128 
WHALE. 
are sometimes daring enough to mount on the back 
of a whale before he is quite dead, and begin to cut 
him in pieces. 
The manner in which the whale fishery is carried 
on by the Europeans is thus described : When 
the ships employed in this business are arrived at 
the place where the whales are expected to pass, 
they always keep their sails set, and a sailor is placed 
at the mast head to give information when he sees 
a whale. As soon as one is discovered, the whole 
crew are instantly in employment ; they fit out 
their boats, and row away to the spot where the 
whale was seen. The harpooner, who is to strike 
the fish, stands at the prow of the boat with one of 
these instruments in his hand, which is about six feet 
long, and pointed with steel like the barb of an arrow, 
of a triangular shape. Besides the harpooner each 
boat has one man at the rudder, another to manage 
the line, and four seamen as rowers. They are 
likewise provided with several lances, and six lines 
each a hundred and twenty fathoms long, fastened 
together. When the man at the prow strikes his 
harpoon into the animal, it immediately darts to- 
wards the bottom, and carries oft‘ the harpoon with 
such rapidity, that, were the line to receive the least 
check in its passage, the boat would infallibly be 
overset. To prevent this it is coiled up with the 
greatest care, and a man is stationed expressly to at- 
tend to the line, that it may pass without inter- 
ruption. Another precaution is likewise highly 
