Part 6

I--Midship oar 18 “ “

J--Tub oar 17 “ “

K--After or stroke oar 16 “ “

Except when under sail the boat was steered by means of an oar over twenty feet long.

The complete equipment of a boat included paddles, harpoons, lances, spades, mast and sail, water and bread kegs, lantern, flares and waifs, and other small gear.

A BOAT ON THE CRANES

The whaleboat was so lightly constructed that had it been allowed to hang by the hoisting tackle or “falls,” there was danger of it “hogging” or breaking its back.

To obviate this “supporters” were provided to sustain part of the weight. These “cranes” were hinged and were swung in when the boats were lowered.

After a boat was hoisted, the tubs were removed in order to further lighten her.

The tubs were kept on a rack abreast of the boat, inboard, and the preparatory order before lowering was “Get your tubs aboard.”

SPARE BOATS

Two spare boats were carried thus on the skids, and were brought into use when one or more of the others were “stove” or destroyed.

Under these spares were racks on which cutting spades and such gear were stowed.

This view is looking forward from the deck over the wheel.

HARPOONS

The purpose of the harpoon was not to kill the whale but to be a means of “getting fast” with the whale line.

The killing was done with the lance--a long shanked instrument with a small razor-sharp tip.

From earliest times the whaleman had endeavoured to fashion a harpoon that would not “draw” or pull out. Many variations had been tried of the solid head type of “iron,” but they all gave way before the “toggle” iron, invented by a Negro named Lewis Temple in 1848.

The sketch shows only the principal types--and the large variety of bombs and bomb guns has been omitted; they savour too much of modern methods and wholesale slaughter.

A--Two flued iron.

B--Single flued iron.

C--Temple’s toggle iron.

D--Modern toggle iron.

In the toggles a wooden match-like pin was inserted through the head of the harpoon to hold it straight. This broke as soon as pull was exerted on the line and the head turned as shown in fig. E.

F--An effective darting gun used against Right and Bowhead whales. A short gun barrel was mounted on the end of the pole. On one side of this was inserted a harpoon attached to the line. Reaching half way to the point was a rod, which on coming in contact with the skin of the whale, exploded the charge in the chamber and discharged a bomb. The whole instrument was thrown in the same manner as a harpoon, the gun-pole being retrieved by a line attached to the boat, the iron remaining in the whale.

Except in the case of lone bulls, guns were of no use among sperm whales; the discharge scared the herd--or as the whaleman said, “gallied the pod.”

G--An English double flued iron with “stop withers.”

H--The Greener gun--used by Dundee whalers in the Arctic.