154 SPORT IN NORTH AMERICA. 



part which corresponds with the lungs. As he did 

 this the boat was pushed off; for the death-struggles 

 of the monster, whose vents were now spouting 

 blood as an hour before they had spouted water, 

 were to be dreaded. The whale rolled his massive 

 bulk about and feebly defended the little life which 

 remained to hira. To hasten his end, the other boats 

 came up cautiously and attacked him with harpoons, 

 spears, and sharp spades, aiming chiefly at the tail, 

 where the larger blood-vessels lie. 



By a happy chance, no accident happened in 

 capturing this giant of Labrador. Sometimes it 

 happens that a whale-boat and all its crew will be 

 dragged by the monster to the bottom of the sea, 

 and at other times the boat will be thrown up into 

 the air by the whale rising immediately beneath it. 



At length, the whale breathed his last, as the 

 huzzas on board all the whale-boats informed us. 

 We replied lustily from the Jackson, which had ap- 

 proached the scene of the battle as close as possible. 

 And now another task commenced. The boats were 

 hoisted up into their places, and the ship was 

 brought alongside the whale, which was made fast by 

 a chain from the starboard quarter. The monster 

 was more than half the length of the vessel. The 

 sails were now brailed up by the captains' orders, 

 and two anchors cast. Next morning, the operation 

 of cutting-up was to take place. 



All the preparations being completed, we sat down 



