HUNTING THE NARWHAL AND THE WHALE. 237 



ship, after a long spell of rest and watching, can have no idea 

 of the wonderful effect it produces, like an electric blow, upon 

 officers and crew. " There she blows !" the word passes 

 from lip to lip " Where, where !" " On the lee-bow, nearly 

 ahead;" and the men fly to their boats ; the boat header takes 

 the steering oar till his boat comes "fast," the boat-steerer 

 stands with the iron (harpoon) in the bow of the boat to have 

 the first throw. " There she blows again," not a cable's 

 length from the vessel, and five or six spouts are seen in quick 

 succession ; the monstrous fish, unconscious of any danger, 

 playing and chasing each other in the slowly heaving waves. 

 Down the boats go, as quickly and noiselessly as possible, the 

 officers get into them, some of the men scramble in after 

 them, the broad sail of the little craft flies up, the wind catches 

 it, and away the sharply-cut boat dashes through and over 

 the foaming waters, followed by the second, third, fourth, all 

 eager to come up with some of their blowing and splashing 

 victims. 



In former times sailing up to a whale in a boat was thought 

 a very dangerous and daring feat, because they were not 

 able to run back again quickly enough, after the whale was 

 struck ; but in later times, when the whales have become, 

 like all other game, much more shy and wild, whalers find 

 pulling up to a fish much too slow and uncertain work to be 

 very profitable, and nearly all the fishermen, and principally 

 the Americans, sail with their boats up to the fish, strike 

 their irons into them, if they get a chance, and try to get 

 away afterwards in the best way they can. 



"We could make nothing of the first whales we saw, for they 

 ran too fast to be overtaken by the boats, and though two 

 came very nearly within striking distance, they got off, at 

 last, unharmed. Our captain, however, an old whaler, liked 

 the look of the water here, and running under, shortened sail 

 half the night on the old course we tacked about midnight, 

 to be in the morning as nearly as possible on the same spot 



