216 The Story of the New England Whalers 



hitting one of the boats with the gun-thrown 

 harpoon were greater than the chances of hitting 

 the whale. The gun was therefore soon dis- 

 carded, and when in 1771 and 1772 it was tried 

 again, it proved as unpopular as before. 



In the nineteenth century the swivel gun for 

 throwing a harpoon was again offered to the 

 whalers. N ties' Register of May 24, 1817, men- 

 tions the use of such a gun by the whalers of 

 Bermuda. A British gunmaker named Greener 

 and a Norway inventor named Svend Foyn 

 made guns that were mounted on the bows of 

 whale boats in such a way that they could be 

 pointed in any direction speedily. Greener's 

 first guns had the old flint-locks. Foyn added 

 an explosive bomb to his harpoon, and it was 

 arranged so that it would explode after it had 

 penetrated the whale and not before. 



The harpoon for use in a gun is made entirely 

 of metal. The end of the handle is a disk that 

 fits in the bore of the gun resting on the powder 

 charge. The handle is in two parallel parts, and 

 a ring, to which the harpoon line is attached, 

 slides freely to and fro in the slot thus formed. 



