Northern Whales and Whaling. 199 



are equipped with swivel harpoon guns, the same as the first boat sent 

 out. When the whale has been secured by four or five harpoons, 

 and when he has " flurried," and not until then, the lancers approach 

 him. The whale " flurries " soon after being harpooned, or by the 

 time he has been fastened by two or three lines. 



I cannot very well describe a " flurry," having never seen one ; 

 but it is a flurry with a vengeance. The whale becomes alarmed, 

 excited, and loses his head, and in this condition he blows and tears 

 round in indescribable fury, lashing the water with his tail, and 

 rendering approach to him exceedingly dangerous. All keep their 

 distance, so to speak, during the " flurry ; " but this exhibition of 

 power is generally succeeded by a calm, in which the victim is said 

 to be getting sick. He comes often to the surface, and remains 

 partly out of the water for several minutes each time. The boats 

 approach closer and closer, near the forward fin. so as to avoid his 

 tail, and with hand lances — lances on poles about ten feet long — 

 pierce his sides. Sometimes he is fired into with " exploding bomb 

 lances," which, after piercing his flesh some two feet, explode inside, 

 making great havoc with his vital parts. 



Under this treatment he soon begins to blow blood, which is a 

 most wonderful spectacle. But there is no mercy for the whale. 

 He is lanced and pierced and butchered until he turns himself over, 

 in a sort of death act, and yields himself up to his captors. The 

 men with knives make holes through his tail and lower lip, and 

 fasten lines thereto, when another signal is given for the approach 

 of the ship, which presses hurriedly towards them. No matter how 

 long and arduous the men have worked, or how cold and exhausted 

 they have become, they are all jolly now, and, holding on to their 

 prize, they while the minutes away, until the vessel arrives, by 

 sinking some of their favourite sonsfs, such as : — 



" Whiskey is the life of man, 



Whiskey — Johnny — 

 We'll drink whiskey while we can, 



Whiskey for my Johnny. 

 Whiskey knocked my old dad down, 



Whiskey— Johnny — 

 Whiskey cost me many a crown, 



Whiskey for my Johnny." 



