84 
REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 
was “raised” or seen coming leisurely along the edge of the shore ice. The news 
spread like wildfire, and in a few minutes thirty or more whaleboats were flitting 
about, each endeavoring to get as near as possible to the spot where the whale would 
next rise to spout. 
When he rose a boat darted an iron, but it did not hold. At the next rising an- 
other boat attempted to hit, and also failed ; but the third boat made fast to him. 
It was a grand sight to see the whale make a lunge and start seaward, towing the 
boat after him at a terrific pace. He went a mile or two, then wheeled about and 
rriade a straight line for the shore ice. Another boat was soon alongside to bend on 
more line to the nearly exhausted tubs of the first boat. 
All the captains became so excited and interested in the chase that they longed for 
some of the fun ; so four of them took the Hunter's steam launch, I accompanying 
'them. As soon as we reached the shore ice I saw the whale spout behind a long point 
of ice.- It would have taken a boat a considerable time to sail there, but we steamed 
around it and, before I could comprehend the situation, were alongside the monster. 
It seemed incredible that sue a a powerful' creature could be killed. With Captain 
Cogan at the helm, Captain Sherman with a darting gun, Captain Kelly with a shoul- 
der gun, and Captain Winslow and myself as ballast, we bore down on him, fired 
two bombs into him, and rushed past just in time to escape a sweeping blow from his 
powerful tail. 
It is disappointing to see a whale, for most pictures represent him as standing up 
like a buoy or posing with his tail on top of the water. The real fact is that only 
the top of the head about the spout hole and a small piece of the back are seen, and 
perhaps the “flukes” or, in common English, the tail may take an occasional sweep 
in the air. When as near as we were, so that we could look down into the water 
upon the creature, his great size could be partially comprehended. 
It seems to be the duty of every man in the boat when the whale is struck to yell 
at the top of his voice. Even where there is dignity to be kept up, a certain amount 
of this has to be done. In the midst of the shouting was heard the muffled “ boom,” 
“boom” of the two bombs, and the whale rolled over dead without a struggle. I 
staid aboard the Lucretia that night to see the whale cut in. 
As soon as' a whale is killed the vessel gets under way and sails to him, taking 
him on the starboard side in front of the gangway. With a steamer, as in this in- 
stance, this is very easily done, but a sailing vessel may find it necessary to maneu- 
ver some time before getting the conditions right for work. First, a strong chain or 
hawser is secured around the flukes. This runs through the hawse pipe and is firmly 
fastened to the forward bitt near the windlass. Then another chain is secured co one 
fin, and it is with this second chain that the whale is managed. 
The carcass runs fore and aft, the head being aft, and the fin in front of the gang- 
way. With sharp cutting spades a man cuts through the blubber, circling around 
the whale from the extremity of the mouth toward the tail, corkscrew like. He cuts 
down to the “ lean.” By hauling on the fin chain the carcass rolls, and the “ blan- 
ket piece” of blubber tears itself off, aided by the cutting spades. When the whale 
is rolled quarter over one lip comes uppermost. A tackle is fastened to this, then it 
is cut off, hoisted on deck, and dropped into the “blubber room,” as the space be- 
tween decks from the mainmast to the forecastle is called. All hoisting is done by 
the windlass, and in most of the vessels power comes from a donkey engine. The 
blanket piece is started again and the whale rolled half way over. The throat is then 
uppermost. This in turn is cut off and deposited in the blubber room, then the other 
lips rolled up and removed. By this time the blanket piece becomes unwieldy in its 
length, so another hold is secured’ close down to the carcass [by hooking on another 
tackle], and the strip of blubber, perhaps 15 feet long and 6 feet widd 1 , cut off and 
dropped into the blubber room. 
The most difficult part of the whole operation is now at hand, and that is to cut off 
the “head” or upper jaw, which contains all the whalebone. A false or careless move 
