weapon with all his strength. At the same moment, he cries "Stern all!" and the oarsmen give
the boat stern-way with precipitation. The Whale
in his agony dives perpendicularly, drawing the
line of the harpoon swiftly through its grove; the
other boats are ready to bend on their lines, each
of which is two hundred fathoms long; for a
Whale will sometimes carry down four lines, descending to the depth of nearly a mile. But again he approaches the surface; "the gurgling and bubbling water, which rises before, proclaims that he is near; his nose starts from the sea; the rushing spout is projected high and suddenly from
his agitation." The other boats now infix their
harpoons, and sharp steel lances are thrust deeply into the body.
The most dangerous part of the enterprise now ensues: the Whale is in his last agony: he dashes hither and thither, snaps convulsively with his long lower jaw, rolls over and over, coiling the line round his body, or leaps completely out of the water. The boats are often upset, sometimes broken into fragments, and the men wounded or drowned. The crimson blood spouted from the blow-hole, falls in showers around; the poor animal whirls rapidly round in unconsciousness, in a portion of a circle, rolls over on its side, and is still in death.
The body is then towed to the ship; the head is cut off and secured at the stern; a hole is cut into the skin of the fore part of the body, into which a large hook is inserted. A strong pulley being attached to this hook, the blubber is thereby hoisted up, as it is gradually cut by sharp spades in a spiral strip, going round and round the body.
