522 MODERN SEA FISHING 



soft laid Europe (or tarred rope), especially manufactured for 

 the purpose. Manila hemp is used, and, I believe, the Americans 

 employ little else. The writer has used both sorts, but de- 

 cidedly prefers the tarred rope. In a cold climate Manila gets 

 very hard, and takes such turns and twists that it is very 

 troublesome to coil down after you have killed a fish ; indeed, 

 sometimes it has to go overboard and be towed to take the 

 turns out. A great deal of the American whaling is done in 

 warm climates, and it is also quite possible that we cannot get 

 the best Manila over here. Manila has one great advantage 

 viz. it is much lighter ; a two and a half inch tarred line 

 weighs about i cwt. i qr., whereas a Manila two and a half inch 

 weighs a little over i cwt. The writer does not know whether 

 there is any difference in strength between the two sorts. 



Each boat carries five lines, which are spliced together 

 either by a long or a short splice, whichever the skipper approves 

 of most. The advantage of a long splice is that it runs freer, 

 but some harpooneers maintain that it is more likely to draw, 

 and if it becomes necessary to cut lines, or separate them at 

 the end of the voyage, there is a great deal more waste. On 

 the whole, probably the short splice is the best, provided care 

 be taken that it is not left too big to run freely through the 

 score. In the centre of the boat is placed a box to hold part of 

 the lines and the remainder are flaked down in the stern sheets, 

 in a spot prepared for their reception with a painted canvas 

 cover to preserve them from the weather. 



We will now proceed to coil the lines in the boat. An eye 

 or loop is spliced on the first line, and a few fathoms of 

 the end of the line are left out of the box. This is called the 

 ' stray line,' and in the frequent event of a fish taking all the 

 lines from the boat to which she is fast, it is passed to another 

 boat, when the harpooneer of the loose boat, detaching his 

 harpoons, bends on the end of his lines to this eye. The har- 



