ten pounds of flesh and a gallon and a pint of water.” The obtaining of their food is so precarious, my son, that for many days after this they may not have a single morsel to eat. [Illustration] [Illustration: INSTRUMENTS FOR TAKING THE WHALE. No. 1. Hand Harpoon. No. 2. Blubber Lance. No. 3. Gun Harpoon.] CHAPTER IV. BOATS—HAND HARPOON—BLUBBER LANCE—GUN HARPOON—MANNER OF TAKING THE WHALE, &c. “As when enclosing harpooneers assail, In wintry seas, the slumbering Whale; Soon as the _harpoons_ pierce the scaly side, He groans, he darts impetuous down the tide; And rack’d all o’er with lacerating pain, He flies remote beneath the flood in vain.” The first and principal thing, my son, in the whaling ships, are the boats, which are made to float lightly upon the water; their bow and stern are made sharp, and they are capable of being rowed with great speed, and readily turned round,—and are of such size as to carry six or seven men and seven or eight hundred weight of whale-lines. The instruments used in the capture are the harpoon and lance; besides these they have used occasionally the harpoon-gun, which is a kind of swivel. This gun was invented in the year 1731: being however difficult and somewhat dangerous in its application, it is now seldom used. One of the most essential particulars in the Dutch whale ships is the “_Crow’s Nest_,” a sort of sentry box made of canvass or light wood, pitched on the main-top-mast head. This is the post of honor, where the master or officer of the watch often sits for hours provided with a spy glass, a speaking trumpet, and a rifle gun. As soon as they have arrived in those seas which are the haunt of the whale, the crew are keeping watch day and night;—seven boats are kept hanging by the sides of the ship ready to be launched in a few minutes. The captain or some principal officer, seated in the crow’s nest, surveys the waters, and the instant he sees the back of the huge animal, gives notice to the watch who are stationed upon the deck, part of whom leap into the boat, and are followed by a second boat, a harpooner being in each. Owing to those mighty fields and mountains of ice, the dangers of the Northern or Greenland whale fishery is ten times greater than are those of this country, as our whale ships take these fish upon the coast of Japan, in the Pacific Ocean, and upon the Brazil Banks, and always in the open sea. There are several rules among whalers which are observed in approaching this fish, to prevent as far as possible the animal from taking the alarm. As the whale is dull of hearing, but quick in sight, the boat steerer always endeavors to get behind it. Smooth, careful rowing is always requisite, and sometimes sculling is practised. Whenever a whale lies on the surface of the water, unconscious of the approach of its enemies, the hardy fisher rows directly upon it; and an instant before the boat touches it, buries his