not sufficiently long- it would of course 

 pull the boat after it. In time the whale 

 was obliged to rise for air and the strug- 

 gle was renewed. Other boats ap- 

 proached and threw their harpoons, anri 

 the whale either turned upon its tor- 

 mentors or ran, dragging the boats after 

 it. In time it became exhausted and 

 then it was killed either with the gun, 

 harpoon or a hand lance. It was then 

 towed to the ship's side, made fast with 

 chains and placed to float head back- 

 wards. The blubber was then torn off 

 by means of pulleys and tackle. This 

 process lasted from four to eight hours. 

 The upper jaw of the whalebone whale 

 or the lower jaw of the sperm whale 

 was then cut off and taken on deck. 

 After all the valuable parts were taken 

 the carcass was cast adrift. The blubber 

 was then cut into pieces and tried out, the 

 oil being stowed away in barrels. The 

 value of the whale may be as high as 

 $10,000. 



The trying out of the oil is indeed a 



weird sight. At first, wood is used as a 

 fuel, but afterward the residue of the 

 blubber, called cracklings, is used, as it 

 possesses sufficient heating power to fin- 

 ish the work. "Attired in their worst 

 clothes," writes Pechuel-Loeschke, "half- 

 naked, dancing and singing, running 

 after one another and brandishing their 

 tools, dripping with oil and sooty like 

 devils, the crew disport themselves about 

 the hearth. An intensely active life pre- 

 vails on board. The sight of this activity 

 is doubly striking by night when a mass 

 of the cracklings is hoisted up in an iron 

 basket. This strange torch burns mer- 

 rily, casting a weird light on the scene 

 as the blazing flames throw glaring, fitful 

 rays on the deck and bring out in bold 

 relief the black clouds of smoke and the 

 masts with their sails, the reflection ex- 

 tending far out over the sea. By day 

 huge masses of smoke on the horizon 

 betray the presence of a whaler which 

 'tries out' the blubber, long before one 

 catches sight of the ship itself." 



John Ainslie. 



Through the silent watches of the night 



The snowflakes fast and faster fall; 

 And with swift and magic deftness, 



Spread a spotless mantle over all. 



Behold the landscape clothed in white, 



Decked with crystals' shining light; 

 See the towering fir trees bending low, 



With their load of sparkling snow. 



— Berton Mercer, *' Winter " 



37 



