294 : General Notes. 
[ April, 
ference, about sixty fathoms, which shows what power they have, 
since a bomb and twenty fathoms of line weigh about fifty-five 
pounds. 
These are generally fired from the bow of the boat. Fig. 3 
gives a good idea of a man firing ata whale. Fig. 4 gives an 
V 
Fic. 4.—Enlarged view of the complete apparatus. 
enlarged view of the 
complete apparatus 
before being fired. The 
hinged flange is thrown 
the whale, if it hits 
him, but in our case, 
we being too close to 
the whale, about ten 
feet distant, the bomb 
went through him, 
just abaft of the flukes, 
and bursted on the 
outside, leaving the 
toggle on the outside 
of him; we were now 
towed the propeller, 
which would, perhaps, 
weigh ten tons, coa 
twenty to forty fathoms 
of whale line, some- 
times at the rate of ten 
miles am hour, al- 
though we were fre- 
quently backing under 
a full head of steam. 
This, if we were going 
showing the immense 
strength of the whale. 
This species of whale is seldom attacked by the whalers on ~ 
