94 THE WHALE AND 



The Race. The Agony. In at the Death. 



" The whale now ran, and took the line out of 

 the boat with such swiftness that we were 

 obliged to throw water on it to prevent its tak- 

 ing fire by friction around the loggerhead. 

 Then he stopped, and blindly thrashed and roll- 

 ed about in great agony, so that it seemed mad- 

 ness to approach him. By this time, however, 

 the captain came up and boldly darted another 

 harpoon into his writhing body. The enraged 

 whale raised his head above the water, snapped 

 his horrid jaws together, and in his senseless 

 fury lashed the sea into foam with his flukes. 

 The mate now, in his turn, approached near 

 enough to bury a lance deep in his vitals, and 

 shouted again, at the top of his voice, " Stern 

 all !" A thick stream of blood, instead of water, 

 was soon issuing from his spout-holes. An- 

 other lance was buried ; he was thrown into dy- 

 ing convulsions, and ran around in a circle ; 

 but his flurry was soon over ; he turned upon 

 his left side, and floated dead. We gave three 

 hearty cheers, and took him in tow for the ship, 

 which was now about fifteen miles off." 



This towing of captured whales is no boy's 

 play ; although it is one of the pleasantest parts 

 of a whaleman's duty, it is also often the most 



