122 VOYAGE INTO 



their bellies that their guts come out. If any man is en- 

 clined to sore eyes this vapour enflames them immediately, 

 as if quicklime was flung into them. But when the live 

 whales rise and swim again, some of them are astonished, 

 others wild or stark mad : to those that are wild we come 

 softly or gently from behind, as we do when we are going to 

 trapan them ; for when the wind is down, the weather calm, 

 and air serene, so that the sea doth not foam or roar, the 

 whales hear immediately the striking of the oars. 



If many small-ice sheets lay near to one another, so that we 

 cannot follow the whale with our sloops or long-boats, we 

 fetch in our line with all might and strength, and if Math one 

 or more pulls we can fetch out the harpoon it is well, if not 

 we chop off the rope or line. The whale is best and surest 

 struck with a harpoon when he spouts water, as is already 

 said above ; for we do observe, when they lye still and 

 very quiet, that they then listen, and are sometimes under 

 and sometimes above water, so that their back doth not quite 

 dry, and before we are aware of it he flings up his tail be- 

 hind out of the sea, and so bids us good buy. The lohales 

 may easily be caught when the air is very serene and clear 

 and the sea quiet, and where there float neither great nor 

 small ice-sheets, so that we may go in between them with our 

 boats or sloops to follow them; for at the ice-fields the xohales 

 do commonly lye and rub themselves at them, perhaps by 

 reason of the lice that bite them. Besides, against the ice- 

 sheets the sea beats, dashes, and foams, with small curling 

 waves, so that the whales do not observe nor mind the strik- 

 ing of the oars, and so they are easily struck with the har- 

 poon. It is very dangerous to kill a female, chiefly when 

 she is big with young, for they defend themselves very long, 

 and are harder to be kill'd than a male one. Oftentimes the 

 long-boats wait six or seven hours, nay, a whole day, for a 

 whale before they see one. 



Where great quantity of small ice is crowded together, 



