AND NEW HAVEN. PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY S. BABCOCK. 1840.
THE WHALE, ■ AND THE. ’c | PERILS OF THE WHALE-FISHERY J IX The Whale is the largest.and most X powerful animal in the world. No X E creature that lives on the earth is one X E half as large. The Elephant, which x E is the largest of all living land animals, x £ is seldom more than ten feet long, and x weighs not more than eight or nine X $ thousand pounds. How large, then, X X must an animal be, which is sometimes X X one hundred feet long, from thirty to X X forty feet round, and weighing one X X hundred tons, or two hundred thousand X X pounds! x There are a great many varieties of X ¥ the Whale, one of which, called the x X Razor-Back, is the largest, being often X of the size just mentioned ; but it is X X not as valuable as the Common Whale, X (which you see -on the opposite page,) X
4 HE WHALE. X because it yields less oil, and that of X BE an inferior quality. The Common X X Whale is not often more than sixty X X feet long, but it yields double the quan- X X tity of oil that the Razor-Back does, x X and is therefore more sought after by x 1°^ whalemen. ' x Whales are found in great numbers x in the polar seas, where they are seen X sporting around the icebergs, or moun- X tains of ice, with which those seas abound. These mountains of ice form x X on the coast, and being at length bro- X $ ken off, float away into the ocean, in X IX huge masses three or four thousand X feet in height. X Dangerous as the whale-fishery is x known to be, yet great numbers ofx ships are sent out every year on this X business; and, indeed, if they were x not, where should we procure oil for X our lamps, and whale-bone for umbrel- x X las, and for many other purposes ? x X The mouth of the Whale is very x X large ; the throat small; and the eyes, x
6 THE WHALE. X which have lids to them, not larger X than those of an ox. Oh the top of^ the head are blow-holes, which are X °F supposed to be his nostrils; through X X these he spouts the water to a great X $ height, and with a noise like that of X cannon. His tail is very broad, and a X most powerful weapon ; when in pain X or rage, he lashes the sea with it till X the water is in a foam all around. SS X One blow from his tail will dash a X 3b stout boat in pieces. The head of this x kind of Whale is generally about one X third of its length. The mouth is X large enough to hold a good sized boat. 3g X Immediately under the skin lies the X X fat, which is called blubber ; this is X X from ten to twelve and sometimes, on X X some parts of the body, twenty inches X X thick. The color of the blubber is gen- x X erally yellowish white, or yellow ; but X X sometimes it is red. In the young ones X X it is always yellowish white. The X color of the Whale is velvet black, or X X gray, and sometimes white. ft a nA ft a a ft a n n n An o a An A a t $
8 THE WHALE-FISHERY. X When a whale-ship arrives in the X X seas where the Whales are found, the X X crews are every moment on the watch T X to discover the object of their voyage. X As soon as one is seen, seven men, six X X of whom are rowers, leap into one of X the boats, which is kept all ready for X the purpose, and row towards the X Whale in the deepest silence. AlX though this huge animal does not hear °C X quick, yet when the sea is calm, a °C X slight splashing alarms him. °c X Besides the men, the boat contains X X a large quantity of rope, all coiled up, X X to one end of which is fastened the X X harpoon, an instrument of iron about X Hl X three feet in length, so shaped as to X pierce the Whale and remain in his body, thereby preventing his escape. The harpoon has a pole, or handle, of
THE WHALE-FISHERY. 9 o Another instrument, called the lance, X . ± X which is a spear about six feet long, X X with the blade made very thin and X X sharp, is used to plunge into his vital X X parts and occasion his death. X X When the boat is as near the Whale ah X as is consistent with safety, the har- X ah pooner darts his weapon into the back x X of the monster. This is a dangerous X X moment; for when the Whale feels X the blow, he often lashes the sea with X X his tail with the greatest violence. X X But more commonly he darts down X X into the sea, to a great depth, dragging X X after him many hundred feet of the X X rope to which the harjoon is fastened, X X and drawing the boat through the wa- X X ter with great velocity. X X During this time, several other boats X X put off from the ship, and by spread- X X ing themselves about, some one of
10 THE WHALE-FISHERY. them is usually near where the Whale X comes up to breathe. As soon as he x rises he is attacked with the lances, X which are struck as deep as possible, x in order to reach a vital part. Blood, x mixed with oil, then streams from his x wounds, and becoming exhausted with X his violent struggles, and with pain, he x turns upon his side and expires. 3E The crews now give shouts of vic- x tory ; they then make holes in the tail x of their victim, through which ropes x are passed, and being fastened to the % boats, they tow the carcass to the ship X with shouts of joy. X The body is now fastened to the X ' sides of the vessel, where the whale- x ; bone is taken out, and the blubber cut ; off in large pieces and hoisted on ’ board ; there it is put into casks and X > kept till the vessel arrives home ; then x ’ put into large copper boilers, and the X 3 oil extracted in the same way that tai- X low is tried. If a Spermaceti Whale X is taken, the oil is extracted on board, x
12 THE WHALE-FISHERY. by means of two large boilers, with X which whale-ships are furnished. The X fire is made with the scraps of blubber X that has been tried, which produces a X great heat. x Whaling is not only a toilsome, but X a very dangerous business. Few men X follow it many years without either X suffering, or seeing other suffer, great X calamities. The dangers are many, X and some of them so sudden as to ren- x der escape almost impossible. Sometimes the Whale, after he is X struck, in his violent struggles dashes 4 the beat in pieces. The rope, too, to X which the harpoon is fastened, may 4 get entangled while the Whale is X drawing it out of the boat with great x rapidity. In this case, if the line is X not instantly cut by the man who stands x ready for the purpose, the boat is im- X mediately drawn under water. X Mr. Scoresby saw a boat thrown X several yards into the air, from which X it fell on its side, plunging its crew into X
14 THE WHALE-FISHERY. X the sea. They were all soon taken Hr up, when only one was found to have X sustained severe injury. X 1° 1802, a whale-ship had one of its X boats thrown fifteen feet into the air, X and it fell down bottom upwards. The X crew were all saved except one. I Whalers are often in great danger by reason of the monster they are pursuing becoming greatly enraged, and turning suddenly upon them. The Dutch writers mention a man who, after a fish had been struck, was hastening with a second boat to the support of the first. The Whale, however, rose, and with his head struck the boat so furiously, that it was shattered in pieces, and the man was thrown with X the fragments on the back of the huge X animal. Even then this bold mariner X darted a second harpoon into the back X of his victim ; but, unfortunately, he got entangled in the line and could not X extricate himself, nor could the others X get near enough to save him. At last,
16 THE WHALE-EISHERY. however, the harpoon was disengaged, X X and he swam to the boat. X X Entanglement in the line, while the X X retreating fish is drawing it off rapidly, X X is often fatal. A sailor, in 1818, hap- x X penin g to step into a coil of running X X rope, had a foot cut entirely off, before X X he could be extricated. A harpooner, X X also, had carelessly thrown some part X X of the line under his feet, when a sud- X X den dart of the fish made it twist round X X his body. He had just time to cry x X out, “ Clear away the line-! 0 dear!” X X when he was cut almost asunder, X I dragged overboard, and’ never seen X afterwards. X But these are only a small portion of X the dangers experienced in these per- X ilous pursuits. To numberless others X in which the poor mariners are placed X by the Whale, we may add the dangers X of shipwreck, which, in these regions, X among fields and mountains of ice, are X very great, and often occasion the most X dreadful sufferings. . ' X
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