96 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



within range (20 yards) the " foregoer " tightened and the 

 harpoon fell short. The whale, a young animal, undoubtedly 

 long ere this fully conscious of being pursued, at this juncture 

 seemed to forget itself, for moving too far forward, it allowed its 

 under jaw to become shelved on a " tongue " of ice. Quickly 

 backing astern, however, the animal very soon cleared itself and 

 immediately dived under the ice, a small round floe. The whale 

 could now only be regarded as " scared," and the chase 

 virtually at an end. Nevertheless, as a slight hope remained 

 of the animal again making its appearance, the boats took up 

 stations round the floe and patiently waited. Thirty minutes 

 elapsed without its reappearing, already some of the boats were 

 returning to their ships; forty minutes had just elapsed, when at 

 the very same place where it had first disappeared the animal was 

 seen coming out below the ice. All the boats were by this time 

 returning on board, but the last one to give up the chase — 

 fortunately yet at no great distance, — saw the whale and imme- 

 diately returned. Thereafter the others followed, and the whale 

 was eventually harpooned by one of the ' Erik's ' boats. Imme- 

 diatel}'^ when harpooned the animal dived, taking out line with 

 great rapiditj'-, and descending almost perpendicularly downwards. 

 Meanwhile the boats took up positions about the place where they 

 expected the " fish " to reappear. The whale having ran out 

 about one mile of line, and having probably descended to a 

 depth of over 500 fathoms, returned to the surface some thirty 

 minutes after being harpooned. Several boats being at hand, 

 second and third harpoons were successively " fired in." The 

 whale now set out along the surface, at a rate of some six miles 

 per hour, towing, however, four heavy whale boats behind it. 

 Swimming between wind and water, it continued for some time to 

 throw itself bodily forward, half of the animal appearing above 

 water, falling into the sea again with a dreadful splash, at the 

 same time rolling off one side on to the other as it advanced 

 forward; the pectoral fins as they alternately appeared above 

 water were raised erect, the tail was also frequentlj^ exposed. At 

 length becoming quieter in its movements and slower in its 

 speed, some of the boats succeeded in getting up and endeavoured 

 to lance. Their efforts, however, were on almost every occasion 

 frustrated by the animal turning upon the boats and violently 

 pushing them away with its head. A number of oars were 



