TIIE WHALE FISHERY. 257 



then everybody must be ready to get into the long boat that he doth belong to." Scoresby says it 

 was customary with the English fishermen when a whale was sighted to call out "A fish! A fish! 

 or a fish mine!" and when it was harpooned a small flag or jack was displayed in the fast boat. 

 When the men on watch on the ship perceived this signal, they immediately shouted "A fall! A 

 tall!" and at the same time stamping on the deck to give the alarm to the sleeping crew below.* 



The present well-known cry of "There she blows! "has long been employed by American 

 whalemen, the feminine being used as the epicene gender of whales. The direction of the whale 

 from the ship is then indicated by the men on duty. If the cetacean, instead of pursuing the even 

 tenor of its way, should happen to be indulging in some o-its queer antics, these are also reported. 



LOWERING FOR WHALES. The New Bedford captains rarely lower for whales, especially in 

 the Arctic fishery, as they prefer to remain on board to look out for the ice, which momentarily 

 threatens their vessels, and to direct the movements of the boats by means of signals, previously 

 agreed upon, made usually with the light sails. The code of signals is entirely arbitrary, and 

 varies, of course, on different ships, as it would not be policy for a master of one vessel to make 

 known his orders to the commander of another. t Lowering the gaff- topsail or spanker on one vessel 

 may, therefore, mean that whales are " astern," and that the officers of the boats should proceed 

 in that direction to intercept them ; but the same signal displayed by another vessel may have an 



* At this alarm the crew jump from their beds, rush upon deck, with their clothes tied by a string in their hands, 

 and crowd into their boats, with a temperature of zero. The crew, under such occasions, are shielded only by their 

 drawers, stockings, and shirts, or other habiliments in which they sluep. They generally contrive to dress themselves, 

 in part at least, as the boats are lowered down; lint sometimes they push off in the state ill which they rise from their 

 beds, row away towards the fast boat, and have no opportunity to clothe themselves for a length of time afterwards. 

 The alarm of a " Fall" has a singular effect on the foeliugs of a sleeping person, unaccustomed to the whale-fishing 

 business. It, has often been mistaken as a cry of distress. A landsman in a Hull ship, seeing the crew, on an occasion 

 of a "fall," rush upon deck, with their clothes in their hands, when there was no appearance of danger, thought the 

 men were all mad; but with another individual the effect was totally different. Alarmed with the extraordinary 

 noise, and still more so, when ho reached the deck, with the appearance of all the crew seated in the boats in their 

 shirts, he imagined the ship was sinking. Ho therefore endeavored to get into a boat himself, but every one of them 

 being fully manned he was always repulsed. After several fruitless endeavors to gain a place among his comrades he 

 cried out, with feelings of evident alarm, " What shall I do? Will none of you take me in I" American Natural 

 History. God-man, vol. Hi, p. 166. Compiled from Arctic Kegions, vol. ii. 



tCoDE OF SIGNALS. It is the custom of tin 1 captain of every first-class whale ship to employ a code of signals 

 for the guidance of the boats' crews when lowered for whales. The signals vary on the different ships, or, in other 

 words, there are as many codes as there are ships. In many cases they are entirely arbitrary, as it is only intended 

 that they should be understood by the crews belonging to the vessel that uses them; hut whatever code maybe 

 agreed upon, the more simple and comprehensive it is t-ho better, as complicated signals are apt to mislead or be- 

 wilder the officers. It is the prerogative of the master of the vessel to determine what signals shall be employed, and 

 after the rode has been perfected he explains its significance to the boat-headers. Some masters employ the ship's 

 sails, while others use balls or (lags, or a combination of all may be utilized. There are published accounts of the 

 signals employed by the English as well ax American whaling vessels. Capt. G. B. Borden, of New Bedford, who at 

 present is engaged in whaling, has furnished the following system for this report : "A very common code consists of 

 the red, white, and blue colors one flag each of these colors, and a fourth of the three combined. These four flags 

 represent the four boats, the starboard, port, waist, and bow boats. These are the same kind of flags used in the 

 boats, and when so used they are called waifs (duplicates). The four flags also represent the four important bearings 

 from the ship. Ked for starboard quarter (corresponding to the positions of boats on the cranes) ; white for port 

 quarter; blue for waist or beam ; and red, white, and blue for bow. By using the flags separately and by combining 

 them the boats can be directed very easily in any direction. Every vessel uses a flag called the whaling signal. It 

 is an attention signal. It may be of any color, and when set at either fore or main mast head it indicates that the 

 whales are up. At mizzeu peak it calls the boats on board. If the whales are not seen by the boats when the atten- 

 tion flag is set, their bearings are pointed out by the code thus: If on starboard beam the red and blue red first, or 

 blue under red. For port beam white and blue, and so on through a combination of colors and a series of positions of 

 flags. 



" By the use of the ilags or waifs in the boats they can be identified when fast to a whale or need assistance, and 

 by their use on board a master can call any particular bout to assist another, and can also direct its movements to a 

 desired point. By the use of the four flags Hopar,ttely and combined at different mast-heads an excellent code may 

 be established ; but often in calm weather, or when the boats arc a long way from the ship, the signals or flags cannot 

 bo distinguished. IMlieii becomes necessary to adopt other means of signaling. The light sails answer this purpose 

 J3EC. V, VOL. II 17 



