4-72 Hisxonv of 



were to be serviceable when come to the place of duty. When 

 arrived at the part where the whales are expected to pass to the 

 southward, they always keep their sails set, and a sailor is placed 

 at the mast-head, to give information when he spies a whale. As 



Tlie first boat ouo^lit to be quickly followed up by a second, to supply more 

 line when tlie first is run out, which often takes place in eight or ten 

 minutes. When the crew of a boat see the line in danger of being- all run 

 off, they hold up one, two, or three oars, to intimate their pressing need of 

 sui)ply. At the same time they turn the rope once or twice round a kind 

 of post called the bollard, by which the motion of the line and the career of 

 the animal are somewhat retarded. This, however, is a delicate operation, 

 which brings tlie side of the boat doHTi to the very edge of the water, and 

 if the rope is drawn at all too tight, may sink it altogether. While the lino 

 is whirling round tlie bollard, the friction is so violent, that the harpooner 

 is enveloped in smoke, and water must be constantly poured on to prevent 

 it from catching fire. When, after all, no aid arrives, and the crew find that 

 the line must run out, they have only one resource, — they cut it, losing 

 thereby not only the whale, but the harpoon and all the ropes of the boat. 



When the whale is first struck and plunges into the waves, the boat's 

 crew elevate a flag as a signal to the watch on deck, who give the alarm to 

 tliose asleep below, by stamping violently on the deck, and crying aloud — 

 " A fall, a /a?/.'" (Dutch, vol, expressing the precipitate haste with which 

 the sailors throw themselves into the boats.) On this notice, they do not 

 allow themselves time to dress, but rush out in their sleeping.shirts or 

 draAvers into an atmosphere, the temperature of which is often below zero, 

 carrying along with them their clothing in a bundle, and tru.sting to make 

 their toilette in the interval of manning and pushing ofli" the boats. Such is 

 the tumult at this moment, that young mariners have been known to raise 

 cries of fear, thinking the ship was going down. 



The period during which a wounded whale remains under water is vari. 

 ous, but is averaged by Mr Scoresby at about half an hour. Then, pressed 

 iiy the necessity of respiration, he appears above, often considerably distant 

 from the spot where he was harpooned, and in a state of great exhaustion, 

 \vhich the same ingenious writer ascribes to the severe pressure that he has 

 endured when placed beneath a column of water 700 or 800 fathoms deep. 

 All the boats have meantime been spreading themselves in various direr, 

 tions, that one at least may be within a start, as it is caiUed, or about iiOO 

 yards of the point of his rising, at which distance they c.in easily reach and 

 pierce him with one or two more harpoons before he again descends, as he 

 iisually does for a few minutes. On his reappearance a general attack is 

 made ivith lances, which are struck as deep as possible, to reach and pene. 

 trate the vital parts. Blood mixed with oil streams copiously from his 

 wounds and from the blow-holes, dyeing the sea to a great distance, and 

 sprinkling and sometimes drenching the boats and crews. The animal now 

 Becomes more and more exhausted ; but at the approach of his dissolution, 

 he often makes a convulsive and energetic struggle, rearing his tail high in 

 the air, and whirling it with a noise «'hich is heard at the distance of several 

 miles. At length, quite overpowered and exhausted, he lays himself on hia 

 tide or back, and expires. The flag is then taken down, and three loud 



