MY FIRST WHALE HUNT 



side a lead-weighted line was thrown over the tail, 

 a rope pulled after it, then a small chain, and finally 

 the heavy chain by which the carcass was made fast 

 to the bow. 



The winch had not yet stopped when two men with 

 long-handled knives began to cut off the lobes of the 

 tail to prevent the flukes from pounding the rail as 

 the body swung up and down in the seaway. Al- 

 ready other sailors were working at a long* coil of 

 small rubber hose, one end of which was attached 

 to an air pump and the other to a hollow, spear- 

 pointed tube of steel, perforated along its entire 

 length. This was jabbed well dow r n into the whale's 

 abdomen, the engines started, and the animal slowly 

 filled, with air. When the body had been inflated suf- 

 ficiently to keep it afloat, the tube was withdrawn and 

 the incision plugged with oakum. 



The other whales were a long way off when the 

 ship was ready to start. The man in the "top" re- 

 ported them as far to the south and traveling fast. 

 As there was little chance of getting another shot 

 that day and the wind was blowing half a gale, the 

 Captain decided to turn about and run for the sta- 

 tion. 



We reached Sechart at 1 130 A. M. and the whale 

 was left floating in the water, tied to the end of the 

 wharf near a long inclined platform called the "slip"; 

 then the Orion put out to sea and I went to bed at the 

 station. I shall never forget my intense surprise next 

 morning when I saw the humpback "cut in." Work 

 began at seven o'clock, and as the Manager had just 



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