Harpoons, Lances, Guns, and Boats 231 



whales, as well as other animals of the sea, in 

 order to secure them." The whale boat for this 

 machine was made longer than the ordinary one. 

 A "magneto-electric rotation machine" was pro- 

 vided to supply the current, and a wire from this 

 machine through the whale line to the harpoon 

 conveyed the current into the whale. Having 

 struck the whale with this harpoon, the boat's 

 crew were to grind away merrily on the machine 

 while it transmitted "eight tremendous shocks or 

 960 strokes per minute, so formidable a power 

 that no living being can resist the same." The 

 current was to return through the water, the 

 bottom of the boat being coppered to facilitate 

 the flow. 



Last of all to be described in connection with 

 the weapons is a reel used on the Norwegian 

 steam whale boats for "playing" a whale after it 

 has been struck with the harpoon that is fired 

 from a swivel gun. The harpoon line used there 

 is of soft hemp and about as thick as a man's 

 wrist. All of the line, except the necessary slack 

 that is coiled beside the gun, is wound on the 

 spool of a steam winch. When a whale is struck 



