. 



The custom under which the boat steerer struck 

 the whale and then went aft, while the mate went 

 forward to lance the whale, seemed to be foolish 

 and dangerous to Herman Melville. He thought 

 the mate should both strike and lance the whale. 

 As the whalers saw the matter, however, the most 



