Harpoons, Lances, Guns, and Boats 213 



Templeman Brown, "that has come under my 

 observation when an officer actually unjointed 

 the flukes by a tremendous and well-directed 

 blow of the spade. The whale was in a favor- 

 able position, the uplifted flukes producing a 

 tension, and the caudal fin, though still con- 

 nected, hung to one side/' 



"Spading flukes is one of the lost arts of the 

 fishery," he continues. " We should naturally 

 think that it would be far preferable to stand 

 off at a safe distance and kill the huge floundering 

 cetacean with an explosive lance fired from a 

 gun. . . . Not so with the broad-chested, white- 

 haired whalemen of the old school, who regard 

 the modern gun as a travesty upon their fore- 

 fathers." 



The warp in the early days was made of fine 

 hemp, but in modern days the manila fibre 

 has been preferred, because it is at once stronger 

 and more pliable. Says Melville: 



"The whale line is only two-thirds of an inch 

 in thickness. By experiment its 150 yarns will 

 each sustain a weight of 120 pounds; so that 

 the whole rope will bear a strain nearly equal 

 to three tons." 



