THE WHALE FISHERY. 53 



covered with brushwood, constituted the store-house for oil. A light shanty, with four com- 

 partments, served the purpose of wash-room, drying-room, store-room, and cooper's shop, and a 

 sort of capstans, termed 'crabs,' were used in lieu of the ship's windlass, whereby the falls to the 

 heavy cutting-tackles were hove in, when fastened to the blanket-piece, which served to roll the 

 massive forms of the captured animals oil the beach during the process of flensing." 



"From this experiment of local whaling," continues Scammon, "sprung up a system of shore 

 or coast whaling, which has been prosecuted for over twenty years (1874), and which extends 

 from Half-Moon Bay (latitude 37 30'), on the north, to Point Abanda (latitude 32 20'), in Lower 

 California." In 1874 there were "eleven whaling parties scattered along this belt of coast, 

 located at Half-Moon Bay, Pigeon Point, Monterey Bay (two), Carmel Bay, San Simeon, San 

 Luis Obispo, Goleta, Portuguese Bend (near San Pedro), San Diego, and Point Abanda. The 

 organization of each party is nearly on the same plan as that of the whale-ship's officers and crew, 

 all being paid a certain share, or ' lay,' which corresponds to the position or individual services 

 rendered by each member. A ' whaling company,' as it is termed, consists of one captain, one 

 mate, a cooper, two boat-steerers, and eleven men ; from these, two whale-boats are provided with 

 crews of six men each, leaving four hands on shore, who take their turn at the lookout station, to 

 watch for whales, and attend to boiling out the blubber when a whale is caught. The stock of 

 the company consists of boats, whaling implements, and whaling gear, which is divided into six- 

 teen equal shares, and the 'lay' of each member is the same. The captain and mate, however, 

 are paid a bonus of $200 or $300 for the term of engagement, which is one year, and they are also 

 exempt from all expenses of the company. 



" The whaling year begins on the 1st of April, this being about the time that the California 

 gray whales have all passed toward the Arctic Ocean, and the humpback whales begin their 

 iioi them passage. The cruising limits of the local whalers extend from near the shore line to 10 

 miles at sea. At dawn of day the boats may be seen, careening under a press of sail, or pro- 

 pelled over the undulating ground-swell by the long measured strokes of oars, until they reach 

 the usual whaling- ground, where the day is passed plying to and fro, unless the objects of pursuit 

 are met with. Each boat is furnished with Greener's harpoon-gun, mounted at the bow, besides 

 the bomb-gun in general use, which imparts to them more of a military appearance than the usual 

 aspect of a whaling craft. Generally, whales are first seen from the boats, but occasionally they 

 ate discovered by the man on watch at the station, who signals to the boats by means of a flag 

 elevated upon a pole, with which he runs toward the quarter where the whales are seen ; or a 

 series of signals are made from a tall flag staff. 



" The cetaceous animals frequenting the coast, having been so long and constantly pursued, 

 are exceedingly wild and difficult to approach, and were it not for the utility of Greener's gun 

 the coast fishery would be abandoned, it being now next to impossible to ' strike' with the hand- 

 harpoon. At the present time (1874) if the whale can be approached within 30 yards it is con- 

 sidered to be in reach of the gun-harpoon. When the gunner fires, if he hits his game, the next 

 effort made is to haul up near enough to shoot a bomb-lance into a vital part, which, if it explodes, 

 completes the capture; but jf the first bomb fails the second or third one does the fatal work. 

 The prize is then towed to the station, and, if it be night, it is secured to one of the buoys, placed for 

 the purpose, a little way from the surf, where it remains until daylight, or until such time as it is 

 wanted to be stripped of its blubber. The whales generally taken by the shore parties are hump- 

 backs and California grays; but occasionally a right whale, a finback, or a sulphur-bottom is 

 captured. 



