His CAPTORS. 85 



The Blubber-room. The Oily Blubber-boys. 



main hatch, between decks, capable of receiving 

 the blubber of two or three whales ; into this 

 every piece is lowered as it comes from the 

 whale: these are called " blanket pieces," and 

 some of them weigh one or two tons. As they 

 are piled one on another, the pressure of their 

 own weight, with the motion of the ship, which 

 is never at rest, causes the oil soon to exude, 

 and, mixing with the blood, more or less of which 

 comes in with each piece, the blubber-room soon 

 presents an indescribable mess. 



Into this odorous retreat it is the duty of one 

 man immediately to descend with a cutting- 

 spade, to commence cutting the " blanket pie- 

 ces" into " horse pieces ;" these are about a foot 

 square, and by means of a pike or fork, are 

 pitched up on deck for mincing, and taken to 

 the " mincing horse," a small table secured to 

 the rail of the ship, where a boy, with a short- 

 handled hook, holds the piece to keep it from 

 sliding, while the mincer, with a two-handled 

 knife, slashes it nearly through into thin slices, 

 which just hang together ; the piece then be- 

 comes a " book," and is pitched into a large 

 tub ready for boiling. 



A fire is now kindled in the arches under the 



