MY FIRST WHALE HUNT 



the enormous carcass, weighing at least forty tons, 

 was drawn out of the water upon the slip. 



One of the Japanese scrambled up the whale's side 

 and, balancing himself en the smooth surface by the 

 aid of his long knife, made his way forward to sever 

 at the "elbow" the great side fin, or flipper, fifteen 

 feet in length. 



Before the carcass was half out of the water other 

 cutters were making longitudinal incisions through the 

 blubber along the breast, side, and back, from the head 

 the entire length of the body to the flukes. The cable 

 was made fast to the blubber at the chin, the winch 

 started, and the thick layer of fat stripped off ex- 

 actly as one would peel an orange. When the upper 

 side had been denuded of its blubber covering, the 

 whale was turned over by means of the canting winch, 

 and the other surface was flensed in the same manner. 



It was a busy and interesting scene. The strange, 

 unfamiliar cries of the Orientals mingled with the 

 shouts of the cutters and the jarring rattle of the 

 winch as the huge strips of fat were torn from the 

 whale's body, fed into the slicing machine, carried 

 upward, and dumped into enormous vats to be boiled 

 or "tried out" for the oil. 



When the blubber was entirely gone, the carcass 

 was split open by chopping through the ribs of the 

 upper side and cutting into the abdomen, letting a 

 ton or more of blood pour out and spread in a crim- 

 son flood over the slip. A hook was attached to the 

 tongue bones (hyoids) and the heart, lungs, liver, and 

 intestines were drawn out in a single mass. 



35 



