O F T H E W H A L E. 213 



that feveral boats were towing along, and drag it from among them to the 

 bottom. 



But of all the enemies of thefe enormous filhes, man is the greateftj 

 he alone deftroys more in a year than the reft in an age, and adlually has 

 thinned their numbers in that part of the world where they are chiefly 

 fought. The European fhips, foon af:er the improvement of navigation, 

 found the way into thofe feas ; and as early as the beginning of the four- 

 teenth century, the Bifcayners were in pofTcflion of a very confiderable 

 trade to the coaft of Greenland. The Dutch and the Englifh followed 

 them thither, and foon took that branch of commerce out of their hands. 

 At prefenr, the quantity of filh are fo greatly reduced, by conftant cap- 

 ture for fuch 2 vaft length of time, that we crofs the line, and voyage 

 to the South Pole, for what we ufed to find in the North. 



When arrived at the part where the whales are expefted, the fhips always 

 keep their fails fet; and a failor is placed at the maft-head, to give informa- 

 tion when he fpies a whale. As foon as he difcovers one, the whole crew are 

 inftantly in employment : they fit out their boats, and row to where the 

 * "whale was feen. The harpooner, who is to ftrike the fifh, ftands at the 

 prow of the boat, with an harpoon or javelin in his hand, five or fix feet 

 long, pointed with fleel like the barb of an arrow, of a triangular fhape. 

 As this perfon's place is that of the greatefl dexterity, fo alfo it is of the 

 greateft danger: the whale fometimes overturns the boat with a blow 

 of its tail, and fometimes drives againft it with fury. In general, however, 

 the animal feems to fleep on the furface of the water; while the boat ap- 

 proaching, the harpooner fi;ands aloft, and, with his harpoon tied to a 

 cord of feveral hundred fathom length, darts it into the animal, and then 

 rows as fall: as poffible away. It is lome tim.e before the whale feems to 

 feel the blow ; the inftrument has ufually pierced no deeper than the fat ; 

 and, that being infenfible, the animal continues for a while motionlefs : 

 but foon roufed from its feeming lethargy, as the fhaft continues to 

 pierce deeper and deeper into the mufcular flefh, it flies off^ with amazing 

 rapidity. In the mean time, the harpoon ft:icks in its fide; while the 

 rope, which is coiled up in the boat, and runs upon a fwivel, lengthens 

 as the whale recedes, but ftill fhews the part of the deep to which it has 

 retreated. This cord is coiled with great care : for fuch is the rapidity 

 with which it runs ofi^, that if it was but the leaft checked, as it follows the 

 animal's retreat, it would infallibly overfet the boar, and the crew would 

 go to the bottom. It fometimes happens alfo, that the rapidity with 

 which it runs ov^r the fwivel at the edge of the boat, heats it, and it 



would 



