DANGERS OF THE WHALE FISHERY. 119 



of the largest ships of the British Navy when manned, provisioned, and 

 fitted for a six month's cruise.'' 



A whale has been sometimes captured and killed in little more than a 

 quarter of an hour, and instances, on the other hand, have occurred in 

 which the contest has lasted from forty to fifty hours ; the average time 

 under all circumstances is from two to three hours. There is a remarkable 

 case related, of one vigorous whale who broke away from its pursuers 

 with a boat and twenty-eight lines of cord, the united length of which 

 was 6,720 yards, or upwards of three and a half English miles; he was 

 attacked again, and before he was captured he took the enormous 

 quantity of 10,440 yards of line, or nearly six miles. 



We have described the immense power in the tail of these monsters; 

 we shall now quote two remarkable instances of the exercise of this 

 tremendous organ. " A large whale harpooned from a boat of the 

 Kesolution of Whitby, became the subject of a general chase on the 

 23rd of June, 1809. Being myself in the first boat which approached the 

 fish, I struck my harpoon at arm's length, by which we fortunately evaded 

 a blow which appeared to be aimed at the boat. Another boat then 

 advanced, and another harpoon was struck, but not with the same result; 

 for the stroke was immediately returned by a tremendous blow from the 

 fish's tail. The boat was sunk by the shock, and at the same time 

 whirled round with such velocity that the boat-steerer was precipitated 

 into the water on the side next to the fish, and was accidentally carried 

 down to a considerable depth by its tail. After a minute or two he 

 arose to the surface of the water, and was taken up along with his com- 

 panions into my boat." In some instances the boat, instead of being 

 struck into the water, has met with the equally alarming fate of being 

 projected by a stroke of the powerful animal's head or tail. " Captain 

 Lyons, of the Eaith of Leith," says our author, "while prosecuting the 

 whale fishery on the coast of Labrador, in the season of 1802, discovered 

 a large whale at a short distance from the ship. Four boats were 

 dispatched in pursuit, and two of them succeeded in approaching it so 

 closely together that two harpoons were struck at the same moment. 

 The fish descended a few fathoms in the direction of another of the 

 boats, which was on the advance, rose accidentally beneath it, struck it 

 with its head, and threw the boatmen and apparatus about fifteen feet in 

 the air! It was inverted by the stroke, and fell into the water with 

 its keel upwards. All the people were picked up alive, except one man, 

 who got entangled in the boat, fell beneath it, and was unfortunately 

 drowned : the whale was afterwards killed/' The annals of the whale 



