266 HISTOKY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES, 



Very little attention also seems to have been given to tbe rate of speed when the whale sounds. 

 Captain Scoresby, however, notices the latter as follows : " When fish have been struck by myself, 

 I have on different occasions estimated their rate of descent. For the first 300 fathoms, the aver- 

 age velocity was usually after the rate of 10 miles per hour. In one instance the third line of 120 

 fathoms was run out in sixty-one seconds ; that is, at the rate of 8^ English miles, or 7 nautical 

 miles, per hour."* 



DIFFICULTIES OF CAPTURE. At times one fast boat may kill a whale, and again, if the animal 

 shows fight, two or three boats, and sometimes more, may be required. In one instance a vigorous 

 whale took in tow from four to six boats, and ran out 1,600 fathoms (!),C()0 feet) of line. All 

 endeavors to haul up and lance it proved abortive. The loose boats were moored to those that 

 were fast, the whale all the time towing them steadily on. This occurred, writes Cheever, on 

 May 28, 1817.t 



Bennett, speaking of the remarkable endurance of a sperm whale during its capture, says: 



"It occurred to Capt. T. Stavers, of the Tuscan, to lose a large whale under circumstances 

 that exemplified the power of the cachalot in carrying off incuuibrances of this kind. The whale 

 in question, at the time he escaped from the boat, had attached to his body seven harpoons, 

 three entire boats' lines, (or 1,320 yards of cordage), a line-tub, and numerous drogues; and, with 

 all these powerfully resisting bodies impeding his progress, ultimately escaped by superior speed. 

 Two days after the same whale was encountered, and killed with difficulty, by the ship John 

 Palmer, which, at a subsequent meeting in port, restored to the Tuscan her harpoons and lines 

 found on the dead whale." 



It is worthy of remark that as soon as a sperm whale is harpooned the news is telegraphed 

 through some invisible agency to others of the same species, though at a great distance ; a general 

 stampede ensues, and with noses in the air they all rush to windward. 



The right whale of the northwest coast is extremely shy as well as dangerous, and from repeated 

 attacks is approached with difficulty. This whale practices iiritmi dv guerre by hollowing its back, 

 causing the blubber to become loose, or "slack," as it is termed, and preventing the harpoons, from 

 entering. Many a boat-steerer has been dismayed by this maneuver; and although the harpoon 

 may have been thrown with all the force that could be summoned, the impetus was inadequate to 

 penetrate the relaxed blubber and flesh. 



As to the capture of the California gray whale. I am indebted to Scammon's account, which 

 has been paraphrased from his " Marine Mammalia." This species is known to the whalemen as 

 the devil fish, on account of the great danger attending its capture; the pursuit is called devil 

 fishing, and the whaleman who engages in the capture a devil fisherman. It is one of the most 

 dangerous whales to encounter. The fishery for the most part has been conducted in the shallow 

 inland waters or lagoons on the California coast which this species frequents from November to 

 May. The cows enter the lagoons to bring forth their young, and the bulls generally remain on 

 the outside. The several ways of capturing these whales is known as "lagoon whaling," "kelp 

 whaling," " whaling among the breakers," and "whaling out at sea," the first named being accom- 

 panied with the greatest danger. When struck at sea, an opportunity may be had for keeping 



* Op. cit., Vol. 2, p. M4. t The Whale and his Captors, p. 211. } BK.NXJ.I T: Op. cit., pp. '207, 208. 



Bennett, in writing on this subject, says: " It is a continued furl, and our oft>-n noticed \viili suprise liy southern 

 whales, that upon a cachalot beiug struck from a boat others ninny miles distant from the spot will almost instanta- 

 neously express by their actions an apparent consciousness of what lias occurred, or at least of some untoward event, 

 and either make off in alarm or comedown to the assistance of their injured com pan ion. But, without attributing to 

 the cachalot an extraordinary acuteness of sight or hearing, or any me ire mysterious sensibility, we may. perhaps, find 

 that the violent agitation of the sea produced by the plunges of the harpooned whale, and the more rapid and distinct. 

 conveyance of sound in water than in air, are sufficient to account for the above phenomenon." 



