HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WHALE FISHERY. 159 



is surprising. Captain Malloy, of the bark Osceola, of New Bedford, 

 mentions an instance,* where one of his boats struck a large sperm- 

 whale from the waist-boat. Soon after the starboard boat fastened to 

 him and got stove ; a bomb-lauce was then fired into him from the 

 waist-boat, whereupou he turned upon her and stove her, knocking the 

 bottom completely out. The ship picked up the swimming crews, and 

 was then steered for the whale. On seeing his new antagonist he rushed 

 at her, striking her on the bow, knocking off the cut-water with his 

 head, and tearing the copper and sheathing from the bow with his jaw. 

 The ship was again put into position and ruu for him. As she ranged 

 alongside two bomb and two whale lances were fired into him. A boat 

 was then lowered and two more bomb-lances were discharged into him 

 without effect. It was night by this time, so the boat was called aboard 

 and arrangements were made to hold the position of the ship during the 

 night. Occasionally the infuriated monster could be heard fighting the 

 fragments of boats, oars, &c. " Thus through the night," continues the 

 iournal, " he held his ground, although he had two lines (600 fathoms) 

 towiug on to the harpoons, five bombs exploded in him, and other 

 wounds from lances." The next morning the attack was renewed with 

 bomb lances, and thirty-one were fired into him before he teas Trilled. Many 

 similar anecdotes could be related.t 



A most singular trait of the sperm-whale is what is termed by whale- 

 men " settling." At times when suddenly alarmed it will sink bodily in 

 the water with the apparent rapidity of a lump of lead ; so rapidly, in 

 fact, that the mortified boat-steerer hauls in the harpoou which he has 

 thrown but which failed to hit the object thrown at. This sudden sink- 

 ing is unaccompanied by any change in the horizontal position, or any 

 motion of the tail or fins, and seems to be adopted as a means of secur- 

 ing safety when there seems to be no time to round out and sound.f 



Another singular feature connected with the whale-fishery is the sud- 

 den coming and going of the objects of pursuit. According to Davis,§ 

 their appearance and disappearance would seem somewhat periodical, 

 as though perhaps certain phases of the moon were better than others 

 for the prosecution of the fishery. At such times whales suddeuly ap- 



* Ibid., p. 233. 



t Scoresby (ii, p. 276) relates an instance in the experience of the English whaleship 

 Resolution, where a whale was finally killed after a chase of nine miles, and after 

 having carried off one boat (which was lost) and 10,440 yards or nearly sis miles of 

 line. 



t P. 187. The thorough descriptions of whales, their habits, hauuts, &c, given by 

 Scammon and Davis, make extended comments unnecessary in this work. 



§ P. 177. Schools of whales containing many individuals have, even withiu a com- 

 paratively late period, been seen and attacked in the Indian Ocean. The fishery there 

 extends from Cape Leeurvin to Java Head, a distance of 1,600 miles. In 1838 tho Amer- 

 ican and French whalemen took at one capture off Cape Leeurvin 10,000 barrels ; in 

 1845 the Americans in one onslaught in Champion Bay took 6,000 barrels ; in 1857 the 

 American and Freuch fleets, while off King George's Sound, took at one time 12,000 

 barrels. 



