236 THE OCEAN. 



groove : the other boats are ready to beud on their 

 lines, each of which is two hundred fathoms long; 

 for sometimes a Whale will drag after him four lines, 

 descending to the depth of 4,800 feet. Presently he 

 is seen approaching the surface : " The gurgling and 

 bubbling water, which rises before, also proclaims 

 that he is near ; his nose starts from the sea ; the 

 rushing spout is projected high and suddenly, from 

 his agitation." 



On his reaching the surface, the other boats infix 

 their harpoons, while at the same instant the former 

 liarpooner thrusts deeply his steel lance into the 

 body, and " Stern all ! " again resounds. 



Now comes the most da.ngerous part of the busi- 

 ness ; the Whale is in his " flurry," or last agony ; 

 he dashes hither and thither, snaps convulsively with 

 his huge jaws, rolls over and over, coiling the line 

 around his body, or leaps completely out of the 

 water. The boats are often upset, sometimes broken 

 into fragments, and the men wounded or drowned. 

 Now the crimson blood is spouted from the blow- 

 hole, and falls in showers around ; the poor animal 

 whirls rapidly round in unconsciousness, in a por- 

 tion of a circle, rolls over on its side, and is still in 

 death. 



The huge body is now towed to the ship ; a hole 

 is cut into the blubber near the head, into which 

 a strong hook is inserted : a difiicult and dangerous 

 operation. A strong tension is then applied to this 

 hook, and by it the blubber is hoisted up, as it is 

 gradually cut by the spades in a spiral strip, going 

 round and round the body. As this strip or band of 



