250 DIVISION I. VERTEBRAL ANIMALS. — CLASS I. MAMJIALIA. 



temperature of zero, and wlicnce he can discover all the movements of the 

 surroundin"- ice or wlialcs, and give dii'cetions accordingly." 



As soon as they reach the haunts of the whale, the crew must be every 

 moment on the alert, keeping watch day and niglit. Tiie boats hanging 

 over tiic ship's side are ready to be launched in an instant, and when the state 

 of the sea admits, one of them is usually manned and alloat. Tlie officer in 

 the crow's nest surveys the waters to a great distance, and the instant he 

 perceives a whale he gives notice to the watch on deck, some of wlioni start 

 instantly witli the first boat, whicli is inmiediately followed by a second. 

 Eacii of the boats has a harpooner and other subordinate officers, and is pro- 

 vided with an immense quantity of rope, carefully coiled and stowed in dirt'er- 

 cnt places in the boat, the different parts being spliced together, so as to form 

 a continued line, usually exceeding four thousand feet in length. To the end 

 is attaclied the harpoon. The boat is now rowed towards the whale with the 

 greatest possible speed, in the deepest silence, cautiously avoiding giving 

 alarm ; sometimes a circuitous route is adopted, in order to approach it from 

 behind. Having reached within a few 3'ards, the harpooner darts his instru- 

 ment into the giant, who, in the surprise and agony of the moment, makes a 

 convulsive effort to escape. This is tlic moment of danger ; for the boat is 

 exposed to tlie most violent blows of the whale's head or fins, and still more 

 of its tail, winch sometimes sweeps the air witii such tremendous fury that 

 both boat and men are exposed to a common destruction. 



The first and usual effort of the wounded animal is to escape from the boat 

 by sinking under water, plunging with rapid flight under some neighboring 

 mountain of ice, or into tlie deep abyss. When fleeing from his pursuers, 

 at the rate of eiglit or ten miles an Iidiu', tlie greatest care must be used that 

 the line to whieli tlie harpoon is attached may run off readily along witli him. 

 Should it be entangled for a moment, tiie whale would draw tiie boat beneath 

 the waves. Sometimes, however, to retard its motion, it" is usual for tlie 

 harpooner to cast one or more turns of the line round a kind of post, called 

 the bolhifd, which is fixed near the stern of the boat for tlie purpose; and 

 such is the friction of the line when running round the bollard, that it 

 frequently envelopes the harpooner in smoke ; and if tlie wood were not fre- 

 quently wotted, it would set fire to the boat. jS'otwithstanding tiiis mano?uvrc, 

 the line is often run out in eight or ten minutes ; its end is then attaclied to 

 the lines of the next boat, and even those of a third are sometimes put into 

 requisition. Wiien tlie crew of a boat see there is a prospect of their own 

 store being exhausted, they hold up one, two, three, or more oars, according 

 to the urgency of tlie required aid ; for if none arri\es, there is only one re- 

 source left, which is to cut the line, and thus lose it, whale and all. 



The period during which a wounded whale remains under water varies, 



