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twg_000012587600 | calm, and one of those intensely dark, hot nights, that cause sailors to feel uneasy, they scarce know why. I began to feel so uncomfortable at last, listening to the horrible tales which Tom Lokins was relating to the men, that I slipt away from them with the intention of going on deck. I moved so quietly that no one | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587601 | observed me; besides, every eye was fixed earnestly on Tom, whose deep low voice was the only sound that broke the stillness of all around. As I was going very cautiously up the ladder leading to the deck, Tom had reached that part of his story where the ghost was just appearing in a dark churchyard, dressed in white, ... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587602 | coming slowly forward, one step at a time, towards the terrified man who saw it. The men held their breath, and one or two of their faces turned pale as Tom went on with his description, lowering his voice to a hoarse whisper. Just as I put my head up the hatchway the sheet of one of the sails, which | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587603 | was hanging loose in the still air, passed gently over my head and knocked my hat off. At any other time I would have thought nothing of this, but Tom's story had thrown me into such an excited and nervous condition that I gave a start, missed my footing, uttered a loud cry, and fell down the ladder right in | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587604 | among the men with a tremendous crash, knocking over two or three oil-cans and a tin bread-basket in my fall, and upsetting the lantern, so that the place was instantly pitch dark. I never heard such a howl of terror as these men gave vent to when this misfortune befell me. They rushed upon deck with their hearts in th... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587605 | mouths, tumbling, and peeling the skin off their shins and knuckles in their haste; and it was not until they heard the laughter of the watch on deck that they breathed freely, and, joining in the laugh, called themselves fools for being frightened by a ghost story. I noticed, however, that, for all their pretended ind... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587606 | man among them--not even Tom Lokins himself--who would go down below to relight the lantern for at least a quarter of an hour afterwards! Feeling none the worse for my fall, I went forward and leaned over the bow of the ship, where I was much astonished by the appearance of the sea. It seemed as if the water was | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587607 | on fire. Every time the ship's bow rose and fell, the little belt of foam made in the water seemed like a belt of blue flame with bright sparkles in it, like stars or diamonds. I had seen this curious appearance before, but never so bright as it was on that night. "What is it, Tom?" said I, as my | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587608 | friend came forward and leaned over the ship's bulwark beside me. "It's blue fire, Bob," replied Tom, as he smoked his pipe calmly. "Come, you know I can't swallow that," said I; "everybody knows that fire, either blue or red, can't burn in the water." "Maybe not," returned Tom; "but it's blue fire for all that. Leastw... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587609 | I don't know wot else it is." Tom had often seen this light before, no doubt, but he had never given himself the trouble to find out what it could be. Fortunately the captain came up just as I put the question, and he enlightened me on the subject. "It is caused by small animals," said he, leaning over the | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587610 | side. "Small animals!" said I, in astonishment. "Ay, many parts of the sea are full of creatures so small and so thin and colourless, that you can hardly see them even in a clear glass tumbler. Many of them are larger than others, but the most of them are very small." "But how do they shine like that, sir?" I | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587611 | asked. "That I do not know, boy. God has given them the power to shine, just as he has given us the power to walk or speak; and they do shine brightly, as you see; but _how_ they do it is more than I can tell. I think, myself, it must be anger that makes them shine, for they generally | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587612 | do it when they are stirred up or knocked about by oars, or ships' keels, or tumbling waves. But I am not sure that that's the reason either, because, you know, we often sail through them without seeing the light, though of course they must be there." "P'raps, sir," said Tom Lokins; "p'raps, sir, they're sleepy sometim... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587613 | bothered gettin' angry." "Perhaps!" answered the captain, laughing. "But then again, at other times, I have seen them shining over the whole sea when it was quite calm, making it like an ocean of milk; and nothing was disturbing them at that time, d'ye see." "I don' know _that_," objected Tom; "they might have bin a-fi... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587614 | may be," said I. The captain laughed, and, looking up at the sky, said, "I don't like the look of the weather, Tom Lokins. You're a sharp fellow, and have been in these seas before, what say you?" "We'll have a breeze," replied Tom, briefly. "More than a breeze," muttered the captain, while a look of grave anxiety over... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587615 | countenance; "I'll go below and take a squint at the glass." "What does he mean by that, Tom," said I, when the captain was gone, "I never saw a calmer or a finer night. Surely there is no chance of a storm just now." "Ay, that shows that you're a young feller, and han't got much experience o' them seas," | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587616 | replied my companion. "Why, boy, sometimes the fiercest storm is brewin' behind the greatest calm. An' the worst o' the thing is that it comes so sudden at times, that the masts are torn out o' the ship before you can say Jack Robinson." "What! and without any warning?" said I. "Ay, _almost_ without warnin'; but not _a... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587617 | You heer'd the captain say he'd go an' take a squint at the glass?" "Yes; what is the glass?" "It's not a glass o' grog, you may be sure; nor yet a lookin'-glass. It's the weather-glass, boy. Shore-goin' chaps call it a barometer." "And what's the meaning of barometer?" I inquired earnestly. Tom Lokins stared at me in ... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587618 | "Why, boy," said he, "you're too inquisitive. I once asked the doctor o' a ship that question, and says he to me, `Tom,' says he, `a barometer is a glass tube filled with quicksilver or mercury, which is a metal in a soft or fluid state, like water, you know, and it's meant for tellin' the state o' the weather.' | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587619 | "`Yes, sir,' I answers, `I know that, well enough.' "`Then why did you ask?' says he, gettin' into a passion. "`I asked what was the meanin' o' the _word_ barometer, sir,' said I. "The doctor he looked grave at that, and shook his head. `Tom,' says he, `if I was to go for to explain that word, and all about | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587620 | the instrument, in a scientific sort o' way, d'ye see, I'd have to sit here an' speak to you right on end for six hours or more.' "`Oh, sir,' says I, `don't do it, then. _Please_, don't do it.' "`No more I will,' says he; `but it'll serve your turn to know that a barometer is a glass for measurin' | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587621 | the weight o' the air, and, _somehow or other, that_ lets ye know wots a-coming. If the mercury in the glass rises high, all's right. If it falls uncommon low very sudden, look out for squalls; that's all. No matter how smooth the sea may be, or how sweetly all natur' may smile, don't you believe it; take in every | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587622 | inch o' canvas at once.'" "That was a queer explanation, Tom." "Ay, but it was a true one, as you shall see before long." As I looked out upon the calm sea, which lay like a sheet of glass, without a ripple on its surface, I could scarcely believe what he had said. But before many minutes had passed I | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587623 | was convinced of my error. While I was standing talking to my messmate, the captain rushed on deck, and shouted-- "All hands tumble up! Shorten sail! Take in every rag! Look alive, boys, look alive." I was quite stunned for a moment by this, and by the sudden tumult that followed. The men, who seemed never to take thou... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587624 | anything, and who had but one duty, namely, to _obey orders_, ran upon deck, and leaped up the rigging like cats; the sheets of nearly all the principal sails were clewed up, and, ere long, the canvas was made fast to the yards. A few of the smaller sails only were left exposed, and even these were close reefed. Before | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587625 | long a loud roar was heard, and in another minute the storm burst upon us with terrific violence. The ship at first lay over so much that the masts were almost in the water, and it was as impossible for any one to walk the deck as to walk along the side of a wall. At the same time, the | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587626 | sea was lashed into white foam, and the blinding spray flew over us in bitter fury. "Take in the topsails!" roared the captain. But his voice was drowned in the shriek of the gale. The men were saved the risk of going out on the yards, however, for in a few moments more all the sails, except the storm-try-sail, were | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587627 | burst and blown to ribbons. We now tried to put the ship's head to the wind and "_lay to_," by which landsmen will understand that we tried to face the storm, and remain stationary. But the gale was so fierce that this was impossible. The last rag of sail was blown away, and then there was nothing left for us | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587628 | but to show our stern to the gale, and "scud under bare poles." The great danger now was that we might be "pooped," which means that a huge wave might curl over our stern, fall with terrible fury on our deck, and sink us. Many and many a good ship has gone down in this way; but we were mercifully | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587629 | spared. As our safety depended very much on good steering, the captain himself took the wheel, and managed the ship so well, that we weathered the gale without damage, farther than the loss of a few sails and light spars. For two days the storm howled furiously, the sky and sea were like ink, with sheets of rain and fo... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587630 | driving through the air, and raging billows tossing our ship about like a cork. During all this time my shipmates were quiet and grave, but active and full of energy, so that every order was at once obeyed without noise or confusion. Every man watched the slightest motion of the captain. We all felt that everything dep... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587631 | for me, I gave up all hope of being saved. It seemed impossible to me that anything that man could build could withstand so terrible a storm. I do not pretend to say that I was not afraid. The near prospect of a violent death caused my heart to sink more than once; but my feelings did not unman me. | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587632 | I did my duty quietly, but quickly, like the rest; and when I had no work to do, I stood holding on to the weather stanchions, looking at the raging sea, and thinking of my mother, and of the words of kindness and counsel she had so often bestowed upon me in vain. The storm ceased almost as quickly as | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587633 | it began, and although the sea did not all at once stop the heavings of its angry bosom, the wind fell entirely in the course of a few hours, the dark clouds broke up into great masses that were piled up high into the sky, and out of the midst of these the glorious sun shone in bright rays down | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587634 | on the ocean, like comfort from heaven, gladdening our hearts as we busily repaired the damage that we had suffered from the storm. CHAPTER THREE. OUR FIRST BATTLE. I shall never forget the surprise I got the first time I saw a whale. It was in the forenoon of a most splendid day, about a week after we arrived at | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587635 | that part of the ocean where we might expect to find fish. A light nor'-east breeze was blowing, but it scarcely ruffled the sea, as we crept slowly through the water with every stitch of canvas set. As we had been looking out for fish for some time past, everything was in readiness for them. The boats were hanging ove... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587636 | the side ready to lower, tubs for coiling away the ropes, harpoons, lances, etcetera, all were ready to throw in, and start away at a moment's notice. The man in the "crow's nest," as they call the cask fixed up at the mast-head, was looking anxiously out for whales, and the crew were idling about the deck. Tom Lokins ... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587637 | seated on the windlass smoking his pipe, and I was sitting beside him on an empty cask, sharpening a blubber-knife. "Tom," said I, "what like is a whale?" "Why, it's like nothin' but itself," replied Tom, looking puzzled. "Why, wot a queer feller you are to ax questions." "I'm sure you've seen plenty of them. You might... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587638 | tell what a whale is like." "Wot it's like! Well, it's like a tremendous big bolster with a head and a tail to it." "And how big is it?" "They're of all sizes, lad. I've seen one that was exactly equal to three hundred fat bulls, and its rate of goin' would take it round the whole world in twenty-three | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587639 | days." "I don't believe you," said I, laughing. "Don't you?" cried Tom; "it's a fact notwithstandin', for the captain himself said so, and that's how I came to know it." Just as Tom finished speaking, the man in the crow's nest roared at the top of his voice, "There she blows!" That was the signal that a whale was in | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587640 | sight, and as it was the first time we had heard it that season, every man in the ship was thrown into a state of tremendous excitement. "There she blows!" roared the man again. "Where away?" shouted the captain. "About two miles right ahead." In another moment the utmost excitement prevailed on board. Suddenly, while ... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587641 | side, straining my eyes to catch a sight of the whale, which could not yet be seen by the men on deck, I saw a brown object appear in the sea, not twenty yards from the side of the ship; before I had time to ask what it was, a whale's head rose to the surface, and shot up out | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587642 | of the water. The part of the fish that was visible above water could not have been less than thirty feet in length. It just looked as if our longboat had jumped out of the sea, and he was so near that I could see his great mouth quite plainly. I could have tossed a biscuit on his back easily. | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587643 | Sending two thick spouts of frothy water out of his blow-holes forty feet into the air with tremendous noise, he fell flat upon the sea with a clap like thunder, tossed his flukes, or tail, high into the air, and disappeared. I was so amazed at this sight that I could not speak. I could only stare at the place | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587644 | where the huge monster had gone down. "Stand by to lower," shouted the captain. "Ay, ay, sir," replied the men, leaping to their appointed stations; for every man in a whale-ship has his post of duty appointed to him, and knows what to do when an order is given. "Lower away," cried the captain, whose face was now blazi... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587645 | excitement. In a moment more three boats were in the water; the tubs, harpoons, etcetera, were thrown in, the men seized the oars, and away they went with a cheer. I was in such a state of flutter that I scarce knew what I did; but I managed somehow or other to get into a boat, and as I was | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587646 | a strong fellow, and a good rower, I was allowed to pull. "There she blows!" cried the man in the crow's nest, just as we shot from the side of the ship. There was no need to ask, "where away" this time. Another whale rose and spouted not more than three hundred yards off, and before we could speak a | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587647 | third fish rose in another direction, and we found ourselves in the middle, of what is called a "school of whales." "Now, lads," said the captain, who steered the boat in which I rowed, "bend your backs, my hearties; that fish right ahead of us is a hundred-barrel whale for certain. Give way, boys; we _must_ have that ... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587648 | was no need to urge the men, for their backs were strained to the utmost, their faces were flushed, and the big veins in their necks swelled almost to bursting, with the tremendous exertion. "Hold hard," said the captain, in a low voice, for now that we were getting near our prey, we made as little noise as possible. T... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587649 | men at once threw their oars "apeak," as they say; that is, raised them straight up in the air, and waited for further orders. We expected the whale would rise near to where we were, and thought it best to rest and look out. While we were waiting, Tom Lokins, who was harpooner of the boat, sat just behind me | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587650 | with all his irons ready. He took this opportunity to explain to me that by a "hundred-barrel fish" is meant a fish that will yield a hundred-barrels of oil. He further informed me that such a fish was a big one, though he had seen a few in the North-west Seas that had produced upwards of two hundred-barrels. I now | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587651 | observed that the other boats had separated, and each had gone after a different whale. In a few minutes the fish we were in chase of rose a short distance off, and sent up two splendid water-spouts high into the air, thus showing that he was what the whalers call a "right" whale. It is different from the sperm whale, | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587652 | which has only one blow-hole, and that a little one. We rowed towards it with all our might, and as we drew near, the captain ordered Tom Lokins to "stand up," so he at once laid in his oar, and took up the harpoon. The harpoon is an iron lance with a barbed point. A whale-line is attached to it, | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587653 | and this line is coiled away in a tub. When we were within a few yards of the fish, which was going slowly through the water, all ignorant of the terrible foes who were pursuing him, Tom Lokins raised the harpoon high above his head, and darted it deep into its fat side just behind the left fin, and next | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587654 | moment the boat ran aground on the whale's back. "Stern all, for your lives!" roared the captain, who, before his order was obeyed, managed to give the creature two deep wounds with his lance. The lance has no barbs to its point, and is used only for wounding after the harpoon is fixed. The boat was backed off at once, | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587655 | but it had scarcely got a few yards away when the astonished fish whirled its huge body half out of the water, and, coming down with a tremendous clap, made off like lightning. The line was passed round a strong piece of wood called the "logger-head," and, in running out, it began to smoke, and nearly set the wood on | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587656 | fire. Indeed, it would have done so, if a man had not kept constantly pouring water upon it. It was needful to be very cautious in managing the line, for the duty is attended with great danger. If any hitch should take place, the line is apt to catch the boat and drag it down bodily under the waves. Sometimes | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587657 | a coil of it gets round a leg or an arm of the man who attends to it, in which case his destruction is almost certain. Many a poor fellow has lost his life in this way. The order was now given to "hold on line." This was done, and in a moment our boat was cleaving the blue water | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587658 | like an arrow, while the white foam curled from her bows. I thought every moment we should be dragged under; but whenever this seemed likely to happen, the line was let run a bit, and the strain eased. At last the fish grew tired of dragging us, the line ceased to run out, and Tom hauled in the slack, which | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587659 | another man coiled away in its tub. Presently the fish rose to the surface, a short distance off our weather-bow. "Give way, boys! spring your oars," cried the captain; "another touch or two with the lance, and that fish is ours." The boat shot ahead, and we were about to dart a second harpoon into the whale's side, wh... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587660 | took to "sounding,"--which means, that it went straight down, head foremost, into the depths of the sea. At that moment Tom Lokins uttered a cry of mingled anger and disappointment. We all turned round and saw our shipmate standing with the slack line in his hand, and such an expression on his weather-beaten face, that... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587661 | The harpoon had not been well fixed; it had lost its hold, and the fish was now free! "Gone!" exclaimed the captain, with a groan. I remember even yet the feeling of awful disappointment that came over me when I understood that we had lost the fish after all our trouble! I could almost have wept with bitter vexation. A... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587662 | for my comrades, they sat staring at each other for some moments quite speechless. Before we could recover from the state into which this misfortune had thrown us, one of the men suddenly shouted, "Hallo! there's the mate's boat in distress." We turned at once, and, truly, there was no doubt of the truth of this, for, ... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587663 | mile off, we beheld our first mate's boat tearing over the sea like a small steamer. It was fast to a fish, and two oars were set up on end to attract our attention. When a whale is struck, it sometimes happens that the whole of the line in a boat is run out. When this is about to occur, | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587664 | it becomes necessary to hold on as much as can be done without running the boat under the water, and an oar is set up on end to show that assistance is required, either from the ship or from the other boats. As the line grows less and less, another and another oar is hoisted to show that help must | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587665 | be sent quickly. If no assistance can be sent, the only thing that remains to be done is to cut the line and lose the fish; but a whale-line, with its harpoon, is a very heavy loss, in addition to that of the fish, so that whalers are tempted to hold on a little too long sometimes. When we saw | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587666 | the mate's boat dashing away in this style, we forgot our grief at the loss of our whale in our anxiety to render assistance to our comrades, and we rowed towards them as fast as we could. Fortunately the whale changed its course, and came straight towards us, so that we ceased pulling, and waited till they came up. As | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587667 | the boat came on I saw the foam curling up on her bows as she leaped and flew over the sea. I could scarcely believe it possible that wood and iron could bear such a strain. In a few minutes they were almost abreast of us. "You're holding too hard!" shouted the captain. "Lines all out!" roared the mate. They | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587668 | were past almost before these short sentences could be spoken. But they had not gone twenty yards ahead of us when the water rushed in over the bow, and before we could utter a word the boat and crew were gone. Not a trace of them remained! The horror of the moment had not been fully felt, however, when the | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587669 | boat rose to the surface keel up, and, one after another, the heads of the men appeared. The line had fortunately broken, otherwise the boat would have been lost, and the entire crew probably would have gone to the bottom with her. We instantly pulled to the rescue, and were thankful to find that not a man was killed, ... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587670 | some of them were a little hurt, and all had received a terrible fright. We next set to work to right the upset boat, an operation which was not accomplished without much labour and difficulty. Now, while we were thus employed, our third boat, which was in charge of the second mate, had gone after the whale that had ca... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587671 | us so much trouble, and, when we had got the boat righted and began to look about us, we found that she was fast to the fish about a mile to leeward. "Hurrah, lads!" cried the captain, "luck has not left us yet. Give way, my hearties, pull like Britons! we'll get that fish yet." We were all dreadfully done | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587672 | up by this time, but the sight of a boat fast to a whale restored us at once, and we pulled away as stoutly as if we had only begun the day's work. The whale was heading in the direction of the ship, and when we came up to the scene of action the second mate had just "touched the | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587673 | life"; in other words, he had driven the lance deep down into the whale's vitals. This was quickly known by jets of blood being spouted up through the blow-holes. Soon after, our victim went into its dying agonies, or, as whalemen say, "his flurry." This did not last long. In a short time he rolled over dead. We fasten... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587674 | line to his tail, the three boats took the carcass in tow, and, singing a lively song, we rowed away to the ship. Thus ended our first battle with the whales. CHAPTER FOUR. "CUTTING-IN THE BLUBBER" AND "TRYING OUT THE OIL." The scene that took place on board ship after we caught our first fish was most wonderful. We co... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587675 | the operation of what is called "cutting-in," that is, cutting up the whale, and getting the fat or blubber hoisted in. The next thing we did was to "try out" the oil, or melt down the fat in large iron pots brought with us for this purpose; and the change that took place in the appearance of the ship and | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587676 | the men when this began was very remarkable. When we left port our decks were clean, our sails white, our masts well scraped; the brass-work about the quarter-deck was well polished, and the men looked tidy and clean. A few hours after our first whale had been secured alongside all this was changed. The cutting up of t... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587677 | covered the decks with oil and blood, making them so slippery that they had to be covered with sand to enable the men to walk about. Then the smoke of the great fires under the melting-pots begrimed the masts, sails, and cordage with soot. The faces and hands of the men got so covered with oil and soot that it | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587678 | would have puzzled any one to say whether they were white or black. Their clothes, too, became so dirty that it was impossible to clean them. But, indeed, whalemen do not much mind this. In fact, they take a pleasure in all the dirt that surrounds them, because it is a sign of success in the main object of their | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587679 | voyage. The men in a _clean_ whale-ship are never happy. When everything is filthy, and dirty, and greasy, and smoky, and black-- decks, rigging, clothes, and person--it is then that the hearty laugh and jest and song are heard as the crew work busily, night and day, at their rough but profitable labour. The operations... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587680 | were matters of great interest to me the first time I saw them. After having towed our whale to the ship, cutting-in was immediately begun. First, the carcass was secured near the head and tail with chains, and made fast to the ship; then the great blocks and ropes fastened to the main and foremast for hoisting in the ... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587681 | were brought into play. When all was ready, the captain and the two mates, with Tom Lokins, got upon the whale's body, with long-handled sharp spades or digging-knives. With these they fell to work cutting off the blubber. I was stationed at one of the hoisting ropes, and while we were waiting for the signal to "hoist ... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587682 | over the side, and for the first time had a good look at the great fish. When we killed it, so much of its body was down in the water that I could not see it very clearly, but now that it was lashed at full length alongside the ship, and I could look right down upon it, I began | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587683 | to understand more clearly what a large creature it was. One thing surprised me much; the top of its head, which was rough and knotty like the bark of an old tree, was swarming with little crabs and barnacles, and other small creatures. The whale's head seemed to be their regular home! This fish was by no means one of | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587684 | the largest kind, but being the first I had seen, I fancied it must be the largest fish in the sea. Its body was forty feet long, and twenty feet round at the thickest part. Its head, which seemed to me a great, blunt, shapeless thing, like a clumsy old boat, was eight feet long from the tip to the | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587685 | blow-holes or nostrils; and these holes were situated on the back of the head, which at that part was nearly four feet broad. The entire head measured about twenty-one feet round. Its ears were two small holes, so small that it was difficult to discover them, and the eyes were also very small for so large a body, being... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587686 | the same size as those of an ox. The mouth was very large, and the under jaw had great ugly lips. When it was dying, I saw these lips close in once or twice on its fat cheeks, which it bulged out like the leather sides of a pair of gigantic bellows. It had two fins, one on each side, | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587687 | just behind the head. With these, and with its tail, the whale swims and fights. Its tail is its most deadly weapon. The flukes of this one measured thirteen feet across, and with one stroke of this it could have smashed our largest boat in pieces. Many a boat has been sent to the bottom in this way. I remember | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587688 | hearing our first mate tell of a wonderful escape a comrade of his had in the Greenland Sea fishery. A whale had been struck, and, after its first run, they hauled up to it again, and rowed so hard that they ran the boat right against it. The harpooner was standing on the bow all ready, and sent his iron | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587689 | cleverly into the blubber. In its agony the whale reared its tail high out of the water, and the flukes whirled for a moment like a great fan just above the harpooner's head. One glance up was enough to show him that certain death was descending. In an instant he dived over the side and disappeared. Next moment the flu... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587690 | came down on the part of the boat he had just left, and cut it clean off; the other part was driven into the waves, and the men were left swimming in the water. They were all picked up, however, by another boat that was in company, and the harpooner was recovered with the rest. His quick dive had been | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587691 | the saving of his life. I had not much time given me to study the appearance of this whale before the order was given to "hoist away!" so we went to work with a will. The first part that came up was the huge lip, fastened to a large iron hook, called the blubber hook. It was lowered into the | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587692 | blubber-room between decks, where a couple of men were stationed to stow the blubber away. Then came the fins, and after them the upper-jaw, with the whalebone attached to it. The "right" whale has no teeth like the sperm whale. In place of teeth it has the well-known substance called whalebone, which grows from the ro... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587693 | a number of broad thin plates, extending from the back of the head to the snout. The lower edges of these plates of whalebone are split into thousands of hairs like bristles, so that the inside roof of a whale's mouth resembles an enormous blacking brush! The object of this curious arrangement is to enable the whale to... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587694 | little shrimps and small sea-blubbers, called "medusae," on which it feeds. I have spoken before of these last as being the little creatures that gave out such a beautiful pale-blue light at night. The whale feeds on them. When he desires a meal he opens his great mouth and rushes into the midst of a shoal of medusae; ... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587695 | things get entangled in thousands among the hairy ends of the whalebone, and when the monster has got a large enough mouthful, he shuts his lower-jaw and swallows what his net has caught. The wisdom as well as the necessity of this arrangement is very plain. Of course, while dashing through the sea in this fashion, wit... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587696 | the whale must keep his throat closed, else the water would rush down it and choke him. Shutting his throat then, as he does, the water is obliged to flow out of his mouth as fast as it flows in; it is also spouted up through his blow-holes, and this with such violence that many of the little creatures would | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587697 | be swept out along with it, but for the hairy-ended whalebone which lets the sea-water out, but keeps the medusae in. Well, let us return to our "cutting-in." After the upper-jaw came the lower-jaw and throat, with the tongue. This last was an enormous mass of fat, about as large as an ox, and it weighed fifteen hundre... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587698 | thousand pounds. After this was got in, the rest of the work was simple. The blubber of the body was peeled off in great strips, beginning at the neck and being cut spirally towards the tail. It was hoisted on board by the blocks, the captain and mates cutting, and the men at the windlass hoisting, and the carcass slow... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012587699 | turning round until we got an unbroken piece of blubber, reaching from the water to nearly as high as the mainyard-arm. This mass was nearly a foot thick, and it looked like fat pork. It was cut off close to the deck, and lowered into the blubber-room, where the two men stationed there attacked it with knives, cut it i... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
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