228 



MARINE MAM3IALS OF THE NORTH-WESTERN COAST. 



check the movement by holding on to the line, or by slowly slacking it. In this 

 maneuvre the boat is occasionally hauled bow under water. Sometimes all the line 

 is talvian out almost instantly, when it is cut to prevent the boat from being taken 

 down, and the whale escapes. At other times the animal will "bring to;" that is, 

 it will stop and roll from side to side, or thrash the water with its ponderous 

 flakes and fins, when the boat may be pulled within bomb -shot, and the creature 

 dispatched by one or more of these missiles. 



Hand -lancing for the purpose of killing a whale is now going rapidly out 

 of practice, and the same may be said relative to boat- spades, and "loose irons" 

 to stop a whale from running. By the use of "Pierce's bomb -lance," * the Bow- 

 liead or Polar Whale is now frequently captured in the Arctic Ocean, close to the 



* It is a matter of surpi-ise that so ingenious 

 an invention for killing whales has no appropri- 

 ate name, the whole apparatus being only known 

 as "Pierce's bomb -lance;" hence, to facilitate 

 description, we will give it the provisional des- 

 ignation of Pierce's Harpoon -bomb -lance Gun. 

 The weapon, which is of brass, is fourteen inches 

 long in the barrel, and the sc|uare portion in- 

 closing the lock, together with the socket which 

 receives the iron -pole or harpoon -staff, increases 

 its linear dimensions to about one and a half 

 feet. On one side, and near the muzzle of the 

 gun, are two lugs with holes, which receive the 

 end of a harpoon, to which the whale -line is 

 attached. On the other side is a steel rod bent 

 in the form of a Btajile, at the socket end of 

 the gun, which passes through tubes attached 

 to the socket and lock- case, as represented at 

 G- and H ( in the illustration upon the preceding 

 page), then, passing through a hole in the 

 lug at I, it extends past the muzzle about ten 

 inches. Upon the upper part of the rod, at J, 

 rests the trigger to the lock. The whole appa- 

 ratus, exclusive of the lines and iron - pole, 

 weighs about ten pounds. This weapon is load- 

 ed with a light charge of powder, and jirojects, 

 when discharged, a bomb -lance sixteen inches 

 long, and seven - eighths of an inch in diameter. 

 The lance is loaded with powder, which is ig- 

 nited by a percussion -cap placed upon a ni^jple 



at B, as seen in diagram B, at the end of the 

 cylinder (which is connected with the point of 

 the lance by a screw); this nipple (at B) unites 

 with a time -fuse that leads to the powder with 

 which the bomb is charged. One end of a small 

 line is "seized" to the socket of the gun, then 

 "stopped" along the iron-pole with twine — the 

 other end being fast to the boat, in order that 

 the instrument may be recovered after being 

 thrown and discharged. The whale -line is also 

 stopped along the pole, or it is secured by 

 beckets. The manner of using the gun, is to 

 dart it by hand from the boat, and when the 

 harpoon penetrates the whale beyond the line 

 K, the steel rod (which holds the trigger to the 

 lock) comes in contact, and is pushed back, 

 thereby springing the hammer against a percus- 

 sion-cap which rests upon a nipple in the breech 

 of the gun, by means of which it is fired off, 

 sending the bomb -lance into the whale ; and at 

 the same time the concussion brings a plunger 

 (which is held temporarily by a wooden pin 

 witJiin the head of the lance, as seen at A) 

 upon the cap at B, the flash of which, commu- 

 nicating with the time - fuse imbedded in the 

 powder contained in the cylinder, causes the 

 bomb to explode, usually killing the whale in- 

 stantly; and the harpoon being already fastened 

 in the body of the animal, it may be easily 

 secioxed. 



