THE WHALE FISHERY. 265 



officer actually unjoin ted the flutes by a tremendous and well-directed blow of the spade. The 

 whale was in a favorable position, the uplifted flukes producing a tension, and the caudal flu, 

 though still connected, "hung to one side."* Spading flukes is one of the lost arts of the fishery, 

 and may never again be revived, but will live with the whalemen from generation to generation. 

 We should naturally think that it would be far preferable to stand off at a safe distance and kill 

 the huge floundering cetacean with an explosive lance projected from a gun, rather than to 

 approach it while it is lashing the water in its terrible agony, and kill it in close encounter with 

 the hand-lance. Not so with the broad-chested, white-headed whalemen of the old school, who 

 regard the modern gun as a travesty upon their forefathers-^ yet they always acknowledge, that if 

 it were not for the bomb-guns few whales could be taken at present in any ocean. 



When the whale has been harpooned, the first order given is "Stern all!" to clear the boat 

 from tbe whale, and the next is "Wet line!" to prevent the friction from the outrunning line. The 

 officer and boat-steerer quickly "shift ends," the latter taking down the sail as he goes aft. 



As soon as the whale is struck with the harpoon ;t will endeavor to escape either by sounding 

 or by running, or, as Marten says, "it runs away with the long-boat as swift as the wind." If the 

 whale sounds, the crew lay by awaiting its reappearance upon the surface for respiration, and as 

 fast as the slack-line is retrieved it is laid in loose coils on the after platform. Although the line 

 is not coiled as carefully the second time as it was in the first place, considerable care must be taken, 

 for should the whale again take it out it should run as freely as before. 



When the whale returns to the surface from its soundings it usually comes up with a bound, 

 and it is at such a time that accidents should be avoided. To warn the boat's crew of approaching 

 danger the whale-line is sometimes marked with a bit of colored cloth or flannel, which, as the 

 line is hauled in, signifies look out for whale when it appears above the water. If the whale runs, 

 the boat, of course, is taken in tow, and the excitement of the chase is prolonged until the animal 

 is tired out, or stopped by means of the boat-spade or bomb-lance. 



RATE OF SPEED. As to the running speed of a whale when first harpooned, I can only say 

 that it has not been accurately determined. Few of the whalemen can be induced to give an 

 opinion on a subject upon which they all widely differ, and those who give an opinion are not 

 willing to be held responsible for it. Bennett t says of the sperm whale that when first pierced 

 by the harpoon it will tow the attached boat at the rate of more than 15 miles an hour; but this 

 velocity of motion is the effect of extreme excitement and does not continue long. Under ordinary 

 circumstances of alarm, as when conscious of being pursued by enemies, its speed averages about 

 8 or 10 miles an hour. Scorseby says that the Greenland whale swims with a velocity, at the 

 greatest, "of 8 or 9 miles an hour." 



Capt. William M. Davis publishes a statement, which I transcribe herewith, condensed from 

 a series of questions submitted to some of the New Bedford captains. He says : 



"The running speed of the sperm and right whales, when gallied, is supposed to be from 10 

 to 12 miles an hour. When struck he will frequently go 20 to 25 miles per hour for a short time, 

 when he will generally stop or ' bring to,' and give the ' boat-header' a chance to kill him. Sperm 

 whales have been known to run out 300 fathoms of line in four minutes, and sometimes to run out 

 600 fathoms in sounding."! 



Twenty or twenty-five miles per hour is rather a high estimate of the speed of a whale. When 

 a whale first feels the prick of the harpoon it starts off with an almost astonishing velocity, and it 

 may then run at the rate of 25 miles per hour, but most assuredly it could not actually make that 

 distance in the time named. 



* This is vonched for by several wlinlemon of Edf,'arto\vn. } Nimrod of the Sea, p. 398. 



t BENNETT: Whaling Voyage Round the Globe, vol. 2, p. 172. 



