WITH THE WHALERS AT DURBAN. 203 



us on the chase for an hour, but which we at last secured. We 

 saw him " blow," and, noting the line he was making, we got on 

 his wake and followed it. I timed his longest " sounding " (the 

 time he was under the water) as eight minutes, and then he 

 would come to the surface and take from four to eight short 

 "soundings." As we pressed on his wake, he kept almost close 

 under the surface, so that the man in the " crow's nest " could 

 see him and direct the helmsman, and every move of the Whale 

 being thus followed, we at last came up to him, just as he was 

 forced to come to the surface for his "blow," and the harpoon 

 was driven well home. 



In these chases the great thing to avoid was not over- 

 running the Whale when he takes his deep " soundings," or he 

 will start off in an opposite direction ; so we often brought up 

 and waited rather than risk the alternative. 



The harpoons and the harpoon-guns are very clever con- 

 trivances. The harpoon itself is a heavy instrument, as much as 

 two men can lift, the shaft having a long groove in it, in which 

 runs a wire grummit, to which the rope from the ship is attached. 

 When the harpoon is in the gun the grummit hangs down in 

 front of the muzzle, so that when it is fired the grummit slides 

 down the groove to the base of the shaft, which is made to just 

 fit the barrel of the gun, and on which the charge of powder 

 exerts its force. The harpoon has a four-sided arrow-head, 

 about 8 in. long and 3 in. in diameter at its base. This is made 

 of a cast metal, and has in it a small charge of dynamite, which 

 is timed to explode three seconds after the harpoon is fired from 

 the gun. This cast-metal head is screwed on to the harpoon 

 proper, and of course goes to pieces with the explosion in the 

 Whale's body, and a new one is screwed on after each shot. 



I might mention here that skilled blacksmiths are constantly 

 employed at the factories in straightening out and repairing the 

 harpoons as they are dug out of the Whales' bodies, and they 

 are sometimes twisted about to a greater degree than would be 

 thought possible. A gauge is kept at the factory of the same 

 size as the gun-barrel, and each repaired harpoon is passed 

 through it. 



Behind the screwed-on head, and on the harpoon proper, 

 are four flanges working on hinges, which are tied back to 

 the shaft with rope-yarn. After the harpoon has entered the 



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