117 



DANGERS OF THE WHALE FISHERY. 



WE shall now proceed to describe the process of whale catching and 

 its pleasant accompaniments, in the words of Captain Scoresby. 

 " Whenever a whale lies on the surface of the water, unconscious of the 

 approach of its enemies, the hardy fisher rows directly towards it, and in 

 an instant, before the boat touches it, buries the harpoon in its back; the 

 wounded whale, in the surprise and agony of the moment, makes a 

 convulsive effort to escape ; this is the moment of danger. The boat is 

 subjected to the most violent blows from its head or its fins ; but 

 particularly from its ponderous tail, which sometimes sweeps the air 

 with such tremendous fury that boat and men are exposed to one 

 common destruction. The whale on being struck dives into the water 

 with great violence. It appears, from the line which it draws out, that it 

 goes down at the rate of eight or ten miles an hour. The moment that 

 the wounded whale disappears or leaves the boat, a jack or flag, elevated 

 on a staff, is displayed; on sight of which those on watch in the ship 

 give the alarm by stamping on the deck, accompanied by a simultaneous 

 and continued shout of ' a fall.' At the sound of this the sleeping crew 

 are roused, jump from their beds, rush upon deck with their clothes tied 

 by a string in their hands. The cry of ' a fall' has a singular effect on 

 the feelings of a sleeping person unaccustomed to the whale fishing 

 business, and has often been mistaken for a cry of distress. The 

 rapidity with which the line is drawn out by the whale occasions so 

 much friction as it passes over the edge of the boat, as frequently to 

 invelope the harpooner in smoke, and it is only by pouring water upon 

 the wood that it is prevented from catching fire. Frequently also, the 

 whole line in the first boat is run out before another has arrived. When 

 this result seems approaching, the crew raise first one oar and then 

 others, according to the exigency of the case. If the line at any time 

 runs foul and cannot be instantly cleared, it will draw the boat under 

 water, on which the only chance of the crew saving their lives is each to 

 catch hold of an oar and leap into the sea ; the utmost care is necessary 

 in the boat to avoid being entangled in the line as it is drawn out. Scoresby 

 relates a case, in which a man, having chanced to slip his foot through 

 a coil, the line drew him forward to the boat's stem, and then snapped 

 oft' his foot at the ankle. Another anecdote is related of a harpooner, 



