. The illustrated natural history [microform]. Natural history; Sciences naturelles. I through. The indeed, and its inch and a Imlf ion it wishes to nenso jaws wide and a few hogs- tlie animals, and ull the water out ?!^. ^'^â â nonster), tlie WfuUe. he little creatures rcible expressions, ber of ships leave aching the I'olar d at their destina- st-headfor "fish," NATURAL HISTORY. 93 which are usually first obserred by the column of steam and water that the whale sends into the air from its nostrils. At the welcome sound "There she ," the whole crew starts into activit
. The illustrated natural history [microform]. Natural history; Sciences naturelles. I through. The indeed, and its inch and a Imlf ion it wishes to nenso jaws wide and a few hogs- tlie animals, and ull the water out ?!^. ^'^â â nonster), tlie WfuUe. he little creatures rcible expressions, ber of ships leave aching the I'olar d at their destina- st-headfor "fish," NATURAL HISTORY. 93 which are usually first obserred by the column of steam and water that the whale sends into the air from its nostrils. At the welcome sound "There she ," the whole crew starts into activity; the boats, which are always kept hanging over side of the ship, furnished ready for action, are instantly manned and lowered into tlie water, and the boat springs ott' in chase of the whale. The harpooner, whose station is in the bow, examines his implements caretully, tnes the edge of ti>e hiirpoon, and sees that the rope is i)roperly coiled, as an entanglement would probably uiiset the boat, or even drag it below water. It will V)e as well just to notice the ditferent weapons used in tlie whale-fishery. 1 he first and most important is the harpoon, a kind of spear with a barbed head, the shape of which is not verj' unlilce tHe flukes of an anchor. The edges of the barbs are kept very shaqi, as otherwise the harpoon would not penetrate beyond the blubber, and the whale would consetpiently e8ca|)e. Ihe head of the hai-poon is not made of steel, as most would imagine, but of soft iron, so soft that it can be scraped to an ed-'e with a knife. This is fixed to a wooden handle, by which the harpooner holds it. In some vessels the harpoon is fired at the whale from a small cannon placed in the bow of the boat. There are some veiy ingenious harpoons in the United ScitIcc Museum, one of which, intended to Iw fired from a gun, has its barbs joined to the head by a hinge and held apart with a spring, so that when a whale is struck the barbs collapse until the force
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