PROCEEDINGS AFTER A WHALE IS KILLED.
“Before a whale can be flensed, as the operation of taking off the
fat and whalebone is called, some preliminary measures are requisite.
These consist in securing the fish to a boat, cutting away the attached
whale-lines, lashing the fins of the whale together, and towing it to the
ship.
The first operation performed on a dead whale is to secure it to a
boat. This is easily effected by lashing it with a rope, passed several
times through two holes pierced in the tail, to the boat’s bow. The
more difficult operation of freeing the whale from the entanglement
of the lines is then attempted. As the whale, when dead, always lies
on its back, or on its side, the lines and harpoons are generally far
under water. While this is in progress, the men of the other boats,
having first lashed the tail to a boat, are employed in lashing the fins
together across the belly of the whale.
On one occasion, says a whaler, I was engaged in the capture of a fish,
upon which, when to appearance dead, I leaped, cut holes in the fins, and
was in the act of reeving a rope through them, when the fish sunk beneath
my feet. As soon as I observed that the water had risen above my knees, I
made a spring towards a boat at the distance of three or four yards from
me, and caught hold of the gunwale. Scarcely was I on board before the
fish began to move forward, turned from its back upon its belly, reared
its tail aloft and began to shake it with such prodigious violence, that
it resounded through the air to the distance of two or three miles. After
two or three minutes of this violent exercise, it ceased, rolled over
upon its side, and died.
In the year 1816, a fish was to all appearance killed. The fins were
partly lashed, and the tail on the point of being secured, and all the
lines excepting one were cut away, the fish meanwhile lying as if dead.
To the astonishment and alarm, however, of the sailors, it revived, began
to move, and pressed forward in a convulsive agitation; soon after,
it sunk in the water to some depth, and then died. One line remained
attached to it, by which it was drawn up and secured. A fish being
properly secured, is then “taken in tow,” that is, all the boats join
themselves in a line, by ropes always carried for the purpose, and unite
their efforts in rowing towards the ship. The course of the ship, in the
mean time, is directed towards the boats, but in calms, or when the ship
is moored to the ice, at no great distance, or when the situation of the
fish is inconvenient or inaccessible, the ship awaits the approach of the
fish.
The fish having reached the ship is taken to the larboard side, arranged
and secured for flensing. For the performance of this operation a variety
of knives and other instruments is requisite.
The enormous weight of a whale prevents the possibility of raising it
more than one fourth, or one fifth part out of the water, except, indeed,
when it has been some days dead, in which case it swells in consequence
of air generated by putrefaction, until one third of its bulk appears
above the surface; the fish then lying belly upwards, extended and well
secured, is ready for the operation of flensing.
After the whale is properly secured along side of the ship, the
harpooners, having their feet armed with spurs, to prevent them from
slipping, descend upon the fish. Two boats each of which is under the
guidance of one or two boys, attend upon them, and serve to hold all
their knives, and other apparatus. Thus provided, the harpooners divide
the fat into oblong pieces, or ‘slips,’ by means of ‘blubber spades’
and ‘blubber knives;’ then, affixing a ‘tackle’ to each slip, flay it
progressively off as it is drawn upwards. The flensers commence with the
belly and under jaw, being the only part then above water. The blubber,
in pieces of half a ton each, is received on deck, and divided into
portable, cubical, or oblong pieces, containing near a solid foot of fat,
and passed down between decks, when it is packed in a receptacle provided
for it in the hold, or other suitable place, called the flens-gut, where
it remains until further convenience.
All the fat being taken away from the belly, and the right fin removed,
the fish is then turned round on its side. As the fish is turned round,
every part of the blubber becomes successively uppermost and is removed.
At length, when the whole of the blubber, whalebone, and jaw bones have
been taken on board, the carcass being set at liberty, generally sinks in
the water and disappears.”
When sharks are present they generally help themselves very plentifully
during the cutting up. Birds pay close attendance, particularly the
larger species of Petrel or Mother Cary’s Chicken, seizing the pieces of
flesh as it falls in the water. Gulls also attend in great numbers to
get their share; but the large Petrel or Fulmar is decidedly master of
the feast. Hence the others are obliged to relinquish the most delicious
morsel when he claims it.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: CREW OF A WHALER KILLING PENGUINS.]
CATCHING SEAL ON THE ISLANDS OF THE PACIFIC.
[Illustration: HARP SEAL.]