THE GIANTS OF LABRADOR. 155 



to diuner in a style tliat betokened something of a 

 festival. Every man had double rations, and there 

 vras grog galore. Presently pipes were lit, and there 

 were songs all over the vessel. It was a fine moon- 

 light night, and we enjoyed a fete which I shall 

 not easily forget. By midnight, every one was asleep, 

 except the watch. 



At length the dawn arose, and everybody was up 

 and busy at work with the cutting -up. Tackle was 

 rigged upon the end of the yardarms, and spades 

 distributed among the workers. A sailor got down 

 upon the floating whale and passed around his fins 

 a chain of differently sized links, which was after- 

 wards lashed to a pulley. Whilst this was going on 

 the whalers were all armed with spades fixed to long 

 handles, and set to work at the cutting-up. A huge 

 slice of blubber was dug out with a fin, and then the 

 body of the whale turned round in the water like a 

 bobbin which is being unwound. As soon as the 

 piece was raised to the height of the yardarm, it 

 Avas hooked to another apparatus below, and another 

 slice was cut and hauled. An extraordinary activity 

 pervaded the whole ship, and never ceased until the 

 whole body was stripped of its blubber. 



The next operation was to sever the head from 

 the trunk, and a number of men armed with axes 

 succeeded in separating a gigantic bone, and in so 

 dividing this portion of the carcase. The pulleys 

 were at once employed to haul the enormous jaws 



