FISHERIES OF THE PACIFIC COAST. 
83 
actually performed was small compared with the extra expense for cost 
of building and hire of engineers to run them, added to which was the 
time consumed in making necessary repairs to engines, etc. While in 
good condition they were often of great service in towing boats and 
whales in moderate weather, but frequently they were out of repair 
when most needed. Mr. Aldrich, however, mentions the steam-launch 
upon the ship he sailed on in 1887, and frequently refers to its employ- 
ment in killing whales. 
The toggle harpoon, the hand lance, the whale gun, and the explosive 
bomb lance are the apparatus chiefly relied upon for killing whales. 
These have been so fully and so frequently described by others that it 
is only necessary to briefly mention them here. 
The necessities in the Arctic whale fishery have led to the invention 
of bomb guns. The tendency of whales in northern regions is to dive 
under the ice after being struck, and this is little to be wondered at 
when ice floes are usually near on all sides. With the old methods 
of whaling with harpoons and hand lances it was difficult and often 
impossible to kill whales quick enough to prevent their escape. This 
resulted in the introduction of guns and the shooting of explosive 
bomb lances into whales, which are now^usually killed in a very short 
time by a well directed shot. Two kinds of guns are used. One of 
these, the i4 Pierce gun,” is commonly called a u darting gun.” u Were 
it not for this kind of gun,” says Brown, u ice-whaling could not be 
successfully pursued.” This consists of a stockless gun barrel, which 
holds the powder and bomb, attached to the harpoon in such a manner 
that when the iron enters a whale the gun is discharged, driving the 
bomb deep into the animal. 
A shoulder gun is also in favor, and is generally used in conjunction 
with the hand- thrown toggle harpoon. After a whale has been “ fast- 
ened to,” at the first opportunity a bomb lance is shot into him, and 
this is continued on every favorable occasion until he succumbs. 
Methods of capture , preparation of products , etc . — The greatest care 
is exercised in approaching whales, for these animals have grown shy 
from being hunted so much, and the least noise will make it impossible 
to get near them. Whenever there is wind the boats get to windward 
and then sail down upon a whale, and the utmost silence is preserved 
until the harpoon is thrown, when the sheets fly off and “ Starn all !” 
is the order to the men waiting with oars ready to drop them into the 
water and drive the boat astern beyond the reach of the whale’s flukes, 
that otherwise may sweep round with terrible force and smash a boat 
into splinters. 
The following, from the pen of one who has recently (1887) partici- 
pated in the Arctic whale fishery and personally witnessed its methods, 
may be appropriately quoted here : 
The day was beautiful, and the captaiu and 1 embraced the opportunity to make 
the round of the nine ships at anchor. When on the extreme northern ship a whale 
