HARPOONS. 323 



and the iron frame, before spoken of, has the mouth of the 

 bag laced to it and forms its mouth. The handle of the 

 dredge is made up of two stout iron rods firmly welded to 

 the narrow ends of the frame, and joined together at a 

 distance of three feet or more, according to the size of 

 the dredge, and at this point of junction the rope by 

 which the dredge is towed is made fast. The free end of 

 the bag is usually fastened to a stout piece of wood 

 which, placed across it, gives a convenient hold when the 

 contents of the dredge are to be shaken out. Very little 

 skill is required for working the dredge, but some care must 

 be taken to ensure its falling on the ground with the scraper 

 underneath, or it will not work. This difficulty has been 

 got over in the improved dredges, first used by naturalists, 

 by putting a scraper on both sides of the mouth, but such 

 a plan is not so well adapted to the large oyster dredges 

 in use in deep water, as the double scraper, fitted for 

 working properly on whichever side it falls, requires the 

 whole bag to be made of iron ring-net, and adds much to 

 the labour of handling it. From one to six dredges are 

 used at once according to the size and power of the boat. 

 The quantity of tow-rope allowed to the dredge is such as 

 may be necessary, according to the depth of water, to 

 keep the scraper at the proper angle for working over the 

 ground. 



HARPOONS. 



Although whales do not properly come under the head 

 of "fish," being warm-blooded, air-breathing mammals, 

 they are so commonly spoken of under that name, and 

 their pursuit is so entirely a sea-going business, that a 

 short notice of the instruments used in their capture may 



be expected. The narratives of Scoresby and others have 



Y 2 



