94 HISTORY OF THE WHALE. 



jump from their beds, rush upon deck with their clothes 

 tied in a string in their hands, and crowd into the boats. 

 With a temperature at zero, should a fall occur, the crew 

 would appear on deck, covered only with their under gar- 

 ments, in the anticipation of dressing themselves, in part 

 at least, as the boats are lowered down, though sometimes 

 they are disappointed, and cannot get the process accom- 

 plished for a length of time afterwards. 



The first and usual effort of \heflat-fish is to escape from 

 the boat by sinking under water, plunging with rapid flight 

 under some neighboring mountain of ice, or into the deep 

 abyss. When fleeing from his pursuers, and then darting 

 at the rate of eight or ten miles an hour, the greatest care 

 must be used, that the line to which the harpoon is attach- 

 ed may run off readily along with him. Should it be en- 

 tangled for a moment, the whale would draw the boat be- 

 neath the waves. Sometimes, however, to retard its mo- 

 tion, it is usual for the harpooner to cast one or more turns 

 of the line round a kind of post, called the bollard, which 

 is fixed near the stern of the boat for the purpose ; and 

 such is the friction of the line, when running round the bol- 

 lard, that it frequently envelopes the harpooner in smoke ; 

 and if the wood were not repeatedly wetted, it would set 

 fire to the boat. Notwithstanding this manoeuvre, the line 

 is often run out in eight or ten minutes ; its end is then at- 

 tached to the lines of the next boat, and even those of a 

 third are sometimes put into requisition. When the crew 

 of a boat see there is a prospect of their own store being 

 exhausted, they hold up one, two, three, or more oars, ac- 

 cording to the urgency of the required aid ; for if none ar- 

 rives, there is l only one resource left, which is to cut the 

 line, and thus lose it, fish and all. 



The period during which a wounded whale remains 

 under water is various, but, on an average, may be stated 

 at half an hour. It is sometimes an hour, and more rarely 



