Equipping the Boats. 



27 



fore and affc in tho boat, and is always ready for 

 running out. The fore gore is coiled down in a 

 small tub or hid, which is kept in the bows of the 



Harpoon Gun. 



boat alongside the gun. Aprons or screens made of 

 painted canvas on which the boat steerer stands 

 are kept over the lines to protect them from the 

 wet. The harpoon gun is fixed on a swivel in 

 the bows of the boat, and can easily be traversed 

 round, depressed or elevated by the har- 

 pooneer. The harpoon belonging to tho 

 gun is placed on the port side of it, and 

 the hand harpoon on the starboard side, 

 with its handle resting on a mih, 1 or crutch, 

 ready for immediate use. The harpoons 

 are made of the softest Swedish iron, 

 which is more pliable than English, so 

 that they may readily bend without 

 snapping, when any strain is brought to 

 bear on them. A bad harpoon may lose 

 a fish whose value may exceed £1,200. 



Mik." 



1 Mih is a Dutch word for the iron in which the boom 

 rests, crutch, &c. It is made of wood, and is used for sup- 

 porting the handle of the hand harpoon. 



