WHALING 5 1 5 



Owing to the position of the boat and a heavy piece of ice 

 which obstructs his view, the skipper cannot see what has 

 happened ; but hardly has the dull report of the harpoon gun 

 caught his ear than he sees over the ice the fast flag ' rise, and 

 a faint cry of ' A fall ! a fall ! ' comes over the water, taken up 

 by those on deck, and, rumbling down into the officers' quarters 

 and forecastle, gathers volume as the men bursting up from 

 below, many of them half dressed with their clothes tied in a 

 bundle snatched hastily from a hook especially provided for the 

 purpose alongside their bunks, rush to the five or six remaining 

 boats. Each man, as he reaches the deck, makes for the nearest 

 unoccupied seat or thwart, except the harpooneers, boat-steerers, 

 and line managers, who retain their position in any boat. 



In the meantime a harpooneer at the falls forward and a 

 boat steerer aft lower the boat into the water, dropping into 

 it the quickest way they can, often by sliding down the falls. 

 The falls are unhooked, and pulling two or three oars the scantily 

 dressed members of her crew struggle rapidly into their clothes. 

 Indeed, in an incredibly short time, probably less than three 

 minutes, every boat will be clear of the ship, and rowing to the 

 position assigned to it by the skipper in the crow's nest, who, 

 observing which way the fish is heading, will endeavour to so 

 place his boats that one of them shall be near the fish when 

 she rises. 



If there is any danger of the fish taking the whole of the 

 fast boat's lines (600 fathoms or 1,200 yards), which is not at all 

 an uncommon event, a signal is made by holding up an oar 



1 Each boat is supplied with a jack or fishing flag, which is kept flying until 

 the fish is either lost or killed. The ship has a similar flag, so that when a 

 number of ships are in company the crews can distinguish which ship's boats 

 are fast to the whale. As long as your harpoon is fast to the fish and you 

 have hold of the line it is your fish. If another ship's boat fastens your fish 

 under these circumstances, even though your harpoon draw afterwards, it is 

 still your fish. 



