[73] fisheries of the united states. 343 



Manipulating Blubber-Hooks. 



Blind boat-steerer. 



Handle, wood. Jaws, iron, resembling those of a boom, or gaff, of 

 a sailing-vessel. Length, 7 feet 5 inches. Provincetown, Mas- 

 sachusetts, 1882. 55803. Gift of Mr. Stephen Cook. Used on 

 some whaling- vessels for pressing upon the back of the hook in 

 guiding the point into the hole of the blubber of the first blanket- 

 piece. By using this instrument the boat-steerer, whose duty it 

 is to go overboard on the whale to insert the hook, may, in rag- 

 ged weather, accomplish this from the cutting-stage. Blind 

 boat-steerer, Provincetown, Massachusetts; dog's-legs. New 

 Bedford and Edgartown. 



Platforms for Officers when Cutting-in the Whale. 



Cutting-stage. 



A kind of platform, technically called the "forward cutting-stage," 

 upon which the second mate stands when cutting-in a whale. 

 The position for the stage, when in use, is on the outside of the 

 vessel, resting against and braced from the side, by the cross- 

 pieces, and made fast to the rail by the ropes. Not muchused 

 at present, having been supplanted by an improved form known 

 as the " outrigger stage." Length, 42 inches; width, 16 inches. 

 New Bedford, Massachusetts, 1882. 57727. Gift of Jonathan 

 Bourne. 



TRY- WORKS GEAR. 



Bailing Oil from the Pots. 



Long-handled bailer. 



Bailer, tin ; shank, wrought iron. Length, including handle, 13 feet. 

 New Bedford, Massachusetts, 1882. 57749. U. S. Fish Com- 

 mission. Used for transferring hot oil from the try-pots to the 

 cooler. Present style. 



Handle of bailer. 



Handle and yoke of bailer common to all whaling vessels, showing 

 rudely-carved figures of whales cut into the wood by the officer 

 of the watch, indicating the number and species of whales 

 boiled out. Bailer, wanting. New Bedford, Massachusetts, 

 1828. 55809. Gift of Jonathan Bourne. Marks indicate that 

 it has been in service on several voyages, and in the several 

 branches of the fishery : " B. H.," Bowhead whale ; " S.," Sperm 

 Whale; "H. B.," Humpback, and " W.," the Whale, or Right 

 Whale. 



