18 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NOKTH ATLANTIC. 



a barrel at a time, and to the height of two lances ; and from this water which it 

 spouts up, they judge how much oil it will probably yield. There are some from 

 which as much as 120 (six vingts) barrels may be obtained, from others less. 



" On seeing this huge fish, they embark promptly in their boats and by force of 

 oars or wind, go as close as they may. Seeing the whale between two waves, at 

 the same instant the harpooner is at the front of the boat with a harpoon, which is 

 an iron 2 feet long and one half broad at the wings, hafted on a staff the length 

 of a half-pike, at the middle of which there is a groove where the line is attached ; 

 and as soon as the harpooner sees his chance, he throws his harpoon at the whale, 

 the same entering well forward. As soon as it (the whale) feels itself wounded, it 

 goes to the bottom. And if by chance on returning a number of times, it assaults 

 the boat or the men with its tail, it shatters them like a glass. 



"This is all the risk they run of being killed in harpooning it. But as soon as 

 they have cast the harpoon, they let their line run out, till the whale is at the 

 bottom ; and sometimes as it does not go down directly, it tows the boat more than 

 eight or nine leagues, and goes as fast as a horse, and the men are very often com- 

 pelled to cut their line, fearing that the whale may drag them under the water. 

 But when it goes directly to the bottom it remains there a little time & then 

 returns quietly to the surface ; and as fast as it rises, they take in their line little 

 by little, and then when it is on top they place two or three boats around it with 

 their lances, with which they give it many thrusts ; and feeling itself struck the 

 whale descends directly below the surface, losing blood & becoming enfeebled in 

 such a manner that it has no more strength nor vitality, and coming again to the 

 surface, they succeed in killing it. When it is dead, it does not go down to the 

 bottom again ; and then they fasten to it good ropes and tow it ashore, in the place 

 where they have their try works (degraf), which is the place where they boil the 

 blubber of the whale in order to extract the oil. 



"Such is the manner in which they fish and not by shooting with guns, as 

 many think, as I have said above." 1 



This is repeated from Les Voyages du Sieur de Champlain, Paris, 1613, p. 226 

 (Laverdiere, CEuvres de Champlain, 2d ed., 3, 1870, p. 374), where it occurs in 

 connection with the voyage from Tadoussac to France in 1610; but in the latter 

 place it is introduced thus : 



"On the 13* of the said month we departed from Tadoussac, and arrived at 

 the Isle Percee the next day, where we found a number of vessels engaged in the 

 fishery for dry and fresh fish. 



"On the IS'! 1 of the said month we departed from Isle Percee and passed along 

 the 42? parallel of latitude without having any knowledge of the great bank where 

 the fishery for fresh fish is carried on, for the said place is too narrow on this 

 parallel. 



"Being half across, we ran into a whale which was asleep and the vessel pass- 

 ing above it made a very large opening in it near the tail, which caused it immedi- 

 ately to wake (without our vessel being damaged) and shed a great amount of 

 blood. 



"It seems to me not inappropriate to give here a brief description of the whale 

 fishery," etc. 



1 LAVERDIERE, GEuvres de Champlain, 2d ed., 5, 1870, pp. 835-837. This is Chapter XII in 

 Les Voyages de la Nouvelle France Occidentale, dicte Canada, fails par le Sr. de Champlain. Paris, 

 1632. 



