'she blows !' 67 



Some working from the boat and some upon the shppery 

 whale itself the men hacked away big hunks of blubber 

 whilst others hauled it aboard with ropes and grapnels. 

 They used the capstan when they could but most of the 

 effort came from the strength of their arms. 



Jonathan could not help laughing at the sight of the 

 men slithering about on the back of the whale but his 

 amusement was suddenly cut short when one of them 

 tumbled into the icy sea. In a few seconds his shipmates 

 had him safely in the boat; and none too soon, thought 

 Jonathan as he watched a pod of killer whales cruising 

 inquisitively at a short distance. 



The killer is the only cannibal member of the whale 

 family. In shape and speed it is like a porpoise and the 

 males measure in length up to thirty feet. 



Suddenly the killer whales closed in and like a pack of 

 hungry wolves began attacking the dead whale. Jona- 

 than noticed that no one ventured from the boat now. 

 Even as the men worked to remove the rest of the blubber 

 the killers were biting at the jaws of the dead bowhead 

 and the boy watching from the masthead wondered at the 

 reason for this until he saw them tear out the huge tongue 

 which otherwise might have filled several barrels with 

 precious blubber. 



During the 'cutting in' the wind had increased and the 

 Pilgrim now rolled so badly that the captain decided it was 

 not worth trying to remove the whalebone from the 

 mangled head. So the boat was hoisted and course set 

 for the west coast of Greenland where whales were sure to 

 be found in plenty. 



When at last Jonathan was relieved at the masthead and 

 descended to the deck he read at once in the faces of the 

 men that the prejudice which had turned some of them 

 against him had been replaced by admiration at his 

 having saved the ship and sighted the whale. Some 

 were open in their praise and clapped him on the shoulders 



