CHAP. II.] WHALES AND WHALERS. 51 



Whales have been known to yield twelve or thirteen 

 tuns ; but I have been told that so large a quantity 

 is now very rarely obtained, from the great decrease 

 of the whales. A whale which yields nine tuns is 

 at present regarded as a very good one. 



The tongue was of a white or ash colour, blackish 

 towards the root. This organ gave several barrels 

 of oil, and is a monopoly of the " tonguer," or 

 " cutter-in." The latter operation is performed in 

 Te-awa-iti near the shores, where by means of a 

 windlass the whale is raised to the surface of the 

 water under a scaffold called the " shears." The 

 blubber is cut off in square pieces by means of a 

 sharp spade ; it is then carried to the shore, and 

 immediately put into the trying-pots. The "cutting- 

 up" of a whale, secundum artem, is a process which 

 requires great proficiency, like that of the skilful 

 dissector, who separates the cutis, and with it at 

 once all fat and cellular tissue, from the subjacent 

 muscles. In the whale the blubber is to be re- 

 garded as the cutis, in the cellular structure of 

 which the oily matter has been deposited. Shortly 

 after the death of the fish the epidermis comes off' in 

 large pieces, looking like oiled and dried satin. 



As soon as the process of cutting was over, the 

 natives, who had come with their canoes from the 

 Sound, cut off large pieces of the flesh, which they 

 carried off to feast upon. They also fished in the 

 evening for sharks, and a curious gelatinous fish, 

 which fastened in numbers on the sunken carcase, 



E 2 



