Duties of the Crew. 13 



the men possess as fishermen. Thus the har- 

 pooneers attend to the conning of the ship during 

 their watch on deck ; the two mates and the spek- 

 sioneer (who are also harpooneers) are in charge of 

 the watch ; the boat-steerers attend to the ropes on 

 the forecastle; the line-managers to those round the 

 mainmast and also to the cleanliness of the ship 

 between decks; the boatswain, who is also a boat- 

 steerer, is held responsible for all work aloft; the 

 skeeman, who is the head line-man and also a boat- 

 steerer, is responsible for everything between decks, 

 and it is also his province to superintend the stow- 

 ing away of the blubber. The remainder are the 

 fore-mast hands, who make themselves generally 

 useful where required. So that, to sum up onr 

 crew on board the <c Arctic," we have eight har- 

 pooneers, including the mates and speksioneer, eight 

 boat-steerers, including the skeeman and boatswain, 

 and eight line-managers. The rest of the crew man 

 the boats. When all boats are away from the ship, 

 there remain on board the captain, doctor, engineer, 

 ship-keeper, cook, and steward. Each boat (we 

 were supplied with eight) has a crew of six men, 

 five rowers and one to steer. No rudders are fitted 

 to the boats ; a steer oar, in consequence of the 

 rapidity with which, by its means, a boat may be 

 swept round, being invariably used. The har- 

 pooneer is in charge of the boat, and pulls the bow 

 oar. It is his duty to strike the fish. The line- 



