258 3IAEINE MAMMALS OF THE NORTH-WESTERN COAST. 



of the same ship ; and in some cases it has been found indispensably necessary to 

 keep a willful and refractory officer's boat "on the cranes," in order that the other 

 boats maj' engage in the chase harmoniously. This measure generally brings the 

 guilty party to his senses, for a more summary punishment could not be adnrinis- 

 tered to a game whaleman than to be kept on board as an idle spectator of the 

 exciting pursuit and capture. 



Sperm whaling is chiefly prosecuted within the temperate latitudes, and often 

 in the heated atmosphere of the torrid zone; but the E-ight and Polar Whales are 

 hunted almost exclusively about the frozen oceans of the world, both north and 

 south. In former years, however, these great animals were found in vast numbers 

 within the temperate zones ; but the work of the harpoon and lance, by the com- 

 bined whaling -fleets of Europe and America, has long ago nearly annihilated those 

 species inhabiting the middle water -belts of the northern and southern oceans, and 

 at the present day the animals are driven to their remotest haunts in ice-bound 

 seas. The principal field of pursuit for the whalebone whales, exclusive of the 

 rorquals, is along the icy barrier of the Arctic Ocean. Here the ships cruise from 

 the time the field -ice opens, until the October snows and gales drive them from 

 that gloomy coast, which is strewn with wrecks and records of disaster. The 

 positions of the officers of an Arctic whale -ship, as well as those of the crew, are 

 no sinecure. ''Standing mast -heads" in the biting cold, which is varied by storms 

 of sleet and dismal fogs — constantly on the watch, not only for whales, but for 

 the treacherous movements of the ice-fields or bergs — is a tedious duty, of inordi- 

 nate exposure ; yet, of the whole company, the captain's work is the most arduous, 

 for on him rests the greatest responsibility, and he must be on the alert both niglit 

 and day, being aloft on the lookout more hours than any of his officers. On 

 leaving the frozen regions, the whaler wends his way southward through adverse 

 gales ; if favored with leading winds, lie seeks the most desirable port, where the 

 needful supplies of fresh provisions can be obtained, and a few weeks of relaxation 

 and amusement for the crew may be enjoyed on shore. By far the most noted 

 resort for supplies in the northern hemisphere was Honolulu, Sandwich Islands ; yet 

 Hilo and Maui, of the same group, were frequently resorted to. Here, the genial 

 climate and fruitful soil, which yielded abundantly the needful "recruits," and the 

 open, easy life of the natives, caused it to become a favorite place for the whalers 

 to congregate. The brief time of "giving liberty" and "recruiting ship" being over, 

 a short winter cruise called the "line season" may be made about the equator, for 

 Sperm Whales; or the vessel may go to the coast of California, to engage in 

 "bay -whaling," or "kelp -whaling." In either case, the ships usually touch again 



