Work of the Fighting Whales 295 



it would not heed the approach of the ship. Never- 

 theless, as soon as he saw the ship coming (it 

 was when she was about three hundred feet away) 

 the whale turned on its side and made for the 

 ship, with its mouth open, as is the habit of the 

 species in making an attack. The whale struck 

 the vessel on the bluff of the bow, knocking off 

 the cutwater. The ship trembled from stem 

 to stern, and so great was the concussion that 

 many articles on board, such as crockery and 

 glassware, were dislodged from the places where 

 they were usually kept. As the whale crossed 

 the bow two hand lances and a bomb were thrown 

 into it. The vessel was headed for the whale 

 the second time, but it kept off. All this time 

 the two tow lines and a portion of the stove boat 

 were fastened to the whale, the lines being en- 

 tangled about its body. Captain Malloy with 

 a picked crew finally approached the whale and 

 killed it after a desperate battle of twelve hours. 

 (The Whale Fishery.} 



Starbuck says that thirty-one bombs were 

 fired into this whale before it was killed. It 

 yielded 115 barrels of oil. 



