52 FISHES I HAVE KNOWN 



degree, her bow and stern almost alike, and with a 

 good sheer, her beam about a quarter of her length, 

 which I estimated at 120 feet, her rig that of a 

 barque, her masts set very closely together without 

 the slightest rake, and the bowsprit sticking up at 

 an angle of forty-five degrees. Her big topsails, 

 hanging loose to dry, and with four lines of reef- 

 points, were on single yards. 



Near the main royal masthead was the crow's 

 nest, not the barrel we are accustomed to see in 

 pictures of Arctic expeditions, but a small, double 

 platform secured to cross-trees, above which were 

 fixed two padded hoops, the height of a man's 

 waist, upon which the watcher could rest his arms, 

 and in the roughest sea stand and scan every acre 

 of water for miles around. 



Perfectly flush was the Susannah's deck, but in 

 the centre, between the fore and main masts, was 

 brickwork, looking like a sacrificial altar, whereon 

 were set two caldrons with lids, reminding one of 

 a Gargantuan kitchen. Beneath them were simply- 

 constructed furnaces, "jacketed" by water tanks 

 to prevent fire. A wooden hopper to hold the 

 raw blubber stood by the side of the furnaces. 

 Her rigging was, of course, hemp, the thick 

 shrouds being attached to very wide chain-plates 

 or channels. At her taffrail were queer wooden 



