192 MABINE MAIHIALS OF TEE NORTH-WESTERN COAST 



should not give him rope enough. This he cloth commonly where the sea is 

 deepest; and this doth require an incredible force to draw so many hundred 

 fathoms of rope under water. This gives me occasion to remember, that when 

 we on the 27th of April, in the year 1672, did fling out our lead, near St. Kilda, 

 behind Scotland, into the sea, where it was one hundred and twenty fathom deep, 

 when the weather was calm, and when we would pull it up again, it was so heavy 

 that twenty men had much to do to heave it. The harpoonier taketh his har- 

 poon, and holds the point, or the iron thereof, togeihcr with the rope or line 

 of five or seven fathom long, about an inch thick, and is laid up round like a 

 ring, that it may not hinder the harpoon when it is flung, for as soon as he doth 

 fling or dart the harpoon, this line follows ; for it is more pliable than the rest 

 that are fastened to it, wherewith they pursue the whale. It is made of the finest 

 and softest hemp, and not daubed with tar, but it doth swell in the water, and 

 so it grows hard. The harpoonier darts his harpoon with the right hand at the 

 fish. When the whale is hit with the harpoon, all the men that are in the 

 long-boat turn themselves about and look before them, and they lay their oars 

 nimbly upon the sides of the long-boat. There is a man in the long-boat, 

 whose business it is to look after the rope; for in each of these long-boats 

 there is a whole heap of lines, between the two seats or benches ; this heap is 

 divided into three, four, or five parts, and each of them is of eighty, ninety, to 

 one hundred fathoms long. The first of them is ty'd to the fore-runner, or small 

 line ; as the whale runs under the water, they tye more and more line to it, and 

 if in one boat there should not be enough, they make use of those that are in the 

 other long-boats. These ropes or lines are thicker and stronger than the fore- 

 runner, and are made of strong and tough hemp, and tarr'd over. The line -fur- 

 nisher, or the man that doth look after the ropes, and also the other men that 

 are in the long-boat, must have great care that the ropes or lines may not be 

 entangled when they run out so swift, or that they may not run towards the side 

 of the long-boat, for then the long-boat would be overset, and many men lose 

 their lives, if other long-boats were not near to their assistance. The line must 

 run just before, in the middle of the long-boat, that is called the Btave by the 

 seamen, and by reason of this strong and violent motion, the wood and rope 

 would be set on fire. But to prevent this, the harpoonier hath a wet rag ly'd to 

 a stick (like unto a mop) ready at hand, wherewith he wets the wood without 

 ceasing. The other three men that are in the long-boats take also care of the 

 lines, as well when they are let out, as when they are taken in again ; and when 

 they can not hold it with their hands, they wind it about the staves of the boat, 



