2R2 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



He may also, perhaps, visit the mast-head when whales are in sight, to ascertain if there is a 

 prospect for lowering the boats for another capture. It may also happen that two or more boats 

 are down for whales, in which case he performs the duties of the first and second officers on the 

 stage. When cutting-in a sperm whale on a Proviucetown vessel, if the mate is not skillful, the 

 captain, assisted by the first and second mate and boat-steerers, severs the head from the body. 

 On the New Bedford vessels, if the captain does not make his appearance on the stage, his first 

 officer has sole charge and direction of cutting off the head. After the captain leaves the stage 

 the mate remains and " leans" the blubber from the carcass until the last piece has been hoisted 

 in. The second officer's post of duty confines him to the forward end of the outrigger stage, where 

 he is engaged in " scarfing"* and "leaning up"; he also cuts off the flukes, and remains upon 

 the stage till the last piece of blubber and the flukes, if a sperm whale, are hoisted in. The third 

 mate has charge of the waist and the general directions of boarding the blubber; he uses the 

 boarding-knife in cutting holes in the blanket-pieces for attaching the cutting-tackle; subdivides 

 the blanket pieces into sections and sees that they are properly lowered in the main hatch. 

 Although not actively engaged in cutting the whale, he occupies an important position, and upon 

 him, in a great measure, depends the length of time consumed in this operation, with the excep- 

 tion, of course, of wind and weather. It is also his duty to see that the hatchway is kept 

 clear, and that all implements necessary for carrying on the work are at hand and in their 

 proper pjaces. Some captains, especially in the olden days of whaling, after decapitating the 

 whale took charge of the boarding ; but they seldom do this now. Sometimes on the steam barks 

 in the Arctic regions the third and fifth mates work in the waist, or the captain may, when 

 "pushed," take charge of the boarding, and send the fifth mate between decks to stow away the 

 blubber. The fourth mate on some vessels assists the third officer in the waist. If he is a person 

 of good executive ability the latter is perhaps the best place for him. On some vessels it would 

 be better, under certain conditions, for him to be at the mast-head on the lookout for whales, 

 but this is not usually the case. In sperm whaling he may be in the waist with the third officer, 

 when not on the stage cutting on the head; but, as before stated, he usually retires to the deck 

 when the whale is decapitated. Three of the boat-steerers work in the waist of the ship, assisting 

 the third officer, and the fourth takes it "overboard", and also has charge of stowing the blubber 

 between decks. The captain's boat-steerer takes all the "overboards" on the first whale captured, 

 and the others in the order of their rank on each whale subsequently taken, their duties being to 

 insert the blubber hook in the hole made in the blubber, to reeve the head-needle, and to perform 

 any other duty that may, under the circumstances, be required of them which could not be 

 accomplished by the officers from the stages. The carpenter, or cooper, usually the latter, 

 sharpens the spades and knives at the grindstone on the quarter-deck, assisted by one of the crew, 

 who turns the crank. As the spades are frequently dulled by striking bones, especially while 

 cutting on the head, there is very little cessation in this work. A common grindstone, with an 

 elliptical wooden tub, full of fresh water to prevent iron rust, is always carried on the ship for this 

 and similar purposes. The cook and steward are engaged in their regular duties, but may, at 

 times, especially when hoisting in the heaviest parts of the whale, be called forward to the wind- 

 lass. The majority of the crew heave at the windlass. One man is sometimes placed on the 

 lookout for whales though usually when cutting-in and boiling out, mastheads are not 

 kept and two sharp, active, and wide-awake foremast hands are selected to " tend the falls," 



* The term scarf, usually pronounced scaff, has rather an elastic definition. A boat-builder scarf* two pieces of 

 timber when he joins them permanently together ; a whaleman, on the other hand, when he scarfs the blubber, 

 separates it entirely by incisions made with the spade. 



