The furnace contained two large iron kettles similar to that in the foreground of the sketch. Beneath each of these was a separate fire grate, and under all--a shallow pan of water as safeguard. The minced blubber was tried out in these kettles, and when the book pieces had given up their oil they were used as fuel. Enough of this “crackling” was kept to start the fires for the next whale. As the oil filled the kettles, it was bailed off into a copper cooling tank--then to casks on deck where it cooled thoroughly for a day or two before being stowed away in the hold. [Illustration] _BAILING THE CASE_ If the whale was small, the case was hoisted on deck where it was laid open and the liquid spermaceti saved with scoops and dippers,--but if it was too heavy for this it was secured to the side of the ship, nose end down. A hole was cut into the reservoir and a “case bucket” rigged from the mainyard and manipulated by four men,--one to handle the bucket, two on the guy lines to force it down by means of the pole, and the fourth to hoist and lower. This oil often amounted to as much as thirty barrels of liquid spermaceti, which had only to be headed up without further treatment. To this day there has been found no equal to this oil for the lubricating of watches and fine machinery. [Illustration] _CLEANING SHIP_ By the time the oil was tried out and the stripped carcass cast adrift to make a royal feast for sharks and seabirds, the ship was a slithery mass of oil, gurry, and blood,--to which was added the effects of clouds of smut and black smoke from the try works. All hands turned to clean ship. Ashes from the fires were sprinkled on the deck and bulwarks, and brooms and scrubbers were plied until she gleamed again,--except aloft, where the sails hung black and an affront to the eyes of clippermen. When the kettles had been scrubbed inside until they shone like silver punchbowls, the men turned their attention to themselves and their clothes. To be clean again! How good it felt:--ship, gear, and man. But how often was it no sooner achieved than a yell from the masthead announced “She blows! She blows!” and all the weary business had to be gone through with again. [Illustration] _MAIN HATCH SURGERY_ Some English and Scottish whalers carried surgeons, but it was not the custom in Yankee ships. Whatever casualties befell his men, the captain attended to as best he could. Heroic tales are related of bone settings and amputations without anesthetics aboard whaleships that pay high tribute to the fortitude of that vanished race of hardy seamen. [Illustration] _BOAT SURGERY_ While the captain repaired his men--“Chips” repaired his boats. Ships’ carpenters received their training as boat builders, and were prepared, not only to mend them, but had “knocked down” parts stowed below for the construction of new ones.