MAMMALS. 659 



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the bow-oar being called the ' boat-steerer,' though the mate steers until 

 the whale is struck. On starting out, everything is properly arranged. 

 The line is coiled up in the tub, the end extending forward over the oars 

 to the bow, where it is fastened to a harpoon. Each boat is rowed as fast 

 as possible ; for there is no little rivalry between the various boats' crews 

 as to which shall first strike the whale. As they draw near, the speed is 

 slackened, and perfect quiet reigns ; for there is danger of alarming the 

 whale before there is a chance to throw the harpoon. At last the mate 

 gives the command, the boat-steerer jumps up, and with all his might 

 •darts the harpoon into the body of the monster before him. Now is the 

 time of excitement. Instantly the command is " stern all," the object 

 being to get out of reach of the flukes of the animal, which are lash- 

 ing the water into a foam, and which would break in the sides of a boat 

 as quickly as if it were made of paper. The mate and the boat-steerer 

 now change places ; for the mate attends to the lancing and killing of 

 the whale. 



The tactics of the whale vary with different individuals : sometimes they 

 lie still upon being struck, so that the mate can at once dart in the lance 

 and touch some vital point ; sometimes they start straight off, dragging the 

 line so swiftly that it smokes as it runs through the brass grooves, and 

 water has to be poured on to keep it from burning. Woe be to any luck- 

 less individual who should get caught in the coils as they run out. Again 

 the whale ' sounds,' or descends to great depths, and then the endeavor is 

 to check the descent as much as possible by grasping it with nippers ; but 

 in this great care must be exercised, or the boat itself will be drawn under 

 water ; then the line has to be cut. 



Sooner or later the whale becomes exhausted, and the boats row to it 

 as it lies upon the surface, and the fatal lance is plunged in and churned 

 again and again, until finally the huge animal dies. Within recent years 

 the old-fashioned harpoons have largely given way to murderous bomb- 

 lances — large cartridges which are thrown by hand or are shot from a gun, 

 and which explode inside the victim. It is only with these that the sul- 

 phur-bottoms and the fin-backs can be successfully pursued. In the case of 

 the latter, which sink when they die, a harpoon is thrown at the same time 

 as the bomb, and to this is attached a long line and a float, the object of 

 which is to show the position of the corpse beneath, which will rise in a 

 few days, swollen by the gases caused by decomposition — a time anx- 

 iously waited for by the captain and crew. 



After the whale is killed, it is towed to the ship, or the latter sails 

 to the prize. Then the body is fastened by chains so that it can be 

 easily handled, and with knives and spades the blubber is taken off and 



