OEDEE OP OETACEA. 49 



and outstretclied neck, watch for tlie approach of the gigantic 

 quarry. This is indicated by an eddy, a submarine vibration, and a 

 roaring analogovis to the suppressed noise of distant thunder. 



The animal has at last shown the extremity of his black muzzle 

 above the water. We know already, from what Dr. Thiercelin has 

 told us, by what alternations of blowings and soundings the 

 creature makes its evolutions in the liquid medium. The whaler 

 notices in what manner the Whale inclined its tail to guess the 

 direction which it has taken, and he notes the presence of boefe on 

 the surface and at the bottom of the sea, so as to ascertain whether 

 its soundings will be long or short, and then changes his direction 

 according to the requirements of the moment. It is the exact 

 knowledge of these details which makes the expert whaler. So 

 the mana3uvres of the boat vary considerably, according to cir- 

 cumstances. 



It is easy enough to approach to within fifteen or twenty fathoms 

 of the WTiale. But the difficulty is to arrive sufiiciently near it to 

 allow of a successfid attack being made upon it ; that is to say, to 

 within two or three fathoms' distance. Blows from the tail and 

 the flippers are now to be feared. When the boat is sidficiently near, 

 the harpooner prepares to cast the harpoon at the "Wliale. This 

 is the place to say something about the instrument. 

 It is composed of two pai'ts : the iron and the handle. 

 The iron is a metal tube, funnel-shaped at one end and ter- 

 minated at the other in a sort of reversed V. The exterior edges 

 of this V are sharp, whilst the interior edges are thick and 

 straight, in such a manner that when once in the flesh, the iron, 

 retained there by the two points, cannot be torn out. The edges 

 can also be barbed. This dart is more than a metre in length. 

 It is fixed into a handle, which is pierced with a hole, in which 

 is fixed a cord of about four hundred metres long. 



The harpooner stands, his thigh fitting into a hollow of the 

 boat, holding his weapon with both hands. "\^'Tien the ofiicer con- 

 siders that the favourable moment has arrived, he cries out, 

 " Strike ! " We will here let Dr. Thiercelin, an historian of, and 

 an actor in, these exciting combats, speak for himself: — "The 

 harpoon vibrates," says he, " traverses space, penetrates into the 

 blubber, plunges and fixes itself into the fleshy and tendinous or 

 sinewy parts. And here I ought to remark how few harpoons 



