Fighting the Whales | Page 9

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, 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 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, 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 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 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 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 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, when it 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 I could scarce help laughing. 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. As 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, about half a 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, 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 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